Well everyone around wants like $3000 to paint my car and I don't know if I want to pay that much. I've never painted before but I'm thinking of trying my hand at it. What I want to know is how hard mixing the paint is. Also I might have to do it outside and I think that might be a BIG mistake. Opinions please.

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Riccioli Performance Motorworks

--RPM Racing--

-Currently building first ever engine. 383 with Super Ram plenum and runners, Edelbrock lower intake, Bosch 24# injectors, AFR 190 heads, MSD ignition.
-Will be installing Baer Brakes
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-Art Carr 700R4 trans??


Attention Everyone!!! I will be changing my name on the message boards to HardcoreZ28 sometime in the near future. Just wanted to let everyone know.

 

I just finished painting my car myself in my private non attached one car garage. I know you don't want to pay $3000 but other than the pride I have of doing it myself, I will never do it again. If it was two years ago (when I started this ground up restoration/modification project)I would in a heartbeat pay a professional $5000 to make the paint perfect. I had moderate dust problems in a closed garage, Forget about painting outside. You will be dissapointed, especially now that we are in the height of pollen season.
Is it doable? Sure. I think I have the equivalent now of a professional $2000 paint job, but for the countless hours over the past two years doing body work and sanding and painting and sanding and buffing and painting and buffing, I honestly thought it would be show quality, but it is not. 5 times better than Macco, but not show quality.
Let's consider real world costs:
Air compressor $300
quality paint gun $80
water traps for paint gun $20
Bondo, sandpaper, files, dent puller $100,
Chemical paint remover $100(original paint was cracked all over, stipped entire car to bare metal)
prep sol cleaner $30
Primer $90
Primer reducer $20
Paint $200? Maybe more (Mine was free)
Paint reducer $40
paint activator $50
flex additive (for bumpers) $40
thinner for clean up $10
buffing machine $35
buffing pads $80
buffing compounds $50
organic vapor respirator $30
replacement cartridges $20
misc other stuff that I am sure I have forgotten.
I have $1300 spent in materials and equipment
Am I proud? HELL YES. Does it make great conversation? ABSOLUTELY. Do people look at you in awe? ALL THE TIME.
WAS IT WORTH IT? NO FU**ING WAY.
However, if you REALLY want to do it, here are the steps that I extensively researched, crossreferencing 5 different sources.

How to paint a car:

1)Wipe car down with scothbrite pad and Metal Prep wax and grease remover. While wet use lint free rags to dry.

2) If car has to be taken to bare metal:
a) Chemical strip OR
b) Dry sand with dual action sander. Use 80 grit paper down to bare metal.

If car does not need to be taken to bare metal:
a) wet sand with dual action sander using 220 grit

3) Now is the time to fix all your dings and dents, rust holes.

4)Wipe car down with scothbrite pad and Metal Prep wax and grease remover. While wet use lint free rags to dry.

5)For bare metal: Spray acid etching primer or epoxy primer, use water filter on spray gun. Follow flash time, and proper pressures as directed on can. Use 50% overlap

a)For non bare metal. Spray sealer. Use water filter on spray gun. Follow flash time, and proper pressures as directed on can. Use 50% overlap.

6)Dry sand using 180 grit in an "X" pattern. Your sand lines should be at 45 degree angles. Use long boards.

7) Spray mist coat of primer.

8) Repeat step 6 using light touch, you are looking for high and low spots which must be corrected now. Low spots will still have "mist" from step 7. High spots with be clear circles surrounded by "mist". Repeat steps 6-8 until body is perfect.

9)Wipe car down with scothbrite pad and Metal Prep wax and grease remover. While wet use lint free rags to dry.

10) Spray 3 coats of primer surfacer (for bare metal process), regular primer (for non bare metal). Use water filter on spray gun. Follow flash time, and proper pressures as directed on can. Use 50% overlap

11)Wet sand lightly using 400 grit paper, using long blocks, rubber blocks. NEVER use your finger tips.

12) wait 30 days for maximum primer shrinkage.

13) correct any body imperfections due to shrinkage

14)Wipe car down with scothbrite pad and Metal Prep wax and grease remover. While wet use lint free rags to dry.

15)Prepare color for spraying, have all equipment ready to go.

16) tack rag the car.

17) immediately begin spraying top (color) coat. Spray at least 3 coats. FOLLOW DIRECTION ON CAN as far as amount of coats, flash time, spray pressure. Use 50% overlap and don't forget that water fiter. Water in the gun will f up your paint.

18) When dry, as per directions. wet sand by hand with 1500 grit paper. Soak paper in soapy water for 30 minutes before starting. Constantly have water on the panel. Only sand in one direction. Remember even though the paper is really, really fine, it is still sand paper and you are sanding paint. So less is better. If you break through to primer.Go back to step 14.

19)Wipe car down with lint free cloth and Prep Sol wax and grease remover. While wet use lint free rags to dry.

20)Prepare clear for spraying, have all equipment ready to go.

21) tack rag the car.

22) immediately begin spraying clear coat. FOLLOW DIRECTION ON CAN as far as amount of coats, flash time, spray pressure. Use 50% overlap and don't forget that water fiter.

23) When dry, as per directions. wet sand by hand with 2000 grit paper. Soak paper in soapy water for 30 minutes before starting. Constantly have water on the panel. Only sand in one direction. Remember even though the paper is really, really fine, it is still sand paper and you are sanding clear paint. So less is better. If you break through to paint you will see color in the water.Go back to step 19.

24) Buff, Buff, Buff. Start with the finest polishing compund and work your way to corser. (only if needed)Buff until you get the look you want.

Good luck.

 

While what Nightcruzer was certainly complete. It is possiable to make a good paintjob yourself,, but it really helps to have a garage to do it in. I've lazily been painting my 'bird for the 2nd time and I find it fun (with certain 'normal' exceptions). I already have certain things that, since having done this before, I don't have to spend $ buying again & I have a buddy that I can get an air compressor from.



Not including the cost fact that just about everything on this car (outside sheetmetal) is new. It was primed with Mar-hyde acrylic primer for about $30, the paint is Kirker enamel that you can get from about $35-$50 a gallon and about $9 for a gallon of reducer, and there is $100 (including reducer, hardener) worth of PPG concept clear. The clear was sanded w/2000 grit & buffed. Even for a mustang,, it is a trophy winner and is very sharp looking. This was the guys 1st car restoration.

I am doing my friends truck in the same manner since he was wanting a low cost repaint.



This was my suburban that I redid. I already had primer & spent $55 on Kirker enamel, reducer & a urethane catalyst additive. Hard to see but for the time cost it was still better than most Macco paint jobs but no show quality.

Alot depends on how much patience you have to do a good job, I had none on my camaro (plus, it's a beater) and just spray bombed it w/$35 of duplicolor straight from the can
out in the driveway & other places


After wasting 45 minutes with some rubbing compund & body scrub (when I got bored a few weekends back)



It's all a matter of perspective on what you want to do

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• My Firebird
• Others 3rd gens
• Part Diagrams

-Welders get better penetration

[This message has been edited by deadbird (edited May 08, 2001).]

 

Here was my last nightmare of a project, don't mine the campershell hehehe...

Had it 7 weeks, 2 weeks of which were rain and 1 week of fixing a problem that happend when the weather got too cold to paint (acutally snowed the week before lol) The owner bought all the PPG paint, hardners, primers, sealers, reducers and so on for just under 800 bucks. I invested in a 380 dollar HVLP gun for this truck and the guy's Corvette (the vette was done in 1 week, gotta love no dents hehehe)

Here's just a small run down on what I did to the truck.
Used a heatgun to take off about 60 feet of pinstripe
used a air powered wet sander using 400 grit paper to do the whole body
fixed the dents and rust spots
primered the spots that had body work done to them
washed the truck everywhere
pulled it inside the paint booth
taped up everything
wetted down the floor and turned on the fan
did a final sanding with 400
tacked it
used an air hose to blow it off (gets all the dust out of the cracks)
used wax and grease remover
tacked again
shot sealer
shot silver
shot the red
shot the clear
pulled the tape off the next day and rolled it out
went around again with 1500 grit and the water sander then buffed it out

That's just a very basic list of what I did lol btw, you can really tell the difference between an 80 dollar gun and one that's 300 dollars more. But! you can still have a show winning paint job done by the 80 dollar gun. Just remember, it's all in the prep work, painting is the easy part

 

if you wind up doin it yourself, see about renting a paint booth for a day. they may let you use some equipment too.