hey guys. do any of you do any body work? and if so, how hard would it be for me to do the paint myself? i'm tired of that "primer performance" look. heres what i planned on doing. the body is in excellent shape, no dents, dings, rust or anything so i wont need much (if any) filler. i'd like to do the prep work, sanding and primer, then shoot the base coats and have someone else do the clear coat 4 me. i hear thats the real tricky part. any suggestions, advice and "pearls of wisdom" would be appreciated. thanks

 

Well i do body work with my buddy and I'd have to say it's not that hard. Don't get me wrong, your not gonna put out a show stopper the first time, but the main thing is taking your time and preparing. If your original paint isnt chipping or peeling, and no body work is needed, just scuff everything with a fine sandpaper, maybe 400, spray a good thick coat of primer, wet sand it nice and smooth. The clear is no big deal. Take your time. If you get runs in the clear you can wetsand them out with damaging the paint. After you paint it, take it to a good shop to buff it out. Thats where the shine comes out. take your time. Practice on spare parts. Tape EVERYTHING off. Try to get into a painting booth. Sometimes you can rent one out on the weekends. Make sure you have a filter to keep all water out of y our compressed air. Hell you can buy all the materials several times over before you reach the price of a decent paint job(not those crappy $150 econo paint jobs). Plus when they ask "Who painted it?", you have the best reply "I did.".

 

Oh, and never use anything from a spray can.

 

After you get the color on you only have 24hrs to get the clear on it. Better make sure you have someone linned up to shoot the clear for you. If you can shoot the color you can shoot the clear. Have you ever seen a car rite after a paint job? They don't look too good untill their sanded and polished. Also remember not all clears are the same. Some sand easier than others. I don't remember what # I used, but it was ppg. After about 3 days the paint was so tuff to sand, I thought my arm was going to fall off before I got done. Get that 2000 grit paper right after it, maybe 6 hrs. It sands so much easier then. GOOD LUCK!

 

The first time I repainted my Camaro, I decided to do it myself, but wanted to use a booth (not the first paintjob I had done). So I signed up for an all day Saturday class at my local community college and did the bodywork and paint there. Might check into something like that, though tuition is getting too expensive to make it worthwhile around here anymore.

 

There's nothing like the pride you feel when you do something yourself (if you do a good job). If you screw up, you're only out what you put into it (which will be nothing compared to having someone else do it and charge you). Plus you can always start over. I let someone else paint my car, because after trying bodywork, I decided it wasn't something I liked doing. I'd rather engineer and build them, than do the finishing touches.

 

WOW! thanks for all the info guys. you've been a great help. i'll get started this weekend!