ready for paint

ok guys, im ready to get my 74 painted. i think i am going with a red. ( not sure) but anyways, what i have on the car now is a nasty red over another red. i was painted ober the old stuff it looks. when i go and paint this car, what shoudl i do. do i go down to the first coat of paint or what? im not auto body person, so ... also, i when i finish sanding all of it and doing what i need to do, i use primer right. painting over old paint is bad right.

there's a few things you can do. you can sand down the first coat and use an etching primer, it's kind of an acidic primer that softens paint so that it sticks better and then you can paint the car. or you can sand down both coats to the metal then put a primer on. some people prefer to put a sealer over the primer and then put paint on top of that, but ya dont have to

i thought you dont want to soften the paint.

it's not mushy soft, just enough that the primer kinda soaks into it and grabs ahold better, then it dries hard. it's just that spraying a regular primer over paint tends to flake off

I would try to take it down to metal unless the old paint is peeling or seems to not want to stay stuck to the metal or paint it is under. Other spots that need to be down to metal is rust,rust bubbles, rot etc..,

A good heavy sanding of 230grit wit a DA will help tear all lose paint off and help to give you a smooth level surface. Then go up to 320 with the DA and work it to help remove some of the 230 scratches.

Then I like to use epoxy primer over a self-etching primer cause it is a lil less finicky and is a better filler primer but it does cost more. Self-etching primer is also ok but more attention to your sanding is need. I would go up to 400 wet before using self-etching.

I dont recommend taking it down to the metal unless you suspect previous bad bodywork or hidden rust.. If its all nice and straight, ide take the outter layer of paint off, try to get it down to the factory paint.. if your painting the car red, make sure you use white primer... and tack rag it before you spray anything on the car!!


if your really picky about how it turns out, you could spray black primer over sections at a time (imperfections show up a lot better under black) to find any scratches, gouges, dents, etc.. then block it with a fine grit sandpaper (1500 grit?) to check for high or low spots on the metal...

I dont recommend taking it down to the metal unless you suspect previous bad bodywork or hidden rust.. If its all nice and straight, ide take the outter layer of paint off, try to get it down to the factory paint.. if your painting the car red, make sure you use white primer... and tack rag it before you spray anything on the car!!


if your really picky about how it turns out, you could spray black primer over sections at a time (imperfections show up a lot better under black) to find any scratches, gouges, dents, etc.. then block it with a fine grit sandpaper (1500 grit?) to check for high or low spots on the metal...

Definetely not 1500, is used for wetsanding(polishing) clearcoat and removing small paint lines where different levels meet like stripes.

Wetsand primer with 400-600 to smooth it out. And yes def block or rubber pad everything you do.

wow, thanks guys and girls. this will help me. i know nothing about body work and painting. well some. its a bit much to do, but i guess i have to do it if i dont want to pay for it to get done. im a capenter, i work with sheetrock, spackle, bondo all the time, but car panels and paint is a bit different then house walls and deck railings. thanks again