Appearance, Paint & Body Work
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By ThisEarl
#199170 Whats up guys...

I drive a hatch, it looks okay, original teal'ish color. Anyway, what i want to know is how to make my car that flat gray before you paint....

From what I've gathered, its the primer.....

When I get it painted to plan to take it to a pro, but I thought I can handle the priming step and save some money.

Ive conducted Youtube based research and learned that I need to sand the car to scuff it up?....

and then apply primer..? What type of primer?

Can the primer be done outside?

Any tips would be great....

Thanks
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By country_civic
#199189 look in the diy section of the forum there should be some good posts in there for ya

are you trying to repaint the same color or change color
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By ThisEarl
#199196 Just repaint the same color, too much work for me to do another color.
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By country_civic
#199198 well your gonna need to sand and block the paint on it now to get the surface prepped for primer but before you prime the car take and blow out all the dust and run a tack cloth all over it . this will help later on with adhesion and save some sanding and blocking on the primer . once your done that tape and mask off everywhere you dont want primer . then get a decent spray gun i recommend gravity feed and lay down your primer make sure you do about a 1/4 to 1/2 spray overlap to make sure even coats
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By ThisEarl
#199202 A spray gun would be great, but how would spray can do?.....
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By country_civic
#199210 never used a spray can but it might work just alot more time and energy used up to get it done and done right because no matter what the shop to take it to is gonna have to do alil work on the primer to finish it before final paint
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By ThisEarl
#199212 I think I can get my hands on a spray gun...


Summary:

1. Sand?

What is my goal when sanding?

2. Clean off the dust

3. Prime?

And somewhere between steps 1 - 3 I need to attempt some Bondo work- if needed?



Thanks for the help by the way.
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By country_civic
#199241 Summary:

1. Sand? yeah 220 for the tuff stuff and 300 for a finish

What is my goal when sanding? dull out the paint and smooth off any oxidation you can do bondo work at this step after youve sanded the surface but make sure you sand and smooth the bondoed suface as well

2. Clean off the dust? yeah blow off with air gun and wipe with tack cloth then mask and tape off

3. Prime? yeah light even coats make sure to overlap alil then sand and block the primer itll show you the low and high spots in the body if its not bad then go with it but if it needs work bondo or high biuld primer should do the trick

4. the body shop? if you cant get the body perfect after all youve done they should help you get it to what you want and if you use a quality body shop then have em paint clear wet sand and buff to a beautiful shine
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By ThisEarl
#199249 My hero lol, thanks man.