Google has a bunch of contradicting opinions...

My car is 3 different colors with big portions of missing clear coat on the original body. I read that once the clear is gone, the paint deteriorates and the only thing you can do with it is to strip to bare metal and start over. Is that true? I've also heard 2 mechanics (who paint on the side) say that the factory paint is the best primer and to avoid going to base metal.

If the deterioration thing is not true, what grit sandpaper should I use to remove the clear coat?

-----------------
If you live near CLT/Concord/Salisbury and have a price for all the work or just the paint portion, please name it (240sx fastback to "mineral grey metallic" like the new Charger color).

starting point:

10/20/2012 12:20:06 PM

From what I understand if its flaking to bare metal anywhere you need to strip and prime. Otherwise you can usually just prep the surface and go from what I understand. But again if it chips while sanding and such you gotta go down to metal.


Also you may want a uniform base coat of black or white before you put any color back on it otherwise the color will be different on the black vs red.

[Edited on October 20, 2012 at 1:24 PM. Reason : .]

10/20/2012 1:22:43 PM

some info here http://www.autobody101.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1254

i would sand off all of the clear with 600 or 800, shoot epoxy primer, then whatever paint you're going to use.

are you putting 2-stage (base/clear) back on there?

10/20/2012 3:43:21 PM

probably single stage. don't want to take my chances with more coats than I need to do

10/20/2012 5:19:27 PM

This may be obvious, but use the sandpaper wet. It will clog extremely fast dry, not to mention make dust.

10/20/2012 9:13:56 PM

I was going to use an orbital sander so yes, lots of dust

10/20/2012 9:48:50 PM

the paper/pad will still load up extremely fast. do it wet!

10/23/2012 12:02:00 PM

if you're putting single stage over two stage, i would sand off all (or as much as you can) of the clear and use an epoxy primer or primer sealer (which is usually just thinned down epoxy primer) on the whole car before repainting. don't shoot one type of paint (enamel, urethane, lacquer, etc) over another type directly. plus, as mentioned earlier, the primer layer will give you a consistent base to keep the new paint looking even.

here's a bunch of pictures of two-stage going over single stage (and lots of other cool crap going into the car) on a buddy's corrado that was repainted recently:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150726427338279.422872.291482448278

not that it shows a whole lot of the painting process, just because i wanted to whore out some pics.

10/23/2012 12:53:48 PM

beethead.. how much does a paint job like that cost?

10/23/2012 2:59:26 PM

i have no idea. the guy that did the body work (he works at hendrick) was doing it on the side in exchange for parts to upgrade the turbo on his audi, and there was a TON of body work that went into it.

the paint itself is a limited edition audi R8 color, so the materials alone were ridiculously expensive, but i don't know any of the numbers.

10/23/2012 3:47:59 PM

yeah that's what i thought... i'm looking at doing my first full car multi stage paint job that will require some rust removal and this time not done by a friend of mine who used to also work for hendrick (my t-bird was done by a hendrick racing body man)... and i have no idea how much it will cost.

10k? more??

[Edited on October 24, 2012 at 11:59 AM. Reason : .]

10/24/2012 11:59:17 AM