How hard is it to prep a car for paint?
Posted by SceneWarm2204@reddit | projectcar | View on Reddit | 36 comments
I really want to get my car repainted and I have a buddy that will do it for pretty cheap and he has a paint booth and stuff but he’d most like skimp on the sanding and prep work. Was wondering how feasible it would be to fully sand down my car and fix all the imperfections before I have my friend paint it
MyNamesMikeD75@reddit
90 percent of a paintjob is the prepwork, you're looking at a couple of hundred hours to do it roght
East-Teacher8542@reddit
Hundreds of hours is a huge exaggeration, sure if it needs a ton of metal work and filler work it'll take a long time and lots of hours but you dont need to take every car down to metal to respray it correctly and every car doesn't need a ton of metal work or filler.
KittiesRule1968@reddit
Well over 300 hours in bodywork alone for mine.....it all depends on what you're starting with.
East-Teacher8542@reddit
How do you have 300 hours in bodywork alone? How much of that is custom sheet metal and panels?
East-Teacher8542@reddit
Yeah like i said, if youre taking everything to bare metal and if youre doing jambs, engine bay, interior, underside, need to do tons of rust repair and metal work and filler, and then if youre color sanding and buffing the entire thing yeah you can get a lot of hours into it so sure.. majority of cars dont need that at all most you can get away with a little body work and just sanding everything with 320 or 400 and respray it. Now if youre doing restorations or complete color changes sure it starts to become a big thing but most vehicle dont need that.
cornlip@reddit
Prepped my 87 Prelude in like 5 hours and painted it in 10 minutes with gloss white rustoleum and acetone with a house sprayer. Body work be damned. Just sanded and taped. Came out way better than the rattle can with meth nail polish pinstripes it came with.
East-Teacher8542@reddit
I mean yeah its probably better but thats not what im talking about here, im talking about a legit respray
MyNamesMikeD75@reddit
It might be an exaggeration for some cars but it's an under exaggeration for others. I did body work on very high-end muscle car builds for years , it's a ton of f** work to do it right
East-Teacher8542@reddit
I currently do paint and body work on high end muscle cars and i also do collision work. 99.9% of vehicles that are being resprayed dont need the level of work an old muscle car needs... you can sand and shoot a lot of cars within 20 hours for a complete.
pistonsoffury@reddit
We resprayed my son's E36 this past summer. Maybe a couple dozen hours total of scuffing up the existing faded factory paint and treating a few small dings. Definitely not hundreds of hours and it turned out great.
KG8893@reddit
And you could spend infinitely long making it look like crap. Watch some videos and get a few practice panels. If it really just needs to be sanded that's easy enough.
MyNamesMikeD75@reddit
Go right ahead, if you think bodyprep is just sanding old paint then you have no idea what you're talkiing about
KG8893@reddit
Did you read what I said lol?
If you don't know what you're doing you could sit there sanding for hundreds of hours getting nothing done. Time doesn't equal quality, you left out the part where he has to know what he's doing, not me.
Objectively, if the car needs only to be sanded, as in it's an old faded paint job without dents, then sanding is easy. I guess I should say it's "simple" since you seem pedantic. It's physically laborious and dirty work. But a monkey can sand, even in the little crevices. If he needs to do actual body work, that's an entirely different ball game.
KittiesRule1968@reddit
Depends on what your starting point is.
SuspiciousBack660@reddit
I took a body and fender class at the local community College a few years ago. One of the other students was a young lady who spent two whole semesters prepping her car. Last day of classes she has the car all masked and ready for paint. Her boyfriend walks in, grabs the gun from her and begins spraying. I didn't stick around to hear what she said after I saw tears running down her face. My point is prep takes a lot of time. If you're determined and patient, it is a very satisfying project.
Individual_Put2261@reddit
Check out this girl on Instagram called candylisaxo She does step by step & guides on how to prep & is really helpful for paint & prep advice.
jayfactor@reddit
Definitely do the prep work or don’t paint it at all, took me about 4 hours total to rust proof, fiberglass, sand and all that for a small spot-but it was definitely worth the prep
Sniper22106@reddit
Hard? Meh
Time consuming? Oooooo fuck yes
TheBeardedLegend@reddit
If you are asking it’s probably going to be pretty hard.
Stratoblaster1969@reddit
It’s everything. And when you think you’re done, prep it 2 more times
Whizzleteets@reddit
It's the most labor intensive job you can do if you want the paint to be right.
A12851@reddit
I did it on my project. Took forever, 0/10. Car turned out great though.
eejjkk@reddit
How "hard" is it? 6/10
How time consuming is it? 9/10
Yes, of course it's feasible. Anyone can sand and prep a car for paint.
Aleutian_Solution@reddit
It’s not terribly difficult, but it is VERY time consuming
CameronsTheName@reddit
It depends on your expectation and the condition of the car.
If you've got a cheaper car that's just got clear coat peel and you want to respray it so it looks good for a few more years, you can prep it in a day or two with a sander.
We used to call this a scuff and paint. Super simple quick job.
If you're car has dents, rust, cracked body panels, and you want it to look mint and the paint to last decades. It's way way more work to get it to look good. Things like removing trims, door handles, glass, bumpers, lights etc can be days worth of effort.
Monotask_Servitor@reddit
Going to do a scuff and paint on our NA Miata at some point. It’s got bad clear coat peeling on the nosecone, hood and trunk lid but the sides are mostly ok.
Monotask_Servitor@reddit
Harder than actually painting it. 90% of a paint job is prep work. That said it’s nothing you can’t do with sufficient time and effort.
mugfull@reddit
This depends on how big the car is, and how much work the car needs in the first place, to get it straight and flat ready for primer/paint.
If the paint is in good condition with no sizeable defects, needing only a few touch ups with knifing putty on stone chips, then a good wet flat back is pretty simple even by hand, and wouldn't take long, a few hours would have it looking ready. If it's rough it can take a couple of days to get straight
If you don't trust your friend to do it, then start the prep yourself.
As others have said, the time and care spent at this stage will directly reflect in the potential end result (unless he sprays it concrete) 🫠
Flash-635@reddit
It's the most important part of the paint job and it's tiresome and tedious.
Sillibilli19@reddit
Like most are saying, it depends on your expectations. I personally can't stand it when someone says, as long as it looks a little better.
If you have a painter offering to lay down paint in a real booth, then keep in mind this outcome is 80 % on your prep. You half as it his paint job will reflect ithat. You knock it out and give him a clean canvas. You can have a 10k paint job for his cost and material cost. Your labor is free. So go for factory origanol or show car. It's all up to you. But don't strive for DECENT
Heavy-Focus-1964@reddit
just watch Beginner's Guide: How To Paint A Car At Home In 4 Easy Steps - Eastwood and follow these instructions exactly and you will give your friend exactly what he needs to do a good job
OlYeller01@reddit
You also need to make certain that whatever primer and prep products you use are fully compatible with whatever finish system the painter prefers.
in_cod_we_trust@reddit
Last car I painted (an RX-8) was a scuff back closed-door respray in the factory gloss black. The car had minor damage on the LH door, some dings all over and scratches but overall probably 8/10 example. That took 200 hours and to be honest we cut a lot of corners because it was a really budget-conscious job. The paint and consumables alone was USD$1000.
The colour matters a lot. Gloss black is really, really hard to do well. Solids are easier than metallics. Impossible to say for sure without knowing more about your situation.
ozzy_thedog@reddit
It’s not hard at all, it’s very very time consuming
smthngeneric@reddit
Go for it. Im not sure what you're asking for here other then permission to do your own body work? I mean if you just ignore the description and just go off the title the answer would be "depends on how fucked up it is". If it's just got some scratches and little dings and stuff, not that hard and pretty simple. If the thing has been t-boned and the whole side is caved in then you're gonna atleast need some help from someone more experienced.
itouchbums@reddit
first off,what is your project car?