Hood repaint

[ClayBelt]

My grandfather has a bullet nosed Studebaker sedan that is in excellent shape, he restored it and painted it and everything. Someone stole the hood yesterday and he is planning to replace it with another one from his barn. The paint doesn't match, and he wanted me to repaint it. No further instructions, just "repaint the hood to match the rest of the car". I have the paint and everything, but in terms of how to prep it: do I sand it, can I use something like Airplane stripper, etc? What do I do to get it ready for paint?

[RadioRoy]

If he painted the car himself, would he be willing to explain to you how to do it?

If the existing paint is still sound and sticking to the hood, I would not strip it to the metal. The most difficult adhesion problem is between the metal and the first coat of paint.

If you do strip it all the way to the metal, use etching solution and epoxy primer. Don't sand it with too coarse of paper. My hood has sanding marks that show up again every time the hood is repainted.

How in the world did a hood get stolen anyway? There must be a great story behind that.

[ClayBelt]

The hood was off to replace the hinges. Some guy came by to talk about a 1960 Jag my grandad was selling, bought it, and when we were not looking put it in the car before he left (we think). Out of towner, and since we had spares my grandad said to just do another one. I think he wants me to have the trial and error before he comes in and teaches me the right way, but I don't want to risk ruining its usefulness by doing something stupid. The paint is sound on it, but there is flaking clear coat.

[55 56 PREZ 4D]

There is no simple answer to your question.
You might want to get on several auto paint forum sites and at least browse around for info.
Proper equipment.
Proper prep. Especially proper prep.
Above all proper safety equipment is needed. Some of the paints are not only a health risk, they are deadly.

http://www.yellowbullet.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=41

http://autobodystore.com/forum/index.php?index

http://forums.hotrod.com/car-craft/69/62023/auto-paint/

Do you have any schools with night body shop classes available to you ?
That would take care of the equipment and safety equipment concerns.

[sweetolbob]

Peeling clear coat suggests a fairly recent paint job. I 'd take it to bare metal as it's just the hood. Nothing wrong with a DA sander and about 80 grit for starters. Just don't go crazy with pressure on the sander. One problem can be plugging the sandpaper if the paint is soft. ITC, I've used West Marine stripper on a fiberglass cap and it removed the three layers of paint. One - soft, 2&3 were basecoat clearcoat. Easy to use and relatively non-toxic. Experment with a small area to see how long it might take. I left it on overnight to remove the BC/CC. A gallon should be more than enough. https://www.westmarine.com/buy/back-...36?recordNum=1

Once it's stripped, just epoxy primer and paint. Take the previous advice and ask the local auto paint store for the best primer and shoot away. Use a good mask and gloves for starters.

Youtube is full of videos on painting cars. Just view away and practice.

Bob

[thunderations]

Test fit the replacement hood prior to painting it. I have 4 hoods and some fit better then others. They seem to spread across the back.

[ClayBelt]

The hood fits. I started work on prep today, a JDM buddy of mine convinced me to take it to paint rather than strip it. Did 120, 180, 180 dry sanding, 220, 320 wet sanding. Planning to do wet sanding 320, 400 this weekend before priming and painting. Any changes you would recommend?

[wdills]

If it is a solid color 400 wet is far enough. If it is metallic you should do you final sand with 600 wet. Once sanded I would spray a coat of sealer and then start spraying color.

[ClayBelt]

It's a metallic, looks like it came off a custom of some sort. Rest of the car is painted with rattle can Duplicolor, GM black like you get from autozone. Same color as my Buick actually.