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that is the question....
seriously, I've been trying to decide on whether or not to paint my car myself. it seems as every other day I go "yeah I can do that" and then I think "wow, paint is expensive, red paint is more expensive, red metallic is expensive AND supposedly harder to paint with, nope not gonna do it..."
I already plan on doing all of the body work myself, and I want to get it in primer myself, so I figure if I'm gonna prime it I might as well paint it right?
And before people go on the "its not as easy as it looks" rant, I know, it sucks, its messy, it never looks QUITE right... I've already been working on this car for about 10 months, including the body work, so I get it, I'm not a pro and I don't expect pro results.
So, I guess it all boils down to, do I go ahead and start buying the spray guns, filters, mixing cups, ect ect ect and do the ENTIRE painting job myself.... or say screw it and find someone else to do it, primer and all?
And before people go on the "its not as easy as it looks" rant, I know, it sucks, its messy, it never looks QUITE right... I've already been working on this car for about 10 months, including the body work, so I get it, I'm not a pro and I don't expect pro results.
If you have the money to buy extra paint product, you can do it. You will be able to practice your technique while spraying primers. After your first few sessions spraying primer you'll have a pretty good handle on it.
As far as spraying metallics, you are correct. If you don't pay close attention to your settings and technique and have a game plan for spraying you can end up with a zebra job. Same thing with pearls or candy effects. I've sprayed metallics and best advice is to spray the color coat dry and use multiple coats. The tech sheet will undoubtedly say "spray 2-3 medium wet coats to cover." If you spray 3-4 dry coats you can really cut down on the zebra effect you may get as a beginner. A dry coat is just a regular coat with either the paint volume turned down OR the distance increased. This will increase your overspray ($ more paint to buy $) and you'll use more paint but the results are more uniform metal flake dispersion.
The color coat is the only thing you really don't want to mess up on, so spraying dry helps. If you get runs in the primer or clear coat, who cares?! Just sand out the run or sag and polish. I'd much rather sand and polish a car the was full of sags and runs then one that had 2 medium coats of clear.
tibo, I'm glad you responded, you seem to be really knowlegable and willing to give honest and positive advice. I do have a question, flash time= time between coats correct? is there any problem with waiting more than the recommended time?
Yes, flash time is the time between coats. Re coat window. If you spray two coats too close together you stand a high chance of just creating runs and sags. If you wait too long the paint will begin to lose its ability to meld together and the adhesion qualities will suffer. IE the paint may fail later in its life.
I was in the exact same position as you about 18 months ago. I finally said "screw it" and decided to do it myself. Lots of YouTube videos, questions here, and time spent at autobody101.com. Tibo is awesome BTW..
Perfect? No, but WAY better than I could have hoped for and much better than I would have got from MAACO. 90% of the errors will only be known to me because I know they are there. I've got about $1500 into paint and materials. Here's my thread on my paint job. You can do it.
90% of the errors will only be known to me because I know they are there. I've got about $1500 into paint and materials. Here's my thread on my paint job. You can do it.
That's actually the worst part of it all. You did it yourself so you know every little error on the body. Good part is once done you can go back (after a healthy break) and fix them all.
86iroc112, I've read your thread at least 3 times, I've probably read every thread in the body section that mentions paint going back at least 2 years. I used to paint apartments with a hvhp sprayer so I know a little bit of theory behind using sprayer in general, but a lower pressure gun and a thinner paint may overrule any theory I have. but I went ahead and pulled the trigger and ordered the Eastwood spray kit off of Amazon today, hope to have it all sanded down by this time next week.
so after reading the threads here as well as all of the car painting websites and manufacture websites I have visited im left with a couple of questions that I cant seem to find the answer to. I am keeping the car the same color so I wasn't planning painting the door jambs, inside the trunk or the engine bay, is this a problem? also ive read about people sanding the clear off of the car and repainting using the base color as the "primer", this doesn't seem quite right to me and im not sure I could do that with all of the body repairs I had to do, so what kind or primer and paint should I go with? from what ive read it seems like 2k epoxy, 2k polyurethane primer/ resurfacer, then urethane basecoat then clear is the way to go but is that from bare metal?
If you are not doing a color change you don't need to repaint any hard to reach or rarely seen areas. Technically speaking if the existing paint is in good shape with now signs of failure you can use the existing paint as primer. Sand to the appropriate grit and spray your new color and clear. However, in my build thread and in various other threads I have shown pictures of my Camaro repaint in the sanding stages and you could count the layers of paint like rings of growth on a tree. You need to find out how many layers of paint your car has. Cars this old with higher miles and good paint are strong signs that it may have been repainted. Take one spot on one door and one fender and one bumper and sand to bare base. If it has been repainted even once you should take it down to bare. Otherwise you are depending on some unknown persons work and an unknown paint. Best to play it safe.
the paint on the car is actually decent in the spots that were not damaged. I had to weld in a new spot on my driver door from a donor as well as replace a fender (drove 600 miles to get one that was the correct color) plus straightening out minor dents etc. clear coat was starting to peel in a couple of spots but the color is good
I struggled with getting my Black 91 RS Convertible repainted or not. I had it done by professional and am delighted with the results. It's with the $$$$ if you find the right painter & body shop in my opinion.
if you can do the body work you should be able to paint yourself. i'm the opposite i suck at doing bodywork but i can paint, did my 67, 69 firebird, a friends 68, my sons nissan the most recent was my 87 buick. the tta will be next in a couple years.
I am a welder fabricator by trade, 16 years on the job that walked away to become a mechanic. Ive done tons of industrial single stage paint jobs. Everything we fabbed had to be cleaned and painted. With that said I thought sure I can do body work and a paint job. So I done right in on my ole blazer. I went with nason products due to price, didn't want to spend alot on something I wasnt sure would turn out good. It was alot of work. I did have some of the zebra stripes as stated above. I will tell you the more time you spend prepping the better end result. Tac cloth before every coat if you are in a barn like I was. I learned alot the hard way and in no way considering myself good at it but I have gotten much better. I have even learned since the Blazer how to blend. I say go for it.
Don't use plastic to mask like I did. I learned paper is better. The paint will dry on plastic and blow off.
yeah I knew about the plastic, plus I already have one of those paper and tape dispensers. arctic- I've tried to find a shop that would do it, I have 3 body shops within 2 miles of my house, none of them will do anything but insurance work. the closest place that I've found that would be willing to do it is a Maaco about 30 miles away. instro- I've been working on the body work on and off for about 10 months now, I know it's not perfect, and I'm sure I'm not capable of making it so, but its better than the big gaping hole in the driver door and the crumpled fender, so I guess when i figure out what paint to use we will see how it goes. jbuchanan, looks pretty good in the pic
I know it's not perfect, and I'm sure I'm not capable of making it so, but its better than the big gaping hole in the driver door and the crumpled fender,
That's a somewhat self-defeating attitude. Body work is the only aspect of car building that gives you unlimited do-overs. If you don't like the way you sprayed the paint you just sand it and respray it. If a panel is wavy buy or make a looooong sanding board, break out the body hammer and bondo and get to work. If a panel isn't aligned correctly just loosen the screws and re position or add a shim. Use guide coats after body filler and primer to ensure everything is the way you want it. I know I sound like a cheer leader but body work really is one of those aspects where, if you follow the steps and commit the time, you will end up with a beautiful product.
I don't know if I would call it self defeating lol I look at myself as a realist. I'm not a professional, so I don't imagine I can make it look like a professional did it, BUT, with that being said, I do think I can do a dang good job and I'll be proud of whatever it looks like when it's done. not many people have the testicular fortitude to attempt to paint their own car, so even if I screw it up and it has to be redone by somebody else I can still say I at least tried. but I think it'll be pretty decent...
so it looks like I need to get at least a 60 gallon compressor to work with the guns I purchased. it looks like I can get all of the paint from autobody101. Chris over there is getting me a price for the flame red metallic paint. I'm guessing its gonna be somewhere between not cheap and flat out expensive lol. but I keep reading that using quality tools and paint make the whole process easier so might as well spend it on quality. but this leads me to a question, the paint im looking at says to reduce 1:1. so if I buy a gallon and reduce by a ratio of 1:1 then I should end up with 2 gallons of usable product correct? will this be enough paint for going over a gray primer?
If you have the money or future use for a 60 gallon compressor, go for it. If you don't have the money or future use for one you would do just fine using a 30 or 45 gallon compressor. Maybe a 20 but it would take more painting sessions. A 60 gallon compressor would be for if you wanted to paint the entire car at once, as in bolt all panels in place and spray away. I think as a beginner you would be doing yourself a favor to paint as many pieces as possible in the horizontal plane. You'll have far less runs and sags and spraying the car apart will give you better coverage and allow you to use a smaller compressor.
If you use the same sprayer and air settings and your technique is sound (doesn't have to be good, just sound) you'll be OK as long as the paint is from the same can or batch. Metallics are a larger problem when you have to have additional paint mixed up because you didn't buy enough. Colors with effects (like pearls and candies) are better to spray all at once.
oh ok.... so I've been on autobody101.com quite a bit lately and figured o would buy my paint from them, they said it's the same formula as PPG Delton, but they just messaged me today and told me they don't have a formula for flame red metallic. kinda blows because they seem to have really good prices.
I've got a buddy here at work that has a place out where he lives (about 75 miles from where I live) he called to get a price on paint there, $275 for a gallon ppg Omni, $1250 for a gallon of ppg deltron. I was really wanting to get the best paint I can afford, and I think that just put deltron out of the realm of what I can afford.
Have you watched the Youtube vids from the Eastwood company? Kevin Tetz and a few others are in there. LOTS an LOTS of good info. I watched HOURS of video on everything from gear and equipment to how to prep, spray and finish. Good stuff.
I've got a buddy here at work that has a place out where he lives (about 75 miles from where I live) he called to get a price on paint there, $275 for a gallon ppg Omni, $1250 for a gallon of ppg deltron. I was really wanting to get the best paint I can afford, and I think that just put deltron out of the realm of what I can afford.
I used Omni Plus. Very happy with the results. Dad has painted probably hundreds of cars with it. Great paint for the $.
I'm planning to have my arctic white 92Z painted soon. I'm confident I can do it myself, but I absolutely don't have the time. I've found a guy who will do it and I think I will go with him. I will disassemble everything and take it to him. I want to buy my own paint as I want a good product. How many gallons does it generally take to paint a third gen? How many coats of color and clear should I ask for? I want enough clear to get a good cut and buff.
I did mine in Arctic White, its a great and extremely bright white! I purchased 1 gallon of white and I still have some loft over. I did two coats of color but I would recommend three coats. If the car is in the garage at night and I turn the overhead lights on and I take a hand lamp and find the right angle I can see on one fender the color needed another coat. That's extremely **** though. Still, just stick to three coats and a single gallon should work fine. As for clear, I would buy two gallons. Use three coats to ensure that after even an aggressive cut and buff you still have clear coat left. How much primer you should buy depends on how much body work you have to do.... two sprayable gallons should be enough. Buy 3 quarts of epoxy primer.
Thanks man. Was it Chroma Premier that you used? Saw it in another thread, but forgot to jot it down.
Chroma series, yes. I just had to get a quote for one sprayable quart it ends up being one quart clear and one pint activator and those two together are $110. It is expensive but it is arguably one of the best clears you can buy. If the vehicle will always be stored or it's a short term car for you then you could just use their Nason series. You can use Nason for color also but it will just take more coats to cover completely, especially if you are putting white on a dark primer.
so I'm picking up a 60 gallon compressor on Saturday, plan on putting on the far side of my basement and running iron pipe, regulator at the compressor, dissicant filter half way through, another filter inside the garage and regulator on the gun. I figure I've probably waited to late on the year, it was 34 degrees this morning, so i guess I've got a couple of months to get the paint together and get used to the set up.
so looking for a compressor i found out that sears has half off all of their tools this weekend. so I got a 60 gallon for $350, won't be here til next weekend but i will get a better idea on how to run the line into the garage.
so looking for a compressor i found out that sears has half off all of their tools this weekend. so I got a 60 gallon for $350, won't be here til next weekend but i will get a better idea on how to run the line into the garage.
When you get it, I'd be curious to know how long it takes the tank to reach usable pressures like 40/90/110psi. I have a slightly older craftsman "5hp"110V 30 gallon and if the 60 gallon is just as quick I'll have to start looking into a bigger compressor.
I'll pick it up either t hursday or Friday, hope to get it hooked up next weekend, I can time it when I get it running. i also got the display hose reel for $40, normally $129
10-16-2017, 02:19 PM
