sanding and paint time, I want some advice/input

My 4 doors been overhauled (engine/chassis/suspension) and is ready for sanding.

Firstly, I plan to paint this car myself...I gotta learn somewhere and I like doing things myself. I think I'm going the single stage urethane route. Is the single stage still a durable finish, as opposed to base then clear?

Secondly, our biggest air compressor is a 15 gal, not sure the psi rating at the moment, but I've handled plenty of air tools at 90psi without dropping pressure. What kind of spray gun would you guys recommend for this tank, thats not crazy $$$ but overall pretty good?

Thirdly, I'm off school this week...I plan to start sanding each fender, my trunk, doors (everythings off the car), and the body itself.

The car was painted by the last owner after a wreck and looks to be an enamel (brown) its a very stiff paint and spider webbed in a few spots.

My plan was to sand down to the primer level, and primer myself and continue sanding smooth and seal and paint.

Will this plan work?
What grit sandpaper do I start with and finish with?
Can I sand with my DA sander or do I have to strictly wet sand/sand by hand?

any advice/feedback would be appreciated

 

In the process of all this sanding...will the car not be driven and stored inside?

Honestly....by the time you buy the gun and all the paint and supplies, might be better to visit Maaco.

 

The car is currently the only vehicle in our garage, it just saw the outside yesterday for the first time in a year when I hooked the new brake lines up.

The car currently is and can be driven (but wont be until its finished)...the inside, glass, door panels, chrome is all out, everything is gutted. Whoever (me) paints the car will have little masking to do.

My nearest Maaco is 14 miles away I would have to drive or haul the car there, and frankly I don't like the idea of having Maaco 2 toning my car and giving it back to me in 2 hours , they may paint more than me but I don't trust a place like Maaco to throw a paint job on.

I've priced all the paint supplies at a local Dupont supply store (& the price isn't bad), minus the spray gun and I'm set on spraying myself.

 

I need some tips on the body work...not sure what grits to use and work my way up to.

Start at 220? Then 400, then 600?

Can I use a DA or do I go by hand/wet sand?

 

This is basically a Maaco paint job.











Yes...it has some imperfections....but it has nice shine, depth to the paint, and no orange peel.

 

If you have never prepped a body for paint before...Do some research...Buy this book: Standard guide to Automotive Restoration by Matt Joseph. Its a Krause Publication. Very easy to read (humorous too) It will set you on the right path to doing a job you can be proud of. You cant rush the prep on a body (especially if its your first one) Your paint finish is only going to be as good as the prepped surface you paint... If you are going to go to bare steel with the car you can use a DA and some 40 grit paper just...Stay away from panel edges and contour lines...You can sand em to oblivion if your not careful or adept with a DA. A DA is not the best way to sand a body for paint prep. You will leave high/low spots all over the car if you dont feather and block the body properly. Any paint that is checked (cracking) or as you stated Spider webbing" needs to be removed completely (down to bare metal) or the checking/cracks will magically appear in your new paint once it starts to harden and shrink (this could take hours or days or weeks) But it will return.
Eastwood sells a few pretty good reasonably priced spray guns. Check em out online at Eastwood.com. Copressor size/volume will be determined by the type/quality of gun you use but you should consider something with at least a 20 gallon tank for adequate air volume to keep up with a spraygun. Single stage is a good choice as long as your not doing a metallic type paint color. If you are, consider going to a base/clear paint system. Both eastwood and summitt offer reasonabley priced paint systems in single stage and BC/CC. Duponts Nason line is also a descent paint product for the money. Good luck, hope this didnt scare you away from doing it your self. Just do your homework before you jump into it. Paint mistakes can be painful/expensive to repair.

 

I am in the same process with mime right now....she's getting closer

 

It looks good Craig ,
but I would have to basically bring every piece of the body over to Maaco then haul every piece back or bolt them on there or just bolt on before hand, but since I'm doing a completely different color change and 2 toning/stripes I'm going to try and keep it at home base and do them all seperate with some good dry times in between.

I figure I may practice on the doors/fenders until I hit the whole car.

 

I don't plan on going bare steel, just wear it down to the primer level or thats the plan as of now.
Ok, yea I won't use the DA then,
Yea I've taken 2 of the cracked areas to the metal and re filled/sanded. I thought maybe rust was below causing the cracking or the filler was too high but the paint is some kind of enamel thats just cracking in the body lines, the rubber bumper panels, etc are also cracked up like crazy.
I'm going to stick with this 15 gal tank we have, but ok yea I'll check eastwood/summit out. I guess a lower psi gun for the smaller tank would be alright.
ok good, yea the color won't be metallic. I figured single stage would be better for a first time sprayer.

no it didnt scare me from doing it myself , if I turned away because I thought I couldn't do it then my motor & transmission wouldn't be rebuilt, and the car would still be on blocks, haha.

thanks for the advice mavman

 

:Handshakegood luck

Yea I'm wanting one of those body panel holders for my doors and fender prep, not sure what their called, their pretty much saw horses though IMO

 

I painted mine -- first time for a whole car. Also first time for major body work. It took twice as much primer and color paint as it should have taken because I had to keep re-doing it to fix mistakes in the previous steps. It took months but I now get lots of compliments on the paint. Its not perfect. I know where the flaws are but most people never notice them.

Doing a fender, door, panel at a time makes it reasonable to redo areas to fix mistakes. You might want to plan a final coat with everything together for best color match.

It would be a surprise if your 15 gal compressor has the capacity (CFM) to run a good gun. You'll probably find that the gun you buy needs more CFM than that compressor has. Check it out. I had to buy a compressor. Got a refurbished one for $3XX at Harbor Freight that is good for sand blasting and any air tool I'll use. With the amount of use I'll give it, it will last a life time. If you have to buy one, think of it as an investment in your tool collection.

Mine was 2-tone too. It was amazing how much more work a 2-tone paint job is.

Even though you don't need to mask for over-spray reasons, seal off all the areas like missing glass and doors for dirt control. You'll never get all the dust out of the car interior and other holes in the body and body parts. The air from the gun will stir up all that dirt and it'll end up in your paint.

Painting at home, not in a paint booth, you'll get a lot of dirt and maybe even bugs in the paint. Urethane paint is great for fixing imprefections. You can color sand and buff out bug tracks, dirt, sags, orange peel and just about any problem area. I used NASON single stage urethane and found it very forgiving. Only complaint I had was the colors aren't always that true. Luckily I had a counter guy at the paint store who knew how to fix the color. The second time I bought Wimbledon White from him it really was Wimbledon White.

Good luck. You'll have a real sense of accomplishment.

 

I'm in the process of getting my Maverick painted. My paint was cracking too. I let the bodyshop talk me into having a mobile blasting company bead blast the old paint off in 3 hours, instead of me taking 3 months doing it by hand. I had the bodyshop shoot epoxy primer the next day. I could bring my Mav back home and finish the bodywork and paint myself but I'm going to let them do the dirty work. Here is my thread on my paint progress http://mmb.maverick.to/showthread.php?t=84907

 

you can get them at Harbor Freight if you have one nearby...

http://www.harborfreight.com/200-lb-capacity-portable-work-stand-38778.html

 

thanks for the tips Jsarnold

& yea the hardest part is going to be getting the car and garage as clean as possible. I have filler dust and paint dust everywhere in no time

 

Yea blasting is the best way to go, I know theres a few places in Tenn. that will blast the entire car, and you really get to see the imperfections in the body that way