Did either of you read the Stick Post I linked above?

The first question you need to ask yourself is what quality of a paint job do you want. Do you want it laser straight or are a few dents and waves okay? Do want it to last 2-3 years or 10-20 years? If this is mainly a learning project, then ask yourself if you want to learn the correct way or just any ole way will do?

Your answers will determine how much advice you will receive here. Some people come with a terrible plan and want us to help them execute it and we won't. Not because we are mean and uncaring but just the opposite. We want you to succeed and be happy with the results. We certainly don't want your paint to start peeling off, cracking, or flaking in 6 months and have you mad at us because we "helped" you do a bad job.

VWBobby wrote a sticky post on How to Prep for Paint that covers the proper way to go about it. While there are variables to every process the basic elements of a good paint job are the same - it starts with the prep work.

'68 Coronet R/T wrote:Did either of you read the Stick Post I linked above?

The first question you need to ask yourself is what quality of a paint job do you want. Do you want it laser straight or are a few dents and waves okay? Do want it to last 2-3 years or 10-20 years? If this is mainly a learning project, then ask yourself if you want to learn the correct way or just any ole way will do?

Your answers will determine how much advice you will receive here. Some people come with a terrible plan and want us to help them execute it and we won't. Not because we are mean and uncaring but just the opposite. We want you to succeed and be happy with the results. We certainly don't want your paint to start peeling off, cracking, or flaking in 6 months and have you mad at us because we "helped" you do a bad job.

VWBobby wrote a sticky post on How to Prep for Paint that covers the proper way to go about it. While there are variables to every process the basic elements of a good paint job are the same - it starts with the prep work.

I read the sticky, but none of it seemed like it applied to me very directly. For instance it gives no indication of how far to sand or how to repair dents. I'll try to explain as best I can. i want a job that will last at least five Years, closer to ten If possible. I'm not looking for laser strait. Its a truck, it's gonna get more dings in the future so it doesn't need to be flawless. just not horribly wavy. I'm doing the best I can given my experience and toolet available, just looking for Somone to say "yeh you're doing it right" or "oh god stop you're making a disaster".

It looks like you have a good start so far.

The sticky covers almost all of the questions you have asked, but I will try to clarify for your particular situation. The sticky doesn't cover much about actual dent repair, since that is a rather involved subject in itself. I would be happy to help you with that also, if there is something you can't find in a search.

If the current paint is in OK condition: not flaking off, no clear coat delaminating away from the color, and in otherwise "good" shape - then you can proceed as you have and prime over your sanded/prepped material. You can sand to P180 or P220 and spray 2K urethane primer over primer, filler, sanded paint, etc. If you have large bare metal patches, you will want to use a DTM primer, epoxy, or etch primer for these areas. If you have not bought primer yet, I highly recommend the Tamco DTM primer sold here:
http://www.autobody101.com/store/paint-primers/
It is a good "all in one" type product and can be sprayed over almost anything you will find in autobody repair (after proper prep).

If the current paint is flaking off, flaking clear coat, chipping, etc.... It would be best to sand it to bare metal and start fresh. If you paint over failing paint, it might last less than a year, maybe a few years.....but not long.

If you follow the above guide, you should get at least 5 - 10 years out of the paint job. Maybe less if you drive it on salted roads in the winter and store it outside year-round. Dry climates are much easier on cars.

vwbobby wrote:It looks like you have a good start so far.

The sticky covers almost all of the questions you have asked, but I will try to clarify for your particular situation. The sticky doesn't cover much about actual dent repair, since that is a rather involved subject in itself. I would be happy to help you with that also, if there is something you can't find in a search.

If the current paint is in OK condition: not flaking off, no clear coat delaminating away from the color, and in otherwise "good" shape - then you can proceed as you have and prime over your sanded/prepped material. You can sand to P180 or P220 and spray 2K urethane primer over primer, filler, sanded paint, etc. If you have large bare metal patches, you will want to use a DTM primer, epoxy, or etch primer for these areas. If you have not bought primer yet, I highly recommend the Tamco DTM primer sold here:
http://www.autobody101.com/store/paint-primers/
It is a good "all in one" type product and can be sprayed over almost anything you will find in autobody repair (after proper prep).

If the current paint is flaking off, flaking clear coat, chipping, etc.... It would be best to sand it to bare metal and start fresh. If you paint over failing paint, it might last less than a year, maybe a few years.....but not long.

If you follow the above guide, you should get at least 5 - 10 years out of the paint job. Maybe less if you drive it on salted roads in the winter and store it outside year-round. Dry climates are much easier on cars.

thank you, that cleared just about everything up. The old paint was just fine, it still had a shine and would have looked great with a good wax job. It was actually very impressive for being 20 years old, but it had some rust that needed handled so this was my only option. I'll make sure the guy who is painting it takes your advice on the primer mentioned. And unfortunately, our weather is all around here. Snow and salted roads in the winter, rain in the spring. But it is my highest priority to make sure it stays clean and taken care of. I don't want to be doing this again any time soon.

If there is chance the truck will get wet before it gets painted then I suggest you use epoxy primer.
Once you finish sanding a section then shoot two coats of a quality epoxy primer. You can even brush it on if necessary. This will protect the panel while you work on others. Also, you can do filler work over the epoxy primer (you cannot with etch primer).