help doing color change on 240sx, long post

[chmercer]

Hi guys, i am pusher's friend. I have a 95 240sx and a 85 300zx. I am looking to do an exterior color change on my 240sx and i have quite a few questions. You guys seem pretty knowledgable on the subject so i thought id ask here.

The car is currently a factory blue/green 'chamelionesque' color, which i believe is called emerald pearl. One of my fenders is factory black. The car still has full factory clear coat.

Before i paint, i will be replacing the front bumper cover, adding sideskirts, and rear bumper valences. These pieces will come professionally primered so i dont have to worry about prepping thoes pieces. All the rest of the body will need to be prepped. I plan to either paint it either a dark silver or black, i havent decided yet.

I am a pretty big newbie when it comes to automotive paint, I have a lot of questions, please forgive the long post.

1. How far down into the paint should i sand, or should i sand at all? Pushers car was already spraypainted so he sanded it down a good deal, but i am not sure what to do exactly with the factory finish still being in pretty good shape. Also, what grit(s) should i use when sanding? i heard 100 grit finish was the best for primering?

2. What is a good brand of primer to use that is forgiving to a beginner? If there is a specific brand that settles the smoothest or dosent run or anything along thoes lines, i would like to know about it.

3. How many coats of primer? We only used a quart on pusher's car, i am wondering if we should have used more. we got 1 full coat, and then about another half coat touching up areas. How long should i wait between each coat?

4. Sanding primer before painting the color - how should this be done?

5. Should i remove the fenders, hood, etc. and paint these pieces seperatley? or is it best to do all of the parts being painted at the same time?

6. I heard metallic paints were more difficult to paint? Is there any truth to this, and does anyone have tips specific to painting with metallic silver paint (geared toward a beginner)? Any good brand of silver paint? How many coats? Wait time between coats?

7. After doing the color, but before the clear coat, should i sand or anything of that nature?

8. Any tips on applying the clear? same thing as before, how many coats, how long to wait between coats, good brand of clear, etc etc .

Sorry for all the questions in my first post! i just want this to look as good as i can, I want to try my best at this so i am gathering any information available. If you can answer any of my million questions, it would be greatly appriciated. thanks again!!

ps - what is wet sanding?

[Tidoubleger24]

hello,

i dont know the anwser to some of your questions, so ill leave those to more qualified people...

1) ugh ?? however i have heard that the factory paint can be sprayed over, would u have to remover clear coat.. i dunno.

2) when it comes to paint and what brand to pick, id stick with ppg or dupont. I was told from a professional restorer that ppg was the best band to use, cuz it was the higest quality and most advanced, hes been doing this since he was a teenager, and is highly sought out. also check the refence charts on the pimer, becuase it will state exactly what to use the paint with, what base and clear. most paint sales people are not knowedable and will give you wrong advice. theres extensice information from ppg on how to use the paint and what other paint to use it with.

3) when it comes to how many coats, it could be as much as 7 to 8. you have to ask your self how good do i want it to look and how much money i have and how much time you have. the more time you spend it prep work and making the panels completly flat and smooth the better the final finish will be.

4) when sanding the primer, you should use a solid block or bar sander, because its straight and wount make any divits in the paint, asa final color of black will show the most imperfections in the prep work, and panels. sanding should be light and smooth and not go through the first coat of primer. the more sanding that is done, the more coats of primer you need to build it back up.

5) when you remove parts, it can be harder to make the car look uniform espically for the beginner. commonly someone will put the panels back on only to find them darker or lighter that the rest of the car.

6) metallic paints (well candies) can be harder to paint because they need a base coat of silver and then the candy paint is sprayed over that, and its a semi transparent paint, and the more layers the thicker it is, and darker. So to get a car the same color all around, can be difficult. metallic paint however im not too familar with the different varities of, and someone else should give you that info. however i think its the same as spraying a regular color, as the metallic is mixed into the color, and sprays the same. i found that the metallic does settle, and needed shaking of the cup, so in that respect it is harder ( im my experience, i asked for a solid color to be made into a metallic, and sliver flake was added). as far as brand, id go ppg if the funds were there. The rest of the questions are usually paint specific and found on the can, or on information that you can get from the company.

7) if there is belemishes in the paint or sags or drips/runs, then yes it should be sanded. however, when using the advanced enamel paints, they dry glossy and dont need sanding. laquer paints need to be buffed to achieve the final gloss.

8) for clear id stick with the same brand and go off of its directions, as different types of paint dont mix, and even different varities of paint within a line arent really meant to used together.

Wet sanding is when you are using a very fine grit sand paper, and water "cleans" out the sand paper, (u sand with running water over the surface) because if u dont, paint flakes clog the sand paper and then the paint actually digs into itself, causing deeper scratches. wet sanding produces a beautful finish thats very glossy. do your own research online, and try to find out the most you can before tackling this job. the internet is a vast resource with many good sites, and i found a site under the link section under personal z sites, that had a lot of good info. then ull be able to start to see if the info youve come across is bogus or worth taking a look at or if the guy at the counter know wtf hes talking about. it isnt too common however.

please correct and misguided info, as this is info ive gathered from many sources, and some on my own experiences.

[chmercer]

thankyou very much for all of the info, very helpful!

[gema]

Hiya from NICO! =D

[chmercer]

haha hello!