How do I prep a car for spraying?

Question

Interested in cutting down the cost of spraying a car by doing the prep work myself, can anybody help me, do you have bodywork experience? I find it hard to find information on the net regarding prep work for car bodys so any help would be appreciated. Thank you!

Answer 1

you first nedd to assess the condition of the bodywork, does the paint have any bubbles ? is there any corrosion that needs repairing such as wheel areches etc ( you dont say what the vehicle is and the age) asuming there is no serious corrosion then you have a lot of sanding to do, if the paintwork and bodywork is in good condition then you need to basically take the shine off the paintwork and ideally coat it with etch primer, the trouble is not knowing what the paint is on the vehicle as some modern paints react with older ones, if this is the case you will need to go back to bare metal to cure the bubbling effect this has, the process is not complicated but it is time consuming, from bare metal you would using body filler (mix in proportions of filler = size of a golf ball, hardner = size of a pea) you apply the filler to the damaged area and allow to set hard, using as fine a grade of production paper as posssible (less scratches to get rid of later) you sand the repait until it is flat with the panel surface (ifi its curved use something like a piece of plastic pipe, if flat use a rubbing block) you keep repeating this process until the repair is unoticble when you run your hand over it, all repairs must be as good as that. Next you prime the area using a fine dust coat so that and high or low spots can be seen and repaired this can be done by using a filler putty, this coat needs to be rubbed down with wet and dry (use soap as well it stops the paper clogging) and this process is repeated until all the repairs are complete, then if you wish you can begin applying coats of primer rubbing down with a fine paper in between (soap again) and finally panel wipe (solvent so take care) and tak rag the surface ready for painting, i reccomend several coats of primer to give a deep finish

Answer 2

#1 Wash with HD cleaner
#2 Wash again
Try these sites. Everything you need to know
www.gmtips.com/3rd-degree/dox/tips/paint/dent/body-01.htm
www.paintucation.com
www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php?t=62573
www.carcraft.com/howto/24820

Answer 3

Sand
mask
wash with water
wash with paint prep
spray

Answer 4

Lightly sand it down