What's involved? How hard is it to learn? Is it worth learning to do?

If you have any names of books or online links I'd appreciate it (or personal experience youd be willing to share)

 

A ton of guys paint their own cars here. Some are professionals and some just learned how to do it.

I'm teaching myself basically. I have an old rusty 1989 Ford Ranger that I'm in the process of stripping, repairing & primering so far.

So far so good. I'm sure someone else can point you to some books or articles online.

 

Cool...I'm guessing it's not something you would want to "learn" to do on your fav car.

 

No, as pretty much everyone will agree that their first paint job was a disaster

I repaired the left rear fender on my Ranger, and painted it. Came out like garbage. It looks *** awful.

But I left it be, and I did some repair work on my driver side door. That came out about 20x's better than the fender. Just today I started work on the passenger side, I repaired and fixed all the rust & dents, and this door came out about 5x better than the driver side. I messed up the paint though, I put the first coat on too thick and I got 2 minor drips. But that's okay, I've learned that a tiny light spot will be fixed with the 2nd coat of paint

 

heres my first paint job but my dad is a body man and i learned alot from him

 

Looks pretty good!

 

My first Paint Job was my car....My dad has painted many other vehicles and Im usually doing most of the body work...Over Spring break I did 35 hours of Body Work and Painted it...I'll see If I can get a picture!

 

Car craft has been running some sweet articles about it the past few months.

 

I do it everyday for a living, it is a perfectly good way to ruin a great hobby if you do it everyday...just kidding, I enjoy it most of the time. You can read all you want, but until you get out there and do it, you will not get a feel for it. I highly suggest you go to the local Junior college and enroll in a autobody class. This will not be all that expensive, plus you get all of your paint and material for nearly cost and you have a booth to paint it in. The carcraft articles are very good, but do not really go into depth enough. If you have questions, e-mail me.

 

I'm doing my RS right now with the aid of my Uncle. I wish I could give you a process but I'm still learning. He's teaching me how to mix and everything. The hard part about painting the car isn't actually painting it. The mix of the paint and the prep work on the body will determine the outcome. There's only so much you can learn by reading, like IROCFAST said, you have to try it a few times to get the hang of it. I recommend getting a bodypanel from a car (maybe a fender?) and practicing on that. I cant give any tips on mixing because I'm still trying to learn. For the body work, just take your time and make sure the surface is clean and smooth. When doing the spray, you'll notice there two levels of pressure you need to apply to the gun. The first level will shoot air. The next level will shoot the air and the paint. When you spray you want to make sure you always apply the first level, and then apply the second level on the area you want to paint as you pass over it. When you've reached the boundry you want to let off the second level of pressure (stop the paint), but keep that first level of pressure there so the air keeps flowing. So in other words, air should always be flowing unless you are done. When you choose an area to apply paint, dont go too big. Pick smaller areas and take your time. Keep the gun level to the surface so the paint is even. Dont go too slow or it will run. Going too fast will make the paint coat too light. Just need to practice. So far I've only done my engine bay, but this weekend we will be prepping the entire car and by next weekend we should have it done. I dunno, maybe that'll give you an idea of what you're in for.

 

The method above (never letting totally off the trigger) is just one of many ways of spraying. you need to find what makes you comfortable. Some people like getting in close and going fast, others like to stay back and move slow, some like to pour it on, others will not...it is all personal preference and what works.

 

Yup...alot of what was posted was very good advice, especially taking the Autobody class...buddy of mine did that last year and used an old truck he had as his project for the class. Now he paints cars on the side.

I've sprayed several cars...and it's been awhile....but it held true then and it does now...

Anybody can learn to spray a car....but if the prep work underneath is crappy, it doesn't matter who sprays it, it will look like crap.


I've seen more than a few REALLY NICE paint jobs turned out by the local Maaco....ALL of them were prepped and just brought there to be sprayed...and the owner brought the paint / reducer / clear they wanted to use as well....


As for technique, bribe a local painter with lunch every now and then and pick his brain and watch him work.

My best friend's brother has been doing paint / body for going on 20 years, and once a car is prepped properly, it takes him VERY LITTLE Time to spray it....he does it so fast sometimes it looks fake.

And for Godsakes wear a respirator....I can attest to what sniffing paint will do to someone...he's a great guy, but he's loopy



HTH

 

IROCFAST was right, it takes a while to master paint and body. I took a class at my local comm. college and I've been in the industry for the past Six years. It will burn you out on your hobby if you do it every day. Good luck

 

I took an autobody class for 4 years, always had a project to paint and that was the easiest way to do it The first full paintjob I did was on the 84 Nissan truck I had. Paint come out nice and shiny but the bodywork ruined it because it sucked hehe. My car I think was the 8th paint job I did, number 9 was a Corvette and 10 was a big GMC 4x4 dually. Those 3 came out the best looking thus far. Great experience and I'm planning on painting my car again this year before the cold weather sets in. The paintjob is only a little over 3 years old but I'm bored with it lol This pic was taken a week before I had it in a car show coming up 2 years ago.