Hey there guys,

In a few weeks time i will be taking my pride and joy off the road and beggining prep work for my spray job. I have NEVER had any experience with this in the past, and like everything else to do with restoring my ute, i will need to educate myself on how to go about this.

So does anyone have any hints and tips on how to go about finding information on how to prep my ute properly for my spray job?

I won't be doing the actual spraying myself and in order to cut down on the cost i am going to get a respray on mainly just the exterior (ie everything except the engine bay and interior panels) and am planning to do all the prep work myself including shaving my rear bumper end caps an stoppers. I understand that prep work means everything so want to do the best job i possibly can.

So has anyone been through the same thing and how do you suggest i go about educating myself on the proper way to prep my ute.

Thanks
Trav

I have done just that. restored my 1000 wags body and prepped it and getting it painted tomorro by a painter frined!

Goto your local libary and hire some books about spray painting. They usually include all prep work. You will learn alot!

Mostly it will be trial and error but its a pretty simple in principal!

Prepare to tear your fingertips off mate, it's a long and tedious process. Mind you, on Kirstie's I had to dig through about 4in of bog. I've given up the home strip and am sending it to get sandblasted in the coming weeks.

Just know that before the paint goes on you can stuff up as bad as you like, trial and error. If you make a mistake with the hi-fill or etch primer etc you can always redo before the paint goes on.

Spend alot of time ensuring your prep work is spot on as it makes the paint. I know I've already said it but redo a hundred times over until your 100% happy.

There is nothing tricky about it but think of it this way...........your going to sand and prep the car 1 square inch at a time. Plan about 200 hours and you'll be fine. We just did a quicky racer paint job and the prep work must have taken 30-40 hours.

Tom

All the comments below are spot on.
are you doing a 2Pac or acrylic paint? If your planning on doing a 2Pac, make sure you use all the correct materials.
I will throw this word of advice. When you are sanding down your hi-fil / spray puttey, or even bog for that matter, use a sanding block where possible. You will end up with a flatter and smoother finish. Other wise if your not careful, you can get ruts with your fingers.
Take your time with it and be convinced that what you do now will make or break you finish.
On a side note. Doesn't it hurt boys, when you spend months doing prep work. Then in 5mins the base colour has been sprayed!! All that time and effort in the prep and it still looked crap and within 5mins she looks schmick.

ENJOY!!

Quote:

What's the difference? one better than the other?

Yeah will probably go 2pac. Looking around for the right paint at the moment. I wanna go a dark blue but not too dark. Kinda similar to wrx blue but just a little darker.

And i will be using a sanding block just about all the time. Probably do it all by hand too. No machine help. It's a lobour of love. Won't be as bad cause i'm spraying it really close to the same colour it is now so will only really need to fix up any minor ripples or dings which isn't much, shave the back bumper end caps, repair one little section of bogged up rust about the size of a matchbox in front of the rear wheel arch, and then give the whole car a rub back with a real fine paper and it will be ready to go. As i said previuosly i'm not doing the engine bay or inside panels at this point so that should cut down on the prep time.

I think my biggest obstacles will be shaving the bumper end caps and repairing the few small dings and ripples as i have NO idea at this stage how to go about it. But with the right level of passion and commitment to learn and see my ute completed i'm sure i will pick it all up as i go along.

Trav

You have two options with the bumperettes. Either a big chunk of bog (not recommended) or cut and weld a nice rounded piece of fresh metal (can't beat the real stuff).

i got a big chunk of bog. yay!