Planning a two-tone...

Yesterday I woke up and had a great idea to two tone the XJ. I wanted a meaner, bolder look. I considered lime green, electric blue, hunter-safety orange, and silver, but ended up on flat black. It still looks elegant while changing the look up enough for people to notice. The top half will be the factory black gloss.

So far what i've been told is I need to scuff up the surface with a red scotch brite pad, and then spray (no primer needed?) I have the rattle cans in my garage, but found out my buddy has a spray gun. I'd like to use the spray gun but without experience I'm sort of nervous to use it. Can I rattle-can a few coats and then roll on my last coat to get rid of any stripes caused by the spray paint? it's Rustoleum flat black protective enamel. If I get orange peel texture I know I have to wet-sand with fine grit, but what grit? 1500?

Also, should I wait for the spray gun or just spray and roll with rusto? whatever I use, I want to be able to just hit it with a can of spray paint to touch up scratches.

Let me know if i'm missing anything or have advice for me...

Thanks,
Greg

Ok, well I painted my old CBR900 blood red several years ago with a spray gun. I paint my Xj underside and wheel wells with cheapie black rattle can from Home Depot so if something is scratched scraped I can easily see silver vs. black.

Having this in mind I can give my opinion and what has worked well with me. Others may have differing opinion.

If your looking to just get the job done and quick & don't mind having to re-do the job again later (rattle wears off eventually)...by all means go with the rattle can.

However I prefer the paint gun if it is available. It usually requires more work up front but it goes on well, multi-coating isn't a problem and it lasts a hell of a lot longer.

If you have body work or rust, that needs to be taken care of prior to anything else (search that thread out in How to section-someone has to have gone over that already).

Either way, your going to want to wet-sand the areas to be painted. This is a grey sandpaper that can be purchased at autozone, riebes, kragen, Home depot, ace, etc. To apply it, have water handy, dip sand paper in water and with a wet surface, sand in a circle with even pressure. This will take the clear coat down, knock out some blemishes and then after you have done this wet sand several times, you can wash the vehicle. This will remove the fine sandings off that you just made. I wet-sanded several times.

After the area is washed, rinsed, you need to dry it (ask how to dry the vehicle with a chemical that quick dries but doesn't take away existing paint). Tape and paint with the gun (PRIMER). Apply several coats of paint after each dries. After you have several coats, wipe down with a rag and similar to acetone to pick up micro sized debris. Wetsand and then paint with your color of choice. After the painting is done, wipe down again and paint with clear coat. You can even wetsand lightly between clear coats to give it a more in-depth paint.

With the amount of time spent on the rattle cans, you wouldn't really want to paint over rattle with spray gun, if the rattle can paint comes off = your spray job comes off too. Stick to one or the other for continuity. Also your going to spend time painting and cleaning, might as well go big with the gun..practice on a piece of cardboard for a minute or two, you will be surprised how quickly you learn.

Good luck, hope this helps and take your time, do not rush.

You don't need to primer over old paint as long as the paint is undamaged. Scuff with the scotch-brite pads or wet-sand with 400-600 grit paper to rough up the surface. Thoroughly de-grease/de-wax the area to be painted(yes, even after sanding)