This is for the guys that have painted their own cars.

To paint a c5 right do you have to strip all the old paint off the pannels prior to paint? I have been trying to research how to paint a corvette, but all the information i am finding relates mostly to the older generation of car with fiberglass.

I was told the bodies of our cars are not made with the same type of fiberglass as say a c3. Does it require a different type of process to paint.

My body pannels are mostly good, with the exception of a few scratches and chips, but the paint on my car is in need of more than tlc.

Who has done their own paint or had their car done.
Thanks
Jason

 

Jason

I have not painted my car, but I would only think you need to sand/scuff and clean and sand and clean the old suface to make sure new primer, BC and clear has something to stick to. You would need to make sure all imperfecions are filled or sanded smoth.

We have a great auto paint shop in Edmond about 6th and Broadway, sells retail. I am not sure what you have in Stllwater. Used them for some small paint repairs on other cars and my valve covers. Take a road trip and visit him. They used to sell PPG now sell matrix product. They also have all the supplies you would need.

Good luck, let us know what you find.

 

Jason,

C1,C2,C3 use the old school fiberglass except urethane bumper covers on 73-82's you had to be very carefull and not get into the gel coat and expose the fibers.

C5 use a brand name product and follow the instructions - you could get by with single stage if you have a good gun and can lay down a wet pattern. I would do a two stage w/ 2 coats of base color and 3-4 coats of clear. Block it down by hand close to factory primer no need to go all the way to the plastic unless you have body repairs- seal it - primer it - sand off most of the primer - keep repeating till you are happy with the flatness of the panels this is the most important step - keep everthing clean - wear protective clothing and above all else paint in a well vented enviornment - buy the best resporator and filters you can afford (DO NOT SCRIP WITH THIS) - be sure you have a compressor that can keep up - clean you gun between coats - best results is a good gun for sealer/primer, another for base and best gun for clear only - buy quality supplies.

If you have a technical school close check and see if they offer a class in auto refinishing - it can be worth the cost of the class to have free acesss to paint both and all the tools - plus the advise of the instructor.

If not check with some suppliers like Eastwood for DVD on "How to Paint"

Painting like everything else takes practice, planning and above all keep everything CLEAN . When you are ready to spray the base - see if you can get someone who has done a few cars to check out your prep before you spray the base. Be sure of your supplies - last thing you want to do is spray clear at midnight and run out! Never mix brands - pick a good one and stay with it. Be carefull about what vendor mixes your base not all computers are programmed correctly on the metallics.
Pick a vendor that supplies major shops in your area.

C4' & C5' are much much easier to do than C1's,C2's and C3's with all the trim, fender peaks and curves on the older cars!

Good Luck and Have Fun
Carl

 

I stripped and redid my 69' BIG JOB. Used a single stage Urethane on it. I've painted my nose/MCM hood and ACI rear spoiler on my 01' with 2 stage (basecoat/clearcoat). The 2 stage system is much more forgiving about dirt since you can wetsand the base before clear and sand the clear too to get out any "gotchas".

Stripping the car is a good idea for 2 reasons:

1) It keeps the paint from getting too thick (thick paint is more prone to chipping).
2) It's lets you know what's going on underneath-hidden or old damage.

Luckily the C5 comes completely apart except for the rocker panels. The C3's and earlier many of the body parts were BONDED to the substructure.

I chemically stripped the C3 with stripper designed for that type of fiberglass. You might be able to have it soda or media stripped all together, then take it apart for a factory perfect job. Whatever you use-READ THE MANUFACTURER DATA SHEET and practice on some old junk till you get used to your gun.

 

Thanks for the responses guys. I have had work done to the front of the car from an accident, and that is part of the reason that i want to repaint it. The shop did a horrible job, of course the shop went out of business last year which is good and bad. Good that they can't screw anyone elses car up. bad because they can't be held responisble for mine.

That being said there are at least two layers of paint of parts of my car and i am leaning twards stripping all the paint off and starting over. I don't want to sand it off if i can avoid it. What about chemical strippers or media blasting mentioned above.
Thanks
Jason

 

Depends on how fast you want it? The chemical stuff works fine-messy but fine. If you have it blasted, you could disassemble the car and take a few pieces in at a time for stripping. You can work on the panels up on horses which makes them EASIER to deal with. Taking the parts in vs. the whole car saves you from getting blasting crud in every orafice of the car. Check around locally and maybe only take 1 panel to the outfit you choose just to see what the final product looks like.

 

That's a good idea. I have a spare hood and front bumper cover from an accident that i can use as sacrifical pieces. What type of media works best?

 

I think soda blasting is probably the safest or plastic media blasting. You basically just want to strip the paint without getting into the base surface so you don't have to do a ton of extra prep before you prime.