chmercer

haha hello!

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

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?