Pre-Paint questions..

[noc_81]

First of all, it should be said that I am in no way an experienced body mechanic. This is pretty much my first full-blown project (and honestly I got in a little over my head, hehe).

I'm getting ready to paint my trans am, but I have a few things I need some of your guys' "professional insight" on first:

First of all, the current surface is mostly painted with plenty of chips and scratches, beside the areas I've stripped back the paint to do repairs (and a bare metal door). I don't know much about paint types, but I assume I'd want to go with urethane rather than acrylic/enamel (I guess I can only assume it's urethane now, but can't be sure as I'm pretty sure it's been repainted once already).

I guess what I'd do first is block wet-sand the entire car with something like 320 grit, and then level off whatever low spots I find with filler. As for the primer, I'm not to sure about the different types. As far as I can tell, I'd use a general urethane primer (high build I guess..?), but on the sections of the car that I've worked on (bare metal or filler) I am unsure whether I'd have to use an etching primer or polyester/epoxy primer on those spots first. As for the basecoat (black, by the way), I'm not sure whether I should go one-step or base+clear.

I also have the bumpers removed (both with a few bare patches) and a recently obtained set of gfx (all but one piece are black (other is silver) but all probably need paint). What's the method for painting these parts (ie. primer, paint, additives...)?

It should be stated also that I plan on doing the primer in my garage with my small compressor and a cheapo paint gun (friend dumped it on me, so I figured I'd get some use out of it). I also plan on doing it incrementally, section by section (due to small compressor). The rest I'm going to try to do myself in an acquaintance's shop, or get done professionally if I must.

Thanks in advance for any help or advice.
__________________
______________________________
1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am
Small Block 350
Edelbrock Torker intake with stock heads
GM Turbo Hydraulic 700-R4
Carter AFB
work in progress

[88GT]

First of all, it should be said that I am in no way an experienced body mechanic. This is pretty much my first full-blown project (and honestly I got in a little over my head, hehe).

I'm getting ready to paint my trans am, but I have a few things I need some of your guys' "professional insight" on first:

First of all, the current surface is mostly painted with plenty of chips and scratches, beside the areas I've stripped back the paint to do repairs (and a bare metal door). I don't know much about paint types, but I assume I'd want to go with urethane rather than acrylic/enamel I would(I guess I can only assume it's urethane now, but can't be sure as I'm pretty sure it's been repainted once already).

I guess what I'd do first is block wet-sand the entire car with something like 320 grit,180 would be better and then level off whatever low spots I find with filler. As for the primer, I'm not to sure about the different types. As far as I can tell, I'd use a general urethane primer (high build I guess..?), but on the sections of the car that I've worked on (bare metal or filler) I am unsure whether I'd have to use an etching primer or polyester/epoxy primer on those spots first.large bare metal spots should be primed with etch or epoxy, and areas where fille is exposed should be done with high build...some overlap of each is ok. As for the basecoat (black, by the way), I'm not sure whether I should go one-step or base+clear. I hate "one step, personallyI also have the bumpers removed (both with a few bare patches) and a recently obtained set of gfx (all but one piece are black (other is silver) but all probably need paint). What's the method for painting these parts (ie. primer, paint, additives...)?If the paint is in good shape, treat it like a metal part. If its bare plastic in spots, Id use an adhesion promoter on those areas

It should be stated also that I plan on doing the primer in my garage with my small compressor and a cheapo paint gun (friend dumped it on me, so I figured I'd get some use out of it). I also plan on doing it incrementally, section by section (due to small compressor). The rest I'm going to try to do myself in an acquaintance's shop, or get done professionally if I must.

Thanks in advance for any help or advice.
__________________
______________________________
1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am
Small Block 350
Edelbrock Torker intake with stock heads
GM Turbo Hydraulic 700-R4
Carter AFB
work in progress
I used larger text for my opinion

[Len]

You may want to pick up a copy of the Spray Painting 101 DVD (http://autobodystore.net/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=4VDO).
If you learn any single thing from this two hour video it will more than pay for itself.

[noc_81]

(sorry for not responding for a while... been tight on money)

Basically, the only areas that don't have paint are on the rear quarter panels on the bottom behind the tires (and a bare metal door). Here the metal is intact, but filled with ripples and dents (had been covered with a thick layer of bondo, but I took it all of it off and straightened out the panel much better) and once filled it's surface is about 50% metal and 50% filler. For these areas, I would use high-build, right? or epoxy?

And the door I would definitely use epoxy/etching, right?

The rest of the car (1 door, front quarter panels, and hood, and rest of rear) is all intact paint, besides a few blisters and dents that need to be fixed. The finish looked good enough with a good waxing, but without it's a wreck and might as well be done with the rest. I guess I'd go about this by wet-sanding it with 180/220 with a handblock, and then fixing whatever low spots I find. After it's all leveled down, spray it with high build (any certain number of coats? or just go until a coverage is smooth and quidecoat comes out even?). It would still be easy enough to remove the fender and hood to paint, but is it worth the hassle (and possibility of messing up the paint)?

Sorry for all step-by-stepping, but it's my first paint job and I can't afford to screw up... hehe. Thanks for all the advice, guys.

[Harry Phinney]

... it's surface is about 50% metal and 50% filler. For these areas, I would use high-build, right? or epoxy?

And the door I would definitely use epoxy/etching, right?


Most modern high-build primers are "2K" (two komponent -German for component) urethane based paints that are not intended to go on bare metal. There are exceptions. Many companies now produce Direct To Metal (DTM) primers that are generally expoxy/acrylic hybrids, and can (as the name implies) be used on bare metal. If you use a common 2K primer, then you need to first apply either an etch primer or an epoxy primer on the bare metal areas prior to the 2K. Some etch primers can be applied over filler or existing paint, but others are not to be applied to anything other than bare metal. If you want the simplest approach, find a DTM primer. Otherwise my advice is to start with an epoxy primer, and apply a 2K primer over it within the "topcoat" time window of the epoxy, without intermediate sanding of the epoxy.

Harry Phinney