Full Color Change with Door Jambs and Under Hood

Click on any photo for a larger view pop-up Before and After Photo The first step to painting any car is the de-trimming and sanding process. De-trimming basically means removing anything that may get overspray on it. There are various degrees of this. The most extreme is to remove EVERYTHING that is not to be painted. Not very common as it involves taking out the glass, pulling the engine, stripping the interior, etc. Leaving a shell to paint, with nothing to mask. With this jeep only items that can be removed easily are removed, i.e. lights, trim, weather stripping, emblems, etc. Next comes the sanding process itself, using dual-action sanders and block sanding by hand in some areas. The gray spots are areas that were repaired in the body department. After sanding it goes to wash and pre-cleaning and off to the taping dept. Anything that is left on the vehicle will need to be masked and covered up. After masking it will get another cleaning before heading to the paint booth. Once in the paint booth the vehicle will get one final cleaning by the painter. A good coat of sealer will be applied before any color is applied, this is similar to a primer coat. Next comes the base coat of color, a minimum of three coats is applied. This base does not have a glossy look, that comes next. After the base coat has flashed (dried) another quick cleaning and three coats of clear coat are applied. The vehicle can either air dry or be sent to an infrared oven for "baking on the finish" if a quick dry time is needed. After paint, the vehicle heads to the detail area for any buffing or polished that may be needed. Time for reassembly. After everything is assembled it will be vacuumed and washed the final time. Ready for delivery!