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Preparation, Sanding, and Masking
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The first “prep” step of any good paint job is to
remove as many parts from the car as feasible that
aren’t supposed to be painted. This not only makes
the ensuing bodywork, sanding, masking, and
painting steps much easier, it also allows you to
paint all surfaces that were painted originally. Here I
am just beginning the process on my ’52 Chevy.
The taillights and license come off, as does the
door (and other) upholstery panels. Also detach
parts such as the front and rear gravel pans and
interior window frames, which are easily prepped
and painted separately.
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In this case, I repainted the dashboard in the car, and left the rear window (and trim) in place.
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Preparation (“prep work,” or just “prep”) is certainly very important to a good, long-lasting paint job,
but not necessarily in the same ways it used to be.
In the old days stripping the car to bare metal wasn’t nearly as prevalent, and we didn’t have high-
fill, catalyzed primers. So carefully hand-sanding the entire surface of the existing paint was
absolutely necessary to ensure a smooth, unblemished finish for the final paint layer. You had to
painstakingly hand-sand out every rock chip, scratch, or crack, featheredging it until you could no
longer feel any imperfection in the surface. A few coats of lacquer primer, in between sanding,
helped. But the heavily solvent-based lacquer primer often seeped into exposed undercoat layers,
especially in feather-edged areas, causing them to wrinkle or lift. Or, lacquer primers or putties
would absorb solvents from paint layers, causing them to swell, or shrink, or both.
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So painting a car in the fairly recent old days meant starting by laboriously hand wet-sanding the
entire body (after any necessary bodywork, of course) with 180 to 220 grit paper, feathering out
chips and scratches as mentioned, and then going back over the whole thing with 360 to 400 grit
wet-sanding. The latter process might be repeated two or three times, with layers of lacquer primer
in between. Painting with lacquers could produce glorious results, but the preparation process was
laborious and could be very frustrating.
Preparation these days means something different and more inclusive. Today’s products are
better, easier to use, faster, and certainly longer lasting.
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Instead of starting the prep process with sanding the old paint, let’s rethink the whole procedure.
Obviously, if you’re going to strip the car to bare metal (or fiberglass), that negates sanding the old
paint entirely. Similarly, which of the following prep steps you follow depends more or less or the
“stage” of paint job you’re doing on your vehicle. But the basics of prep include: (1) Straightening
the body. This includes major and minor metalwork, use of fillers, and board-sanding surfaces
smooth with 36 and 80 grit paper. (2) Cleaning and adhesion. We’ve covered products and
methods for cleaning the surface, but before you sand anything, the surface must be clean of any
dirt, oil, grease, or other contaminants such as silicones. And it must be re-cleaned more than once
before you shoot final paint. Equally important, you must use paint products (undercoats or
topcoats) that ensure maximum adhesion to whatever surface you’re dealing with, above or below
it. A major, though often overlooked, part of the prep process is making sure the final paint does
not bubble or lift anytime after it is applied. (3) Priming and sanding. If you’re repainting a relatively
new car with decent paint, then maybe all you need to do is clean and fully sand the existing
surface, possibly spray an adhesion coat, then shoot your color. But most cars that need a paint
job need more than that. The details are discussed later in the book, but this is where high-fill
primer (usually) comes in, and lots of sanding—block sanding, careful sanding, complete sanding in
all nooks and corners. It’s still somewhat laborious, but usually not frustrating.
Let’s briefly delineate the basic steps of paint preparation in the order in which they should be done.
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Disassembly
Start by detaching, or peeling off, anything that gets in the way of painting the basic surface of the
car—that is, all that was originally painted by the factory (or more, if you want). This might even
include removing some pieces (such as large, plastic bumpers or body “cladding” on newer cars)
that should be painted separately and reinstalled on or over the repainted body. This step depends
on which class of paint job you’re doing and your own levels of energy, patience, and perfection.
When taking parts off, it’s a good idea to bag and label them and their fasteners, because it may be
a while before you’re ready to reinstall them.
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Even on older cars, the way to remove certain
clipped-on trim strips can be a mystery. First,
check inside the body for any studs with nuts,
and remove them. Then it’s usually a matter of
prying the trim piece off the clips any way you
can without bending or kinking the strips, the
clips, or the car body. Use patience and
creativity.
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Once you get trim strips off, it’s best to remove
all the clips (again, carefully and creatively).
Put them, and any other fasteners or small
parts groups, in zip-lock plastic bags or small
cardboard boxes marked with a felt-tip pen and
store them in the same place as other items
from this project. Do this. Believe me, you’ll be
thankful later.
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“Dechroming” newer cars is fun—most of the
badges and emblems are held on with
adhesive and simply peel off, as shown (again,
check for any studs/nuts inside; if the adhesive
is stubborn, a heat gun helps). If you want to
replace them after painting, however, get new
ones, with fresh adhesive, at the dealer
(though we saw a guy at one shop replacing
individual used letters with clear weartherstrip
glue).
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If you have a car made during those unlucky
years when they put black rubber “gaskets”
around door handles and other body parts, as
shown, they must be removed for proper
painting. There’s no feasible way to mask
them. You’ve got to disassemble the inside of
the door, remove the handle and rubber, paint
the handle separately, then reassemble
everything (with new rubber) after the body is
painted (and rubbed out, if you’re going that
far).
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Disassembly is almost done. The headlight
and door handles will come off. Maybe the
windwings. Probably the front fender. I shouldn’
t have done upholstery first, and the
windshield wasn’t supposed to come out, but
those are other stories. Wheels and tires can
be easily covered with old beach towels or,
better, cheap covers with elastic bands
available at your paint store.
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Trim on newer cars is minimal, but its removal
can be mysterious, too. The black rubber
strips in the roof (what are they for, anyway?)
are usually held by clips at each end and pop
and peel out easily after a little wiggling.
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Bodywork
We won’t discuss this here because we covered it in Chapter 3, but it is definitely one of the steps
of paint prep, and it should be done now, after disassembly (and paint stripping, if that’s included).
If you have bodywork done by someone else, they usually cover the area with a coat of high-fill
primer (unfortunately, many times so you can’t see what exactly they’ve done). The running jibe
between bodymen and painters is that the bodyman gets the surface “close enough,” shoots it with
sanding primer, and leaves it to the painter to block-sand smooth. Painters, of course, yell that the
bodyman didn’t get it close enough. If you’re doing both bodywork and paint, you want to get it
“really close” during the bodywork stage. Then, depending on other factors, you can shoot a coat
of primer over the bodyworked areas as you do them, or wait and prime the whole car at once,
before block sanding.
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Previous | Next
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This has been a sample page from
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How to Paint Your Car on a Budget
by Pat Ganahl
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If your car needs new paint, or even just a touch-up, the cost
involved in getting a professional job can be more than you
bargained for. Fortunately, there are less expensive
alternatives-—you can even paint your own car at home!
In How to Paint Your Car On A Budget, author Pat Ganahl unveils
dozens of secrets that will help anyone paint their own car. From
simple scuff-and-squirt jobs to full-on, door-jambs-and-everything
paint jobs, Ganahl covers everything you need to know to get a
great-looking coat of paint on your car and save lots of money in
the process. This book covers painting equipment, the ins and
outs of prep, masking, painting and sanding products and
techniques, and real-world advice on how to budget wisely when
painting your own car. It’s the most practical automotive painting
book ever written!
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Click below to view sample
pages from each chapter!
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Introduction - Budget Painting
Chap. 1 - Automotive Painting
Chap. 2 - Paint Stripping
Chap. 3 - Bodywork
Chap. 4 - Painting at Home
Chap. 5 - Paint Products
Chap. 6 - Paint Preparation
Chap. 7 - One-Day Paint Job
Chap. 8 - Sand and Paint
Chap. 9 - Full Paint Jobs
Chap. 10 - Restorations
Chap. 11 - Sand & Buff
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8-1/2 x 11"
Softbound
128 pages
Approximately 400 color photos
Item: SA117
Price: $22.95
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Click here to buy now!
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This is a great book that any enthusiast will love,
whether it's your first paint job or your 50th.
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Auto Upholstery & Interiors
Auto Upholstery and Interiors is a user friendly guide
that gives you the knowledge to make your interior
looking like new and by doing the installation work
yourself, you save money and have the satisfaction of
learning a new skill. Detailed sections include painting
interior parts, headliner replacement, carpet kits, door
panels, dashboard restoration, seat kit installation, kick
panels, trunk detailing, steering wheel repairs and
swaps, custom seat installation, using dyes, simple
upholstery repairs, and cleaning and detailing tips
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Price:
$
18.95
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Fiberglass and Other Composite Materials
For many years race cars of all types have been constructed
with lightweight materials in addition to aluminum and steel.
These include fiberglass, kevlar and carbon fiber. This space
age technology is also being applied to many street cars,
street rods, boats, and light aircraft. Carbon fiber is now used
in everything from tennis rackets and golf clubs to bicycles,
telescopes, camera tripods, and hundreds of other products.
This book offers the latest technology and equipment to help
you construct and repair your own lightweight body panels
and components
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Price:
$
18.95
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Payment, Shipping & Sales
Tax: Iowa
residents must pay 7% sales tax. Items usually ship
within one
business day of receipt of payment! Standard shipping is a flat rate of
$5.95 to
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International for $21.95, and to most
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America for
$25.95. Satisfaction is Guaranteed. Our store has a NO HASSLE RETURN
POLICY
within 30 days of purchase.
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