After getting bids that seemed astronomical to me considering what I paid for the car I'm seriously considering painting my car myself..

the body is straight,it's a rust free interior florida car so it's mostly just prep and paint...the paint on the roof and hood have have to be stripped but the sides are still good for a cover job after prep..(I think)

I'm wondering if I can do a passable job...I've done a couple motorcycles but never a car...should I bite the bullet and pay for a pro or attempt it myself?

the pro job will cost way more than I paid for whole the car and I doubt the return on the cars increased value would be equitable...

feed back and tips to have a better do it yourself job appreciated


thanks

 

a friend of mine just painted his car. what was learned is setting up the gun properly is key other than that research research research , prep prep prep and then the actually laying of paint should good smoothly if you dont rush it. my camaros last paint job was professionally done, but we did all the body work, so all they had to do was lay paint. that drastically reduced our labor charges, and then there was paint cost. check around and see if the shop will allow you to do your own body work and they just lay the paint.

 

Try it yourself! And read this

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...paint-job.html

If you do it yourself and dont like it, you can always pay someone to re-do it later, and only have wasted a little bit of your own money and time. Or get it right and save alot of money, and gain the experience.

 

thanks...I had looked at that thread and it was part of what had heartened me to try it myself...

I only paid 1900 for the car and the paint bids were way more than that...just seemed scary...the car tho is a nice solid example of an 89 formula 350 and straight and rust free but still...

think I'll talk to the best bidding body guy about me doing the stripping and see what I could save on that if he's up for that deal...give me another option before there's no turning back...

appreciate it...

 

3100 im paying to have my car sprayed in a booth by a body shop is well worth it , sandpaper / primer / paint is not cheap. it all adds up and was not worth it to do it myself.

 

Remember, within reason the more you spend on paint and body, the more your car will be worth.

The worse the job is, the less your car will be worth.

A proper paint job is worth it, it's the single most value-increasing thing you can do to a car.

 

If you have the space, time, and the correct equipment, then I would go for it. Can you handle imperfections, some orange peel, or maybe some clearcoat runs? Or are you willing to pay some $$ to have it done better? For me, I wanted the satisfaction of doing it myself and save $$. I knew beforehand that it wasn't going to be show car quality since this was my first time ever painting anything---and I could accept that. I used this as a guide http://www.southernpolyurethanes.com...ct%20paint.htm

 

My question for the OP is-how did the bikes turn out that you painted? Do you have a good gun, place to paint a whole car, the know how to do the correct prep work and finish work? Yes a good paint job is not cheap and alot fo cheap paint jobs are not good.

 

having a good gun is a big player on how the paint is layed

 

the bikes actually looked pretty good if I do say so myself but so much less area to cover...

was planning on buying a gun...

I figure if it doesn't come out suitable I can always go back to the body guy I guess...he's done paint for me before and does good work but as you say it's not cheap...

still kills me that paint could run into multiples of what the car cost...

even as solid as it is...I tried to add a pic here hopefully it worked...



I'm leaning hard towards giving it a shot and see how it works out...

thanks to all for input and ideas...any more out there are welcome...prolly still be a bit before I start the saga...

 

Just realized no one has asked this yet, but what paint scheme are you going for? Anything fancy, or just a nice solid color?

And either way you go, when the cars done you should post a few pictures.

 

Gonna go with the orig color...always liked that color blue...

 

Got the old wraparound spoiler off last night...it was really in bad shape...

all kinds of metal fragments dropping out,cracked up, and just about to crumble and disintegrate...

I was able to find the factory cutouts and drill for my base spoiler...

the plugs were still in place...

I drilled them in the center after measuring and eyeballing it and it lined up nice...

filled the old holes with epoxy and I'll sand and prime the space prob tomm..

dry fitted it this eve and it's looks good...again I know it's not factory correct for an 89 Formula 350 car but I just like the look of those wings a lot better...seems like cleaner lines and sleeker imho...

I was able to get it in ex cond for only 30 bucks too...with really nice gaskets included...

have a guy not far from here in Green Cove Springs who's got tons of 3rd gen stuff...he is a nice guy and very reasonable...

I could use some guidance on getting the clips off the metal trim around the glass...didn't want to pry hard on them and risk the glass...

sev of the plastic retaining pieces came off intact...

anybody know a trick or easy method to getting the metal ones off safely?

BTW if anybody needs a lens and socket from the old spoiler light, mine came out in good shape and I'd sell them to a member here cheap...

TIA

 

The gun and the way you mix + shoot the paint it the key.... if you don't get it right you will just have to sand down some orange peel. I did it and it wasn't such a big deal. If you are happy with the shape of your current body, go for it!

The tractor enamel worked nice for me, but after a while the gloss went away. I would recommend using a cheap urethane clear over it AFTER IT'S FULLY CURED! If you do that it will last forever and have a nice shine.

You may have better luck than me