paint prep and coats?

[SKI TILL I DIE!]

So I bought a ski that was covered in crappy stickers and had paint chips all over it, so I've decided to paint it and now i've got some questions:
When sanding do i need to sand down to the fiberglass or can i just smooth out the chips in the paint and sand down the existing paint?
What grit sandpaper should i use before i prime?
How many coats of Primer?
Should i sand after priming? If so what grit sand paper?
How many coats of paint?
Should I sand after painting? If so what sand paper?

As you can see i don't really know what I'm doing and i really don't want to screw this up.

Any help is much appreciated!!!!

 

[munki63]

Im no pro but when I painted my ski i filled the chips with epoxy and sanded it out, you might be able too use bondo, but im not sure
before you paint or prime use a de-greeser or your paint will chip off, clean clean clean is the trick.
when you prime use white primer, i used gray and it bled thru so i had too use more paint then I needed
thats as far as i can help you

 

[munki63]

check this out http://www.x-h2o.com/threads/2448

 

[Boris]

What ski ?

Yes it matters, if the chips are on a stock RN hood than you might as well pull all the paint off.

BTW, Nick (Yamaslut) is right there in your neighborhood. Why not talk to him. He has done some nice paint jobs for people on here and he's quite reasonable.

 

[SKI TILL I DIE!]

It's an x2...yes i know..i live in daytona and dont own a sj, but i've got a friend with more than one. :bigok:

As for the chips, its mostly on the sides and its nothing serious. I can easily sand it away i was just trying to figure out if i need to bother to sand away all of the paint or not.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

On an X2 I would also sand down to the bare SMC using 80 grit paper,they did not sand these before painting at the factory and like the paint on the SJ hoods it is not stuck very well at all. Then prime it with some decent primer( as in not in a spray can) wetsand with 400 grit,if you have any serious sanding scratches prime it and sand it again. Paint is up to you and how many coats will depend on the type and color of paint used and the color of the primer underneath it, basically you want to spray light colors over white primer,dark colors over black primer and in between colors over gray primer.

 

[SKI TILL I DIE!]

thanks for the advice and the links... Now time to sand sand sand sand sand and sand some more.

 

[Daralekt]

get a big ass electric sander............. my ski had 6 different paint jobs on it, and the sander made it a piece of cake.......

 

[grezzmky]

Im a painter, if you need any help or advice you can call me any time. 314 368 9040. Too much to type

 

[Crab]

Took 3 full days to get to primer! Omni 2K

 

[SKI TILL I DIE!]

Lookin good crab...Is that a paint booth or just you garage?

 

[Crab]

RV sized garage setup for painting cars, it gets sprayed down with water just prior to paint for dust control and has two mega fans for fumes.

 

[SKI TILL I DIE!]

Ok gotcha. I'm thinking of just spraying it outside when there is no wind. Bad idea? I helped a friend build a makeshift paint booth in his garage about a year ago and i'm not doing that again lol

 

[SKI TILL I DIE!]

Oh and what looked like a quick paint job might be getting turned into why not chop this thing up while i'm at it? You guys have any mods that u think i should do? I'm thinking of doing an internal fuel fill i'm just not sure how i'm going to close off the hole in the tank that goes up to the external (normal) fuel cap. Crab, i think you can help me with this one...i saw you did it on this boat: http://www.x-h2o.com/threads/9768&page=16

Thanks!!