ok well spring is on it's way and i am going to start the body work on my car. right now it is a freekin ugly ass fast and furious bright green WOW! thats how i got the car from my buddy. now if i just get some aircraft grade paint stripper from checkers would this be a good way to do most of the work be for i have to hit it with sand paper?

also when i get all the paint off what is a good way to go about primering it. i know i have to tape every thing off, i am thinkin more of the process!

i am very new to body work so any help on striping the paint and laying down a coat of primer is greatly appreciated

sorry if my spelling is a little off! lol

I wouldnt strip it all to metal, that will take you forever. Just get a DA sander and start sanding with some 180 or 220 with it, and sand off the clear coat. You will know when you have made it through the clear because clear will be white, and then when you hit the paint, you will see green dust. If your going body work, like filling dents, just grind it down to metal where your working and fill it and sand it smooth. Prime it with some urethane type primer and then hit it with some streaks of black primer and then block it down. If you see black anywhere after you block it, then you found a low spot. Fill it and prime/streak/block again.

i would just knock off the clear with 600grit wet . once its dull u can go ahead and shoot some sealer primer and then basecoat and clear

prepsol works wonders for cleaning surfaces of all residue so you don't get fish eyes. It also helps see dents you normally couldn't see on a dull surface (like primer). Be sure to spray some primer SEALER down or your gonna have problems covering that mucus green. and dont go up to 600 i would use 180-320 before you prime, because the primer is not gonna want to stick at anything higher. after prime then you want to use a higher grit because paint loves to show sand scratches. Have fun.

Originally posted by ThePerfectShift
prepsol works wonders for cleaning surfaces of all residue so you don't get fish eyes. It also helps see dents you normally couldn't see on a dull surface (like primer). Be sure to spray some primer SEALER down or your gonna have problems covering that mucus green. and dont go up to 600 i would use 180-320 before you prime, because the primer is not gonna want to stick at anything higher. after prime then you want to use a higher grit because paint loves to show sand scratches. Have fun.

you dont want to spray sealer over 180 grit thats for sure . sealer does not cover scratches . think of the sealer as a pre base and bascoar should always be ssprayed over 600 . you can get away with 400 but it may leave some sand scratches . it good to spray surfacer primer over 320 .

He's right, I got my primers confused. kudos to you ;)

so pretty much i get to go crazy with a sander! also what i found out is that when the dude befor me painted my car he painted over the original forest green, so i think i am going to sand it all the way down to that, it will take some time but i have plenty of that!

does anyone recamend a good primer, something that has worked really good for you in the past!

no u dont need to take out a sander . all u need is 600 grit paper ,a squeegee to use as a sanding block ,some water and a gray scuff pad for hard to reach areas (door jams,etc. . once the clear is all not clear ur good . then do ur light body work with glazing putty and ur ready for sealer . i always use ppg products . there is regular sealer and epoxy primer which reduced is sealer . i like the regular better . remember to get a little lighter color than the basecoat .

Originally posted by boosted60trimrst
no u dont need to take out a sander . all u need is 600 grit paper ,a squeegee to use as a sanding block ,some water and a gray scuff pad for hard to reach areas (door jams,etc. . once the clear is all not clear ur good . then do ur light body work with glazing putty and ur ready for sealer . i always use ppg products . there is regular sealer and epoxy primer which reduced is sealer . i like the regular better . remember to get a little lighter color than the basecoat .

like i said i am sanding it down to the original color! "forest green" so i am going to be sanding through the color thats on my car, i dont like the idea of having tons of layers of paint on my car so i am going to reduce it down to the original then paint over that!

thanks for the tip's thought!

I always like threads like this because every person who has painting experience always seems to have different techniques. Someone should do a write-up to be stickied on how to paint body panels, urethane bumpers, interior pieces, and rims. :thumbsup

Originally posted by DanKid
I always like threads like this because every person who has painting experience always seems to have different techniques. Someone should do a write-up to be stickied on how to paint body panels, urethane bumpers, interior pieces, and rims. :thumbsup

I can do a write up this spring. I have a new color again for my car with some more extensive body work its going to be through for the last time finally.

As for the OP, I love using Tranzstar urethane primer. It sprayes really nice and wetsands nicely as well.

Also, dont bother sanding down to the stock color...

Originally posted by eclipse982nrRST
I can do a write up this spring. I have a new color again for my car with some more extensive body work its going to be through for the last time finally.

That would be awesome to have on this site. I really want to build up my knowledge in this area, so I can finally finish the front bumper I made, and paint my wheels too.

Originally posted by bud660r
like i said i am sanding it down to the original color! "forest green" so i am going to be sanding through the color thats on my car, i dont like the idea of having tons of layers of paint on my car so i am going to reduce it down to the original then paint over that! thanks for the tip's thought!

I would take it to a body shop and ask them to use a "mil gauge" to see how thick the paint is on your car now. If it's not too bad, you can probably get away with just sanding/scuffing it with 600 like boosted60trimrst said and then seal it and then basecoat/clearcoat it.

Otherwise if you did sand it all down to the forest green color, that would take A LOT of time and A LOT of sandpaper, which equals A LOT of money lol.

its really dont need to be sanded all the way down . it was only resprayed once that u said .iv never used there primer but i like the transtar quick gloss clear.