Painting a car is a much more complex process than, for example, painting a house. You don’t decide to do this so often if you only have a few scratches on the bumper. Then usually only the bumper is removed and painted, without doing the whole paint job. But when you decide to paint the whole car, it usually means you want to change its look. When choosing a color, it is only the first step and it is essential for aesthetics. But there are many other things that need to be done before the painting process itself, to make it look beautiful and to look like it was done at the factory. If you skip any of these steps, chances are big that problems will start quickly and you won’t be able to fix it without doing it all over again. Since it is not cheap, then it is important that you do everything well to prepare the car. How to prepare the car for this read below.
Remove unnecessary parts
First, start by removing everything that is not necessary to be on the car, that is, everything that you will not paint. These primarily include antennas, door handles and similar parts made of plastic and other materials. You do this first, not after washing as many do, because you can get your car dirty again.
Cleaning
Now it’s time to thoroughly clean your car, so that there is no dirt left before painting. If you don’t do that, it would mix with the paint and then everything would have to be done from scratch.
Wiping
First, let the car dry and leave it in the garage or some other place where it is covered. You need to do this for two reasons. The first is to keep rain, dust or anything else from falling on it and getting it dirty again. And the second is that if it dries too quickly in the sun, stains will remain.
Check
Now that the car is completely clean and dry, it is time to inspect the body. You need to see where there are scratches and dents, so do some small repairs before painting. Because if you don’t do that, everything will only become even more visible when there is a fresh layer of paint over it.
Small repairs
Now it’s time for small repairs that you have to do to return the body to its original condition. Of course, if you have had any major damage caused by a collision, then it is a job for a professional. The first thing you need to have to fix all the dents in the dent repair kit. Without it you will not be able to do anything. This is especially important to do if there are a lot of dents. This is usually the case after a hailstorm. Then you can see a lot of cars with dents caused by hailstorms. This website can give you many answers to questions about dent repair. Then use filters to make the whole surface as smooth as possible.
Removing rust
It would be best if your car is in such a condition that there is not the slightest rust anywhere. But if you do find rust, then it must be removed immediately and completely. If you don’t, the rust will start to spread and destroy everything. There are special chemicals that you will apply by spraying or coating that will remove much of the rust. When you apply the anti-rust chemical, it just left it on the bodywork for at least two days.
Sanding
This is also a method you can use to remove rust. If there is a small amount of rust, then sanding is enough, even without the use of the chemicals we mentioned. Anyway, you will need to use this method as a part of preparation. Use different sandpapers, as there are different types, from soft to very rough. You will probably need a few different ones to do everything right, so ask in advance which ones you need.
Cover the parts you will not paint
There are always certain parts of the car that you will not paint. You need to cover them. Our advice is to use specialized tapes for this, instead of some other things like newspapers and the like that people often use. This can leave stains and avoid doing so.
Priming
You have to know right away, it is impossible to paint a car without first applying a primer. Applying a primer is not even a matter of aesthetics, but it is simply not possible to keep the paint on the car without a primer. There are different types of primers that you apply depending on the current stage of the body. When you cover with the first few layers that go on the go metal, there is still sealer left for the end, over which the paint is applied. Once you have applied the sealer, do not make any more repairs in the form of sanding, etc.
Can you paint over an existing one?
This is a question that many often ask, so let us answer that question at the end of this article. And the answer is neither yes nor no. It all depends on many factors, and the most important is the condition in which the existing one is. If it is a paint was applied 10 years ago or more, it is almost certainly damaged by all the weather conditions to which it was exposed. Then it is necessary to completely remove it before applying a new one. On the other hand, if everything is in the best order and you are doing this only because you want to change the look of your car, then there is no reason to do the whole preparation process.
Conclusion:
Now that you have completed all these steps, all that remains is to paint the car. It can also be a DIY project, and you can leave it to the professionals also, which is probably a better choice if you are not experienced. You certainly saved a lot of money because you did the whole preparation yourself. So it would be good for the final part to be done by people who are experts in it, to get the best possible look for your car.
