Painting this Beast

[Mx3forever]

I've finally got my project off the ground to paint this 91 Mx-3. I bought some Kirker 2K primer, metallic black paint and clear to try to make this car presentable about a year or so ago and never had the opportunity to work on it (primarily because it was my daily driver). Now I am also the proud owner of a Miata so i am driving that while working on this car. I will then drive the Mx-3 while reworking the Miata. The Miata is a fun car but not as practical, as good on gas, or smooth riding as the MX-3.

I'm only trying to get this car presentable (not show quality) because it was involved in a pretty bad wreck about 8 years ago. It has been a good car even after that but unfortunately due to the damage some of the body panels do not exactly match up perfectly. Some of the body shops I went to said they couldn't even fix the car without removing the front end! I got it fixed without that but it's not perfect. We repainted the new dog house to semi-match before it was put on the car but didn't do a great job on it. But, we didn't know what to expect as the car was pretty damaged. Even though the white didn't "match up" it did stay on the car ok all this time.

I'm kind of attached to this car so even though I could get another (the devil you know....)

I figure once it is painted I'll re-add a bra which will hide some of the front unevenness, it's not too bad.

In any case, I've removed the tail lights, emblems, spoiler, side lights, locks, headlights, side mirrors etc. I am spraying a metallic so i was planning on leaving the doors, hood and bumpers on the car.
I am going around the car and sanding the areas with 220 (as it has a lot of chips, cracks, gouges and some shopping cart dings and rust spots). Any area I get to bare metal when working I'm priming over it with etch. After I'm done, I'll re-sand the whole car with 400.

I plan to put down two or three coats of 2k, followed by base and then clear.

As of right now, I haven't figured out where I'm going to paint the car. I have a lot of stuff already purchased including a gun, gauges, paint gun stand, filters etc but unfortunately I do not have a garage here.

Anyone in the near, Southern Indiana area (Clarksville) who has some experience painting I'd appreciate hearing from. I plan on repainting the Miata next (but that needs to wait until I'm ready to put on a new top).

I'll drop some pics on here from time to time.


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The unevenness on the front end looks worse here because the hood is actually unlatched.

[mitmaks]

Start out with 180 on areas where paint peeled. Once you sand them/featheredge you put 2-3 coats of 2K high build primer and block sand with 320-400. You can put additional 2 coats on there and then wet sand with up to 600grit, this way its straight. Always use blocks, not your hand. On areas that are not damaged you still want to wet sand/scotch brite with gray scotch brite.
It would be good idea to seal car. Since you're going with blue I'd go with gray primer sealer. You only put on 1 nice even wet coat. Afterward follow up with base/clear.

[Mx3forever]

Any issue with putting on more than one coat of primer?
I was actually going to put on at least two, it's not really much more of a hassle than one coat.

Right now I'm spotting using etching primer after using a wax and grease remover because I'm always getting down to bare metal in the process of feathering out gouges and sections where the paint just came off. The etching primer is rattle can, as using a real gun is impractical for this on and off driveway work.

It's going to be grey primer and the color is actually more like Charcoal (I said black but it's more like a dark metallic grey)

I also got this car confused with the Miata, it's actually a 93.

Another in progress photo.

[mitmaks]

I would not use self etch primer. Use epoxy primer instead, it goes over metal, paint, body filler and does not need etch primer underneath it.

[Mx3forever]

Do they sell epoxy primer in rattle cans for temp work before the main spray?
It wouldn't be that big of a deal for me to sand down the etch and use it instead.

thanks.

[mitmaks]

Unfortunately not.

[Daninski]

Primers that are used in base coat/clear coat applications are two part. A quart should do you. If you use a regular rattle can primer you risk it wrinkling under your final paint coat,,,,mitmaks?

[mitmaks]

Primers that are used in base coat/clear coat applications are two part. A quart should do you. If you use a regular rattle can primer you risk it wrinkling under your final paint coat,,,,mitmaks?

Not only "wrinkling" - lifting. It just affects your overall paint job. It wont have good adhesion, moisture barrier. You can come back months later and wipe it all of with acetone rag.
Basically primer is like a foundation of your house, if your foundation is weak then your overall house quality will suffer.

[Mx3forever]

I'll consider it a temporary covering to keep the exposed metal from surface rusting for now.
It seemed to do a pretty good job over winter of protecting the metal that was exposed before.
I'll plan on sanding it out before any permanent covering.

Unfortunately, the leisurely pace and conditions that I'm working on the body don't lend themselves very well to using a gun or epoxy at this stage. If I used a gun, I'd be having to clean it out all the time, sometimes three times a day and be wasting a lot of left over
material. I don't plan on having the body work done for another 3 weeks. I will use the gun to re-spot when I am close to being able to do a full prime spray, that will give me more experience using the gun.

But, thanks for the advice, otherwise I wouldn't have thought about the paint I'm putting on being a problem.