Body prep for painting Q's

[peps]

Just after some quick advice for preparing a car for paint.

The car will be painted with 2k primer filler where needed and then with 2k colour coat and a 2k clear.

On the panels that are at bare metal, how rough should the surface be, prior to painting with the 2k primer? Is 240p ok?

On the panels where there is the original paint, can I just sand the panel down with 600 or 800p? and then apply the colour coat? Or should I go over it with 240p and then apply primer filler, sand to 600 or 800p and then colour coat?

I had a search but couldn’t find answers to these q’s? Might be off to a library if this fails ;)

Cheers, Pete

[CT]

Don't use wet and dry on your primer - 400-600 dry is fine before your top coat. 400-600 wet and dry is fine on your other painted surfaces prior to painting with top coats. Bare metal should be etch primed unless your primer is designed for bare metal application. 400 again is probably as fine as you need prior to priming, 240 might be a little rough - you need to make sure you don't badly scratch the steel as it will show through primer/filler. That's about all I know. My spray painting is getting better every time I do it - but it might be another 20 years before it gets really good though!

[bigmuz]

The paint manufacturer will recommend what paper to use initially and between coats for best performance. 2K top coats in block colours tolerate pretty coarse surfaces. Clear over base for metallics is much less forgiving.

You really should prime the entire car- I often mix up the high fill pretty thick, and paint the repair spots and anywhere I think needs a bit of rubbing, then thin it out a bit and do the rest of the car. If you get it right it should only take ten or fifteen minutes a panel to block it flat before top coat.

Muz

[peps]

Cheers for that!