What I learned while prepping my car for paint:
1) Never, never, never, ever go to an auto parts store. Go to an automotive paint and body supply store.
2) Ask the people who are painting the car what filler, glazing putty and primer to use.
3) Be prepared to pay $100's of dollars for materials. Buy the good stuff.
4) If you don't have a compressor and spray gun, use the good primer in the aerosol spray bottles that you fill. Search the web.
5) Yes, primer is $100 a gallon for the best - Glasurit, Spies-Hecker, Sikkens and even the good Dupont and PPG.
6) Buy the tools to pull the trim with. Ask the paint supply store. An $8 tool can save you an hours worth of work filling the scratches and small dents you made with a screwdriver.
7) Pay to have the glass removed and reinstalled unless you know how or are willing to take the time to learn.
7) Use prep-sol and a tack cloth before you prime.
It's tempting to see glazing putty in a quart can for $25 and know it's $8 a tube at the auto parts store and a quart is more than you'll ever use. You'll be sorry.
You can prep an area with cheap glazing putty and primer and it can look and feel slick and smooth. After it's painted you can see all the little scratches because the paint llifted the primer and/or filler. Search the forums and read up on it ahead of time. A lot of parts you will need are small. Try to order them all at once to save freight and handling. Make a list as you break stuff taking it off. Plastic trim clips, windshield gaskets and lock strips, trim pieces. etc. BMA is good for that stuff.
If you want a quick and dirty look good for 2-3 years paint job, go to Maaco or Earl Scheib and forget about the small details. I paid $1500 for the shop just to tape off and shoot the car after I prepped it. Don't go to an uptown shop that does insurance work. Go where the low riders, bikers, racers, and ricers go.
Good auto paint costs a lot. $225 for Diamondschwarz and $150 and up for others. Red is expensive and doesn't fade until you leave the body shop. I probably spent $500 on materials.
1) Never, never, never, ever go to an auto parts store. Go to an automotive paint and body supply store.
2) Ask the people who are painting the car what filler, glazing putty and primer to use.
3) Be prepared to pay $100's of dollars for materials. Buy the good stuff.
4) If you don't have a compressor and spray gun, use the good primer in the aerosol spray bottles that you fill. Search the web.
5) Yes, primer is $100 a gallon for the best - Glasurit, Spies-Hecker, Sikkens and even the good Dupont and PPG.
6) Buy the tools to pull the trim with. Ask the paint supply store. An $8 tool can save you an hours worth of work filling the scratches and small dents you made with a screwdriver.
7) Pay to have the glass removed and reinstalled unless you know how or are willing to take the time to learn.
7) Use prep-sol and a tack cloth before you prime.
It's tempting to see glazing putty in a quart can for $25 and know it's $8 a tube at the auto parts store and a quart is more than you'll ever use. You'll be sorry.
You can prep an area with cheap glazing putty and primer and it can look and feel slick and smooth. After it's painted you can see all the little scratches because the paint llifted the primer and/or filler. Search the forums and read up on it ahead of time. A lot of parts you will need are small. Try to order them all at once to save freight and handling. Make a list as you break stuff taking it off. Plastic trim clips, windshield gaskets and lock strips, trim pieces. etc. BMA is good for that stuff.
If you want a quick and dirty look good for 2-3 years paint job, go to Maaco or Earl Scheib and forget about the small details. I paid $1500 for the shop just to tape off and shoot the car after I prepped it. Don't go to an uptown shop that does insurance work. Go where the low riders, bikers, racers, and ricers go.
Good auto paint costs a lot. $225 for Diamondschwarz and $150 and up for others. Red is expensive and doesn't fade until you leave the body shop. I probably spent $500 on materials.
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