paint job

[psycotic]

ok... believe me my parents and i dont get along when it comes to cars.... ive been arguing with them all night about what to do when i paint my car.. i told them i should sand it down (all the way to the metal) then put a coat of primer on it then take it to a shop to get the finished coat


they keep telling me i should just sand out certain ares that need it (like a spot here and a spot there) then primer those spots and get it painted.

wouldnt a shop sand the thing down anyway?

anyway i guess im just looking for a step by step explanation of what to do so i can show my parents....... and not have to argue

*edit*

also is there an easy chemical to use to get it down to metal?
or what grit sandpaper should be used

[TLR5613]

Not being mean but I am agreeing with the parents on this one. I don't know alot about painting myself but have seen it done at my dads place of work. Don't see them sand the whole car down to often. But might want some other opinions on this one.

[Ms.Maggie]

as a Auto painter/ body prep tech, I also have to agree with the parents ... how bad is your current paint? is it full of rock chips, cracking or just faded ? most of the time when doing an all over paint job you concentrate on the bad areas and fix as necessary ...then prime them ,and yes there is a way to chemicaly remove the paint down to the bare metal by using Aircraft stripper . but when doing so it may take 2 applications then you will have to deactivate the stripper by using water ( which may lead to rust on the bare metal ) . when you finally get the areas down to bare metal you will have to use a yellowish colored etching primer for rust prevention before you apply any body ( gray ) primer let me know if you need any more assistance ... I do these things all the time at work

[mattbeekler]

only sand the whole thing down if you are rebuilding, and sometimes not even then. I'm rebuilding a 69' volkswagen and i do not plan on having the whole thing sanded down (it would take forever, and to have someone do it is not cost effective)

The best thing to do in my opionion is this: Dont sand the whole car down to metal. That would take for F'ing ever with sand paper, unless you want to blast it... which i doubt is really an option. All you really need to do is etch the whole car. Take some sand paper and scratch it up some, then primer it. Of course you want to go course sand paper to a more fine sand paper.
This is what I'm doing for my VW and if I can trust its 35 year old paint job to hold the new primer and paint I'm sure you can trust your 7-9 year old one

[mannydingo]

Matt, my dad has some Volkswagen parts for sale. Do you need any body parts? He used to be a body man before he retired. He would keep the crashed part that the dealership would want thrown away when he repaired the cars with new parts. Sometimes it was basic and small damage and he left them like new, minus outer paint. Let me know.