Hi, i bought a new project Civic, off a friend so I know what was done to it. It was black from the factory, but when he bought it with rust, he cut out the rust, used bondo, krylon primer, and then krylon satin black paint.

Is it impossible to spray over the krylon paint with any sort of quality paint? Ive done a little research and one thread I came across was oven cleaner, of all things, apparently will remove the krylon easily instead of hours of sanding.

This is a low budget daily driver, so Im not looking to spend over $500 really on this, my time being free. I already have a compressor and 2 paint guns if needed.

Just curious for some advice on how I should go about tackling this

Our Suggestions

Krylon like most rattle can paint is crap and will cause you problems in the future so the only thing you can do is remove it all.

Some people may suggest that you can primer seal over it and start from there but if you are keeping the vehicle sanding off a few layers of synthetic enamel won’t be that big a job.

Oven Cleaner is a base caustic and can be seen in the same light as stripper.. Don’t do that or you risk contaminating the paint that is under it.

You do not need to remove all of your paint down to bare metal you just need to sand through the spraypaint to remove it all.

I would suggest 200 grit wet sand if doing it by hand or a da sander and 320 grit. It is not an easy job but you will need to sand it anyway before you apply the primer surfacer.

After you have removed as much as you possibly can do all of your body work.

I would suggest that you use a product called Kitty Hair for dents up to a 1/4 inch deep (it has higher resins and fiberglass reinforcement)  instead of standard filler then finish with a thin skim coat of standard filler prior to primer.

Then use a urethane primer surfacer and apply a good 5 coats with half overlaps as you paint.

Once the car is in primer you can complete the rest of your finish work then final sand the primer with 400 then 600 grit before you apply the color.

I would suggest that you get an acrylic enamel with hardener at minimum and a better choice is a urethane kit that has basecoat clear coat.

Some people like Kirker and others like www.paintforcars.com

I can say that the Paint For Cars paint is of good quality and use the 5 star clear.

Total cost should be about $250 for paint and supplies and you can get a good respirator at harbor freight for $20.

You will need a can of wax and grease remover it is expensive but you need to wipe down before you apply your primer and then before you apply your base coat.. but not between your base coat and clear coat.

remember don’t paint in full sun and never paint or apply bondo to a car that is hot to the touch .. its summer so you got to keep that in mind .. paint before lunch is the best situation for a do it yourselfer.

and don’t let tree sap get on it .. pull it into a garage after you paint.

good luck