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Message: [QUOTE="John, post: 7750, member: 327"] PREP! PREP! MFin PREP! and also read the labels on the materials you are using. Cleanliness is next to godliness. Get the body work finished first, assuming its done correctly and has been feather-edged.... To paint: Remove anything you can easily remove that you don't want paint on. The best way to repaint your truck would be to disassemble it down to nothing. Remove windows, door handles, mirrors, trim.. etc etc. You can also tape it all off using fine line tape, but the results are much better by just doing a tear down. You don't regret it. Then wax and grease remover on everything being painted. Using one rag to clean, and one rag to dry. Don't use the same rag to do both. Sand with D/A 120grit.(Assuming your body work is good). For deep paint chips, feather edge with 80 grit then follow up with 120. Hand sand areas you can't get the D/A at with red scotchbrite. You want NO gloss left after sanding, your basically making it so that the primer will stick to the substrate. Wax and grease remover again. Prime the parts(If you've never painted use a 2K primer). Follow directions on label. Read the label to find out how long until you can sand, then block sand parts. I use 220 wet to sand the primer. Block sand parts until flat with no orange peel. Clean again with wax and grease remover. Prime again with 2K, if everything is good, a second coat is all you will need, if not a third coat may be required. If you need a third coat, you will need to sand again (with 220 grit wet) after the second coat to apply the third coat. If the second coat is enough.... Again, sand when the label says you can and block sand again. Use 400grit(wet) to sand the last coat of primer. This is your base, and mistakes(runs, deep sand scratchs etc) will show through. Again, sand until its flat with no orange peel. After that, guess what you get to do....Clean with wax and grease remover, after this cleaning DON'T touch the panel with your hands where you are painting. Try to touch places that are not important. For example inner side of the fender. (oil's from your hands can cause fish eyes in the paint, google it to see an example) Now wipe down the panel with a tack cloth, again DON'T touch the part getting painted. Spray sealer on the panel. 2K can usually be used as a sealer as well. You can also get a dedicated sealer, which I like. Now you get to finally paint. Spray the paint of choice, I like Duponts Chromabase(2 stage). I personally prefer a 2 stage over a single stage paint. Clear coats are more durable, and scratch in clear coat is easy to remove, in single stage its a bit tougher. I would stay away from tri-stage paint, you will not be able to lay it right as a first time painter. Whatever you do, read the label as to how to apply the paint and clear. The manufactor has tested the paint and knows the most as to how to apply it. After the panel as flashed with the color, you will need to clear coat it if you used 2 stage paint. If you used single, no more spraying is required. As for clear coat, ask the paint store what they recommend to use with the paint you pick out if they seem like they know what they are doing. If in doubt, stay with the same system your paint is. Example Chromabase with Chromaclear. Next you'll need to wet sand and polish the parts. If you want it to be really nice and clean, start with 1500 wet sand paper to get it flat(no orange peel, and minimum sand scratches), then 2000 wet to pull the scratchs, then 2500 to pull scratchs, then 3000 if your really anal. If you want something decent, start with 2000, end with 2500. Then polish with a body shop safe medium cut polish, followed up by swirl remover, then hand glaze.You will have to wait a certain amount of time until you wax, or paint failure can occur. The paint will continue to "dry" even after its dry to the touch. Whenever its a nice sunny warm day, take the vehicle outside in the sun to help the curing process. There are variations on certain parts of this, this is just the way I spray LOL. [/QUOTE]