I will be starting to paint my '89 real soon. I have been sanding for the last two weeks and should finally be done today.

No one in my family has ever painted a car, so I need some help.

From my limited reading, I have made a list of what to do in order. I know it probably won't be right, so if you could tell me what to do or what not to do, that would be great.

-Sand (80 grit)
-Body filler
-Sand (80 grit)
-Primer
-Sand (120 grit)
-Primer
-Sand (120)
-Surfacer primer
-Sand (120)
-Surfacer primer
-Sand (120)
-Surfacer primer
-Sand (220)
-Block/wet sand
-Wash car
-Black base coat
-Base Coat
-Base Coat
-Base Coat
-Clear coat
-Clear coat
-Clear coat
-Color Sand (1500 grit)
-Buff

Finaly, what color would you suggest? I was thinking black, but I heard that every imperfection is noticable and I don't want it to look horrible. I was also thinking maybe orange. But I don't know.

Here's my progress so far, if anyone cares
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2675685/1

 

You need to pull of the side trims and sand underneath so u can paint it. Pull off ur mirriors , front bumper and rear bumper. It wont be expensive to take it to a shop just for paint bro. u just did all their prep work

 

If I were you I wouldn't do black, its very hard to maintain and keep looking good. Maybe Blue 5 or grabber orange, a color that didn't come on them from the factory would show you did a lot of work, rather than just black.

 

I don't really don't want to pay anyone to paint it.

I'm really thinking about grabber orange. That would stick out so much.

 

If you're doing it for the experience, then enjoy! If you're doing it to save money, it's not worth it. As far as color, silver would be best for hiding imperfections in my opinion. Good luck

[IMG]local://upfiles/73430/4817ABCBD3FC42808A3EE66F0D341D23.jpg[/IMG]

 

Yeah, this is for expirence but also to save money and just something to do(I have a lot of free time...)

I've never really cared for silver fox bodies, to be honest. But what color mustang is that, Orange Crush? That's almost exactly what I was wanting. Maybe just a little more red, but not much.

 

That is competition orange...let us know how it turns out.

 

Oh geez, not silver! Silver shows EVERYTHING! Any leftover 80 grit scratch or pinhole in your filler, or missed chip, and the flake in the silver will lay in the imperfection at a different angle than the panel- making it show up. It's like the little mirrors on a disco ball...

But, black will show all the waves and any leftover dents.

If you're looking at an orange color, what about the pearl oranges that Nissan was using on the 350Zs and Muranos? That was nice. I think you'll get more enjoyment out of a pearl or metallic color than just... orange.

Also, you have a few too many steps in your prep. I know you said you're almost done, but this is far easier:

80, fill dents, 80 filler, 180 filler, 180 car, primer, block with 180, primer, block with 320 wet or 400 wet, then go on to degrease, tack, base base base (you don't need black, that just costs more), wait for the base to flash (dry), tack clear-10 min-clear-10 min- clear.

Base coat won't fill scratches any coarser than 320. Finish your primer with 320 or 400 if you want to be happy with it.

Last thing- be really really really careful when your buffing over corners and sharp body lines. You WILL burn through it it you don't go slow. It helps, too to set up a light to shine on the panbel you're buffing so that you can see its reflection and watch your buff area- make sure you get out all the 1500 marks.

Have fun, wear a paint mask!

 

Oh, and get yourself one of those mixing sticks at home depot for the 5-gallon paints. They are bigger and stiffer than the gallon sticks. make sure you get one that is straight, cut it down to your sand paper length (like, 11") and block your car for a straight finish. That's all, I'm done, I promise!

 

I still don't know what color...

Here's what I have done so far









I wasn't going to put the molding back on, so what do you think I should do about the bumpers since they look like they have the molding on them?