Update: My paintjob

[ivo316]

OK, after a series of changes in direction I have decided to remove all the paint from my front end, it's not salvageable, so, here's my fender, all the paint on the bottom part is going also, it's all chipped anyway.

My hood is ready and primed, I am sanding it with 400 grit, then I'll prime it again, because i have to add some filler in a couple of small dents.

[Garageaholic]

Looks....interesting. you gonna paint it yourself?

[ivo316]

Yep, I'm painting it myself, I hope it comes out nice, but even if it doesn't, it'll look better than what it did before.

Here's a shot of the hood, but it can't be seen properly because of the shadows.

[Garageaholic]

how you painting it... spray? roll? do you have the right equipment? color? moldings.. c'mon.. talk to us here!

[ivo316]

OK, bought a spray gun, a compressor, and all the stuff for the filling and priming, the guys at the paint store are giving me advice as i go, I took the car to them about 4 times this last three days, those guys are great, and patient as hell.

the whole front end (hood and fenders are going to be stripped), the rest of the car can be sanded and repainted over the previous paint.

Basically the car is in good shape, everything bu the fenders which have minor dents up front, one (the driver's side) I already filled, and is in the sanding process, the point is leaving as little filler as possible, the passenger not only has a dent, but it's bent inwards and the passenger side of the grille (the new one) does not fit, I guess that one might need professional help, but I found that the place where the fender bolts on to the body is bent (about 1/2 an inch) towards the center of the car, so i might need to place a jack or something to pull it back to where it's supposed to be.

The subframe is not off or bent, it's just the metal area above the headlight that is a bit bent, I'll leave that area for the end, I still have a whole car to sand and prime.:(

BTW, I am just painting the outside of the car, and the exact color it has, it's sun UV damage, so all the interior paint is perfect, so since i don't feel like dissasambling the whole car, i'll just repint the outside.

[Garageaholic]

You know that prepwork is 95% of the work. Laying the paint is easy and waiting for it to dry is even easier. Hang in there and take your time. It will all pay off. i guarantee it.

[ivo316]

Thanks for the advise, That's exactly what i am doing, I saw your car on the other post, and you filled the side moldings, did you use body filler ?

Are you rolling your car ?

I was going to roll my car, but i could not get hold of the correct paint here in Chile, so I figured WTF, let's spray the little bastard, it can't be that hard....

And it was:o , the wetsanding is exhausting, specially when you go to fine grains.

But I'll keep focused, the paint guys gave me this procedure :

"That's what the priming stage is for, you fill, sand, prime, fill, sand, prime, and so on, until the car is 100% perfect, Then you wetsand all your primed surface with 600 grit paper until it shines (I tried, believe me it does shine a bit), then spray mild coats of paint every 10 to 12 minutes until you get good coverage, wait a couple of days and wetsand again with 600, until you get a smooth surface, then spray her again with 3 to 4 mild coats every 10 to 12 minutes, then as a last coat spray a coat of VERY diluted paint, this solvent will tent to "glaze" the paint, then softly wetsand with 600, then 800, then 1000 and 1200."

The rest is done with polishing compounds.

[browntown]

dont get those beautiful euro bumpers dirty, take em off.

[ivo316]

I will, I am just sanding now, and i primed the hood off the car. ;)

[EWAustin]

For the final pre-paint sanding I wouldn't go any finer than 400 grit. Much beyond that and you risk the paint not sticking to the primer.

[ivo316]

wow, thanks ;)

Anyway, i hadn't primed my fender yet, and the car was at my driveway, and for the first time in 4 months

IT FUCKING RAINED !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.:eeek: :eeek: :eeek:

DAMN.

[asubimmer]

primer holds moisture anyways iirc.

[loonibab325i]

Damn, I wish I had enough balls to paint my car haha. Lookin good so far, keep it up!

[ivo316]

loonibab325i --- I just have two :p

asubimmer ----- I hadn't primed it yet, the fender was bare metal, but it stopped raining and i dried it with a towel and a hait dryer, it did change color (I mean the metal), so I will sand it again, it developed a mild rust color, but not that bad.

[backtrail69]

When you go bare metal make sure you whipe it down with a rust treatment before paint.