Paint prep process?
 

Can anybody give me a how to on paint prep? Here's what i'm trying to fix.
Spoiler paint

I'm planning to spray the top only with factory matched paint from paintscratch.com (the last spray can they gave me was a perfect match). But, before I spray, I want to know what I have to do to prep it. I realize this is only a temporary fix. I plan to get the entire car re-painted when I graduate and have some $$ for the car.

Thanks

-Mat

well...ya may not get the results your thinking of. I'm assuming this is a 1 step process and not base/clear. The best you could do is take it(the spoiler) off. If you don't Take it off it will be more work. You need to mask off everything otherwise( And I mean EVERYTHING). I would then sand it with 600 grit WET sandpaper. Don't take off the primer, but try to even out the surface. After sanding you really need to clean it off. You can use a new tack cloth, or i like to use a clean cotton t-shirt with some laquer thinner. Now here is were ya need finess... Your ready for paint. I'm assuming it is a can. listen to these directions religiously. more coats are better. 8 thin coats are better than 2 thick. spray long even sprays all the way across do not stop spraying until you are off the piece. do 1 coat 1 way the next the other. Read the directions , but you prob. don't have to waite for the paint to dry/ you just need to waite for it to "tack up" between coats. Some people like to do a very very light first coat (to the point where you can barely tell it's there"a dusting") Your coats should be really really light. It will look soooo much better in the end. When your finished you can sand and polish to get a better look if it doesn't look like you wanted. gl

I will second his directions...that is pretty sound advice.

got it
 

Thanks for the directions. I found out my neighbor is a fairly proficient painter. He's been walking me through it. Yesterday I removed the spoiler and wet sanded the entire top half of the spoiler down to just the primer. I masked off everything else. Today, I wiped it down with Methyl Ethyl Ketone and waited about 10 minutes. Then, I started applying light color coats. So far, I've done 3 coats of black, 1 very thin coat of metallic red (attempting to match the ebony pearl), and another thin coat of black over that. Tomorrow afternoon is another thin coat of metallic red followed by one or two more coats of black. Then it will be wet sanded with 1500-2000 grit paper followed by clear coat, wet sanding, and polishing. If the red metallic ends up looking bad, I'll strip it and do it again. I see it as a good intro to painting. This guy actually has some real painting equipment that I'll probably play with in the future. Anyway, thanks for the advice. I'll post pics when I'm finished.