"going down to the bare metal might be a bit extreme, but is one way to keep the old paint from bubbling through."

might it be better to just rough sand, smooth sand, prime, paint, clear coat- instead of going down to the bare metal?

 

THe key thing is to make sure that all the clear is off since that is the weak layer. The base layer is well bonded, so yes, there is no reason to go all the way to bare metal. Admittedly, I am not car paint expert though.

 

I am going to remove the quarter bumpers and take mine to the body shop with the paint code along with the hood which some AH scratched vandalised when we were in the UK last year (probably a brainless oik due to the French number plate). IMO as an amateur it's difficult to paint the color match on a 12 year old truck.

 

I am leaning towards wrapping it myself. Looked at the videos and the hood should be easy. Vinyl wrap on ebay is less than $35 shipped. 3M stuff too. I'll just prep it by wet sanding it smooth first.

 

I want to dip mine (aka. plastikote, dipyourcar.com), but the wife wants real paint. Descisions, descisions....

 

just remember the old saying... "happy wife, happy life"... just sayin...

 

"happy wife, happy life"... just sayin... x2 on that!

 

Yeah, supposedly it's her car too...
By the time I'm done its going to be like my child, though. I might not be willing to give it up.