I bought a fascia for my 86GT. It is red and silver and I need it painted black. I'm a female and have never even seen body work being done on a vehicle. How hard is it to sand the fascia to get it ready to paint. I thought maybe I could save myself some money if I could get it prepared for the guy who is going to paint it. Can it be done by hand or do I need some type of electric sander? Do I need to get all the red and silver paint off? Do you think there's hope for me or should I just take it to the painter and have him do it? Also, do you think I can sell the fascia that I'm replacing which has a hole about the size of a tailpipe which I assume was backed into me, or is it not fixable?

First if the paint is not all cracked and pitted you should be able to just use some 240 and scuff the paint up. If you have cracks then you will need to sand the paint down to get rid of them, just making them smooth will not do it. If you don’t want them to come back you will need to sand the paint down till you cant see any of the cracks. After you get the new fascia on your car you will probably be able to sell your old one in the mall. The bottom can be trimmed off and mounted to make a nice lip for the front. See Skitimes car.
HTH

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I have sanded the facias for a couple of cars, and it's a lot easier on the car. But, if you want to give it a shot, it certainly won't hurt. What I did was lay it over a Black and Decker workmate to give it a little stability, and hand sanded after that. Since the cover is 2 colors right now, you'll probably have to have it primed after you are done sanding, so 240 grit will work pretty well. If you have any cracking, you do have to sand through to good paint or primer or the cracking will show through. Once you are sanded, primer will help fill in the low spots and when the primer is sanded everything should come out fine.

Good Luck!

Mark

Lisa did her own nose. She sanded it on the car though, down to bare plastic all over in about 6 hours by hand. If its off the car, its a little awkward to handle, but you can sit down and do it on your lap which is easier than crawling around on your hands and knees. Make sure before you paint it, that you completely sand over it good with #400 regardless of what you use before. Lisa did hers first with #80, primered, then the #400 and paint.

it's a pain in the arse on the car let alone off it.

I like sanding them off the car better, but that's just me. I do not take it down to the bare urathane but just konck down the shine on the paint, get any spider cracks down to the bare plastic, and pay special attention to the detail places like the corners and seams.

For what its worth I am probably going to be in your area (State College) this weekend if you need any first hand help or guidance.

Hank

quote Originally posted by Hank is Here: I like sanding them off the car better, but that's just me. I do not take it down to the bare urathane but just konck down the shine on the paint, get any spider cracks down to the bare plastic, and pay special attention to the detail places like the corners and seams. For what its worth I am probably going to be in your area (State College) this weekend if you need any first hand help or guidance. Hank

Hank, I sent you a PM.