Paint/Sanding Question

[urbex]

Ok... I have a question that I don't know if I'll be able to explain properly, or if anyone will even know what I'm trying to say....

When we painted the hood/fender on my Lumina back in '08 we had a hell of a time with the sanding. My dad is good at painting cars, and he did most of the paint work, while I did sanding/taping and a little primer. Anyways, when sanding, we could not get it to feather out nicely. Every time you'd sand more paint would chip off down to the bare metal. We essentially had to sand the entire hood down to bare metal since it wouldn't feather.

Does anyone have any idea what would cause that? I do believe the car was in a front end collision at some point when it was a rental. So there is a chance of previous paint work done (well, there's overspray...) Is it possible that it's something the place who painted it did?

Reason I ask is because my dad is recommending I don't repaint my car black because he's afraid of the whole car being hard to sand (essentially meaning we'd have to strip the whole damn thing to metal).

Anyone understand what I'm saying? I know...kinda rambling....

[94 olds vert]

I was going to say it's just the factory paint peeling mod. As more paint is sanded off to feather in the area you are tying to paint new pieces of paint flake away.

[urbex]

But I don't know if it is, because when the factory paint peels, it just goes down to the primer. This actually keeps flaking off to bare metal.

[94 olds vert]

That's a good point. Maybe someone who repainted the front of the car didn't do a good job of prepping the surface before the paint.

[urbex]

That's kinda what I'm wondering... My dad is just a little concerned that the entire car will be that way, and that'd be a HUGE pain in the ass to sand the entire car down completely, or else it'll look like shit.

[Mark 97 Cutlass Coupe]

My Mustang GT conv. had the same problem. It is just easier to take the car down to bare metal, and start again. If you are considering painting it black, since color match is not a problem, just do it a few panels at a time. Buzz the paint off with 36 or 40 grit on a DA, etch, prime, seal and paint. Be very careful not to damage the metal with a grinding wheel, especially if you are doing it in black as any deep metal scratches will show. Just take your time and it will be fine.

[urbex]

Ok thanks! I'm not expecting it to be a quick project. We're figuring it'll take all summer....

[bowtieguy]

was the hood the only thing that flacked...not the fenders.... the hood my have been replaced at one time???? OEM sealers are usually gray... Any replacement part has a black E-coat primer on it....if the hood was replaced at some time with an aftermarket part or painted with cheap paint with no UV protection that could have been why the paint would not feather out without flaking off

[urbex]

From what I remember, the fenders did it as well... The hood is not aftermarket, because it does have gray primer on it. When the accident happened would have been when it was a rental so it would have been back in '99. And it does have primer on it though, because in '08 it started peeling down to the gray primer, which makes me wonder if that hood has been repainted before. They could have just got one off a wrecked car or something which would explain the peeling paint, but not the poor prepping....

[bowtieguy]

Now that i think about it there was some of the early luminas with some paint delamination problems, but most of them where on the upper serfaces only. The only way you are going to tell is start sanding and see what happens on the rest of the car.

[urbex]

Well I'm going to weld in some new metal around the rear quarters, so when we sand there I guess that'll give us an idea on what to expect for the rest of the car. Plus we have to paint 2 of the doors as well...

[bowtieguy]

GM thought it would be a good idea to fill the quarters behind the wheels with expanding foam. I wounder if they thought what would happen if water got in there.
Good luck with your repaint. Hope you dont have to strip the whole car.
Just remember to use good quality paint products. And a clear with UV protection.

[urbex]

Thanks!