i'm planning on primering my car for the first time to save money and to earn valuable experience. i have an electric sander along with a spray gun. i realize i'm not going to get shop quality because i have no oven and the primer might get contaminated.


** i would like to know your experiences with sanding, prepping, and painting the car.

what kind of sand paper should i use,
what steps are involved,
what should i watch for,
what will save time,
what kind of primer should i use

any info will be valuable and appreciated... thanks!!!!

 

use 400 Grid Wet Sand paper. if you want to save time hit it with 80 Grid Dry Sand Paper and then go over it at the end with 400 grid and make sure its all smooth and no deep scratches, and then go get a compressor and a gun any kind of gun cause its just primer not paint, and set it on 80 psi and spray it on wet and I think its Layer over lapping layer. and at the end make sure to clean your gun and dont let the primer dry inside of it or its gona be a bitch to clean.. Well Hope this help.

 

also take your time masking. Thats the most important step. Use scotch brite to scuff all the edges and anything else you can't get with the sander to prevent it peeling later. And if you've sprayed armorall or another type of silicone lately you could get fish eyes. Hopefully you won't. Good luck.

And don't cheap out on the primer. Go to a paint supply store and and talk to them. PPG and Dupont are great.

Also, 80 psi is way to high. That will just cause more overspray. I spray my primer at 30 psi. Do you have a HVLP gun?

 

thanks!!! anyone else???

btw, what's a HVLP gun? i bought a cheap one from Harbor Freight, but forgot the rating on it...

 

high volume low pressure. (the guns with the cup on top)
Harbor freight is where I got my first spray gun. $49.95:thumbup:

 

my tank is on the bottom.. oops!! sounds like i need to exchange it... people have told me that you need a huge 60 gallon tank to keep the pressure going for these guns.

is my 33 gallon one enough?

 

Be careful w/ the primer, if you want to get a different paint job on you car, don't primer the whole thing, most people think that shops primer the whole car, hate to break it to people though, most shops just sand the clearand a very little of the old paint but not down to the metal. If you use the wrong primer, the paint that the shop uses might not work correctly together and it'll peel and shops don't cover that cause theiy didn't prep it.

 

The gun you bought (siphon feed) requires more pressure so I would return it if I were you. I have a 20 gallon 5 hp air compressor and I sprayed my hood, fender, bumper and passenger with no problems. If the air pressure starts to drop just wait 30 seconds or so for the compressor to catch up.

By the way, why are you priming your whole car? Cuz you know when you have it repainted that primer will have to be sanded down for the paint to stick properly. Why not go ahead and paint the car or have it painted?

 

just to get the experience and its cheaper. i'm planning on getting it repainted soon anyways, but i wanted to get my car all one color for awhile. i have some body work done to it.

 

I see. Good luck.