So, I definitly want to get my car repainted this summer. I'm done rattle-canning the hood and top every 6 months or so. I must say, I am pretty good with the rattle can though, just check out those two pics down there ...

Anyway. We have an air-compresser allready so I would just need the gun and paint...And a nice sander to get all that old stuff off.

How hard is it to get pretty good at using a spray gun? I figure if it was summer I'd have some time to practice. I have an old hood I could use to practice on, too...

What do you guys think?

 

it's not as tough as people make it out to be

 

thats how i learned...practice. Prep is the importance and there is a million and one books on how to do that, i even own a couple. If you do the prep work right, other than drips you really can't screw up the primer coat, of which you can sand to correct. Be very careful with the base coats and then the clear coat again is slightly forgiving. You can sand (you will develop tears as you watch your beautiful clear coat get scratched) and then buff it (if you choose to go that far), and even you can work your way to getting mirror worthy cars. The last step, buffing, is optional. If you manage to do it perfectly, which i've done only a couple times w/out buffing, or if you can live with a slight orange peel. In the end i would be more proud of myself of learning one more thing and it coming out looking 99% good. Just remember, painting is art, there is no right and no wrong...there is just a million and one ways to cover up what you screwed up .

 

You need a pretty big compressor to keep up. Different paints have certain time windows to lay the coats, so you cant really do small sections at a time. You need to be able to get around the whole car, and remember to move the dry spot each time.

Also, make sure to get a water / oil seperator. They have them at eastwoods. Also, a last-chance filter too.

If you never learned on anything else, get a decent HVLP gun. They are great technology nowadays. Plan on spending a few hundred for guns. You definately need a seperate primer gun. Some prefer seperate color and clear guns too.

 

I just sprayed a 3rd gen TA in a rented spray booth. Total cost and materials do do this the first time will be pretty high. This was my second all over respray and it is passable but far from perfect. Don't expect to do a great job the first few times, there is a pretty steep learning curve for "OH CRAP" situations. But if you put enough coats on to wet sand and buff you can make a pretty mediocre job look good enough.

Use base / clear. I have been spraying single stage and if you get runs and cut and buff them, you still see a shadow because SS changes color through the thickness of the paint. If you cut and buff runs in clear coat, you will not be able to tell they were there before.

Plan on spending a lot more money than you anticipated, because all of the little crap adds up very fast. Spray canning is nothing like what you will be up against spraying a car

 

i painted my car myself and after i bought the sander, sand paper, paint, spray gun and the air filter i had spent over 500 bucks. also the amount of sanding that i had to do took way too much time. given the chance to do it again i would have just took it to maaco and got a cheap *** paint job on it. you will have to get a real paint booth also. your garage is not well ventilated or clean from dust and dirt that could ruin your paint. get a few estimates from a few places and see if it is worth it for your to do it yourself.

 

Half decent primer and paint alone will run well over $500. I used budget line paint and spent $100 on epoxy primer, $120 on 2k primer, and then the single stage ready to spray was another $170-ish for WHITE. Base/clear in a color or metallic will easily cost 3 times this. Then add guns, supplies, all the prep products, fancy sanding blocks, DA's, interface pads, buffer, wheels, compound. To do a nice quality job yourself will cost a lot of $$$.

 

Spray is easy. Like welding. Get a good gun, i got mine from Home Depot (possibly Rona), for $110 (split it with a freind) cuz we paint often. it had two adjustable ***** for air and paint. So you could fine tune it. Set the gun, practice on some scrap metal (we have a junk truck, and the side of his barn), and once u have it set, leave it alone and paint. That part is super simple, dont sweat it.

Spend all your time on the prep. I would start prepping NOW, if you want to paint in the summer. IF you work, or go to school, like i do, just do it on the weekend. Figure about 7-8 hours per panel (sanding), and putty. Count large panels, like roof, quarters, and hood as 2 or 3 panels. If your worried about it rusting, dont sand it to bare metal, just go to the factory primer (thats what i plan to do). Epoxy primer in the spring, let dry, and paint.

The only advice about the painting i can give you, is take lots of breaks. DO NOT get lazy. It gets boring real quick, so dont rush it near the end.