Originally Posted by powerpigz-51

Sand as much as you can with 120 grit without sanding down into the SMC (you will see white when you are getting too far), especially near the body lines. Then lay down some Epoxy primer, at least 2-3 good coats. Then you can wet sand that with 220 and you will see where your problems are, then apply your fillers and your high build primers. You must seal up everything since it sounds like you have quite the mess going on. I painted right over the Epoxy on mine.

Originally Posted by pologreen1

paint needs to flash meaning the solvents need to settle out, or you'll get bubbles and or won't adhere cure properly. do some research, and go to the paint section here, they can help you, if you don't have a booth, your car is going to need to flash for a lot longer than a couple minutes. If you want a nice looking paint job, I would take it all off down to the primer, or lower if he did not prep it right before spraying.
If you look at a lot of vettes that have been repainted you can see they either lay it on tooo thick to fast and it cracks, or becauuse of the FB it peels right away at the seems of the car or strange spots.

Originally Posted by joshwilson3

I was looking at getting my 89 painted, it is black and already has a repaint. So, it needs to be stripped. To save some money, I was looking at stripping it myself. What would be better, hand sanding, or a palm sander?

And on yours, I'm guessing you stripped it? And you just hit the whole car with Epoxy, then straight to base/clear? When I get mine stripped, what do I need to look for to see if I can get by with just the Epoxy?

I don't see any body damage, just a cheap repaint. The rear bumper has sunk a little, and is a little wavy on top. But I think they all are like that, so I'm gonna leave it be.

Originally Posted by JAKE

I always paint my Vettes with DuPont Chroma System products. The word "System" is the key.

Everything from primer, surfacer, sealer, base and clear. I always use their additives in the recommended amounts. The products are designed to work with each other and are completely compatible with each other. I don't guess, I measure.

Each can of their products has specific directions that tell about how many coats, flash time between coats, grit of paper to use, etc., etc. So your questions will be answered on the can. If the can label says sand, wet or dry, with 600; sand it, wet or dry, with 600. Don't get creative; leave that to the pros.

The Dupont website has many Tech articles explaining what to do and how to do it. The site also addresses fish-eyes and when a fish-eye eliminator additive is needed, how to correct them by bridging, on and on. You can download and print them too.

Fish-eyes tell me the surface wasn't free of silicone or wax before spraying. Chips are due to the lack of elasticity in the paint or poor adhesion. Mechanical and chemical. Most air-dry, so you don't need a heated booth.

DuPont sells a flex-agent for flexible areas to be used, primarily, on the nose and tail since those areas are the most flexible. The body doesn't need it because the flexibility agent needed is in the paint already.

I chose DuPont because that's what GM uses on our Vettes.

I know a lot of guys have their favorite brand of auto paint, so I'm not trying to start a war. It's just, to me, DuPont addresses all the issues in painting a Vette including durability, chip resistance, color fastness, resistance to chemicals, ease of application, etc., etc.

No matter which brand you choose, be sure to use ALL the recommended additives in the prescribed amounts. Measure, MEASURE, and stir. Choose products based on the temperature.

Start with a CLEAN surface, removing ANY silicone, wax, finger prints, sanding dust, etc. Follow flash times to prevent solvent pop, which occurs when the top coat dries before those coats underneath resulting in the lower solvents "popping" through the upper coats.

As most will tell you, it's the prep that's most important. That's where you will be spending all your energy and time.

Jake

West Point ROCKS!

Originally Posted by powerpigz-51

By the way...if you want to sand out an area that is suspect as to how straight it is...wet sand with paper wrapped aroud a paint stick...this is for small problem areas....great on the rear deck.

Originally Posted by KoKane

We all know vettes are a little wavy cause there not metal, but I have a feeling that this car is very wavy now. If it was me, i would not leave all the sanding up to a DA. I would da the color coat off, but then I would dry sand with 150 on a block down till I just started to see i was going through the primer. That way your getting rid of the waves out of the old paint job. Then i would spray an etch primer on it, and then a couple coats of build primer. Then wet sand that. Use a guide coat so you can see if you have any real low spots. Reprime if you need to, until the car is fairly straight. I would block sand the hood. That way your sanding it flat, using a DA is easier, but its not sanding it flat like a block will.