R
RunMan
I picked up a Honda Element and it has damaged clear coat on the topside areas (e.g., roof, hood, bumper). I would like to keep the car for a while and plan to respray the whole car. I was quoted about $2600 just to repaint the roof, hood, front bumper, and rear tailgate areas. About $600 a panel. Too much! With regard to experience, I've never sprayed a car before, but I do consider myself to be good with my hands. I understand how tricky it is to get a quality paint job, so I'm reading up as much as I can to see if this is something I should try given my circumstances. This is more of a logistics issue at the moment.
I don't have a garage where I live (or any covered area for that matter). I'm in Hawaii, so there is a decent amount of rain and sun. I do have access to an auto skills center where you can work on your car at an hourly rate. The auto skills center even has paint booths for rent. I would only be able to work on this thing after work and on weekends. Based on the size of the thing, and the time I have to work on it, it might take several weekends to prep for paint. So before the BC/CC gets applied, it would travel between the skills center and home.
I know my car isn't like the complete resto-mods on this forum, but I don't want to take half-measures and have the paint fail over time. Also, if I do decide to paint my Element and it goes well, I would like to paint my S2000 the same way.
My questions are:
1) Is there any concern on keeping the prepped vehicle out in the elements for a short period of time? I know that when I'm sanding down the existing paint (to either scuff the clearcoat or remove it) if I go down to bare metal, I would need to apply SPI epoxy primer on those specific areas (I know SPI epoxy primer is OK being outside). However, for areas which are left with the factory basecoat, I'm not so sure since I know that clearcoat is the only thing protecting the basecoat. Should I just shoot everything with SPI epoxy primer for peace-of-mind?
2) Which brings me to my second question, do I need to sand all the way down to metal? If the existing paint isn't deteriorating (except the areas with the already damaged clearcoat), is this required? Am I taking half measures by not sanding all the way to bare metal?
3) Is the SPI Regular Build Primer OK being out in the elements for short periods of time? I'd like to shoot the car with the SPI primer one weekend, block it, and then return to BC/CC the next weekend.
Thanks,
Chris
I don't have a garage where I live (or any covered area for that matter). I'm in Hawaii, so there is a decent amount of rain and sun. I do have access to an auto skills center where you can work on your car at an hourly rate. The auto skills center even has paint booths for rent. I would only be able to work on this thing after work and on weekends. Based on the size of the thing, and the time I have to work on it, it might take several weekends to prep for paint. So before the BC/CC gets applied, it would travel between the skills center and home.
I know my car isn't like the complete resto-mods on this forum, but I don't want to take half-measures and have the paint fail over time. Also, if I do decide to paint my Element and it goes well, I would like to paint my S2000 the same way.
My questions are:
1) Is there any concern on keeping the prepped vehicle out in the elements for a short period of time? I know that when I'm sanding down the existing paint (to either scuff the clearcoat or remove it) if I go down to bare metal, I would need to apply SPI epoxy primer on those specific areas (I know SPI epoxy primer is OK being outside). However, for areas which are left with the factory basecoat, I'm not so sure since I know that clearcoat is the only thing protecting the basecoat. Should I just shoot everything with SPI epoxy primer for peace-of-mind?
2) Which brings me to my second question, do I need to sand all the way down to metal? If the existing paint isn't deteriorating (except the areas with the already damaged clearcoat), is this required? Am I taking half measures by not sanding all the way to bare metal?
3) Is the SPI Regular Build Primer OK being out in the elements for short periods of time? I'd like to shoot the car with the SPI primer one weekend, block it, and then return to BC/CC the next weekend.
Thanks,
Chris