InfernalVortex

iTrader: (4)

my car needs paint, and I've got a fiberglass hood i'm restoring that is, so far, coming along fairly nicely.

But it's gonna need paint within a couple of weeks, and if me and my bud can manage to get this hood painted properly, we are gonna give a shot to painting the whole car later this year.

So I've got several questions...

1. How much paint does it take to paint a whole car?

2. I have no idea what brand paint to look at, and having to do this myself, budget is an issue. What brands should I be looking at?

3. I'm just going to repaint the car in the stock GM "Bright Red". No color change involved here and no fancy paints involved. Im hoping this will simplify things and bring costs down. I'm also thinking it'd be better go with some sort of single-stage system... but I'm just havign a hard time figuring out how much the costs are comparatiely and honestly finding sources for this stuff online is pretty hard so far.

4. When doing prep and final sanding, how do you properly sand corners and little nooks and crannies? I know you have to be real careful not to sand through paint when you reach some sort of an edge... but when it comes to things like those little accent lines in your hood, or the flares in the 91-92 ground fx near and inside the "scoops", and the little indentations in the rear bumper cover... how exactly do you properly sand all that? You can't just throw a sanding block on it.

As with everything else on this car... I learn as I go, and I've had mishaps on the way but most of those weren't really my fault. So learning this whole painting business is next on the list. So if any of you guys could share any useful advice you know, I'm glad to hear it.

An_Irish_Cross

Got mine painted recently with standard GM black and White

thelastz28

That doesn't really help him.

ssean92

iTrader: (10)

Kyle I have seen alot of good articles on the net about painting. I would say search the NET and see what you can find. then when you thingk you have learned it all search again. That is one of the things I would like to learn to do also. good luck

InfernalVortex

iTrader: (4)

Yeah will do. I was hopign i'd get a little bit of info to start with here so I'd know what to look for.

I've got a book on the way also. I have no doubt the paint job will turn out fairly mediocre, but even mediocre paint tends to look a lot better than crappy old paint, and since i'd know how to actually paint I can always do it over again in a few years.

400Z28Racer

iTrader: (4)

1. about 1/2 gallon, but 1 gallon is usually cheaper
2. there is a lot of brands, but I think Sherwin Williams is cheaper than other brands
3. red and yellow are the most expensive paint. I bought 1 gallon of "Victory Red" BC/CC for $275 (with a discount).
4. Check Dura block, they make some unique sanding block shapes.

but before you get yourself in all that, you have to have a big compressor (at least 15cfm @ 45psi) and a good paint gun like Devilbiss, Sata etc....

Good Luck

400Z28Racer

iTrader: (4)

Check www.tcpglobal.com they have some good deals

NatesZ/28

check the Body section.

I use Sherwin Williams Paint. Its available at Napa as 'Tec/base', 'Crossfire' and 'Finish-1' TEC/Base is the GOOD stuff. Its mixed 1:1 so you dont need as much color...probably a half gallon of base, plus the thinner. Tecbase will also be as close to factory as youre gonna get from Napa. I also reccomend their CP400 epoxy primer and I strongly reccomend their 15420 Air Dry superior finish clear coat.

For a spray gun, wait till Harbor freight has their weekly sale and get their HVLP gunand use it for your primer.
Then hop on the net and find the best price on an Astro brand HVLP or LVLP gun...these are knockoffs of the 400 doillar Iwatas and Satas...and theyre extremely good...better than most medium level guns. Youre also going to want a respirator (napa sells disposable ones here) Im not talking a DUST MASK...I mean a charcoal filter respirator

Dont worry about air consumption...get a medium sized compressor, a water trap and put a filter inline between the gun and hose. My compressor is small, but I always take the fenders, hood and trunk off and panel paint. although on 3rd gens you can leave the trunk on...since its small. I painted my TA with a gallon of black and a pint of gold. Word to the wise, Napa doesnt sell a flex agent for the cheaper crossfire brand paint (they renamed it Finish-1 now), so all your urethane parts are supposed to be painted with TEC/Base. for the urethane parts, scuff them with 600 wet, feathering out any chips and nicks; then spray on an Adhesion Promoter (spray can duplicolor or Bulldog is fine) This is a clear primer that helps paint stick to plastic.

For red I wouldnt buy the cheap paint. Tec/base...probably a half gallon or color, the thinner and a gallon of 15420 clear plus hardener (best airdry clear sherwin makes...99 bucks a kit or so), then a gallon of CP400 and a quart of CH200 hardener...you should be in around 600 bucks in paint and supplies

for sanding blocks? Durablock...paint sticks cut down and pieces of foam...

InfernalVortex

iTrader: (4)

I'm using a friend's compressor and gun. His compressor is probably a little too small, but it's a fairly large compressor. But we're gonna paint my fiberglass hood we're restoring before we ever bother shooting the car, we'll see how that goes. He's got a Devilbiss gun and respirators there already. The gun just says "Devilbiss Type MBC" and it's siphon feed. I thought I remembered Devilbiss being fairly nice, although I wouldnt be surprised if it was some sort of cheapie DeVilbiss gun. We'll be using that gear regardless probably.

Tell me more about this TEC/Base stuff... That's the actual brand "TEC/Base"?

So with the plastic parts... I should be spraying adhesion promoter on them instead of the regular primer? Or I do the adhesion promoter, then the regular primer, and then the basecoat etc? And the flex agent gets added to the basecoat? or the clearcoat? Also, with all the nicks in the ground fx, do you use regular body filler for that? Or is there something special you're supposed to use?

And trust me, I know I've got a lot to learn, but you gotta start somewhere.

Also, what kind of a price difference am i looking at for red compared to like... metallic blue or black or something? If it saves me some money I might consider changing the color of the car. And why should I be leary of cheap paint when it comes to red? I was thinking about getting that weird "Restoration Shop" single stage from TCPGlobal actually. I figured with good prep work and finish work it would probably look just fine. But maybe it wouldnt?

And why do you recommend going basecoat-clearcoat as opposed to going single stage? Just curious. Im hoping as i delve into these books I'll get some good answers... but I've always been disappointed with books like this. They're full of politically correct advice. It gets annoying after a while. I want some real down to earth advice on a lot of this stuff.

Thanks for all that, definitely gives me a lot to work with as far as future research goes.