how do i paint my wheel wells/ firewall/ frame?

so i just pulled myt stroker out and sold it. picked up a 2005 lm7 im working on dropping in. after i removed the engine i decided to remove the core support both fenders, hood and wheel wells. ipicked up a grinder with the sanding attachment but then realized theres a millions different kinds of sanpaper. i got wire brush so im going to get some purple power and go to work on the frame. after i get it down to metel then what? what grit to i sue before primer, after primer, wet sand? i need help..heres now my truck looks right now

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/...teardown12.jpg

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/...teardown11.jpg

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/...teardown10.jpg

that por15 works good....

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Originally Posted by CHEVROLADE

that por15 works good....

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i will look for some. but my main concern is the actual prep and paint of the wheel wells and firewall..ill probably do the core support as well.

You dont need to go down to the metal, but if any metal shows up you have to prime that area, anyways sand the stock paint with wet 600, then sand wet with 1500 grit, paint and clear, if you do go to the metal prime with 2-3 coats primer, sand primer with same method as already stated, believe me your doing a small project compared to the crap i just went thru :lol:

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Originally Posted by LamboDoNoMo

You dont need to go down to the metal, but if any metal shows up you have to prime that area, anyways sand the stock paint with wet 600, then sand wet with 1500 grit, paint and clear, if you do go to the metal prime with 2-3 coats primer, sand primer with same method as already stated, believe me your doing a small project compared to the crap i just went thru :lol:

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cool thanks alot!!! thats the info im looking for..do i have to wet sand after i paint? now i have decided whether i wabnt to do flat black or gloss black. im thinking flat black on the inner wheel well then all gloss in the engine bay.

you can wet sand after you paint if you want, but under the engine bay i wouldnt even worry about it, but if you do you gotta use a very fine paper like 3000 grit, its called color sanding and its used to get out any orange peel or blemishes, but usually thats done on the outside of the vehicle, i didnt do it all anywhere. Basically any sanding you do unless on bondo needs to be wet, and you cant really get it to wet, remember copius amouts of water.

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Originally Posted by LamboDoNoMo

you can wet sand after you paint if you want, but under the engine bay i wouldnt even worry about it, but if you do you gotta use a very fine paper like 3000 grit, its called color sanding and its used to get out any orange peel or blemishes, but usually thats done on the outside of the vehicle, i didnt do it all anywhere. Basically any sanding you do unless on bondo needs to be wet, and you cant really get it to wet, remember copius amouts of water.

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Cool now will this work when im painting the block, valver covers intake cover etc? also i plan on useing just regualr high temp engine paint. will that work fine?

The block doesnt need sanding just clean it well, and you can sand the valve covers with 320 grit, buy some bulldog adhesion promoter and spray it on the block and covers before painting, and yes hightemp paint wworks fine, one thing that i forgot is scotch brite pads before sanding anything go over it with scotch pads to "rough" it up, use the purple or green pads, all you have to do is shake the dust out of em and reuse, you can use em on the motor and stuff as well if you want to, use the scotch pads before wet sanding, if its been wet sanded dont use em and def dont use em iif you decide to color sand, dont forget to buy a tach cloth to wipe the parts down right before you shoot paint, its sticky and smells funny but pulls any small dust particles off the parts.

awesome man! thanks for the info..ill be doing some clean up tonite and hopefully start laying down some paint later this week. goal is to be dropping the engine in by next friday

I just pressure washed the frame on my s10 and used some Rust Tough Enamel in semi gloss and it turned out great. I wouldn't worry about sanding the paint on the frame but the fenders I probably would. Oh and that POR-15 is great but $$$. The stuff I bought only took 2 cans to do the whole frame and it looks really good IMO.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...01000014-1.jpg