Painting my car

[soulweaver]

Ok I have a few questions for further down the road. But first I gotta replace a door, fender and fix two dents with some bondo . I know bondo is a bad idea but there really small but deep like a screw driver was jammed into it.

What paint should I use. I'm doing the top some type of black and the bottome some type of red with a racing strip with laser going up the hood on the stripe. I know nothing about painting so I have no clue on what to use. I have a paint gun that I can use. I got it from a company called redfield collision. So I know the paint gun is ok to use.

 

[vanilla gorilla]

Body filler isnt a bad idea, as long as you use it for its intended purposes. It isnt used for filling in dents. It is used very lightly for working out the final contour of a panel after metal work. Because it is almost impossible to get a dented panel back to original condition, because of the way the metal stretches when dented. And thats why you cant use filler to fill in big dents, because the way the metal is stretched....wont look good.
But you said the dents are small so its ok to use some spot putty, to fill those in. Sand it down to metal so that it sticks. After body work, use high build primer to fill in the small imperfections.
I cant tell you how to paint a car, though. So the best thing to do is go on google and search for how to's on painting cars.
But since you have a paint gun, you should practice on some of your messed up panels. Its really easy to screw up a paint job. Your first one is going to suck, so go ahead and get it over with. My first one wasnt great. Just dont jump into it. Practice first and take your time. And make sure the car is properly prepped before you go spraying it with color. I would sand the whole car down with 320 or so and prime it with high build primer, for a good base. Id then wetsand the primer with 400 or 600. Just make sure its really smooth. You dont want to go with too fine of a sand paper or the paint wont stick well.
And spray with 50% overlap. Thats all I can really tell you, good luck.

 

[XLR8]

Uh-oh, better get Maaco! But seriously, prep work is the most important part of painting, be ready for a lot of sanding. You can even find several forums based on auto painting, I would join one and do a lot of research first.

 

[soulweaver]

I have a shit load of sand paper and such. But i don't know what is a good paint to use. I have a lot of experience with a paint gun. Well something like it. I sprayed foam on roofs for a living.

 

[vanilla gorilla]

Just depends on how much you want to spend. I used PPG on my car, but it was free. I hear Sherwin williams is cheap but good

 

[soulweaver]

Ok thanks everyone. I'm gonna have to save up for my body kit. I'm gonna go vader on it . Then I'm gonna get some good fenders and go from there. Here is a list of things I'm buying.

Body Kit - Plymouth Laser 90-94 Vader Complete Body Kit :: Full Kits :: Mitsubishi Eclipse 90 - 94 :: Mitsubishi Eclipse Body Kits :: Mitsubishi Body Kits :: Japanese Body Kits :: Body Kits :: Bodykits.com - Car Body kits and Ground Effects - 1-877-7BODY-KITS

Fenders - RACEONUSA HiFlex Type-321 Body Kit Fenders (front) > Plymouth Laser 92-94 > 2-Door :: Plymouth Laser 90 - 94 :: Plymouth Laser Fenders :: Plymouth Fenders :: American Fenders :: Fenders :: Bodykits.com - Car Body kits and Ground Effects - 1-877-7BODY

Hood - (if they have the head lights cut out)90-91 Mitsubishi Eclipse 2dr Invader Carbon Fiber Hood :: Mitsubishi Eclipse 90 - 94 :: Mitsubishi Eclipse Hoods :: Mitsubishi Hoods :: Japanese Hoods :: Hoods :: Bodykits.com - Car Body kits and Ground Effects - 1-877-7BODY-KITS

Hatch - RACEONUSA Carbon Fiber OEM Hatch > Mitsubishi Eclipse 90-94 > 3-Door :: Mitsubishi Eclipse 90 - 94 :: Mitsubishi Eclipse Trunks | Hatches :: Mitsubishi Trunks | Hatches :: Japanese Trunks | Hatches :: Trunks | Hatches :: Bodykits.com - Car Body kits

I'm also looking for some mirrors. I can't find any that I like.

It's gonna cost a shit load of money I know. But it's worth it

 

[No_Skillz]

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

Please don't do that...

As for painting the car, you'll have to start out with sanding. Lots of sanding. When I did mine I took it down to the primer and wetsanded with 1000 grit, added some priper, and resanded about 3 times. You'll want a clean, dust-free environment similar to a clean room when you start spraying paint. Number of layers and whether or not it needs to be sanded depends on the paint gun. An HVLP is ideal. These are just some basics that I learned by trial and error when doing my car. You should def do as suggested and join a paint forum for more advanced info.

 

[soulweaver]

Please don't do that...

why?

 

[No_Skillz]

It looks ridiculous and you'll be ridiculed.

 

[soulweaver]

Dude, that is sick. It's either that or the drifter. I like the drifters back bumper more

 

[chico904]

Yes sick, but not in a good way. Go with the drift kit if you have to go kit.

 

[soulweaver]

Eh, haters. Lol. I like it. I ain't trying to make a car for some one else to like. I'm making it so I like it. Thanks for looking out though. And I will join a paint forum right now.

 

[eclipse_16g]

personally not a fan of bodykits.. but the two tone will look nice.you should post some pics with the end result when your all done.

 

[soulweaver]

personally not a fan of bodykits.. but the two tone will look nice.you should post some pics with the end result when your all done.

I changed my mind on the paint. I'm gonna do wrx blue, with jet black trim. Carbon fiber hood and hatch.

 

[chico904]

That should be a beautiful color combo.

 

[phaseoneracing]

painting a car isnt something you can just pick up a spray gun and do man. i paint in a 60 thousand dollar booth every day and its still not easy. and ive been doing it for 4 years now. i wouldnt recommend doing it if its your first time and you really want it to look nice.

 

[1_2befast]

If you are looking to do it cheap, get the ready to spray duplicolor from autozone. I'm sure it can be had many other places too. The only problem I see is there aren't many color choices.

 

[soulweaver]

This sounds like a lot. So here is what I'm gonna do. My buddy owns a paint shop up in new york. He said if i buy the paint he will paint my car. So this summer I am taking a road trip to NY and he will paint it. If i'm gonna spend 200 in paint I wan't it to look good.

 

[nwmedia2008]

Yes sick, but not in a good way. Go with the drift kit if you have to go kit.

agree
The drift kit looks really good.
It does not look out of the ordinary and it flows with the lines of the car.
The kit looks amazing with a shiny fmic. =)

 

[1_2befast]

This sounds like a lot. So here is what I'm gonna do. My buddy owns a paint shop up in new york. He said if i buy the paint he will paint my car. So this summer I am taking a road trip to NY and he will paint it. If i'm gonna spend 200 in paint I wan't it to look good.

In that case, ask him what paint he wants to spray. Also, just as a heads up, you may spend more than that on a gallon of paint and reducer. Not to mention you should probably buy some other supplies since your buddy is hooking you up with free labor.

 

[InfiniteGSX]

body Kits on DSM's... Ick... Bodykits on 1st gens... How horrid can the world get?

 

[soulweaver]

He said 200 and he can do it. He owes me any ways for helping him build his site for free. That took me around five weeks.

 

[endlessMyk]

sell your car and buy a N/T
1gs with bodykits-they just don't look good. You may think they look good on the internet, (at one point I thought this) but then I actually saw them in person. A buddy of mine had the drift kit... it almost looked ok. But still...
I know it's your car, and in the end you're gonna do what you want. BUT... at the same time, the amount you're gonna spend on body crap could be better spent on performance parts. Granted, paint job would be good. If you're not interested in performance... see the beginning of my post:
sell your car and buy a N/T

 

[slowgsr]

Any places you have rust repair, cut it out and replace with new metal. Anywhere that filler will be used, make sure its fully welded. Mig is best.

Than do your primary fills on all dents/dings/new panels with a short hair fiberglass filler. Sand this straight with 80 grit, leave it low. Than add plastic filler ontop, and sand this with 80 untill its straight, and you have it at the proper level with the contours you need. Be sure to leave the fiberglass low, if you go though the filler to the fiberglass when your sanding the fiberglass will sand slower since its harder and even if your using a sanding block it will sand uneven.

Once you have your filler to where you want it, do a skim coat, where you just skim it to fill all the scratches. Than sand this with 200-300. if theres still a few imperfections, get some glazing putty and touch it up, than you can start spray a couple good coats of an epoxy primer. This will help build it up to fill any scratches you may find. If you have anything serious, that the primer wont fill, use some glazing putty. Than wetsand the primer. Do 400/800 touching up as needed with more primer/putty etc. Once your wetsanded with 800 and everything has primer on it your ready for paint.

Keep in mind that filler needs to be applied to raw metal, or an epoxy primer. So if its a ding, scuff the clear and shoot it before you apply filler.

When you paint you want to use base/clear. The paint will come with mixing instructions. Mine was 1:1 with the hardener, i added about 0.5 part reducer to thin it out. I did 4 coats, keeping the first thin and getting thicker. You just need to cover, this will look dull. i wait aprox 8-10 minutes between coats, but it can vary. As long as it dosent look wet your good.

Than mix up your clear. I mixed it 2 parts clear, 1 part hardener, 1 part reducer. I did 4 coats, this stuff is easier to apply than the paint IMO, harder to get runs. I did 2 thin coats, than 2 thick 'wet' coats.

Than let it dry.

Keep in mind im not a bodyman, i just do it for myself in my garage, so i do get a bit of dust in my paintjob, but it looks great and is usually pretty inexpensive compared to what it would cost otherwise. Plus the learning is priceless!

Goodluck.