MX-3.com

Since I've just installed a new kit, I'm going to try my hand at my first real paint job. I'm usually an interior guy, and have had plenty of experience with fiberglass and painting, but this is my first exterior project. I'm sure I'll end up doing it twice, since I'm almost certain to screw up the first try, but I'm hoping that with a little advice from you guys, maybe I'll have a snowballs chance of doing an OK job.

My car is factory red, but I'm wanting to take it to a somewhat darker shade of red. To do this, do I need to sand it down to metal, then prime/sand/prime/sand, or can I just take off a layer of two to get it smooth, then go over with a few coats of the new red?

For the new body kit parts that are all fiberglass, do I need to prime these, or can I just paint straight to the fiberglass? I've painted straight to fiberglass on interior parts with no problem, but I realize that they get a LOT less wear and tear.

How much paint should I get for this project? Exterior only; I'm not going to bother with the door jambs and such, since it's still going to be red. What else do I need? I read somewhere that I should bathe the car in alcohol to get any oils off of the surface, true? What else?

Any other tips? Paint pressure, spray size, that kind of thing? I'm all ears... er, eyes!

BTW, this obviously isn't a money saving project, I could probably take it to a body shop for less money, and have a better job done. I'm really just doing it for the fun and experience, and so my air compressor will finally get some action! LOL

painting your car yourself first time is probably not gonna make it look alright but check out this link, lots of info to read if you wanna attempt to paint car youself http://hotrodders.com/f19 Most likely paint on your car is still good, youll just have to scuff it with red scuff pad so it all looks dull, then clean real good, seal and then paint/clear coat. You definitely want to primer fiberglass parts, you have to scuff them real good before primer, then wet sand primer, seal it and mount it on the car and paint it along with rest of the car at the same time, especially if youre going with metallic base coat (most likely you are)

Thanks for the link, I'm reading those FAQs now.

Since I'll be priming just the body kit, is there a difference between the $2/ can primer and the $75/ gallon primer? Well, I'm sure there's a difference, but is it a NOTICEABLE difference?

do not use $2 can primer, its better to not use it at all than to use it. use best you can afford, PPG's Omni paint is cheap and decent quality

Thanks, thats a good site