noob paint question
 

OK so I'm repainting the RB power pulse intake that was on my car when i bought it. my question is how many coats am i going to need to apply? i know i have to sand it, spray it, then sand again with really fine paper, then pray again but how many times? also what grit should i use right before the clear coat and on the clear coat? and how can i tell that the clear coat is evenly distributed? oh and how many coats of clear should i put on it?

Found this little link before starting my battery tray:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2062197_spra...-like-pro.html

I can tell you it might be around 6 coats. I put 2 coats of primer on the tray and started to wetsand and immediately went through the primer. I didnt think I was putting too much pressure either. Maybe even more than 6?

u mean muffler right?

nope i mean this
http://www.racingbeat.com/Mazda-Perf...rtNumber=16531

some of the paint was coming off and it had some scratches so i decided to repaint it.

I repainted mine after chopping it up to fit my RE-Speed strut brace. I didn't bother sanding it smooth before painting so it looks kinda crappy. However, I used silver engine paint and did about 4-6 coats. It's held up really well so far. No primer, no clearcoat. If you take your time and prep it right it will come out looking good, and then engine paint is pretty tough.

got any pics?

Sand it smoothe with 220 grit, try to take most of the old paint off (if you can) It's time consuming, but will yield best results. Then "flash" coat with metal primer. (light spray, don't worry about being even or smoothe yet) second coat with same primer to gain even coverage. If you have no runs and it looks ok, then you coat with 2 to 3 coats of "filler" primer. Sand lightly with 300 grit, then recoat. Now sand lightly with the finest grit you have, or wet sand lightly with same. It now should feel slick and smooth. Let dry, (if you wet sanded) blow any excess dusting off and wipe lightly with cheese cloth. Spray light coat of paint, overlapping by 1/4 to 1/2 each pass. After dry repeat. wet sand with finest grit you can find, dry, cheese cloth, two more even coats, repeat sanding and cheese cloth. 2 to 3 coats clear, buff, and you have a "show room" finish!

Now if you just want it to look good and last awhile, sand, one coat primer, 2 coats filler primer, light sand with at least 300, 3 coats high quality paint, then wax and buff to seal.

o u mean the air cleaner not intake. i've also heard some call the muffler that the reason i asked. i tried painting mine after stripping the original paint off. it's stainless so spray paint doesn't stick very well. at least mine didn't.

I couldn't have said it better myself. Good advice.

No, I never bothered taking pictures after it was painted. Once the new engine is in I'll snap a few while the bay looks nice.