Need advice for prepping for paint

[Suprastic]

Ive completed all the rust repair on my car, and now Im ready to block sand the car for paint. All bumper, mouldings, trim, lights have been removed from the car. Im gettig a body shop to spray the car, but I want to do all the prep work myself.

What grits of sand paper should I use to prep for primer and paint?

Any special tecniques I should be aware of?

Is it the same process for the bumpers and mouldings, or should I be doing something different?



Thanks in advance
-Dan

 

[Justin727]

320. then go over it with paint prep.
I'd go with a primer then a sealer.
Hit it was a DA and some 320. Use some paint prep. prime it. Block it. more prep then seal it and shoot ur basecoat

 

[DyslexicSquirrel]

Prepping is THE MOST IMPORTANT part of the paint process. It determines whether your paint is going to last 2 weeks or 10 years. if you hit it with the da (only if you need to) then be very careful not to apply considerable pressure to any one side of the DA while sanding. I did it, and now there are waves in my hood. I assume that the body shop will do all of the final prep work themselves with the tack rags and all that good stuff. Be sure and take some time while taping it... as this is a very important step as well. Also I would HIGHLY recommend removing the door handle pieces from the car and painting them seperately as well as the spoiler if you have one. I didn't do this either and the paint is now beginning to chip around the these contact points. Just my two cents... I hope this helps man... good luck. Also, be sure and baby your car (especially over the next several days so it has sufficient time to cure) as your new paint will not be quite as forgiving as the original paint... unless it's urethane.

 

[Justin727]

you probably used the hard pad that came with the da. Most people do not realize that you have to buy a softer pad for the da when you use it for body work. 3M makes a soft pad so you will not run into the problem of waving it.