Guide to a Full respray please

[LFCJosh]

i bought the paint to respray my car MONTHS ago, and the bloke whos doin it at the time said, we'll get it done next week.
that was in febuary.
gettin pissed off waiting for him to get his act together now cos my car looks like sh1t atm, and ive missed FCS because of it.

so basically im borrowing his garage in a couple of weeks to change my head gasket and while its in there i wanna get the car prepped for paint.
so he can just come in and get it done.

can someone please give me some pointers for prepping the car up.

i.e.

• what sandpaper and grit to use
• should i work my way down the grades
• do i need to go back down to the metal
• do i really need to take the doors off and lights out (im only painting the outer shell, no sills etc)
• is it too ambitious to do myself?

thanks alot

 

[Revels]

If you don't take the lights/plastics etc off it will look F**KING AWFUL!

Doors/bonnet/boot is upto you. But I'd want it doing properly if I was doing it.

Yes, I would say its ambitious to do it yourself. It will look crap and you'll be annoyed.

What colour is it and what colour are you changing to?

 

[Gally]

Mate prepping is the key part to a good respray.

Imo it's too ambitious if you want a really good job done. You could strip it for him that would help.

The fact you even need to ask if the doors have to come off worries me.

 

[LFCJosh]

the guy whos doin it isnt professional but hes done alot of cars.
its a kinda blue colour, doin it the same colour.

 

[Gally]

So you're doing it the same colour as it all ready is?

You won't have to take the doors off but all the lights, bumpers, handles ect... mirrors will have to come off.

Don't prep it yourself, you'll regret it.

 

[LFCJosh]

Mate prepping is the key part to a good respray.

Imo it's too ambitious if you want a really good job done. You could strip it for him that would help.

The fact you even need to ask if the doors have to come off worries me.

lol well ive never done it before. whats the reason for taking the doors off?
its a repray in the same colour.

i just really wanna get it done now, pissin me off relying on other people.
so thought prepping it myself would hurry the process up.

 

[agithegreat]

IMO try a chap in lye. He's known as Wolfie.
He resprayed my clio for £700 all in!!!
So you provide the paint and pull plastics off and prep for him that will drop to about £500 but it will be a bang on job!!!!
Chris (a lad off here) has used himtoo, cheap but very good finisher.

Chris will have his number so i'll point him to this thread.

 

[kevin.s]

woulnt recommend doing it you self as your first body work job to be honest mate. its a pain in the ass when you know what you are doing so going in blind is probly a big mistake and when you come to sell the car eventually, if it is blatant that it has been sprayed but not very well then you will struggle to get the full amount you would want for it.
so i would recommend getting the whole lot done properly. you could get the best painter in the world to paint it but if the prep is crap then the end result will be too.

 

[Nik.g]

IMO try a chap in lye. He's known as Wolfie.
He resprayed my clio for £700 all in!!!
So you provide the paint and pull plastics off and prep for him that will drop to about £500 but it will be a bang on job!!!!
Chris (a lad off here) has used himtoo, cheap but very good finisher.

Chris will have his number so i'll point him to this thread.

got pics of your car mate?

 

[rexe]

If you don't take the lights/plastics etc off it will look F**KING AWFUL!

Doors/bonnet/boot is upto you. But I'd want it doing properly if I was doing it.

Yes, I would say its ambitious to do it yourself. It will look crap and you'll be annoyed.

What colour is it and what colour are you changing to?

Dont be put off kiddo, you can leave lights etc on if you really want just make sure they are masked up properly... and trust me it WILL not look f**king aweful pmsl. Oh and remeber Its only a clio

You would only need to remove panels if your going for a colour change, as you would need to do the door shuts etc.

You wont be painting the car from what ive read but you are just geting it prepped up for him, In which case just take your time, do one panel at a time and whala get the painter to check it over before he paints it mind.

With respect to grades of paper etc blah blah that really varys and depends what your doing...

I could do a full car but not have to use any sandpaper whatso ever, just a scotch pad... Its a lot to learn in a very small period of time. Ive been painting for some 6 years not a very long time but im still let loose on some expensive stuff

All i can say is take your time and make sure the prep is good as this will determin the end result and also how long that will last. But main thing is to get stuck in and not be a girl like sooooo many and pussy away from stuff

 

[Final Maxim]

is there any damage on it? any dents? rust?

if its literally just a prep and spray, then get yourself a cheap dual action orbital sander. do the lot of the car all over with P320 or P400

on the bonnet, if you have stone chips, go over with P180 first then drop to P320. keep the sander flat at all times, dont be tempted to out it at an angle so you sand the stone chip out faster, itll just create an awful crater that will need filler in to rectify.

primer any areas of laquer youve broken through.

id recommend taking off the side strips, door handles, door locks, side repeaters, badges on the back and boot lock, number plate and number plate lights, washer jets, aeriel and the base of the aerial.

leave in the lights, window surrounds. if the back windows open up then drop them out with the rubbers, if theyre bonded in, mask them up.

any areas you cant get at with your sander just use some grey scotchbrite and give it a good rubbing so it goes dull.

once its all sanded, all primed and dry (dependant on what primer you use 1 hr - 4 hrs) sand all your primer in warm soapy water with P800, P1000 or P1200 (all the same pretty much) just use whatever you have handy.

any primer that you sand through, just dust over it again with some more primer and give it a light wetflat.

then clear it all up and let your painter get it masked up and painted.

need;

sander
P320 or P400 discs
P800, P1000 or P1200 for wetflatting
grey scotchbrite
bucket
primer (single pack will just need mixing with thinners, 2pack will need hardener too aswell as a bit of thinners) - if you have no filler work, single pack is fine
rubber sanding block

think i covered your questions except the bare metal one.

well, if you want a bare metal respray, then go for it. but, in my professional oppinion, its a waste of time and creates more work than its worth, especially on a clio.

id only consider doing a bare metal respray on a classic car in for restoration. just sand your paint til its dull, do your stone chips, prime, paint, done.

 

[agithegreat]

got pics of your car mate?

 

[Nik.g]

^^ looks nice.. what colour was it before?

 

[Gaz_]

Bit orange peely, but reet for £700 notes i suppose

 

[Chris_786]

wolfie's no. sent in pm mate.

 

[JCC]

It's not perfect, but not bad at all for 700 quid.

Personally mate, full resprays are a pain in the ass even when you know what you're doing, never mind on your first crack at it. If you're trying to get into the trade why not leave it until you've gained a bit of experience then?

To answer the question about lights etc, you don't need to take them out you can just easily mask around them, I'd pull off the easy stuff though like sidestrips etc.

As for the other stuff, FM pretty much summed it up although I'd use different techniques purely because it's what I'm used to.