#1: As long as you have a good painted surface that's already bonded to the cover, I'd just key the surface and paint over.
#2 Absolutely yes prep. Degrease first. You then want to go over the covers really well with Prepsol, or similar wax and grease remover. Then I'd hit it with green scouring pads (or sand paper no rougher than 800G) to key the surface for the new paint. The scouring pads are a little easier to key the corners without going back to metal. Make sure you don't sand through the paint to metal, otherwise you'll have to prime. Then Prepsol again. After each stage, you should prepsol, then one last time before you paint. Use good lint free cloths to wipe dry.
#2 Nope. Once you go there, you can't go back because of the prep work. You'd have to strip and repaint similar to OEM.
Sure you'd know there's more to painting in general, but that's the basics.
I'm not a pro painter, just done lots of it. Good luck with it mate.
* Last updated by: sweetfa65 on 7/18/2014 @ 1:02 AM *
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