Factory Paint

Is factory paint on a car a good basecoat?

i want to paint the top portion of my car, but i dont know if i should sand it because i heard that factory paint makes a good base coat. is this true? my car is white, i want to paint it black. if it is a good base coat then do i apply a primer before black or just go straight to black?

You can paint over the top of another paint. If the paint on the roof is in good condition meaning not faded, cracked or peeling it should be fine to paint over. If any one knows anything about painting they would know that when you blend paint you paint over the original color so you are in a sense painting over paint. Thousands of body shops do it every day and have no problems. Just apply a coat of adhesion promoter to the surface before you prime.The biggest problem most people have with painting over existing paint is they don't clean it well enough. They get fish eyes in the color and clear, fish eyes is a contaminate in the paint which separates the paint that you are spraying from the surface of the original paint. ( wax, armor all, tree sap, etc. ) Wash the car with soap and water then go over it with a wax and grease remover.Sand all the areas that you are going to paint then wash and use wax and grease remover once again.Spray your adhesion promoter. Then spray a primer/sealer over all the areas that you are going to paint black preferably a dark primer/sealer.Then spray your color and then your clear.