How To Prep A Car For Primer

How To Prepare Fiberglass For Painting

Congratulations! Youve found the source for the finest fiberglass auto body parts on the planet! Our entire line of fiberglass comes with a white gelcoat finish that is ready to scuff, sand, prime, and paint. The best trick to achieve a flawless paint job on any fiberglass panel begins with the prep work. By following a few basic steps, your Speedway fiberglass will fit well, be a snap to paint and last a lifetime.

A fiberglass part can take weeks to cure after its manufactured. If you follow what some of the experts say, the minimum curing time is usually around 48 hours, while others say fiberglass parts should cure for weeks. If you dont install the part right away, be sure to clamp the piece to a frame or other rigid structure to avoid any warping or twisting. Do not hang fiberglass parts from the rafters or stack them in the attic. Gravity, excessive heat, and time can make the final installation a nightmare!

After the curing process is complete, youll want to check the body panels, fenders, doors, or any other components for proper fit. Aftermarket fiberglass bodies were never assembled at the factory, so you cant just assume the panels will fit perfectly. Sometimes they will need a little help and if you didnt assemble the parts before curing, do so before sanding and priming. Dont just hang the doors and assume everything else will fit, some parts may simply fit better than others?

Prepping The Paint Area

When we say prep the paint area we mean to ensure the area around you is clean from debris as well. Make sure there is no dust in the air or on the floor. The reason you are checking for this is to ensure while walking nothing kicks up.

If dust happens to kick up into the air from your footsteps/air compressor kicking on, it can land on the surface and cause negative effects.

Working just inside of a garage like a true DIY enthusiast, make sure your garage floor is clean and that nothing can fling up in the air.

If you have a super dusty garage floor, having a hose around with water can be a game changing tool.

When we personally spray in a dusty area, we lightly wet the entire garage floor around us so the dirt is too heavy to lift up. That way when we walk around and such, none of the possible dirt can get onto the surface ruining your paint job.

Once you have finished up your prep work, move onto the next step, car paint!

How To Prepare Your Car Bumper For Painting

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There is a general misconception about car bumpers. One is that it reduces the impact of an accident on the car and the driver during a crash. The fact is, the bumper is not a safety feature of a vehicle.

The bumper serves as a guard to diminish or forestall physical harm to the vehicles front and back in low-speed crashes. The bumper intends to secure the hood, trunk, exhaust, fuel, fumes, and cooling framework. The bumper is a guard made of steel, aluminum, rubber, or plastic.

The bumper also adds to the cars aesthetics. It becomes very noticeable if there is a scratch, dent, or any form of imperfection on it. However, these imperfections can not be a reason to worry because they can be fixed by repainting.

Heres how to get your bumper ready for painting.

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Do You Wash Car After Sanding Before Painting

The same way Mr Miyagi told Daniel to wash his car, so should you. It is important to clean off all the old dirt, wax, oil, grease, finger prints, and anything else that may have been on the surface before applying any finish. If these things are not cleaned off before use, they can cause fish eye issues in other paint applications.

How To Paint A Car Tip #: Put In The Prep

Once you have your supplies, you should move onto preparing your workstation. First, clean your working area. If youre working inside a shed or garage, sweep the floors and make sure you have plenty of space to work. Obstacles in the way will only make the job harder.

If youre working outside, hose down the area with water to settle the dust, and don’t paint underneath a treeor anything else, for that matter. Contaminants can drop onto the wet paint and ruin the finish. Then, wash the car to remove any surface contaminants such as dirt, grease, and road grime.

Before you start sanding and applying primer, decide what you want to paint. Do you want to paint the engine bay, trunk, or inner doorsills? Painting these can add time and complexity to the project, especially if you’re going to paint the engine bay, which could require some mechanical knowledge to remove the engine and other accessories. If youre looking to improve the exterior, mask off the areas you dont want to paint.

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Choose Your Location Wisely

Before you begin any actual painting, you will need to find a suitable location for your DIY project. Make sure your location offers plenty of room for working around your car, and is well ventilated and well lit. Choose a place with electricity and minimal dust. Avoid residential garages, since these often have furnaces or heaters, which pose a fire hazard when coming into contact with paint fumes.

Stripping The Existing Finish

Warning: Things can get pretty dusty while youre sanding. Equip yourself with a pair of shop goggles and a respirator or dust mask to avoid breathing in harmful particles.

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Auto Painting Pros Know Clear Surfaces Equal Successful Paint Jobs

Prior to painting anything, you want to make sure that the surface area is free of all dust or any particles that can get in the way. If youre painting your car outside, simply hose down the outside of the car and wash it well to ensure nothing is on the surface of the car, including road grime or grease. After letting the car dry, tape off the areas of the car that you want painted prior to beginning.

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QUESTION 5: Can you use sealer and base from 2 different brands?

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Treating Small Rust Patches

Small shallow rust patches such as those caused by flying stones can be treated with rust-resistant primer.

Wipe the area and about an inch all round it with a cloth moistened with white spirit, to remove any way.

Scrape away all the loose paint and rub down the rusty area with a scrap of course wet-and-dry abrasive paper, used dry.

Rub down until you reach sound paint all round, but not beyond. Wipe away dust with a clean cloth.

Brush on the primer, overlapping the sound paint by about 6mm all round. Let it dry.

If it is the type that does not dry on non-rusty areas, wipe off the surplus with a clean cloth moistened with methylated spirit.

Bring the damaged area up to the level of the surrounding paint by smoothing on a thin layer of bare-metal cellulose stopper, using a flexible knife. Use a grey stopper for light paint, red for dark. Let it dry completely.

Smooth the stopper with 400-grit wet-and-dry paper dipped in water so that it blends into the surrounding paint. When working on broad, flat areas, wrap the paper around a sanding block.

Smoothing out a dent

Check Bumper For Imperfections

Start by detaching the bumper from the rest of the car and check all the areas that require attention. Use a marker to circle all the areas that need body fillers. Wash all the before the process of applying the sandpaper.

Then follow by sanding all affected areas on the primer with a 500 grit sandpaper. Follow up by applying fillers to cover holes and dents.

Wash and allow it to dry. It will be an ideal opportunity for sanding again. While youre filing the marked areas, its a best practice to ensure you stop and check your progress frequently.

The process of covering imperfection on your bumper using body filler requires experience and professionalism. We recommend taking your car to an auto technician to get the job done for better results.

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How To Paint A Car Tip #: Find Some Time And Stock Up On Supplies

First: set aside time for this project. A paint job can take anywhere from several days to a couple of weekends, so finding a shed or garageor something shielded from the elementsis important. Once you secured your painting location and set aside time to get the job done, youre ready to gather your materials.

But youll need more than just paint. Essential tools include 1200- and 2000-grit wet-and-dry sandpaper, an electric sander, masking tape, an air compressor or a spray gun, newspapers for masking off, face masks, safety glasses, and paint thinners.

And if you can afford a dust extractor, get one. Its not essential, but it will help keep the air free of debris.

For a small- or medium-sized vehicle, youll need approximately 1 gallon of base coat or primer, 3 gallons of topcoat, and 2 to 3 gallons of clear coat. Larger vehicles will require about one and a half gallons of base coat, four gallons of topcoat, and three to four gallons of clear-coat lacquer. These amounts are likely more than what youll needand professionals will use lessbut its better to have too much paint as opposed to too little.

If you want to match the original color of your car, find the color code located on your car’s compliance plate. An auto paint shop will also be able to match it.

How To Prepare A Car For Paint

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Two Types Of Adhesion

Paint sticks to a surface two ways, by a mechanical bond and by chemical attraction. Even after you sand your car very smooth, microscopic roughness will remain. Think of it as a light scuffing. The paint needs that texture to grip. Without that scuffing paint wont stick very long, like when you apply paint to a mirror. Its too slick to adhere to.

For a chemical bond, molecules in the paint have to bond to molecules in the underlying primer or paint. Additives in the paint make it do that.

Workspace For Car Painting

First thing’s first. You’ll want to make sure you have an ideal space for painting your vehicle. This involves an area that is relatively clean and dust-free to avoid particles ending up in the car finish or your materials.

• If you have the garage space, make sure it is clean and well-ventilated — a few small exhaust fans are a good idea to prevent fume build-up and help with drying time.

• Good lighting is important. Without good lighting, it may be tough to see small blemishes or inconsistencies in the sand or paint job. Make sure you have adequate lighting wherever you’ll be working.

• The space should be large enough that you can move comfortably around the vehicle on all sides at all times. This is especially important if you’re using a paint spray gun on the larger areas of the vehicle fray, as a continuous stream will coat the vehicle better and result in a better quality finish.

• If you’re removing any panels and painting them separately, make sure you have a station set up to the side, or even just outside your workstation, to avoid overspray.

• Set up a small area to the side with any other painting supplies you’ll be needing throughout the vehicle prepping or painting process — clean rags, sanding supplies, brushes, etc.

If the weather is decent, it’s entirely possible to conduct your paint prep and painting outside. Just make sure the vehicle isn’t parked beneath any trees or anything else that could drop particles or other bits onto your fresh paint job.

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How To Apply Car Paint Primer Correctly

You can easily change the look of your car by changing the paint but before you paint your car another color it is necessary to apply a car paint primer. Many professional car painting companies can charge you quite a bit to repaint your car and you can do this yourself with the right material and information.

Materials and Tools:

• Paper, tarp or other covering
• Masking tape
• Fine sandpaper and thick grit sandpaper
• Primer
• Car washing and cleaning materials

Step 1: Remove Dirt

The very first step is washing the car to get rid of any dirt or grit. If you do not wash your car then any dust, grit or dirt can interfere with the primer and paint adhering to the car. Besides washing your car you also need to use a grease or wax remover in order to get rid of that dirt that does not wash off using soap or water.

Step 2: Sand the Car

Now that the car is clean it is necessary to sand down any rough areas. For very tough spots use the tough grit sandpaper as smaller areas can be done using finer sandpaper. If you find any holes or dips that need to be fixed, fill them with putty and then sand the area down. You want all imperfections taken care of in order to have a level and smooth area to paint.

Step 3: Let your Car Dry

Step 4: Cover areas not to be Painted

Step 5: Priming

Step 6: Sand Car again

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Wet Sanding With A Block

You cant use your bare hands to sand a car. Your fingers will wear shallow spots in the primer and paint. You need to get a sanding block, which is a semi-pliable, small block of rubber that holds wet sandpaper. Use that instead of your bare hands to ensure a flat surface.

You will also need several grades of wet sandpaper, all which will be amazingly fine grained. But the fine grain would rapidly clog up with sanding dust. Thats why you use water as you sand, to keep the sandpaper clean.

Youll also need a tube of nick, pit and scratch filler. Easier to use than body filler, its made for filling all those tiny imperfections.

If youre working on a resto mod it probably has old-fashioned rain channels above the windows. Yes, there is a special filler for that as well, and it also comes in a tube.

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