paint prepiration

[hotrodder13]

well ive decided to have a quick respray as my car is looking abit tatty due to the last owner giving it a quick respray but not preping it correctly

first off its full of sander marks to get rid of these do i just have to flat it down till the lines are gone

also it has had 2 fibreglass front wings and they just sprayed over the gel coat (no primer), so do i take it all back to the gel coat and prime before my spray job

thanks tom

[bmcecosse]

Yes and yes - will need good priming though before applying paint.

[hotrodder13]

kk thanks how many coats would be good, the blue on at the minute is just flaking off

[bmcecosse]

Several coats - there are many threads on painting. If you are spraying - don't use 2K!!

[hotrodder13]

im not spraying just praparing, i know a pro who will spray for the price of paint and some alchol beverages,

will primer be ok put of a little spray can

[bmcecosse]

Yes - the Poundland stuff is actually ok! But you really need a decent High Build primer from a spray gun to get a smooth finish.

[chickenjohn]

Sand it all down, preferably to gel coat and original factory cellulose paint. Much quicker with a DA sander, start with 80 grit, then 120/160 finishing with 240. Remove all rust, then wipe with panel wipe and treat any bare metal areas with etch primer. Then deal with any dents, really small dents you will not be able to panel beat out easily, so sand to bare metal, feather the edges into the flat panel, etch prime and fill. Sand the filler perfectly flat, feathering it into the surrounding metal work. Then etch prime (dust) and bare steel, then at least 5 coats of filler primer, allowing to dry between coats.
After three coats allow to dry and flat with 400 grit. Always use a block when flatting filler or primer.

Read these two excellent tutorials for more info!

http://www.citroen-restoration.co.uk/ds/painting.php

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/spray-painting.htm

The only thing I would do differently to the tutorials is not to wet sand primer.

BTW, this is a post where we could do with Jonothan to add his expert advice.......

[kennatt]

BTW, this is a post where we could do with Jonothan to add his expert advice....... [quote was just going to suggest the same thing

[bmcecosse]

I assume you mean Jonathon Heap - of JLH ? He has often come on in the past with helpful advice about body prep and spray painting. Should be able to contact him through his website http://www.jlhmorrisminors.co.uk/ or of course he's often on the MorrisOwners Forum - http://mog.myfreeforum.org/index.php

[hotrodder13]

started to flat the paint work down and ive got to say in not impressed on how much filler i found,

i knew there was some but found some i never knew was there ,

going to do some more flatting today and i asked the painer he if he can prime it and he said yes