Heres the overview and just need some thoughts.

Maaco is painting the car. Don't care if you're brothers aunt's uncles cousins friends sisters husband got a terrible paintjob. If you aint had experience directly with the Maaco I am going to *Charlotte*, then there is no comparision. Different painters. I checked them out and they seem to be ok.

First, I have to fill a hole in the hoodmyself.

Put my new bumper from Ecklers on.

Wash car with Dawn Soap to remove old wax buildup.

Inspect car with cloth glove on to determine unseen dents.

Compound it as much as I can to get to the part the paints going to be applied to.

The cars black, the paints oxidized beyond reconiction. Body is in good shape. I am just getting a spray of the SAME COLOR over the black it is now. No painting red over black like some people do.

Once I get it cleaned and compounded, I am removing some of the trim and I am going to tape it off myself most likely before it gets handed to them.

Clean, compounded, and body work done by myself. Can a spray over actually look attractive? It's not like it's peeling. It's just oxidized down to nothing....Smooth and solid...just white....very very white.

Thoughts? No I am not sanding it btw. To much risk, nowhere to do it, and it's a daily driver. I aint wanting a 6000 dollar paintjob.....

There's more risk in compounding than using sand paper and the effort's about the same.

Take the old bumper off and leave the new one off for now.
Have them paint everything, including the new bumper and put it back on after the paint has hardened.

Are you sanding everything as part of the prep?

You get what you pay for. Not saying that Maaco will do a bad job. It's the quality of the products that you pay for. Did you select the paint and primer? A good spray man and good prep is most of the battle. Tape and paper to prevent overspray in any areas that you don't want overspray is mucho importante. What level of service did you select?

My 92 was painted by a shop with the same sort of rep as MAACO... One Day Paint. And bar none, everyone has been SHOCKED that I got such a paint job for under $2k.

It comes down to prep and who shoots it and post-paint polishing.

First... put the new bumper on. You don't want to risk the paint cracking when installing that bitch.

Get the right filler from Eastwood. You need a filler compatible with SMC. Otherwise, the shit will fall right off. Put it on in thin layers and let it fully set. You really need the stuff to off-gas thoroughly so it won't bubble the paint.

As for the paint process itself, they will hit the body with a degreasing agent and then hit it with a coat of primer. Paint bonds best to primer. That's just the way it is.

I would use sand paper to smooth out the high spots in the clear coat. Feather it in, so to speak. For this, I would use a 600 grit and then 1000 grit to smooth out scratches.

Remove the gills, emblems, tail lights... things like that. I will say this, removing the tail lights is a BITCH. You will want to remove the license plate first, then reach in and, using a 10mm socket and ratchet, remove the inner housings, then reach through the inner hole to reach the outer hole. It ain't easy. The bolts are at 3 and 9 for all 4 fixtures.

Remove the front plate. Is the weather strip new? If not, remove from the top and the b-pillar. Also remove the front air dams - or more accurately, don't put them back on.

Let them tape it up, because they will have to hit the paint with cleaner before priming it. The cleaner also etches the surface to the primer will stick better.

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Respectfully, Andy....

Repair the hole with fiberglass, even the SMC compatible filler won't last. And it's not made for filling holes.

Sand the car with 220 then go over that with 320 or 400.
You need something rougher for the primer to bite into.
400 is the lightest I would go with.
600 will take you FOREVER to do one stone chip.
Bodyshops do not use 600 for prep.

That's why compounding won't work, the surface will be too smooth.

I don't know the nature of his "holes." Regardless, he will have to use a resin that is compatible with SMC.

I was removing some clear coat on the jeeps hood and found that the 600 was doing a real good job of knocking that crap down.

If I had my druthers, I would use a media blaster!

I agree... too smooth and the paint won't bite.

oh, Bill, I stand corrected. I was out in g-rage and found the paper I was using on the Jeep... it was more in the 300 grit range. my bad.

My vette was done at a local maaco.

$3200: To correct some damage ($400), fully strip the car and prime/paint drying booth ($1400), Paint ($900), Primer ($200), 2 coats of clear ($300).

As long as you do not get their presidential package or the low end jobs that remind me of water colors with no clear they can do a good job.

They will be getting the car again to do my next hood and redo my top because cats are terrible animals.

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Thanks Andy.

Yup, 300 (320) will do it. 220's just faster and still won't scratch. Better for a full sand.

600 is what you use before you compound. Especally if you're trying to get rid of orange peel in new clear (finer grades if you're going the whole route).

OP, remember, after the paint, 98% of the cars need to be wet sanded and buffed to remove fibers and debris that landed on the paint.

My RX7 came out of the booth looking like hell......Mussers mobile auto detail made it look fantastic with 1000 grit wet sand and a proper buff....

There is an interesting article on painting a car in this weeks Amos Auto Enthusiast.com. Might help, might not, but it is free.

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Agreed. A good post paint polish/buff/whatever will do wonders. And a color sand is just huge.

However, if done right, a good post paint color buff will do wonders. That's what they did with my Vette and the results were fantastic. No orange peal, no blemishes... just a clean finish - you saw it.

The only problem with a wet sand is that it can be expensive. It is very time(re:labor) intensive.