pasky

OK, im not sure who's post I was reading, but he inspired me to do this. My camaro is arctic white and the paint around the headlight pockets is chipped in some areas when I bought new headlights .

I want to paint these bad boys midnight black, I love that 1LE look and would like to give my poor car a nice look to it. Now my question is what do I need to do? I already knopw to get some spray paint and tape the area around the pockets. But what is the best way to go about sanding down the old paint?

Is there any type of spray paint primer? If so where can I get it (autozone, O'reily's, NAPA etc...)? If not what should I get and what do I apply the primer with?

Is there a clear coat spray paint? If so where can I get it? If not what do I apply it with as above?

After the black paint and clear coat have set on, would I need to wetsand it? Or is this not possible on the plastic?

I really appreciate everyones help and hope I didn't ask too much. I got quoted at a body shop and he quoted me $250. I find that a bit much and would rather spend it on the back end where I really need a paint job I can't do myself. Thanks for the help.

pasky

Also, what grit of sandpaper should I use to wetsand those puppies if that is possible? Thanks.

pasky

No one?

CamaroRS385hp

well IMO, flat black looks better than gloss black, so i just sprayed mine with flat black and it looks great. it's more shiny than you'd think it'd be.

so your headlight pockets are painted white? mine were just black plastic so i didn't have to do any sanding, but since yours are painted, just sand a little, primer and paint. just do a search on sanding/priming a car, and do what they say to your headlight pockets. here's a before and after pic of mine...turned out better than i thought it would. and my only cost was $3 for a can of flat black bumper spraypaint....

CamaroRS385hp

after

pasky

Thanks for the reply, well, one thing I would still like to know is if they make a clear coat and primer in a spray can form.

Azure

Yes to both.

Azure

Actually, my whole hood is rattlecan primer/paint/clear until I get some $ together...

*edit* Yes that's clouds reflecting off the hood! lol

pasky

Ok, just picked up the paint, primer and clearcoat. Ok two quick questions. Do I apply the clear coat before or after I wetsand the paint? The other question is, can you guys give me any tips on spraying the paint so I don't cause any kind of runs and bubbles?

Azure

I wetsand/buff after much clearcoating, though I've heard other ways. Keep the can a ways back from the painting surface, and apply many LIGHT coats, not one big thick coat or two - patience here is the key. Keep the can as steady as possible to prevent blobs of paint from spraying out..ver unsightly. Trust me, doing a small area, like a mirrior or a headlight pocket, is VERY easy to do and make it look good. Keep us posted.

pasky

Really appreciate the replies guys, if all goes well I just might redo my front bumper if the pockets go well, its got a few chips and such. Thanks again for the info and I will be sure to keep you guys posted.

25THRSS

Are the stock 91-92 Z28 pockets painted black or are they just bare plastic from the factory?

pasky

Not sure, mine is a 91 RS, so you got me there.

IROCZTWENTYGR8

iTrader: (1)

All Z28's and IROC-Z's have black headlight pockets.

25THRSS

Yes I know, but are they painted black or just left the bare black plastic?

IROCZTWENTYGR8

iTrader: (1)

Good question, I'd like to know that too.

To the poster, IMO use semi-gloss, its the closest to stock.

Ward

iTrader: (1)

This entire car is painted with rattlecan primer/paint. It was my sisters car before she wrecked it. My dad didnt want to spend much on it (thinking she might wreck it :P ) so he painted the entire thing with rattlecans. The total cost of paint was less than $100 :P Its an 87 SC, 2.8V6, automatic. It had a perfectly good 82-83 Z28 fiberglass hood on it until she decided to run it into a guardrail...

IROCZTWENTYGR8

iTrader: (1)

Shame about that hood!

nikh23

If you're going with a flat black rattle can type deal then i suggest getting a scotch brite pad (the gray colored ones) and just lightly wetsand the headlight bucket to scuff up the paint so the new paint sticks to it better. Give about 2 coats of the flatblack to the bucket and once its dry take a da sander to it going from 1200-1500. then buff it with 3m perfect-it II, and then 3m perfect-it III. In my opinion skip the clear as it will start to yellow and begin to chip over time way faster than the paint will

your other option is to bring it to a shop and have them do it for about $50. It's about an hours worth of work plus an extra $5-$10 for supplies (at least thats how much it costs at the shop where i work at).

Zepher

iTrader: (1)

I used gloss black on my head light pockets,

Jim85IROC

iTrader: (2)

The black headlight pockets come painted. The raw color of most urethane bumpers is a nasty cream type of color.

Azure

Zeph!!! You have any other shots of your car w/ the hood down so I can see those pockets??? I was gonna do this mod this week, but I'd love to see how it looks on another bird first!!!!


Thx

Zepher

iTrader: (1)

Here are a couple. Don't mind the females. :

25THRSS

Thanks for the info, its good to know, but my bumper is black, i know because of the chips

Abubaca

iTrader: (3)

Any chick ever sat on my hood and I'd smack'er.

or any guy for that matter.

Afroman

Zepher.. whos' car is that in the corner

E-GAD!!!

Thats an ugly color car..

i would shoot myself if my car was that color..

Zepher

iTrader: (1)

It's actually red. Before I flashed the firmware in my camera, it would make red and orange look pink. It still does it a little bit, but not as bad as what is pictured.

pasky

Woot, just primered my pockets, just waiting for it to dry so I can wet sand. It is actually a lot easier than I thought it would be. The hardest part was sanding off the old white paint, man that sucked, was a lot of hard to get to places with the 3M hand sander, all the tiny corners I had to sand with my fingers. But after that it was puuuuuure gravy. Primer looks good, just waiting for it to dry so I can wet sand that puppy and put the black on.

pasky

Well, all went well. Man I wish you would have warned me about the smell of the black paint, man that **** stunk bad. I had my face wrapped in a shirt and tucked under the shirt I was wearing and let me tell you.....Peeeeeeeeee yoooooooooo, the primer didn't smell nearly as bad. Well, i had two bugs fly on the passenger pocket but I pull them off fast enough with some needle nose pliers I had outside. Anyways, just letting the paint dry now so I can go out there and sand it down.

pasky

Ok, I went out today after waking up and letting the paint dry and man, its not shining, I imagine this is where you wetsand to get the shine, so how does one "wet sand"?

nikh23

grab a bucket, a sponge, and some 1500 sandpaper

dip the sponge in the bucket of water and just spread it around all over the area and just start to sand using a block if you can. make sure to keep the area wet at all times, nothing will really happen if you don't but it just makes the whole process a lot easier. After you're happy with 1500 you could move up to 2000 but i doubt that you'd even notice a difference.

after wet sanding, grab a buffer and some rubbing compound and buff the hell out of that thing. then step it up to machine glaze with the buffer and that should get you to where you want it.

pasky

Thanks for the info.

pasky

Ahhhh crap, found a run in the paint on the inside wall of the passenger pocket, how do you remove this?

nikh23

sand that sucker down with a da or do it by hand with a block until its gone, then just compound over it

pasky

What grit should I use, btw, i bought two compounds, one is some turtlewax heavy duty compound, the other is turtle wax polisher. I take it I should use the compound first, than polisher. Also, my father-in-law had mention not to use the compound too long as it will eat up the paint, any tips on doing this?

nikh23

i'd say use 1500 grit with a block and wetsand it. i've never used that compound personally, I typically stick with 3M stuff but yea it sounds like you'd use the compound first then the polisher stuff. As for what your father in law said, it is true that it will just eat through the paint, but it depends on what you're using. the compound itself will not do that, but the electric buffers that are used are definitely capable of doing that. try not to keep the buffer in one spot for too long and definitely do not use the edge of the pad to buff as that will easily eat through the paint. keep the pad as flat as you can, if you gotta hit that curved part then push down on the buffer to get as much of the pad on the area as possible. and also don't try to buff the edges of the headlight bucket with the buffer as those areas will generate a lot of heat very quickly and damage the paint.

johnf123

quick question-doing this and i know how to paint and everything
can i just use regular rust oleum enamel black or should i get dupli color perfect match black with enamel or gloss clear?

Damon23

Get the duplicolor trim paint. It is the perfect shade if you want the factory look.

puma1552

iTrader: (1)

Holy 10 year old thread batman.

Just get the cheapest roller paint they have, it'll look great.

KiLLJ0Y

iTrader: (1)

a good durable paint, is called duplicolor bumper trim paint. its Satin black, just like factory. Flat black is what you see a chalk board look like, satin is what factory used.

Al Hasse

A friend of mine did hers with vinyl, after she did a set of Shelby stripes with the same stuff. I don't know how she cut the shape to fit the headlight pockets, but it came out pretty nice.

johnf123

mine are red.. its a 92 RS, i heard someone say 600 grit sandpaper first, then prime, then paint. should i use a higher or lower grit paper? i dont usually do body paint so i dont know. i normally dont wetsand after though.. big difference?