So i have never painted a car before and i am getting supplies together so i have everything how many of these "tack" or "tacky" cloths Should I purchase before i begin? Also roughly how much primer might i need?

 

you should only need one maybe two tack rags. unfold the tack rag and bunch it up. use it before you use sealer if you want and especially before you base. make sure each coat flash dries so the rag doesn't leave marks when you wipe things down. then between base coats after it flashes. wipe it down good before you clear and never never use it on clear coat.

 

cool and roughly how much primer will i need/?

 

Depends how many coats you need to build up. If you start with a gallon you'll almost definitely have some left over. if you start with 2 quarts you may find yourself running low.

 

so the rag before and after prime?

 

Tack rag before prime is wasting a tack rag IMO. You're going to sand it anyway. Tack before sealer or paint or clear. Once I start painting I rarely use tack rag again. Tack rag is used to get fine particles off of surface.

 

omfg how many bee hives am i going to find in my ****ing car lol i found 5 today

 

at least you did this in the winter, not the summer, so the bees arent going to be there to attack you.

 

agree with naf and white gold 88. a gallon would be best but depending on what brand you use the mixing ratios might be different some might be a 1:1 which if you had 2 quarts would be a gallon spray able, like i said it depends, but you never want to go get more. Tacking before primer is a waste of time because you have to level it anyway and by that time all the crap that might be in it will be gone with sanding.

 

Pics would make this so much more interesting.

Listen to the guy from Conway, the rest of us are just winging it...

 

i will try to take some pics in stages of this the whole window motor thing if disturbing me wish i hadnt started that i would be in so much better of a mood

 

Are you trying to put a window motor back in? If so, I found it easiest to use a little JB Weld to hold the nuts onto the back of the motor housing so you can install the screws without wrestling around behind it. Or use a rivet kit.

 

when i was doing it the damn spring poped out and so now i gotta try and get this damned thing back in i cant even manage to get the regulator out of the f-in door

 

What are you using for paint? Primer? Clear?

Usually, you prime it and block it to find any issues. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't depending on the car and what it's worth.

Then you normally run a reduced mix as a sealer.

Now tacking the car is a good idea, but if you don't know how to do it you may also end up with fish eyes in the end because if you leave behind crap from the rag it will interact with the paint. I usually just wipe the whole car down with prep cleaner, blow it off as best as I can and shoot it.

I run 4 coats of clear, then wet sand any dirt out. A color like black is hard to get away with this.

I've learned to live with certain things. I used to be **** about paint but you know, you can spend 5-10k on a paint job and one summer driving in new england and it looks like crap. So who cares.

Plus, why spend 5-10k on a paint job for a car that's worth $2500..?


-- Joe

 

havent picked out paint or clear yet bought primer only figureing if i shoot the primer and it looks like **** i can stop there with minimal loss and call a friend and have him pick up my car and paint it this is basically me trying to find out if this is something i can do. dont remember the kind of primer as its are my parents where my car is i got some pics i would like to post but ineed to locate the cord for my camera

 

The brand doesn't matter. Is it a 2k primer? Epoxy? Just curious. You just want to make sure it's compatible with the top coat.

Remember, if you prime it the top-coat window is 24 hours. Longer than that and you will need to lightly sand (400 grit) the primer or your paint won't stick.

For years I was a single stage painter (not by trade, I mean, I used single stage from like the mid 90s onward) but lately I've been using 2-stage paints and boy have I missed out. With a 2-stage you can fix things, then clear the crap out of it and wetsand your clear until it really pops. With a single stage paint, if you goof, it's there for life.


-- Joe

 

not sure going to work on the car in a few i can findout more and post tonight

 

I agree pics would be nice. I admire your bravery in doing this yourself. You can bet it wont be the best paint job ever done but you will learn so much from it. A friend and I prepped and painted a hood for my brother in law. After three tries we got it done. It still isnt perfect be we learned a lot for when we do our cars. Any help you can get from here or your friends will go a long way. Learn from their mistakes so you make fewer mistakes. Good luck.

 

I'm also going to be painting my car on my own using valspar tractor paint. It's cheap and it's going to be my first time and if I mess it up I'm only out like 60 bucks and the car's going to be a daily driver so if it get's scratched it's no big deal.

 

Just use trinity paint. Cheap, looks good, etc.

-- Joe

 

cheap pant like valspar and trininy would give u problem on the road i been painting since i was 18 im 23 now see lot of errors on the road

 

You're a young guy

Have you used trinity? I have. It's made by hawthorne.

Most problems are with painters, really. Failure to prep, failure to follow flash time, failure to use the right speed reducer for the temperature and humidity, failure to mix properly.

Keep in mind too, it's not a matter how long a guy has been doing something, it's how well. I know guys that have been screwing things up for 30 years. But you can't teach them any differently.

For an average car, the Trinity made by hawthorne is good stuff and it's pretty easy to shoot out of a 1.4-1.6mm tip. it's pretty durable.

For a lot nicer car, I'd probably go with a HOK paint. But we're talking about fbody's, mustangs, etc. Not '63 corvettes or exotic limitted production cars.


-- Joe

 

well i looked at the primer i bought its a filler primer and it doesnt say much aside from dry times and such. as far as the guy talking about stages i am not sure i have an answer

 

yea i know had my camaro since i was 16 thats y i got into this painting stuff i went to ppg school i strip the car down inside and out so i know third gens like the palm or my hand so back to painting yea cheap is good for a while but in the long run the clear will fade and pop the paint, true about the prep sometimes thats all u need i just painted hok candy for a friends scions very nice paint alot of money tho . i made some errors in painting im always leaning but i never do the same errors twice

 

fill primer is great stuff, the stuff i use is by evercoat, check the label for a gun tip spec needed to spray. The gun i use has a 2.5 tip, HUGE. Also been a painter for 5 years now so my advice isn't just winging it. single stage is part of the past. base/clear or 2 stage is where it is at. about the tack thing where are you doing this paint job at... garage, shop, shed, barn etc? as cheap as a tack rag is just get one and use it, don't be lazy. if you prep clean the surface good, fisheyes wont be an issue. if you do have fisheyes you have other contamination issues. Not trying to scare, just inform. take all the info given and go from there. Everybody has their way of doing things and that's fine. Also doing it yourself will make you appreciate your car that much more.

 

yeah i was gonna buy tack rags its just i was sure how many someone normally uses a guy told me he uses 1-2 per car and i was ready to order a box lol so he save me a few bucks there