What is Proper Car prep to before painting?

[david11g35]

Here is the deal. My car has clear coat failure now on the roof and spoiler/Trunk. I can get just those areas repainted but I been thinking about just getting the whole car done. I have a body shop that does great work but they are pricey.

So I was thinking of prepping the car my self for paint and just have them primer and paint the car. Im sure it would be cheaper this way. I have not asked for quotes yet just an idea for now.

My question is what is the proper way to strip the car and get it ready for pain?

Sanding with what grits?
Chemical stripping?
Any other materials?

Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

If I do decide to go ahead with this it would be a great learning experience. :dblthumb2:

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Honestly I would just let the body shop do the prep. They are the ones that will determine what all needs to be done for the best approach to prepare for paint. If you do more than needed it makes more work for them and then it takes longer.

But if you must ask the shop doing the painting and see what they have to say on this.

Again this is my thoughts on this. (I am a body man and know from experiance).

[MPBGT]

There are tons of variables to the prep of a car for paint. I prep and paint my own cars and it was a lot of trial and error over time, It's not terribly difficult as long as you are patient. If you want to go for it I suggest you pick up a book on the subject. Just remember your paint job is only as good as your prep work.

[rmagnus]

Honestly I would just let the body shop do the prep. They are the ones that will determine what all needs to be done for the best approach to prepare for paint. If you do more than needed it makes more work for them and then it takes longer.

But if you must ask the shop doing the painting and see what they have to say on this.

Again this is my thoughts on this. (I am a body man and know from experiance).

Good advice.

Basics are remove all the trim. It doesn't need to be sanded to the metal but for the clear that is failing remove it all so sand into the base coat. A Scotch brite pad (not the kitchen type but rather automotive) can be used to scuff the entire car. It should be flay no shine. Now is the time to fix dents and aply filler. If you know how to tape before rolling into the paint booth tape off the car and potentially wipe it down then tac it. Those are the steps before spraying the car.


At a minimum fix the dings and shoot primer on it. If you're comfortable removing the trim that will save some labor. Most good body shops will guatantee their work and therefore may want to be responsible for the prep work. A good paint job is 60% good prep, 40% paint techinque.

[david11g35]

Thanks for the replies. Its just a thought right now. If I was going to do this I would asked the body shop first what needs to be done. They would probably let me work on it there at the body shop. I have done that with my friend that has had work done by them.