I'm planning on getting my car painted soon, but want to do all the prep work myself so i don't spend to much money.

I only plan on getting the exterior of my car painted and plan on keeping the same color black. Is sanding the car down the only preping you have to do? and how do you know how much to sand and when you've sanded to much?

Is there a write-up somewhere on the internet. Thanks in advance.

 

There a re 2 basic requirements in pre-paint prep;

1) deglossing

2) degreasing

To degloss, there are a few approaches, but the bottom line is that the paint be COMPLETELY gloss free. You can use wetsandpaper (400-600 grit) red Scotchbrite pads, or a combination of the Scotchbrite pads and Comet cleanser will work well. You ONLY need to degloss the paint, so DON'T rub enough to break through the paint, that would be a problem.

When it comes to degreasing, well, I would run over it with either Prepsol, or an equivalent degreasor, AND some windex (original formula with ammonia) . The paint shop certainly *should* degrease the car even if you do, because in between transit to them it will get hands on it and other contaminants. But it won't hurt for you to do it thoroughly, because it'll make their prep overkill. And overklill is a good thing when paint prepping.

Best of luck!