I am in the process of getting everything together to paint my car. I got the paint and clear. I wasn't going to primer it but I didn't know anything about painting and started to sand everything down. Freaking rust under paint chips suck. Finding out you got some bondo here and there sucks. Having someone that doesn't know any thing about sanding sucks. I have lots of high and low spots on the car. There are also a few bare spots of metal showing.

I guess I have to get some real good primer. I was looking around for the best type, urathane primer? I found this on ebay: ebay auction is this something good? I don't want the mistake of buying something thats not going to suit my needs. I need something thats going to coat the whole car and ultimately after sanding it leave it looking really nice for painting.

Also would a HVLP gun work with that stuff? or should I get the guns with the canister thats more of the pressure feeding type?



while I got your attention: best possible way to get the headliner out of a '82 gsl w/ sunroof? far as getting the **** off. I know theres four screws that hold the top part but whats holding the wheel on?

P.M. me I am looking for a good headliner and center dash section, the part that wraps around the radio and A/C controls. P.M. me

 

The sunroof wheel comes off when the trim is removed, just undo the four bolts then the four screws...it'll fall off.

There are clips around the sunroof hole beware and undo them before pulling on anything.

 

Since you have spots down to bare metal and hidden bondo. you may need 2 different primers, one for bare metal, then a high build sanding primer for the entire car. You want to match your entire paint system. i.e., stay with the same manufacturer and line of paint.

If you are using a da to sand, you will need a sanding file for smoothing out those divots. There are some good how to's on autobody painting, do some Googling, before you get in to deep.

 

Yea, the books I read about painting (in preparation for doing my own painting) said you should use a paint system...all supplies (primer, base coat, clear coat, etc.) from the same manufacturer. You should check with your local auto paint dealer.

Rich

 

Quick question: Is it okay to use an etching primer (for bare metal) over sanded paint/primer?
(ie. If I have to take one part of a panel down to bare metal, can I leave the rest lightly sanded, hit it with a quick coat of self etching primer all over, and then spray on the sandable/high build primer?)

 

Limit the bare metal primer to the metal part and a small surrounding area. No need to etch prime the entire car, it's a waste of time and materials.

 

What you want to use is a DTM (Direct to Metal) Primer. Valspar makes a good one, its what I used on my car. The DTM will build up nice and thick. You will want to put on 2-3 medium wet coats using an HVLP gun-2 coats should be fine for you. Once the car is primered let it dry 24 hours unless you have a paint booth...after it bakes its ready to be wet sanded. Get a spray bottle and a bunch of 400 grit sand paper and a soft sanding block. Add a drop of carwash solution to the water in the spray bottle. Hose off the entire car, and then spray where you are sanding, the soapy water mixture keeps the paper from loading up while sanding, keep the panel you are sanding wet! I can't tell you that enough. Once the car is smooth to the touch (no orange peel in primer) then you are ready to paint...if you sand through the primer anywhere, those are your high spots. Spot primer those, then spray your paint.
I take it that you are spraying a two stage paint--color, then clear coat. Spray your color 2-3 medium wet coats with about 10 minutes between coats. Don't try and make it shiny because it won't be, thats the clear coats job, if you make it too wet, you'll get runs and will have to go back and sand those out.
After spraying your base coat wait about 1.5 - 2 hours for the base coat to tack dry, could be less time, could be more. Use a tack cloth and rub it GENTLY over the ENTIRE CAR masking paper and paint, this will remove the microscopic dirt particles that turn a paint job into crap really fast.
Now start spraying your clear coat. You want to make your first coat on the dry side, just enough to cover the panel, lots of orange peel on your first coat is perfect. Let this dry for 15 minutes, this will make the clear coat really sticky and allow you to put on a medium wet coat of clear. Let this dry for 15 minutes to tack, then spray your wet coat and don't stop spraying until the clear looks how you want it to look.
Let it dry 24 hours or if you have a heated paint booth bake it!
Voila! new paint job! HVLP guns are the easiest to use and they don't surround you in a cloud of paint, they are more effecient too so you will use less pain than with a pressure feed type. For your primer you want to use a 1.4-1.6 air cap, for your paint and clear, use a 1.2 air cap. make sure you have a good compressor with a good tank on it, and good respiration filters, too, because that clear coat will make you high as a kite. If you have any questions feel free to pm me or email me.
-Ben
GOOD LUCK!

 

I don't understand why there would be some problem between manufactures. I have a friend thats a air brush artist and another thats a fiberglass expert. They do not tell me much about using differnt manufactures.

from what I can gather around the places that I have been calling.. I can use urethan primer of a differnt variety than the actual paint. anyone verify this?

 

Because they assume that you would know whats going on. Your using a base, clear. If you had a different brand clear then your base, theres a BIG chance of reaction. The fella's above instructions are telling you to do these steps basically in the same day, so the chemicals can react if they dont like each other. I would no ebay any paint, unless it was straight from PPG and their top of the line.

 

what ever you dont do dont try painting it yourself

 

I am not talking about base coats or clear coats. I am talking about urethan primers and base coat. Right now I got my base coat, the brand is omni and the clear coat has allready been tested by the shop where I got the paint.

 

Now THERE is a helpful post...thanks for contributing...

Rich

 

why not use urethane enamel? less work and 1/2 the price of base clear, if your looking to save some coin.

 

well then now that we got that out of the way how about we go back to topic:

 

If you are working with a shop and they are testing the paint for you, they should be able to answer all of your questions. If you have gotten an answer from them that you don't like, and are asking us here to give a different one, don't.

When it comes to automotive paint, cheap and paint together give you a cheap paint job, and I don't mean cost wise. A quality job takes a high degree talent, many different and expensive tools, and top quality paint systems.

The only reason I have been painting my own vehicles, besides the cost savings to myself, is I have many crossover skills gleaned from other trades through the years. Trust me, I made plenty of mistakes when I first started, (still do occasionally), and had to start over more than once. It became my own on the job training experience, and can get expensive, quickly, depending on the mistakes. It is no fun sanding down a fresh base coat and having to reprime and sand and base again, due to some simple error.

If you have a shop that will work with you, take thier advice, and work with an integrated paint system, cheaper is not better, it usually costs more in the long run, whether it be do-overs, a crappy paint job, or one that has a short life before it begins to fail.

 

very good advise and ohh so true. The place where I bought the paint for my car told me nothing. They do not want me to buy other products. They want me to spend my money there. And they want to over charge me. FTW.

I talked to the guy thats going to actually paint my car today. He said that it will be fine so I am looking for reasurance from you guys. The base paint that I bought is not urethan. Its.. its.. the other type I need the high build of the urethan to cover all the freaking dips and level out the high spots. If I have to then I guess i'll just buy a complete urethan paint system. Before I do that I need to be certain that there will be a conflict between the urethan primer and the other type base paint.

 

if its a laquer DONT DO IT!!! IT WILL RUIN THE WHOLE THING! You must use urethanes with other urethanes!

 

I checked up on omni for you, about equal to Valspar. Go ahead and just buy the complete omni refinish system. Primer, Base, and Clear and you should be good to go. Good luck, please don't mix and match though, you wont be happy with it after a year or so if you do.

 

You have a lot more sanding to do. If you can see divots and low spots now, they will show even more after painting. The high build primer will not fill or hide them. It will help them show up better for final block sanding, before base coat.