Going To Paint My Car

[EagleTalon1991]

Ok guys I have alot of rock dents on my hood and my front bumper is cracked. This was just the minor damage before some old lady rear ended the corner of my rear end. So i figure hey why not. But unlike alot of people I am just a poor dude that dont have the 3800 to get my car painted. I know that i could purchase the paint for 500-600 and i was looking in the painting cabinet in my dads shop and we have everything to paint a car. Just need paint. I talked to my dad and he said hey lets go for it what do you got to loose. Its true ### the back end needs to be painted. So anyways I am just looking for some advice on painting.

Does anyone have any special trick or good paint combos that work good. I like the black top. ( car is currently black and red) And i like the red too. So any tips on paintin red or prepping etc.. Just basically painting 101 please.

Thanks in advance guys and only constructive critizm too please.

Jeff

 

[tsidrift1]

wassup man, good luck on painting your car. One piece of advise is make sure all the paint is mixed to the exact measurements. It sounds overrated but it is very important. Make sure all the old paint is scuffed up really good. Ground the axle out with a chain or something. Just throw a chain over the axle of your car and let it touch the ground. This grounds the car out so static electricity doesn't build up on the surface of the car. A good tip is too use real masking paper, some people use newspaper, but that still lets paint through on your glass. The newspaper also gives off a faint dust when the air pressure from the gun hits it. Just take your time man. I painted my own car this summer. One thing you could do is go to a bookstore and see if they have any books on painting. I bought two for 20 bucks a piece. I read those things from front to back I dont know how many times. I feel that really helped out, gave me some prior knoledge before I actually started the project.

Good luck
Anthony

 

[Booster-Shot]

90 percent of a paint job is prep work. Pretend you have OCD while you are doing it. Because anything, even if you think its the smallest little detail in the world will show up in a big way once you are done. Im hoping to paint my car soon too and Ive always loved the stock red/black combo. Talons are by far the sweetest 1g.

 

[buscodsm]

WHat he said. prep is everything, make sure you scuff up the entire car and wax and degrease it a few times to make sure that your fresh new paint will stick other than that measure everything propper mixture is key. Have fun and good luck

 

[Amazin' Wasian]

Sand the whole car down with a DA air sander until your down to just bare metal and primer and its smooth as glass. I like to use 180 grit when sanding all the top coat off, After you sand make sure you wipe the whole car down with wax and grease remover a couple of times, and then one more time right before you are about to lay your first coat. Painting a car isnt as hard as every one makes it seem, its just alot of work. If you want to theres some videos you can buy to get the main idea of painting a car, i watched them a long ass time ago when i took automotive refinishing classes. It wont teach you how to be an expert painter but it will give you the main idea.

-nick-

 

[EagleTalon1991]

alright good deal. Didn't think i would get this much feed back but everything posted here was great. I think i am going to go to the book store and just look around for a painting for dumbies mayeb that will help. Anyways thanks guys for all the help.

Jeff

 

[D_Eclipse9916]

Y dont u start on somethign simple. Rip off a bumper and try it or something. Thats what im going to do. If I dont do it right on the bumper, ill just redo it again and again until I Get what I like. Then start on my car, that way if I mess up I dont have to do ALL the work over again...

 

[wret]

Here's a link to my poorly researched question a while back. They scared me off.
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=165642&highlight=paint

 

[4UH8ERS]

OK seriously i have painted many cars myself and my 2 best friends paint cars for a liveing 1 at parker cadilac the other at a chevy dealership. if its your first time to paint anything do yourself a favor. take your TIME! and do not take the car to the bare metal please the metal has a factory e-coat which protects it from rusting ect your only going to have problems later on if you go down to the metal. not all primers are (direct to metal primers) be aware of the paint products you buy use the same brands of everything make sure your reducers are for the temp your going to be painting in for instance if you have a shop your going to paint in and its usually about 70 degrees in there dont go buy some ppg 898 reducer or something because your paint will never dry. make sure you back tape all your hinges ect like hood doors or whatever.im not going to explain the whole process unless you pm me and request it because its complicated but the most important thing i can tell you since its your first time is when doing all the body work use a 3m FLAT BLOCK. u can get one at your local oriellys for about 12 bucks. body wor is all about patience hurrying just makes stuff nasty. be aware of your sandpaper grits. use 80 grit before fillers 180 grit before puttys and primers are laid and and never anything more coarse than 400 before paint i prefer 600 grit before color. dont use like a 1500 grit and try to make it the smoothest thing on earth the paint wont stick well and chip over time easily. and anywhere u do bodywork use a sealer if u dont you will regret it i promise u. they make red sealer too so it makes for easier coverage when u are laying color. if u dont use a sealer the paint over time etches in where the body filler is and u can tell where the repairs are. just for going on and on but if u do it corectly u will be happy with the outcome assuming you know how to spray clear . light is your best friend.

 

[Scrymerr]

OK seriously i have painted many cars myself and my 2 best friends paint cars for a liveing 1 at parker cadilac the other at a chevy dealership. if its your first time to paint anything do yourself a favor. take your TIME! and do not take the car to the bare metal please the metal has a factory e-coat which protects it from rusting ect your only going to have problems later on if you go down to the metal. not all primers are (direct to metal primers) be aware of the paint products you buy use the same brands of everything make sure your reducers are for the temp your going to be painting in for instance if you have a shop your going to paint in and its usually about 70 degrees in there dont go buy some ppg 898 reducer or something because your paint will never dry. make sure you back tape all your hinges ect like hood doors or whatever.im not going to explain the whole process unless you pm me and request it because its complicated but the most important thing i can tell you since its your first time is when doing all the body work use a 3m FLAT BLOCK. u can get one at your local oriellys for about 12 bucks. body wor is all about patience hurrying just makes stuff nasty. be aware of your sandpaper grits. use 80 grit before fillers 180 grit before puttys and primers are laid and and never anything more coarse than 400 before paint i prefer 600 grit before color. dont use like a 1500 grit and try to make it the smoothest thing on earth the paint wont stick well and chip over time easily. and anywhere u do bodywork use a sealer if u dont you will regret it i promise u. they make red sealer too so it makes for easier coverage when u are laying color. if u dont use a sealer the paint over time etches in where the body filler is and u can tell where the repairs are. just for going on and on but if u do it corectly u will be happy with the outcome assuming you know how to spray clear . light is your best friend.

Well, with PPG they make a tintable sealer, so no matter what color base you go with, just tint your sealer for best coverage. Dupont has a similar system, the valueshade. They just use a shade of gray from 1-7 1 being white I think and 7 black.

 

[TimG]

You don't have to be a pro to get a pro-star finish. All you need is stamina and a lot of patience.

You can make mistakes when you paint. Bad things do happen in a garage when you paint a car but it's all about prep work and wet sanding after the primer, paint and clear is applied. It may take you a week to get the finish you want in a garage and that same finish may take a body shop 2 or 3 days to do. Think of it this way, you will save yourself thousands and thousands of dollars in the end.

 

[4UH8ERS]

Well, with PPG they make a tintable sealer, so no matter what color base you go with, just tint your sealer for best coverage. Dupont has a similar system, the valueshade. They just use a shade of gray from 1-7 1 being white I think and 7 black.

YES. i just said red sealer because your car is currently red i made an assumption.
the point i was making is he said he has never done this u cant just tell someone to do prep work if they never have painted a car before. they need to know what some of that prep work is. the only thing im trying to say is do it right the first time you will learn from your mistakes. thats how i learned. plus i do body work now and went to school for it in the past. and no it doesnt take take a professional just time and know how. btw like scrymerr mentioned the brand ppg they make excellent products at a resonable price. just make sure you grab some mx190 (cheap omni version of wax and grease remover) and some tac rags to make sure the surface in clean and dust free before spraying.

 

[BLUEBLOTCH]

I have several links I will post to help you out, Cant right now in a hurry.

 

[Amazin' Wasian]

Y dont u start on somethign simple. Rip off a bumper and try it or something. Thats what im going to do. If I dont do it right on the bumper, ill just redo it again and again until I Get what I like. Then start on my car, that way if I mess up I dont have to do ALL the work over again...

Or you could just go to the local salvage and find a hood or trunk to practice on.

-nick-

 

[Scrymerr]

There are also lots of cheap products out there that spray well, look good, and have decent longevity, luster and such. I have been using DuPont base (because I get it for free) and 5 star clear. For wax and grease remover like 4UH8ERs said, just get the cheap stuff, I use 5 star as well, but there is no need to pay $60 for a gallon of W+G. As far as actually painting the vehicle, painting is fairly simple and all revolves around consistancy. Maintain a consistant airpressure and gun settings, as well as your speed, distance, and overlap. Hit your edges first and move panel by panel around the car, starting with the top. When you clear the car, practice spraying helps a lot because all clears act differently. You want to get it nice and wet, but you don't want to run it. If you spray it and it looks good and really smooth, by the time you move on the the next part of the car it may start running. You want the clear to be nice and solid, but allow it to level out or it will run.

 

[BLUEBLOTCH]

Hope these help!

http://www.thebugshop.org/bsfqpnt.htm#aboutpaint

http://www.carcraft.com/howto/116_0404_paint/index3.html

http://www.autobody101.com/articles/

http://www.autobodystore.com/

 

[will90Eclipse]

Make sure the pressure is right for the type of paint your using, if you spray the paint at a real high pressure it will almost dry before it hits the car.

Trust ME

 

[4UH8ERS]

Make sure the pressure is right for the type of paint your using, if you spray the paint at a real high pressure it will almost dry before it hits the car.

Trust ME

pay attention to your reducer and your gun distance, distance will be more a problem with the paint drying then air pressure as long as ## using a correct reducer. but like will90 eclipse said air pressure is very important factor especially when laying clear. when you spray clear u want to open up the pattern until you see it stop getting bigger then stop. i have a sata rp digital 2 and i spray 30psi,(for clear) 25 psi (for color) as far as pressure is concerned. and make sure u are anal about cleaning the gun before u spray because i have rushed before and put a big piece of blue trash in the clear when clearing a silver car. not to mention just a make a simple plan where u want to start an finish whin u wrap around the car. u cant start in the middle of the hood on 1 side and try to finish in the middle of the hood from the other side. i like to start on the roof while standing on a chair on the drivers side cover the whole roof from farthest awy coming to me, down the a-pillar to my left and start on the driver fender and work all the way around the car spraying the full hood last becuase then it gets the least overspray possible and its the most noticible part of the car therefore i like it to look its best. anyway just tring to help u out a little good luck! cant wait to see it