How do I prep for painting?
 

I am getting close to sending my Miata trailer to the paint booth (just have to get the front closed in and I'm paying someone to do that). The last time I got a car sprayed it was '86 when I got my Spitfire painted. I remember spending days sanding and priming but I swear it was so long ago that I don't remember exactly what I am supposed to be doing. Anyone have any tips or good links?


http://www.lightweightmiata.com/trailer/trailer36.jpg

sand it all with 400. you dont need to take it to bare metal.

if you aren't going to do any body work, just hit it with 3 coats of normal auto body primer.

if you ARE going to do body work, get some good long flexible sanders and adhesive sandpaper. 120 and 400 are good to start. 120 is to take down the bondo to "level" and 400 is for pre-paint sanding.

then get 2 different colors of primer and spray 2 coats of each and re-sand with 400 to see where the hi and lo spots are. you'll have islands of the first color for high spots.

you can finish with 800 and then spray but it's not totally necessary once you have the whole car done with 400.

vacuum and tack cloth after sanding.

rattle can?

rattle can