Steps in painting

clancaster23 · Post by **clancaster23** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 12:44 am

I'm going to try to paint my side skirts tomorrow but just wanted to run some steps by the people who know more than I do about painting. I believe I need to clean, then scuff up the skirts by wet sanding. Should I use somewhere around 2000 grit or something coarser like 600 and make my way up to around 2000?

After sanding, I primer. I plan on using two coats. Is that enough? After primering, do I wet sand a bit again before starting the black? If so, what grit? I'm going to do three coats of black. Now, after the black, so do I wet sand with something fine (2000 grit) before I add clear coat? If I wet sand before I add clear coat, should I hit it with come sort of rubbing compound then clear it or use the compound after adding two coats of clear?

What I am basically shooting for here is a quick list of what to do in getting a decent result. I know using an aerosol can won't get professional results. I am just looking for something that will look pretty good and I think I can get that if I just do this in the right order. Just need a bit of help in figuring that out. Any help is appreciated and will be credited when I get it all done. Everyone is begging me to paint these things black and they will love you for helping me in the process

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Donkeypuncher · Post by **Donkeypuncher** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 1:04 am

I wish I could remember every step but it's been 10 years since I was in auto body. We usually scuffed it, wash and clean, 2-3 coats of primer sanding in between coats, then wet sand before color. 1-2 coats of color then wetsand and wash clean, then lay down the clear coat and wet sand again. Then we buffed it to a shine with some chocolate milk looking liquid.

Sorry I can't help too much but I'm sure someone here can be more specific.

LilSparkPlug · Post by **LilSparkPlug** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 12:55 pm

Okay here goes.

- Clean the part off of any residual crap that might be on it with wax/tar/grease remover or a soap that doesn't have wax in it.

- Wetsand the part with 400 grit to 600 grit paper. The back of the Primer Surfacer can will tell you better.

- Spray 2-3 coats of the primer surfacer and let it sit for AT LEAST one hour. Then its time to sand. DO NOT sand in between coats.

- SEM's Primer surfacer requires you to sand it down with 320grit paper, wet. Then use 400 grit, wet to get rid of the 320 scratches.

- Spray 2-3 coats of your basecoat. Wait 5-10 minutes in between coats and spray them medium-wet unlike primer or clear which is usually sprayed more on the "wet" side. Again DO NOT sand in between coats OR after coats. UNLESS you wait 24 hours before applying clearcoat you have NO need to sand before applying it.

- After the last coat has "flashed" for ten to fifteen minutes, spray your clear coat. Spray ONLY 2-3 coats of clear, unlike basecoat the more clear you spray the worse off you are.

Let the clear sit for a good 24-48 hours before you handle it so it can dry. My recommendation for a rattle can clear is UPOL's Clear No. 1 because its UV resistant and sprays well at higher temperatures.

Here is the arsenal I used for Opi's eyelids:

The SEM high build is a GREAT primer, especially for things that are not perfectly even and you don't want to use filler on them. After the clear coat you should be done, there shouldn't be any need to sand and buff. Wait at least 30 days before waxing anything, the solvents need to evaporate fully first. If you wax it too soon you'll run into problems later.

Any more specific questions feel free to ask.

clancaster23 · Post by **clancaster23** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 1:40 pm

Thanks a ton for the response. I do have one question. Where do I get all this stuff? I have a Sherwin Williams near me, would they have it all? This doesn't appear to be your typical Wal-Mart stuff but I want this to turn out well and get what you recommend. A list excluding the paper?

I see:
High Build Primer Surfacer
U-POL Clear No. 1

Do you recommend any kind of color or will any good kind do?

When you say "medium-wet" and "wet", do you mean the thickness of the coats?

LilSparkPlug · Post by **LilSparkPlug** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 3:19 pm

Yes its a way to describe the thickness so to speak. But its real meaning is how the coat looks when it goes on. You don't spray basecoat like clearcoat. You spray it a bit lighter. Its not supposed to have a gloss.

An autobody supply store should be able to get you all of those things. As for the basecoat, it depends on what color your car is now. Auto body supply stores can mix you a color and put that color into a rattle can for you if you don't have a compressor available to you. It usually costs an extra $12 to do it, but if its the only way you can work, then so be it.

Your list should include:
- Paper: 320, 400, 600 (wet to dry like 3M or Norton Black Ice)
- A soft block (this you can get at walmart but the supply store will have it to
- Professional grade wax/tar grease remover. SW will have this also (I used to sell SW) this might be pricey but it removes ALL sorts of stuff from everything, and I've found it to be very handy even around the house
- SEM High Build Primer Surfacer (this is the one rattle can primer that doesn't suck)
- Basecoat....this depends on your color
- Clear coat - UPOL Clear No. 1

Here's more shots of Opi's eyelids (although it rained 15 minutes after clear coat and I need to re-clear them). The clear has a very high gloss and these are the steps I ALWAYS follow when I paint.
After they were done:

clancaster23 · Post by **clancaster23** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 8:45 pm

OK, the surface of the paint after applying the base coat (black) was a little rough but it did have a decent gloss to it but not shiny enough for me to like it. So I sanded with 1500 grit and just put onthe second coat of clear coat. Now they look kind of hazy after a wet second coat of clear. Will this clear up as they dry or do I need to start over?

LilSparkPlug · Post by **LilSparkPlug** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 11:58 pm

If you spray the Upol too wet it will "haze" and "milk" so to speak, and will need to be sanded and re-cleared. Sand with 600 to re-clear. Make sure you spray with 50% overlap.

clancaster23 · Post by **clancaster23** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 12:58 am

So applying polishing compound won't brighten it up, I'll definitely have to resand then reclear them? I'll post a pic of what they look like tomorrow.

LilSparkPlug · Post by **LilSparkPlug** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 2:38 pm

Post a picture that will help me more but what I think you're talking about is these little tiny "white bubbles" that form in clusters when UPOL is sprayed too wet. I have something else I sprayed that has those and they need to be fixed also. Wetsanding and re-clearing is the only way if this is what happened. This paint actually works well over 70 degrees. For some reason it atomizes better when its a bit warmer. I've yet to figure out why though.

clancaster23 · Post by **clancaster23** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 7:28 pm

OK, didn't get a chance to take pictures of what they looked like yesterday but put up these. They look a lot better than what they were yesterday but I'm still not 100% satisfied with them. Some spots are very glossy and nice and then there are areas where it isn't as glossy as I'd like. The pic of the shorter pieces explains this well. You see on the bottom one, the side on the right is nice and glossy (although could be better) and the side on the left is kinda dull. I'm not sure how to even the whole thing out with a nice gloss. Don't believe I am spraying unevenly. Also, this is with four coats of the U-POL #1 Clear.

Anyways, wold maybe a coat of rubbing or polishing compound help with the shine? Maybe another couple coats fo clear? I don't want to have to resand and reclear over again. For one, $18 a can is a bit nuts for this stuff and I'm not wanting to do the whole process all over again. They way they are is acceptable, just would like them glossier if it's possible.

LilSparkPlug · Post by **LilSparkPlug** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 8:19 pm

UPOL needs to be sprayed wet, and you need to overlap each pass at least 50%. You can try to compound and polish them, but I'm not entirely sure it will help you since its not sprayed all that glossy from the get-go. They almost look semi-gloss black in those shots.

clancaster23 · Post by **clancaster23** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 8:21 pm

I think I'll give them one heavy coat and see what happens over night before I choose whether or not to use anything else on them.