When i did my civics rear rockers (rust) this is the steps i did and it turned out amazing and blended very nice.

320 sand
Mineral spirits. Paint thinner
Paint
Dry
Mineral spirits
Clear
1000 grit
Meguirs ultimate compound

Vegas smith said:

Almost looks as good as my hood.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

Click to expand...

you aint kidding

As if DSM's didn't have a bad reputation already.

Cool said:

As if DSM's didn't have a bad reputation already.

Click to expand...

And that means?

Cars almost finished, still need to wet sand and polish and do the roof, still debating keep it black or go all red?

If you have a big enough air compressor - I found it really easy to get a way higher quality finish from a HVLP and quality products... for not much more money... maybe 3-400 bucks for cheap paint to do a dual stage with clear. You could probably get gallons of single stage for under $100

DetroitStroker said:

If you have a big enough air compressor - I found it really easy to get a way higher quality finish from a HVLP and quality products... for not much more money... maybe 3-400 bucks for cheap paint to do a dual stage with clear. You could probably get gallons of single stage for under $100

Click to expand...

That's the problem at hand. I either go hard or don't go at all. If I buy an air compressor , it would have to be a multiple stage quality unit. I would also purchase a good gun and accessories. I figured until I make the dive this is my best bet. It's not perfect but looks really really good.

I have a small quarter size surface rust spot on my trunk other than that the rest of the body looks pretty good, so should I just 300g sand paper and spray the car?( ill be using a spray gun) I'm gonna keep the same silver since it happens to be the color of both my gsx and my OZ lancer

2G@wD said:

I have a small quarter size surface rust spot on my trunk other than that the rest of the body looks pretty good, so should I just 300g sand paper and spray the car?( ill be using a spray gun) I'm gonna keep the same silver since it happens to be the color of both my gsx and my OZ lancer

Click to expand...

If it has surface rust than I'm assuming some spots are bare metal? If there's rust I'd bring that area down to base metal and prime it before applying a base coat. I start around 3-400 and work my way up until the panel is smooth as glass. Wipe down everything and go to town

Took the old girl for a wash

Turned out nice.

Thanks for the great example of an at home paint job!

I'm pretty happy with it overall, although I could of spent more time preparing the sheet metal as some light scratching is visable up close. I never intended it to be perfect. Thanks for the feedback guys.....

I just did the same thing for my sons LS200(Saturn), he was a big dummy and used a snowshovel to clean of snow a few times this winter and when I asked about the scratches in the care he was clueless.. Anyway it is all in the prep, and I was able to paint his car for less than $300 with materials

I just used the 2 part clear on my A6 headlights. I got tired of having to polish them every 6 months. The clear made them look better than just normal polishing too. I started with 80 grit sanding blocks (the 3M ones really aren't that aggressive) and worked up to 1000 grit the polishing kit came with.