My 79 CJ hood was badly weather beaten. There were some small dents that broke the surface of the paint and were beginning to rust. I want to protect the hood so I wet sanded those spots to bare metal with 220 the rest of the hood with 220 then spray painted a coat. Then 220 wet sanded again and spray painted another coat. Now the paint is beginning to look pretty good, but there are some spots that appear to have more paint than others (it's darker). It is still rather a rough texture as you look at it though. Is my next step to paint another coat and then use 320 or 600 or 1000 grit sandpaper? Will the polish type sandpaper remove the texture and apparent heavy spots? If this works out, I might just replace the rusted fender and keep going! Any help would be appreciated. BTW the paint is from Wal-Mart for only $3.69 a can, so far two cans.

You should sand(300-400 grit)
Clean[thinner or soap]
let dry
primer if it is bare metal
You can paint with the same steps as the primer
paint one coat..very lightly(this is a tacky coat)
wait a few minutes then spray again..
then wait a few minutes then spray again
Get a good
Wait a day then paint
Scuff up lightly with 400 grit sandpaper, then repeat the same steps you did when primering.

It should have instructions on the back of the can.


78 CJ7
Spring over 33's
4.3L V6, TH350

It's too late to do what you recommend. I've already sanded with 220 and painted bare metal spots with paint and not primer. Should I sand lightly with 600 then paint another coat? My fear is that if I sand with 600 it will act as a polish and the paint won't stick to the first coat. By the way, I feel like an idiot, I didn't even read the damn directions. Oh well, at least the hood is protected. Rust is my enemy in Florida.

don't worry
You should see my numerous post on this same subject

Sand back down to bare metal, you won't get good adhesion without primer.
I don't believe it will bond to the surface, and you'll be doing the same thing next week.

78 CJ7
Spring over 33's
4.3L V6, TH350

The color of the primer, or the lack of primer, will effect the final color of the paint, if your using a light color paint. I painted a Jeep and a trailer with the same paint. The Jeep had a darker primer than the trailer. The final color of the trailer is a tad lighter than the Jeep.

I didn't strip the entire hood to bare metal. 99.9% of it had paint on it, just wheather beaten so I 220 grit wetsanded it smooth, it appeared that the "oxidation" came off and the result was a color that was very similar to the original color but now with streaks but still not to bare metal. Therefore, the original primer & paint serves as a primer, right?
Then I applied one light coat of new spray paint.
Wetsanded again with 220 but not enough to remove the new paint.
Some quarter size areas had rust, those got sanded to bare metal, I understand those areas need primer then paint.
Then a 2nd full coat of spray paint was applied.
The result is still "rough" to the feel and touch and sight.
What is my next step? I saw on Crank & Chrome the following:
Wetsand with 600 grit, then rubbing compound, then polish to a shiny mirror like luster. Bullshi*! My hood looks like crap. Ugh! Okay this is just like golf, recovery is the name of the game, right?
Should I wetsand with 600 (I don't have 400) to knock down the rough texture and then use rubbing compound?

If its not to bare metal, the old paint will work as a primer.
Don't sand if the paint is still wet.
You want to wait a while to let the new paint dry.At least 10 hours or so..depends on the weather.

Don't worry about rubbing compound
You are using spray paint.

Just sand the last coat of paint down so it is flush with the old paint.
I would recommend 220-400 for this.
Anything above 400 will probably take a long time.


78 CJ7
Spring over 33's
4.3L V6, TH350

Well I did this whole trip . I started with 1000 , then 1200 and finally 1500 . LOTS of soapy water . Then I used REAL polish . I`ll find the name of it if you need . I used my orbital polisher to apply it and buff it , worked fine .Turned out great.



<font color=black>Jeff [img]/wwwthreads_images/icons/cool.gif[/img] </font color=black>

The saga continues, but this time with satisfactory resolution. This evening I returned to Wal-Mart with an attitude and bought three more cans of paint.
Then I:
Wetsanded again with 600 to knock down texture.
Cleaned & Dried it to a bone.
Applied another two cans of paint and it looks pretty darn good!
The Secret: The tip should be approx 5" from the surface!! You guys didn't tell me that!!!!!!!
I had the darn thing about a foot away from the surface. It was like snow settling down. No wonder I had rough textured finish each time I finished. Now I'm staring at an almost mirror like luster. BTW, Jeepzilla, the picture of your yellow jeep that looked like it was "dipped in plastic" is what got me thinking about this. Thanks for the lesson. You too Joey.
BT

You mean my old yellow jeep
OK she wasn't half as pretty as jeepzillas is, but I painted her with the boards help.



78 CJ7
Spring over 33's
4.3L V6, TH350

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