Steps to DIY sanding car back ready for respray....

[Boostn247]

hey guys..

I have pretty much nil experience when it comes to panel beating, bodywork, spraying etc but I do have a free garage spot & some time so I figured I'd give it a go, To save my spraypainter & some money stripping the stock colour back for a respray!

My car is a black HR31 Import Passage the 4 door (Charcoal Black with the grey underskirts round the car).. Basically I want a sharper, newer Black with a maroon tinge mixed in with the black to get a different effect in the sunlight. Maybe with a pearl mixed in. The colour I have now is a your standard charcoal black etc which I'm not really a big fan of. It's not a complete colour change so I'm going to leave the engine bay for now since it's nicely detalied & in good nick along with the boot & door jams etc...

What's the basic run-down of tools and materials needed?

What grades of sandpaper should I use to rub my car back?

Can you just paint a paint stripper on, wipe that off, bog up any dints then sand it back?

Can anyone recommend any good resources websites to give me a helping hand?

I want a really deep (if that makes sense) shiny paint job so I'm prepared to put in the hard yards with preperation work and lots of coats..

For the record my cars body is pretty much 100% straight (like 1 or 3 pin dents) with a tiny bit of surface rust near a 2 of my window sills.

A friend said he'd help me take care of those so bodywork isn't really an issue it's just rubbing back/prepping/spraying I wanna know about.

[7heavn]

if your gunna paintstrip it then it's going to turn into a big messy job . If the existing paint is half decent just scuff the car up with 800wet/dry . With the few dents you have just scuff up the area with a rough paper 120dry apply your filler then block flat with 120dry once you rubbed fairly flat finish off with 240 dry then apply a primer surfacer over the top . Block the primer with 320wet/dry then finish off with 800wet/dry making sure all the 320 scratches are gone .

[KILL HSV]

first of all, don't go back to bare metal, unless you want the job to take ages

all you need is a few sheets of 800 wet and dry paper, scotchbrite, and this stuff called scuff stuff, ring an auto supplies place for all of it, shouldn't cost much

then just rub everything with the paper, and then go over everything with the scotchbrite and scuff stuff, to make sure everywhere you are painting is dull, so the paint sticks

are you going to hi-fill the dents?

there's no point putting heaps of coats of paint on, just more chance of a run, just make sure the painter knows what he is doing and it will look fat

[Sl!m]

Just be prepared for alot of work, and sore arms..

if you have friend you can con into helping that will be good, took us a while to do a R33, adn we just used the stuff posted above

[relicr31act]

Just a small note, when using filler(bog) this needs to be applied to bare metal otherwise at some stage in the future it will fall out!!! The alternative if they are only carpark type dents is to use Dent or Dentforce or whatever they call themselves in your area. They can remove these dents for about $70 a panel and don't break the paint saving you the whole grind back to metal fill and prepare bullshit with filler. Everything else that has been said looks good to me. Make sure the guy with the gun in his hand is a pro. Pay the money to have a guy paint it in a booth by somebody who does it for a living and you will get a first class job at a fraction of the cost by doing all the donkey work yourself.

[predator]

Assuming you do all the monkey work yourself.. and then buy the paint, how much would you be looking at for a respray like this?

[relicr31act]

Realistically if you do everything yourself which if you have not ever wielded a spray gun before I would not recommend you could have it done for less than $500. But to do it properly eg paying a guy $200 to paint it $200 for some booth time and materials would cost you maybe a grand and would get a good job subject to the prep work being up to the job. don't forget that you will always get the best standard job if you remove everything that is not being painted, bumpers, headlights, indicators, door handles, glass( if you want the best possible job) and remember to mask everything else tyres(old blankets work well for these) exhaust tip etc. A good tip is to invest in a tack cloth (sticky cloth that is used at last minute to make sure that the car surface is free of debris( guaranteed paint job wrecker) and use liberal amounts of prepsol. Also watch out for silicone (this shit should be banned, responsible for many painters tearing their hair out by the roots) which causes a phenomenon called fish eyes (because that's what they look like) there are solvents that can remove it but almost every car will have some.

[predator]

I was probably getting at, if you did most things other than the spray work itself.. just removing the car to rolling shell.. and sanding it back to metal.

Then paying a professional to do the final prep and paint. $1500 ? $2000? $3000? Of course depending on type type of paint - I understand some are harder to do that others?

[relicr31act]

Pretty hard question to answer. It depends on how much work there is in the prep. Paint jobs are 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration! If the car is straight and I mean straight (which is rarely the case unless it is new or close to it) you would still be looking at maybe 20 hours at 80 an hour which is 1600 without materials. Paint you pay anywhere from 40 to 1000 a litre and an average car will take 4-8 litres of acrylic lacquer (which I would recommend rather than two pack) then there are all the other consumables which would be another 500 so maybe 3000 if the car is pretty close to start with. Once the car is painted there will be various things to finish the job (when using lacquer) like a rub back with 2000 and a buff some days or preferably weeks later, so it depends on how good a job you want and how good the car is before you start.

[Gts-t]

I was probably getting at, if you did most things other than the spray work itself.. just removing the car to rolling shell.. and sanding it back to metal.  

Then paying a professional to do the final prep and paint. $1500 ? $2000? $3000? Of course depending on type type of paint - I understand some are harder to do that others?

I have done this with a friend, the guy who fixes your porsche or ferrari in brisbane when you crash it. Going back to bare metal is a LONG HARD process compared to just your usual scuff/tape and spray.

That said though the finished product is directly represented by the prep work, and how the car is put back together, ie panel gaps being perfect etc. So spend the time and it will look great, spend less time and money and it will still look good as everyone else on the street.

[KILL HSV]

other than the big hassle of going back to bear metal, there is also the problem that you will bring up any old repairs which can get ugly, and can make the job much harder

[7heavn]

Just a small note, when using filler(bog) this needs to be applied to bare metal otherwise at some stage in the future it will fall out!!!  The alternative if they are only carpark type dents is to use Dent or Dentforce or whatever they call themselves in your area.  They can remove these dents for about $70 a panel and don't break the paint saving you the whole grind back to metal fill and prepare bullshit with filler.  Everything else that has been said looks good to me.  Make sure the guy with the gun in his hand is a pro.  Pay the money to have a guy paint it in a booth by somebody who does it for a living and you will get a first class job at a fraction of the cost by doing all the donkey work yourself.

If the car is going to see a fair bit of use and isn't a dedicated show car I would paint it in 2pac as it is alot more durable then acrylic and you will have an off the gun and flat(dependin on the brand of paint and who applies it ) finish . Acrylic requires twice the time and effort becuase you will have to cut back and buff the car once the colour is applied which in some cases can take longer then the actual preping for paint .

[Gts-t]

other than the big hassle of going back to bear metal, there is also the problem that you will bring up any old repairs which can get ugly, and can make the job much harder

VERY VERY GOOD POINT i forgot to add that

[Boostn247]

Thanks so much all you guys,, Im printing all this off to take home with me & the prep job ill be starting tomorrow arvo witha couple of mates, ill post pics of my current car & paint job then finish results too...

One other question...If i start to sand back the gloss etc & bog up the small dings etc, then primer etc, am i still allowed to drive the car? Like get it dirty, & or wet, what happens etc if it rained, or should i keep car in garage, sand the whole car back, drive or tow it to spraypainter, & let him finish it off, cheers boys!

[relicr31act]

Primer is porous so if it rains or gets wet and is left for an extended period rust can develop through it. but other than that you can still drive it just looks ugly!

[Boostn247]

ok, thats fine, thanks!

[Boostn247]

A car mate of mine said, saving me sanding back my car in the garage & my place getting dust in my lungs & practically everywhere,

he said to use ordinary Paint stripper, then use those "Bog filler spatulas"

to scrape off the paint from my car to the bare metal,

then sand it back lightly so you see the steel, then use bog where its necessary, Is this ok to do & easy, or what you guys reckon

[Sambo33]

Paint stripper is messy stuff and not as easy as it sounds to use, its definitly easier to sand the car. If you really want to go back to bare metal get a sander/polishing machine with P80 grit sandpaper on it, and make sure you use a partical mask or respirator.

If i was you i would talk to the guy who is painting the car and get his advice on what preparation work he wants you to do.

[Zahos]

I myself have sprayed 4 cars.

1 was a brare metal job

3 were rub back.

Bare metal takes a lil longer, but you get a much better result, ESPECIALLY if you want to change color (ie: add a pearl). In fact, if I was going to change color, I wouldn't do it any other way.

Rubbing it back is good if you want to simply freshen the SAME color, and you will only be applying a few thin coats. Having too many coats of paint is not a good thing.

To strip to bare metal, we used automotive grade paint stripper. It was expensive stuff, but WELL worth it. I would put the stuff on with a paint brush, and if I packed it on thich enough, the paint would fall off on it's own withing 30 seconds. I didn't even need to scrape most of the car. It was a little tricky where there was bog though.

I'd use a 400 or 600 grit to do around the edges, and steel wool + 800 grit wet to prep it for paint.

Have some killrust handy incase you find any.

You also may need to replace some window rubbers + clips if you do a bare metal job.

Otherwise, there is some string you can use to pull the rubbers around windows pack so you get the paint in there...

I also removed all panels (boot, bonnet, doors) to paint them so I didn't miss any spots around the edges.

Well, there's one man's opinion, based on his experiences.

What you do is up to you.

[Boostn247]

ZAHOS

Your a champ...I ll follow your instructions , sounds very good!~

My neighbour is a tradesman & has every tool under the son, & he lets me use anything! so im lucky there, & hes pretty cluey himself!

im getting started with the car this weekend, ill take pics & post them up too..cheers!