Ok. So on my hood and head light on my trans am. The clear is starting to come off. And on other parts of the car it looks like its going to to, So figured i would start sanding my hood and prepping it. Now with the hood being fiberglass. How far do i sand? I was just wet sanding with 1000 out the rough area where the clear was coming off. and getting it smooth. Then barely hit white so i stoped asap. I didn't think i was down that far. But i guess i was wrong. Now is it bad to hit white?

 

So it's just the clear coming off and no paint?

If the clear is coming off IMO you should repaint color and clear. You can use 320 grit on a D/A sander and take all the clear off and get into the basecoat. Then wet sand that with 400grit. You can either shoot base over that or seal it, which is better IMO, then shoot base on top of that.

There is really no way for sure to say without being there if the "white" is too far.

Do you know if the car has ever been painted? What color is it now?

I was sanding the bumper on my friends black 95 Z the other night.

I started sanding and got to some white/gray color which I figured was some filler primer. It was but there was another coat of black, then white, some gray, more white and black. It had 8 coats of paint on it. I never thought I was going to find the bumper!

I bought a 00' Firehawk w/ 27,xxx miles on it from the second owner and thought it was perfect. After owning it for a while I have found at least half of it has been repainted.

The readers digest version of this is it's hard to say unless you bought the car new or know the full history of it.

Hope this helps some. There are a lot of smart guys on this board. Lord knows they have helped me out in the past.

 

It was just the clear. The car is Red. And im not sure if it has any body work before. I was told it was never in any kinds of accident and carfax came out clean but who knows. When i sanded i can see there is the pain.. then a slightly different color of red? then the white that i just got to. I figured i would stop and do some more research on before sanding any more. Wasn't sure if it was the fiberglass or primer or what. Im new to auotbody so got to learn. and thanks for the reply

 

is it a OEM hood........or a wanna be?

 

Its OEM,

 

i have no idea what color the material of the hood is bare........but is it safe to guess.....black?

 

it looks white to me, the reason i say this is becouse, under the hood there where holes drilled to remove the baffles, and its white.

 

Your hood is actually SMC (sheet mold compound) not fiberglass. If it is fiberglass it is not a factory hood. The white is more than likely the gel coat. Either way sounds like your going to need to color and blend. Also be careful sanding either way. The hotter you get it the more distrosion you can cause. Pictures would be good.

 

Ok well what ever its made out of is white .... here is pictures. Also included under the hood where the hoes where drilled to remove baffles?

 

At somepoint the car was probably hit. You can also tell becasue of the amount of orange peel on it. You have a couple options. The correct way is to respray it and blend it out. The other way is to remove the panel and respray it, but this will no be a exact match. Tough choice. WHere are you located

 

Hit? why? because of orange peal under the hood? I dont think the car has been hit. But i could always be wrong. And i plan on having the whole car repainted actually now. There is a place on the fenders where it looks like the clear is going to come up. starting to to turn white. And also on the rear quarter panel. Im more less curious on sanding because im new to this. Should i be snading tell i just hit the white? or should i stop before that?

Also once i get to the fenders and bumper. can i sand them? or what. Since there are not metal as well? And how far do i sand them down? Or how do i remove paint from them?

And thank you very much for the reply's

 

Don't worry at all about hitting some white, that's the factory sealer. Just sand until the peeling clear is feathered out good, no hard edges. Hood probably has been painted since the clear is coming off but probably not because it was wrecked, could have be blended for paint match or scratches. The one thing to remember when sanding smc or fiberglass is use a good block and cross hatch your sanding strokes. If you strip it with a da then you should prime and block to make sure you havent dipped the material.

 

i have no idea. Could of been repainted for all i know. But with that being said. You can see some withe dots wanting to come from the fenders if you look closely at an angel. Where it looks like the clear coat will also start going off. And over by the gas tank door as well. it has actually started coming off a little there as well. The reason the whole thing is going to get repainted. I think what happend is the car sat out side for a couple years here in the bad Hawaii rain acid rain and what ever. The previous owner was in the military and was over seas. When i got the car. it had the worse water spats i have ever seen. spent a couple days with a rubbing compound just to get them off. Same with the glass. It was bad.

But this is why im going to just have the whole thing repainted. Just trying to get tips on how far to sand things down. Like on the rear quater panels. I should just go to metal? but how far should i go on fenders? just to the paint got? or should i try and remove it. Also dont know if i want to use a D/A sander on it besides the rear quarters?

Also what is considered a good block? thanks again...