Need advice on re-spraying a car and prep involved.

[Beatz]

Hi everyone.

Milano red has faded to milano pink and the paint is a bit of an eye sore. I've been looking at re-spraying the car for a year but I want to know the best way to come across it. Basically I want the car to be re-sprayed in Milano Red, and the engine bay, door sills and anywhere that wasn't exposed the the sun is still perfectly fine and red like it was from the showroom. So I really think I just need the outside to of the car to be sprayed and the paint blended in to the door sills etc.

what I'm basically asking is, it's going to be cheaper if I do the sanding and prep myself and just take it to a shop to spray it and do the rest. As someone who's never tackled this kind of task I'd like to know

• How hard is it for a rookie? Or how easy is it to stuff up sanding a car
• How do you know how far to sand the paint down to? Is it possible to sand too far?
• What materials are involved with preparing a car for paint?
• If the outside only is being re-sprayed, would it be best to take off the panels and sand them? Or leave them on the car
• How much time is required to prep the car? There is no massive rush. But I want to know how much time I would be commiting

Thanks in advance for any input

[Batchy]

Hi everyone.

Milano red has faded to milano pink and the paint is a bit of an eye sore. I've been looking at re-spraying the car for a year but I want to know the best way to come across it. Basically I want the car to be re-sprayed in Milano Red, and the engine bay, door sills and anywhere that wasn't exposed the the sun is still perfectly fine and red like it was from the showroom. So I really think I just need the outside to of the car to be sprayed and the paint blended in to the door sills etc.

what I'm basically asking is, it's going to be cheaper if I do the sanding and prep myself and just take it to a shop to spray it and do the rest. As someone who's never tackled this kind of task I'd like to know

• How hard is it for a rookie? Or how easy is it to stuff up sanding a car
• How do you know how far to sand the paint down to? Is it possible to sand too far?
• What materials are involved with preparing a car for paint?
• If the outside only is being re-sprayed, would it be best to take off the panels and sand them? Or leave them on the car
• How much time is required to prep the car? There is no massive rush. But I want to know how much time I would be commiting

Thanks in advance for any input

There are a few ways to do it.

Most places will charge less if you have already ripped the panels off and done all the prep work yourself as this is the most labour intensive part. That painting of it is actually quick (just have to wait for drying between hits). Defiantly ask around for pricing first ask for a full respray then if you prepared and removed all the panels.

I did a spray job myself on my DA9 and I spent almost 3 days prep and that was not removing panels or engine bay. The better prep you do is a better finish product. some people for a full respray like to go down to bare metal and do a rust inspection and coat from the start, if you wish to do this sand blasting will save you a hell of alot of time and get a good job done.

your questions:

How hard is it for a rookie? Or how easy is it to stuff up sanding a car
- Take your time and watch what you are doing, have alot of different grains of sandpaper and keep a wet surface for the wet and dry. The moment the sand paper feels like its grabbing you are a bit dry. If you rush you can stuff it up easily so like I said take your time.

How do you know how far to sand the paint down to? Is it possible to sand too far?
- depends, the bare minimum is take off the top coat (clear coat)

What materials are involved with preparing a car for paint?
- Sandpaper and alot of it, thinners, good tape, plastic drop sheets (for big areas with tape to cover up), A sander will help alot as well.

If the outside only is being re-sprayed, would it be best to take off the panels and sand them? Or leave them on the car
- If the Trim in the doors and boot should not of faded that much (check first) then keep the panels on. If they have faded then take them off.

How much time is required to prep the car? There is no massive rush. But I want to know how much time I would be commiting
- Days, might be worth getting a few six packs for you and your mates. I had one mate help me for my 3 days of super prep work.

Hope it helps mate and will be keen to see photos

[SuperMario93]

Hi everyone.

Milano red has faded to milano pink and the paint is a bit of an eye sore. I've been looking at re-spraying the car for a year but I want to know the best way to come across it. Basically I want the car to be re-sprayed in Milano Red, and the engine bay, door sills and anywhere that wasn't exposed the the sun is still perfectly fine and red like it was from the showroom. So I really think I just need the outside to of the car to be sprayed and the paint blended in to the door sills etc.

what I'm basically asking is, it's going to be cheaper if I do the sanding and prep myself and just take it to a shop to spray it and do the rest. As someone who's never tackled this kind of task I'd like to know

• How hard is it for a rookie? Or how easy is it to stuff up sanding a car
• How do you know how far to sand the paint down to? Is it possible to sand too far?
• What materials are involved with preparing a car for paint?
• If the outside only is being re-sprayed, would it be best to take off the panels and sand them? Or leave them on the car
• How much time is required to prep the car? There is no massive rush. But I want to know how much time I would be commiting

Thanks in advance for any input

Me and a mate spray painted my old integra vtir (both first timers) - We sprayed rear panel, bonnet, front bumper and both side panels just above windows
Prep work is the worst! And will require a lot of patience, took us a whole afternoon to prep up the car
Car was sprayed in my front yard (under carport) - so we had to set up tarps around the car
Total cost of materials (including base and clear coat) was a bit over $250 - not too bad seeing as i received quotes for $1200-$2000 for our job and $2500-$4000 for full resprays.
I highly recommend going to a professional for advice i went to R&D Automotive paint in Condell Park - 97071420, really cheap and high quality paint, they also gave me really good advice and advised me what type of sand paper to use and how to do it etc
Seeing as though you are from Perth, just go visit your local autobarn or supercheap and they will advise you some good local places to go to.

As you are only prepping up the car, i would say less than $40 is required (sand paper and primer), and will take a whole day, maybe even two and a half.

Be prepared to make mistakes and learn from them
In my case my air pressure didn't release enough pressure so we had to borrow my mates and this was the outcome with my air pressure lol


We didn't worry too much and the next day we just simply sanded the bonnet back and continued


This is how the car turned out, was pretty happy with the end result



Be sure to shop around for the best buy/quality on materials and get professional advice before starting

Good luck mate

[Beatz]

Thanks for the advice guys. I will definately take note of what you said. I'm gonna head around to a few shops and get quotes and get some advice! I got some mates who would be able to help out, one of them I know may have painted a car before!

[Norm]

Jacob, a friend of my prepp'd his s2000 with 600 grit sand paper and just sanding it back with water till the gloss layer was gone. The scratches you see from the sanding help the adhesion of the primer. However, if you need any help taking the car apart let me know as I can most definitely lend hand in taking out your door windows. Question is, what is your budget as that may determine how much prep work you require.