Q's On Painting T/A Bumper

[Firebird Phoenix]

My g/f wanted me to install a T/A bumper on her Firebird so tonight I found a good deal on one and got it. She eventually wants to paint her car silver, but that is going to wait and she has a white car so we decided just nicely painting it with spray paint white. I have some experience painting with spray paint but want to make sure this is good. So please correct, add, or change my steps before I go out and buy supplies and do this.

Supplies:
(1?) Can of white automotive spray paint (what kind? enamel or lacquer? difference?
(1?) Can of sandable primer spray paint (kind? same as above)
(1?) Can of clear coat spray paint (kind? same as above)
What grits of sand paper? and how much?
Sanding blocks(have already)


Steps:

#1 - Wash, sand off old paint (what grit)
#2 - Rinse with water, what kinda prep before primer?
#3 - Spray on a layer of sandable primer, give enough time to dry
#4 - Sand (what grit?)
#5 - I'm assume repeat step #3 & #4 or no?
#6 - Rinse with water, what kinda prep before paint?
#7 - Put down a coat of white paint
#8 - Give enough time to dry
#9 - Repeat steps #7 & #8 how many times?
#10 - Sand (what grit?) paint?
#11 - Put down a coat of clear coat. How many coats?
#12 - Final sand (what grit?)

I'd appreciate the help, thank you.

[TheGr8Schlotzky]

Re: Q's On Painting T/A Bumper

-I'd use enamel as it's more flexible and less prone to chipping opposed to lacquer
-Any sandable primer really will work as long as it's compatible with the base coat
-Enamel clearcoat, normally a little more expensive stuff works out better and is more clear than the cheaper stuff that can be a bit foggy
-220, 400, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500

#1- 220 followed by 400 to smooth it out, then 800 to be safe and get a nice finish for priming
#2- clean everything down with mineral spirits or paint thinner, or some dawn and water
#4-800 grit
#5- two coats of primer would be good, but not necessarily mandatory
#6- wash it down with dawn and water
#9- a good 3-4 coats would be good and last a while, just make sure they aren't too thick
#10- 1000 grit
#11- again, 3-4 coats is good. Not too thick, but not too thin. Get it thick enough so that when you colorsand you are sure not to sand through the clear
#12- 1500, 2000, 2500, followed by rubbing compound, polishing compound, scratch remover, swirl remover, cleaner wax, polish and wax..

Really depends how good you want it to look. You can get some impressive results if you put enough time and effort into it.

[Firebird Phoenix]

Re: Q's On Painting T/A Bumper

-I'd use enamel as it's more flexible and less prone to chipping opposed to lacquer
-Any sandable primer really will work as long as it's compatible with the base coat
-Enamel clearcoat, normally a little more expensive stuff works out better and is more clear than the cheaper stuff that can be a bit foggy
-220, 400, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500

#1- 220 followed by 400 to smooth it out, then 800 to be safe and get a nice finish for priming
#2- clean everything down with mineral spirits or paint thinner, or some dawn and water
#4-800 grit
#5- two coats of primer would be good, but not necessarily mandatory
#6- wash it down with dawn and water
#9- a good 3-4 coats would be good and last a while, just make sure they aren't too thick
#10- 1000 grit
#11- again, 3-4 coats is good. Not too thick, but not too thin. Get it thick enough so that when you colorsand you are sure not to sand through the clear
#12- 1500, 2000, 2500, followed by rubbing compound, polishing compound, scratch remover, swirl remover, cleaner wax, polish and wax..

Really depends how good you want it to look. You can get some impressive results if you put enough time and effort into it.

After your steps #4 and #10 shouldn't I clean it (what kind of cleaning?) before painting?

[TheGr8Schlotzky]

Re: Q's On Painting T/A Bumper

All of my dashes and numbers were meant to correspond to your original post. Your steps look good, I was just answering your questions.

What I do is just have a bucket of dawn and water and I clean it with that whenever I'm rinsing. Then be sure to dry it off really good with a towel and use a tack cloth or something to get all the lint off. But in those steps, rinsing with water should be fine too.

[Niko97RS]

Re: Q's On Painting T/A Bumper

id believe him

hes the spray can king