Understanding how to properly prepare a car before painting it is a game-changing move. Following the procedure carefully streamlines the entire process and ensures you obtain impressive outcomes.
You must bring everything you’ll use during the exercise before you start. Additionally, you must select an ideal location for the painting process. Suitable areas for painting a car have minimal dust and are well-ventilated. Below is a detailed painting preparation procedure for a van.
Auto Body Inspection
You can’t paint a car whose body has cracks, dents, and other damages. The structural inconsistencies are unfavorable because they interfere with paint adherence and overall work quality. So, the first step entails a thorough body inspection to identify and repair any damages before subjecting the car to the painting process.
Sanding the Car
Sanding involves uniformly scratching off the current coat from the body surfaces using a sanding pad. It’s essential because it smoothens the target surfaces for adequate paint adherence to the car body. Even though it takes a lot of time and paint, sanding until you reach bare metal surfaces produces the best painting results.
Cleaning the Body
Cleaning for painting purposes is done using a rag soaked in an organic solvent such as thinner, alcohol, or a mineral spirit. Wiping the car body surfaces with the rag removes any oil residues that might interfere with paint adherence to the body.
Covering Areas You Don’t Intend to Paint
This step is very critical when preparing a car for painting. It prevents the paint from getting to sections you don’t want to repair. These include the windshield, bumper, window glasses, and rims. You can easily do this by taping used newspapers onto the target parts.
Priming the Body
Priming is essential before painting a car if the technicians sand it until bare metal surfaces. You’ll apply a primer to guard the car body against corrosive substances during the process. Perform mild sanding after the primer has appropriately dried to make the car ready for actual painting.