Hey guys,

I'm getting my car redone after an bo bo was made on my car. (see https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/042527.html )

Now there is going to be a new side part of the clip as were going to glass in a new part) and the rear 1/4 panel so the car is going to be painted.

Question: 1. Should the car be painted with panels on of off.

2. is it going to be cheaper for me to prep the car myself?
.5 What should I do to prep the car?

Thanks for any answers.

SaskatoonFiero
Justin

I'm speaking from American experience only, but some of this stuff depends on the paint shop you are going to. Econo job or quality job.
As for removing panel, that depends on $$$, and also are you doing a color change? If so then this is not really necessary. If you are doing a color change, then the old color might show when you open doors and trucks, if that doesn't bother you then you can leave the panels on.
Cheaper to prep, if your going for the quality job, yes, again depend on the shop you are working with, ask first.
Start by wet-dry hand sanding with 400 grit, then fill all nicks, dings, dents, and the like with quality expoy filler. Sand again with wet -dry 400 until smooth as fresh glass. Then a few days before you move it over to the paint shop, sand all surfaces with 600 grit wet- dry. The smoother the car, the better the paint goes on.
Now the paint, (depending on $$$$) should shoot one or 2 coats of paint, then they should color sand with at least 600 grit, then shoot the car with another coat of paint, and hand color sand, with rubbing compound of some level, and then shoot the last coat of paint. This would not make it show car quality, you still need at least another 4 coats of paint and hand sanding between shoots. Hope that helps.

quote Originally posted by CYNFIERO: Start by wet-dry hand sanding with 400 grit, then fill all nicks, dings, dents, and the like with quality expoy filler. Sand again with wet -dry 400 until smooth as fresh glass. Then a few days before you move it over to the paint shop, sand all surfaces with 600 grit wet- dry. The smoother the car, the better the paint goes on. Now the paint, (depending on $$$$) should shoot one or 2 coats of paint, then they should color sand with at least 600 grit, then shoot the car with another coat of paint, and hand color sand, with rubbing compound of some level, and then shoot the last coat of paint. This would not make it show car quality, you still need at least another 4 coats of paint and hand sanding between shoots. Hope that helps.

I disagree with a lot of this.

First, panels off if you can. You get a much better paint job overall.

Second. Prep. Clean the car very well with wax and grease remover. Sand the areas of the car you are going to repaint with 320 grit dry. I prefer dry, but you can wet-sand with 400 if you like. DO NOT use anything smoother than that. 600 grit it too smooth and the paint will not adher to the car properly and will peel after a short while.

DO NOT color sand between coats. That's the old lacquer way. But good poly-urethane paints and follow the instructions. You'll probably spray 2 or 3 color coats and 2 or 3 clear coats. That's it. Never use rubbing compound between paint coats. Once you have your car painted, you wet-sand with 1500 grit sandpaper, use a good quality rubbing compound on a good variable speed buffer, then a good quality polishing compound. If your paint is sprayed clean (no dirt or runs), you can certainly buff this out to a show finish.

If you need more info, Rogergarrison and I are painters by trade.

Mark

I'm not even going to try to paint it my self!!!.

I just want to know if I'm better off prep the car myself, or let someone that I don't know , or even worst don't know my car prep it then a year latter have it peel.

SaskatoonFiero
Justin

You certainly can help prep the car. What takes the most time is the prep work, and the more you prep for the painter, the less time he has to spend getting it ready. Some of the basic stuff is easy. Remove as much of the trim as you can and clean it up. When you find a painter, ask what you can do to help prep the car. Some painters will want to do all of the prep themselves because their paint job is dependant on proper prep work. Others will have you sand the car entirely to save some time with a certain grit sandpaper. I use 320 dry. It's best if you let your painter tell you what you can help with, but usually any help you can offer is appreciated.

Mark

ummm, just make sure that the place you get it painted at puts the plasticizor (or w/e the heck it is) in the paint, so it can flex. i called a local paint place and asked them, and they said they didnt (what kinda crap is that?). anyway, i ehar it is VERY hard to paint cars like fieros, cuz of the static electricity. when painting, the paint going thru the air creates static electricity. normally, it would hit a metal surface and ground, but on the plastic/fiberglass, it just sticks and attracts dust

I don't use any flex in my paint anymore, because the newer paints have very good flex qualities in them already. I've painted very flexable bumper fillers for older GM cars that need to be flexed to reinstall them and nothing cracks at all. I spray acrylic urethane. As for static, I haven't had much difficulty with dust. You can ground the car just like a regular steel bodied car and lose most of the static charge.

Mark

Everything Mark said. The more paint, the more possible problems down the road, I rarely put more than 2 or 3 coats of base and clear. Even a ' show ' paint job only reflects from the top coat, so 10 coats is a waste of your money. If you want to ground it, just throw a chain over the frame underneath and lay it on the floor.And I very rarely ever paint panels off. You have a big chance of damage putting them back on, a mismatch between two panels...........and some colors CANNOT be painted panels off.

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http://my.core.com/~ferrari1/MyPhotos
http://groups.msn.com/RogersCarPhotos

Roger mentioned a couple of things I should have. First, pulling panels offers a lot more chance for damage while they are off of the car and while reassembling them. A lot of painters prefer to keep them on the car, so talk with your painter. Second, some colors can't be sprayed seperately. Some silvers and other colors just won't match.

Thnaks, Roger, and I apologize for not mentioning that.

Mark

Excellent advice by both Mark and Roger, especially the parts about getting it too smooth and panel-off painting. You'd be amazed at how spraying a car a bit wetter or drier on the base coat will affect the final look of a metallic base/clear job, and even more so on a single-stage enamel (which I refuse to even mess with anymore unless it's a solid color like white or red). If you don't do each panel at same angle, distance, pressure, wetness, etc, it'll look like the panels came from six different cars, because the particles in the paint will catch the light at different angles. Even different cups of paint out of the same mix can look different if you're not a bit careful to keep the mix stirred.
I never even had any idea how many different shades of white and black there were until I began painting.