As you can see, I've got a thirdgen that needs paint. But that's not really the only reason I want to learn. I've actually really considered going to a collision repair school. I've always wanted to be able to take an old car and make it new again. Now, with this car I actually have a project. I know there's got to be some sites with decent info and videos on painting. If not what about books?

I want to try to paint this thing myself but I have no clue what I'm doing. My uncle has a compressor. My cousin has a gun. All I need is knowledge.

Help me learn guys. Hook me up with some good sites or recommend a book. If I don't paint this thing myself it'll never get done.

 

I started working in a bodyshop when I was 15 years old, and I knew NOTHING about bodywork. I didn't fill out an application or anything, and my "interview" was my boss asking if I was "teachable". I've learned everything I know about bodywork and painting from him, and can paint just as good as he can now that it's five years later. I can't do much teaching over the internet, but I'll try to give you a few pointers:

Keep the gun completely parallel to the surface you're painting, if you hold it crooked, you'll end up with streaks left from the paint going on dryer from the part of the gun that's farthest away from the surface.

Use about 60psi for most of your painting.

First coats you put on should be a little dryer, which means don't pull the trigger quite all the way back and move a little faster, whereas final coats should be put on wet, so pull that trigger all the way and move a little slower.

Go at it one panel at a time, don't try to move the entire length of the car with each swipe of paint, you'll wear yourself out and probably trip over your hose.

When you're painting, start from the top (or bottom if you prefer) and work your way to the opposite side, overlapping your last streak about halfway each time, and when coming to the edge of the panel you're painting, let off the trigger about halfway to stop the paint from flowing and building up to much on the edges. It will cause runs, craters, or lifting if you do get it too wet.

Hope this helps, and if you have anymore questions feel free to e-mail me or PM me or something to ask me. Good luck!

PS: If it were easy, everybody would want to do it.

 

Thanks for the tips man I didn't expect a reply so quick. You've already taught me something lol there's several things you mentioned I would have never thought about. I live in a small town but if there were any body shops around I swear I'd offer to work for free just to learn. From what everyone has told me so far, prep work is the hard part. I figure the best thing is just read up, learn the basics, and give it try. I'm not scared of messing up my first time. I've got an extra hood I'm going to make my first attempt on. My car is spray painted at the moment so no matter how it turns out, it can't get any worse. lol

I'm gonna try to find some decent sites and read up, maybe find some how to videos or just look at some threads here then I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions.

Thanks alot man.

 

I got 15 years experience in the body business and Aldakoopa gave some great tips on painting. There are alot of steps to get a paint job to look good. If you have no experience painting, I would recommend a few autobody classes. You can even try to find some books to read on bodywork. I would learn as much as you can, then start to work on your car once you get the basics figured out. Your also gonna need to invest in some good tools. You need a compressor thats at least 60 gallons/5+H.P. to have enough air to run a DA and paint gun. Once you got enough air your gonna need a DA sander, a finish sander, and lots of sanding blocks. You also need a good gun. This is one thing you can't be cheap about. A Devilbiss GTI is a good gun that is around $350-$400. You can't use a harbor freight gun and expect good results. Once you get the tools and a place to work the best way to learn is just start doing it. The most important thing about bodywork is patience. You can't rush things and do them half ***. Because once it shines, you see everything. Ask questions if you got them, I'll tell you what ever you need to know.

 

Prep work is more time consuming than anything. It takes a lot of patience. Do yourself a favor though, and be sure to sand it with (at coarsest) 400 grit paper before you paint it. I'd recommend 600 grit though. It will get it smooth and allow the paint to hold on to the surface. You're gonna want the surface completely clean though, so wipe off any dirt with a damp rag, and you may want to invest in a little prep-sol and a few tack rags for removing impurities from the surface before you paint (and make sure your hands are clean ).

 

What books would you recommend? So far the compressor and gun are taken care of for my first attempt/learning experience. When I buy my own equipment I'll definitely keep that gun in mind.

lol will do.

I've got a question that's probably pretty dumb but I'm gonna ask anyway. Can I do any of the prep work at home before I park it in the shop? When I get down to doing this, I'm gonna have to do it as quick as I can and I don't really want to rush the process.

Thanks again guys. I'll be checking out as much info as I can after the playoffs are done lol. I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions after that.

 

All the sanding on it can be done where ever it is. You may want to tape out anything you don't want to accidentally sand though, but I would suggest taking it off as soon as you're done. The masking tape can get hard to pull off after a while. Anywhere that you sand down to bare metal should be coated in a little bit of primer so it won't rust (especially if it's going to be outside until you get it in the shop).

I should have mentioned this earlier, but you should probably also wet sand it (with water and wet or dry sandpaper), it will be a lot easier and make the sandpaper last longer.

 

The guns I've mostly used are Binks Model 7's, but Devilbiss is great, and we're probably going to be switching to that soon at my shop (because of the increasingly stringent laws our old Model 7's produce too much overspray that goes into the air and Obama doesn't like that )

 

When you're doing your studying on how to paint, please take time to read all the safety precautions for the products you will be using, too!!!! All of the materials used in painting are toxic, some are known carcinogens, and can do your body a whole bunch of damage if you should choose to ignore the safety precautions and not want to spend the money on the correct respirator, dust masks, etc....

 

Few years back I switched to a DeVilbiss for a gun, then recently I bought an Iwata that I use for clear coat... Very, very pleased with both of them.....but I still love my old #7!!!!!!!!!!

 

not to thread hijack but when you are first starting the prep and paint work what grit sandpaper should you start with right out of the gate?

 

As a general rule I start with 80 grit on a medium stroke DA when I'm doing the entire car... Lot depends on what type and how much body work you have to do.... Just fix dings, cut out and replace rusted panels, or whatever...

 

Depends.

If it's really rough, rusty, the paint needs stripping, or body filler needs shaping, use 80, 180, and usually right before I prime an area, I sand it with 240 first to remove any deeper scratches, then prime it, and sand the primer with 240 again when it dries at least once, or until all deep scratches are gone.

If it's a little bit rough, or in primer, use 360 or 400.

You don't want to paint over anything coarser than 400, but I've never had much luck painting over 400 scratches, they usually still show through. 600 and finer works great to paint over.

If the surface is perfectly smooth, sand it with some 600 or finer, and for sanding out dirt and orange peel out of the clear coat so you can buff it smooth, I'd use AT COARSEST 1200, even if the compound says it can remove 1000 grit scrathes. You may even want to re-sand over that with 1500, 2000, or 2500, as it is easier to buff out and leaves a smoother finish.

 

You want to be 6-8 inches away from the panel with the gun. You always want to start from the top and go down with 50% overlap. Clear coat air pressure for an HVLP gun should be around 20-22 psi base coat is about 15-18. Just spray some test panels and youll figure it out. Also you just have to play around with the pattern control ****, and fluid control ****.

need any other info let me know. I went to a tech school and took collision repair. I still have my book from school too. ;]

 

I'm amazed at how little air the new guns use. We only have one, and we hardly ever use it, so I'm just used to the old Model 7's. It's what I learned with, and probably what I'll be using for a while... at least until we're forced to stop.

 

yeah im assuming you have a siphon fed conventional gun? you should probably upgrade to a gravity fed HVLP. First it being gravity fed you use ALL the paint. And second with gravity fed it atomizes the paint more then a conventional gun. So that means more paint on the panel and less over spray. In school we didnt even have a conventional gun in the shop.

 

pretty soon youll probably have to switch one because it just does a better job and two they should be starting to use water base paint. i know they already use it on the east coast. should be here soon. and its up to date kinda stuff so im pretty sure its made for up to date guns.


and yeah thats the point of HVLP its high volume low pressure. it uses a high volume of of air delivered at low nozzle pressure to atomize paint into a pattern of low-speed particles. in lamens terms like i said it atomizes more paint so more on the panel less in the air and less in pollution. some places your actually required to use them

 

Yeah, I've heard rumors that within the next year or two here in NC we'll be required to use HVLP guns and waterborne paints. It's not a bad thing, in fact the less overspray means less to clean up off the rest of the car (because for some reason, wrapping it up in plastic sheeting and taping it to the car seemingly airtight NEVER keeps the overspray off )

My boss hates the HVLP gun we have, and he's getting old so he's stubborn and doesn't want to have to get used to a new gun. I'm sure I'll have no problem adapting, however, he just doesn't know how to teach me to use that gun so he only taught me what he knows.

 

yeah i know what you mean. in my shop (school) we had two teachers one a little younger like mid 30s and one that was older like 55 and from Puerto rico. Mr.L the younger one. hes like a god in the business. he can do just about anything. No exageration, and hes up to date on everything. Mr. Rosado the older one had diff ways of doing things. they wer more old school. but they both turned out the same job most of the time. i did find Mr.l's ways turned out better. its really whatever works for you.


and yeah i know even with the plastic sheeting over the car. it just hardens on ther and flakes off in your paint >_<

youll have fun with the new gun. youll think its the best thing in the world. lol just make sure its a good one like brand wise. we had ones that had digital psi gauges on them and everything.

 

We have a Devilbiss, don't know about any model numbers or anything. It's a good gun, cost $500, has a regulator built on... not digital though.

My boss does a lot of things old school... nothing wrong with it because it works, but there's just better ways of doing things nowadays. With the work I do, however, I do improve on his techniques slightly to produce a better job in the end, while still doing things mostly old school... just how I was taught, ya know?

 

just wanna let you guys know I havn't given up I've just been really busy and had other problems to deal with on the car. It'll probably be a little while before I attempt to paint it but it will happen. thanks again guys.