First, please verify what you're doing. Is your 986 originally Ocean Jade Metallic or are you changing the color to OJM? For some reason I have your car as red in my mind from when you were a member yrs ago. A color change from red to green is best left to the experts.
Second, my comments on the video... Use a sanding block as it keeps more sand paper on the surface of the car. Then do what I'll call cross-hatching motions - sand from 10 to 4 and 8 to 2 on a clock. Use long, sweeping motions. This keeps the sand paper on the contour of the body, with a 986 having a lot of contours. Going 9 to 3 will create flat spots or troughs.
Now for the tough part. To get a properly prepared surface, you'll need to sand it 4 times. Start with 220, next with 320, again with 400, and finally with a Scotch pad. Each time reduces the amount of scratches with the paint feeling almost "smooth" when the Scotch pad sanding is done. You could probably do the first 2 steps with a dual action sander but the last 2 would be best with sanding block for the 400 and by hand with the pad. When my dad and I were rebuilding wrecked cars in the 70s and early 80s, we didn't have dual action sanders so we did all 4 steps by hand. I haven't done body work since my dad passed away 34 yrs ago, but the basics haven't changed based on what I see on today's TV shows.
If you're changing colors, you'll need to remove all the parts that are attached (doors, hood, etc) so you can get paint on all painted surfaces. This means you'll also need to remove any attached parts too. LOTS of work. You won't have to sand these areas to perfection, but you'll have to rough it up enough so paint will stick.
I would assume a 20+ yr old car would have accumulated a few door dings over the yrs. You'll need to deal with them now, as you don't want to leave them and paint over them. This opens a whole new can of worms - body filler. That's a whole 'nuther set of YT videos.
I'm not trying to scare you out of doing it yourself. Just remember - the prep work is the foundation of a great paint job. It's easy to cut corners but the final result will magnify in a negative way any time "savings". It's not rocket science, it is very labor intensive, but it does require a bit of knowledge to get it right.
__________________
GPRPCA Chief Driving Instructor
2008 Boxster S Limited Edition #005
2008 Cayman S Sport - Signal Green
1989 928 S4 5 spd - black
Last edited by husker boxster; 08-04-2020 at 06:08 AM.
First, please verify what you're doing. Is your 986 originally Ocean Jade Metallic or are you changing the color to OJM? For some reason I have your car as red in my mind from when you were a member yrs ago. A color change from red to green is best left to the experts.
You must be thinking of someone else. I was not a member years ago. I've only recently joined since I bought this car in June.
Mrs. Peel's original paint color is Ocean Jade Metallic. That's what drew me to it. And I understand it's a rare color. So I'm not changing the color, I'm just restoring it.
You and others have convinced me that I don't want to tackle this as a DIY project, not even the prep. I'm just going to shell out the bucks to get it done right by a trustworthy painter. I'm not going to boat bed it.
What does that mean? Years ago I had a boat. That boat had a huge, irregularly shaped bed platform. I tried all sorts of things that were cheap solutions, including cutting my own foam, to put a "mattress" on that bed area. For three years I tried things and had three years of a crappy bed. Finally, I gave up and paid the bucks to had a custom mattress created, 6' wide at the top, curving to 9' wide at the bottom. It fit the space perfectly and I slept like a baby. From then on, when I consider cheapening out on a project to save a few bucks, I remember that I spent a lot more in the long run and had a miserable three years, and should have just sprung for getting it done right the first time.
No boat-betting for Mrs. Peel. I'm just gonna shuck out the big bucks necessary to restore her to her original glory.
First, please verify what you're doing. Is your 986 originally Ocean Jade Metallic or are you changing the color to OJM? For some reason I have your car as red in my mind from when you were a member yrs ago. A color change from red to green is best left to the experts.
Second, my comments on the video... Use a sanding block as it keeps more sand paper on the surface of the car. Then do what I'll call cross-hatching motions - sand from 10 to 4 and 8 to 2 on a clock. Use long, sweeping motions. This keeps the sand paper on the contour of the body, with a 986 having a lot of contours. Going 9 to 3 will create flat spots or troughs.
Now for the tough part. To get a properly prepared surface, you'll need to sand it 4 times. Start with 220, next with 320, again with 400, and finally with a Scotch pad. Each time reduces the amount of scratches with the paint feeling almost "smooth" when the Scotch pad sanding is done. You could probably do the first 2 steps with a dual action sander but the last 2 would be best with sanding block for the 400 and by hand with the pad. When my dad and I were rebuilding wrecked cars in the 70s and early 80s, we didn't have dual action sanders so we did all 4 steps by hand. I haven't done body work since my dad passed away 34 yrs ago, but the basics haven't changed based on what I see on today's TV shows.
If you're changing colors, you'll need to remove all the parts that are attached (doors, hood, etc) so you can get paint on all painted surfaces. This means you'll also need to remove any attached parts too. LOTS of work. You won't have to sand these areas to perfection, but you'll have to rough it up enough so paint will stick.
I would assume a 20+ yr old car would have accumulated a few door dings over the yrs. You'll need to deal with them now, as you don't want to leave them and paint over them. This opens a whole new can of worms - body filler. That's a whole 'nuther set of YT videos.
I'm not trying to scare you out of doing it yourself. Just remember - the prep work is the foundation of a great paint job. It's easy to cut corners but the final result will magnify in a negative way any time "savings". It's not rocket science, it is very labor intensive, but it does require a bit of knowledge to get it right.
I don't think she's looking for a concourse car. Just a simple re-spray on a $5000 car. No reason to shell out $3000 on a car worth just that.
FWIW I think a wee bit of wet sanding and a $1000 Maaco re-spray and the OP will be right as rain.
You have to kind of fog on the last coat of base for this type of colour to let the metallic flow out when trying to blend a panel. Not for the faint hearted.
Probably best to mask off the roof cover and hood like you suggest, and hope the match paint is good and do the whole thing with BC and CC. That's a lighter tone, so I think a match wouldn't be too tough to achieve.
My son's A4 is brilliant black...and most think it's just black...nope. When I did the fenders and other parts last month, the blend was tough. Got it looking decent, a lot of wetsanding and polishing to make the repair disappear...it's damn shiny now.
I can see the blend line faintly, but I'm a picky SOB and know where it is. Most wouldn't notice.
Its hard work, but I find it rewarding to stand back and be able to say "I did that"...I like a challenge.
I DO NOT like PPG single stage acrylic paint. I just picked the cheapest stuff I could find for my truck. And 4 years latter the cheap paint shows.
I would expect that you can choose better paint from Maaco if you want.
Hoovie got a base coat - clear coat paint job. I imagine they did an extra nice job knowing their work was going to be on full display on the interweb.
__________________
GPRPCA Chief Driving Instructor
2008 Boxster S Limited Edition #005
2008 Cayman S Sport - Signal Green
1989 928 S4 5 spd - black
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