[Precision]

I was wondering if someone could school me on painting car plastic.

What sandpaper works best to prep? I don't know what grit and I need to sand off chrome from kidney grilles and silver plastic paint from fog light fins and mesh. Does it matter? I used 400 grit and it took me forever to get anything off.

For paint I was using a black enamel paint, it worked good the initial coats, I missed a tiny spot and it drove me nuts and I figured I'd hit it one more time but this was hours later and all it did was that wrinkle crinkle dry...

Primer? Is it necessary for plastic? I want to do a good job but it doesn't have to be show room. I've had zero luck getting a smooth finish out of this enamel paint on my kidney grill, I'm thinking I need to sand it down to remove all the paint and do it over. Will primer allow it to dry smooth and stick? I'm doing this in my garage.

Any other help would be great. Suggestions on materials would be nice too.

[Silver-Bolt]

Plastic is tough to work with. Try using 200-220 grit paper then work up to 400. Before you start you must use a cleaning agent to remove any oils, wax, etc. If not as you sand you will drive the impurities into the plastic. If that happens paint will neve stick. Any primer, sealer, and paint should have a flex agent added to it. If not when the plastic bends or moves the paint will crack and lift off. Good luck if you are attempting to get a quality and durable finish using a rattle can.