some painting questions

id sand it all down to metal and start over... i would not apply over existing paint.
 
I would first sand it down to the bare metal, get a self etching primer from Dupli-Color and put that as your basecoat. Once you have done about 2 coats of the basecoat then I would start with the Mirage grouping. To get a very good, clean looking finish you are going to want to sand the base coats down, spray on a guide coat and sand that to see where the hills and valleys are in the body. Fill those in with bondo and spray another layer of basecoat.

Self etching primer is great because it will adhere to metals better than other basecoats/primers. Remember metal is a flat, glass like surface. If you spray a regular primer that is not self etching on it there is the chance that you will have peeling. Self Etching primer has a small amount of acid in it so that it will "burn" itself into the metal thus holding better.You can readily pick self etching primer up at your local autoparts store, more than likely that is where you are going to have to pick up the Mirage line as well. Remember to wear proper air gear with the use of self etching primer it can be nasty stuff.

Once you feel you have done an acceptable job on the base coat of getting it as flat as possible then spray on the Mirage Base coat. Numerous light coats are much better than large heavy coats because you will be able to get a much better, cleaner and more even finish. I would sand the Mirage base coat with about a 500 grit sand paper, wet sand mind you, then clean it with a tack cloth. Now depending on where you live and the temperature of your work area is going to make a difference on your flash time (quick drying time). I would wait atleast 15 minutes between light coats, then when most of the area is covered by the base coat I would wait atleast 2 days time before doing anything with it. This will give both the etch primer and the basecoats a decent amount of time to cure.

Here is where the fun part comes in, for the rest of your time here you will be sanding, cleaning, painting, sanding..... etc. You want to put on a few decent light coats, let it cure for 2 days then wet sand it down. Do this a couple times and you will give yourself a nice flat finish. Start with 500 grit the first time and jump to 1000 then to 2000 each day after. The mid coat will not need any sanding, this is going to be your color coat.

Once you have atleast 5-10 light coats of the mid coat on and they have dried sufficiently I would do the clear. Make sure that you do the same with the clear as everything else, lots of light coats, this will make for a much better finish and less change of a drip or run. After you have atleast 5 coats of clear on I would go ahead and wet sand LIGHTLY with nothing heavier than 2000 grit paper. This will give the clear a very nice, smooth finish. Make sure to use a light mixture of soap and water (3parts water to 1 part soap) to give the case a good cleaning. Then go over it with a clean tack cloth to get the last bit of stuff off of it and then apply the final coats of clear. Once the final coat of clear has cured for a few days I would get a polishing compound from your auto parts store and buff the crap outta that case. The polishing compound will help fill in any small scratches, nicks etc and give you that great lustery appearance of new, freshly painted car, it will also help keep fingerprints and the such from scratching the paint.

I know this is probably WAY more than you wanted or needed to know but figured I would give you some pointers. There are some great sites on the web with stellar tutorials.
After all that sit back, relax and enjoy your new eye candy!!!!!
 
Yikes people. DON'T sand it down to bare metal. What you have on there will adhere just fine. You will need to sand it smooth however. No sense in wasting money on a crappy self-etch rattle can. The stuff from the factory is probably a hundred times better.

Just make sure the surface is smooth and there is no texture.
 
Qtip42 said:
Yikes people. DON'T sand it down to bare metal.
Click to expand...

I have to agree here. Nothing will ever adhere to bare metal better than the factory applied paint.
 
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