[FocusFreak09]

I have a question that im hoping someone can answer ASAP. When you are repainting the side moldings, how much should you sand down to get it good enough to get primer to stick? The reason i ask is because my bro in law ran into my car backing up and scratched up my side moldings and i just took one off today and started sanding it down. Im not really sure how much i need to sand it.

 

[Deaner]

a light sand should do. when i was painting my rims, i lightly sand it down. its just to give it a light rough texture. im not too sure if this is the same for the cars body.

 

[FocusFreak09]

well i know the side moldings are plastic and mine are already painted but im not sure how much i need to sand it down. Ill just sand it as much as i think will work then get my friends to paint them.

 

[FocusFreak09]

anyone else with help

 

[bigdaddycain1971]

There are a few variables here that come into play... How deep is the scratch? Has the surface of the paint/lacquer been broken?

A rule of thumb guide would be to get the scratch,and the surrounding area as flat and smooth as possible, don't trust your eyes, use your finger or thumb to FEEL how smooth the surface is prior to priming... I did the mouldings,and door handles on a couple of previous focus' i used to own.

I used the same method when i painted the bumper louvres on my St170 matt black to match the ST stripes....

(excuse the blurred pics)

 

[FocusFreak09]

well the scratch just scratched the side moldings enough to put the other cars paint on it and messed it up pretty much. I sanded them down with ruff sand paper then used some 400 grit on it but when i primer it u can still see the scratches on there. i tried wet sanding them but dont work but what i think im gonna do is take them to a body shop tomorrow and get a estimate