Doyon

I am looking into getting a new bumper (haven't quite decided if I want to or not) and getting that painted and my hood repainted (has 35th annv hood scoop), and replacing the piece above my drivers side window and painting them Rio Red.

Is it worth my time to prepare my hood for painting and maybe my bumper if I dont get a different one? Or would the cost for them to do that be so minumal it wouldnt make a difference?

Also has anyone had their hood,bumper or the window (trim?) repainted? If so how much did it cost? (even if you only did one or two of these)

Thanks,

Josh

jeh4269

Have you done any type of body or prep work before?If you have and you're comfortable doing it,then I say go ahead and prep it.My body shop told me,the more prep work I could do the less they have to.We prepped my whole car and it saved me a grand.Remember time is money to them.

Doyon

I am no profesional, but I have done a little bit of prep work on one of my uncle's supras, but I never heard whether or not it saved him money. Sounds like it really does though.

Thanks!

MyGt03

Block sand with a 320 or 400 grit sandpaper in a crisscross pattern. You are just sanding enough to take the "shine" out of the surface. Giving the new primer/paint something to adhere to. Hand sand around any sharp corners or edges, and tight radius's.

Chips in the paint will need more sanding and need to be "blended" in. Can't just sand the crap out of the one little paint chip or it will create a divot and will be seen when its all painted and shiny. That is when all imperfections show their ugly faces. Rub your hand across the sanded chip. If you can feel it, you will be able to see it when painted. Smooth as glass is what you want. If the finish is already in good condition, it will only need a good scuff to prep.

The hood, remove the scoop. Sand and paint all pieces separately. Take your car to the body shop before hand and let them get your paint code and also do a spot match. Some use a scan tool that will give them the exact ratio to match your color almost exactly. Then go remove and prep hood, bumper and trim. If you take the entire car to them, they will spend a lot of time removing them and/or taping car off. Time is indeed money. They only need what is to be painted.

Good luck and make sure you post the results.

Doyon

Yet again the dealership I bought this car from are complete idiots... They advertised the car as "Rio Red" (its a 35th Anniversary car) and I just looked at the door jam for the specific code and its Perforance Red... I always wondered why mine looked so much more orange than the rest haha.

jeh4269

We used spot putty and primer on all my stone chips.That worked very well.We sanded the whole car with 360 and 400.Before we started I didnt see too many chips but afterwards you could see a lot.We used a spray can to prime the areas.Once it dried we filled in all the chips we could still see with the spot putty.After the spot putty dried we wet sanded it til the primer was gone and the putty filled the chip in.Everything came out so smooth and the finished result looked great.

crash

Good luck if you decide to attempt this. I would like to give it a go as well but time is of the essence.
@jeh- how long did this whole process take you guys?

jeh4269

We spent parts of five days to get the whole car done.However we spent a lot of time working on the areas where i removed the fender emblems,antenna mount,the first and last two letters on my rear bumper.My buddy also had to fix a spot on the left rear qtr panel bc I pulled a decal off and a 4"x4" section of clear coat pulled off with it.Anyways it prob took us two days to hand sand the entire car and fill in all the stone chips with spot putty.Then wet sand the primer and putty off til everything was smooth.It's not as difficult as it sounds.

Doyon

Time is always a big factor haha, and space. Right now I am in the process of looking to buy a house, WITH 3 car garage and I will accept no less. Right now I have a garage and a carport but I'd never hear the end of it if I made the girlfriend park outside...