Spray Paint job

[BassDrop]

I have seen a lot of people talking about spray painting their car but no threads about how to do it. I'm trying to get a cheap paint job done but paying to have it professionally done is too much. I would like to do the prep and paint myself but i have never done it before. So what are the steps to go about prepping and spray painting my car and should i just get a spray gun or will spray paint be alright?

 

[805DSM]

Spray painting from a rattle can is gonna look bad , only color you might be able to pull it off is white and flat black. I did it on my old 1g talon, i have a pic in my gallery.i sprayed it glossy black and it looked better than how it was. If you want to paint it on the cheap, napa sells paint and some spray guns and with compressor you cant paint it yourself. Will it last? Probably not for long but it will do for a while. Just prep it really good and take off the moldings and it should come out decent.

 

[Nasty Dream]

My roof was getting bad and the rest of the car still had a shine so I taped everything off, sanded for a good while, then applied like 6 coats of spray paint; gloss black. It actually looked OK and the gloss matched the car. (another one of the advantages of a black car, it's easy to color match) Can't remember if I bothered to clear coat. Anyway, that lasted about 5 years in the sun, it's just as bad as the rest of the car again, I guess.

I think you can get a paint job at Macco for as little as $250 or something which will turn out much better. Nowhere near a factory paint job, but they do bake it and stuff. The ultra gloss will fade fairly quickly, leaving you with a mild gloss, but it's better than patchy peeling paint. Maybe I should have waxed it.

But you'll pay quite a bit for all those rattle cans and takes work on your part. Not sure how many you would need.

Thing about Macco is you better try to tape off some stuff of your own, if you can. They got spray all over my brand new rims and on the headlights. ####ing rookies. That was my old car by the way; an RX-7.

 

[2GEffect6]

dont spray paint it (rattle can) whatever you do. If you dont want it professionally painted then learn how to paint it yourself. The best way is to practice so if i were u i would buy paints guns an air compressor and figure what sand paper to use and the steps and buy some paint and practice.

 

[Nasty Dream]

dont spray paint it (rattle can) whatever you do. If you dont want it professionally painted then learn how to paint it yourself. The best way is to practice so if i were u i would buy paints guns an air compressor and figure what sand paper to use and the steps and buy some paint and practice.

This is what I plan to do, personally.

 

[RadDsm]

Plastidip or the $50 paint job would be a cheap and easy way to get a new look.

 

[gusu]

Plastidip or the $50 paint job would be a cheap and easy way to get a new look.

How even does that come out and how well does it last?

 

[BassDrop]

So how would I go about preping the car for paint. As you can see from my picture the clear coat is peeling off everywhere and i need to get all of it off and ready to be painted. I'm keeping it Black or maybe flat Black. So im not going extreme and changing the color i just want to make sure i do it right but without spending $1000 for someone to paint it for me.

 

[Tyeler18]

So how would I go about preping the car for paint. As you can see from my picture the clear coat is peeling off everywhere and i need to get all of it off and ready to be painted. I'm keeping it Black or maybe flat Black. So im not going extreme and changing the color i just want to make sure i do it right but without spending $1000 for someone to paint it for me.

You're going to want to take it down to bare metal. I sanded through my clear coat on my 3g (paint cancer) and painted over it and after 5 months the clear started peeling right where the paint cancer was (you can see the old cancer pattern in the new clear). Start with a 320 grit and an orbital sander (unless you can get a DA sander and a LARGE air compressor). Bring it down to as close to the primer/metal as you can. Keep sanding, and sanding, and sanding, and when you think you're done, keep sanding. Make sure everything's straight on the body. Also make sure there aren't real deep scratch marks in the primer etc. If there are take a 600 and finish it out.

Then go to paint. I'd suggest using a spray gun as rattle can won't look very good. Take your time and lay a few coats, maybe practice on the hood to get good at laying the paint before trying anything too curvy.

I worked at a body shop doing prep work, got half a gallon of kapalana black for $50 and painted all the bad spots on my 3g in my garage, didn't turn out too horrible for not having a booth.

 

[SrKegler]

There's so many variables in painting that you only learn from doing. Those NAPA guns a pevious poster mentioned can make a talented painter look bad. They just don't lay down as consistent enough pattern. About all I would use them for is priming. Harbor Freight has just as good a gun and a lot cheaper.

A cheap MAACO job can look great. Buy a cheap gun, gallon of primer, reducer and activator and do the prep work yourself. MAACO spends abou 1 hr preparing the car for paint. Basically they just DA it down with 320 paper, tack it off, do a little taping and call it close enough.

If you get the panels smooth using a good guide coat and block sanding then take it to MAACO and ask for it to be the last car done for the day you can get excellent results. All the stores are different though, check out some of the finished vehicles. If the paint has dry spots, tiger stripes or runs, RUN as fast as you can to another shop.

Be prepared to spend around $200 for a good 2K primer, reducer, activator, sand paper, etc. I use the powdered guide coat but that's around $50 itself for the starter kit. You can use a different color primer in a rattle can and get the same results. It just fills the paper up quicker.

You can try doing it yourself with rattle cans but it will probably take around 10 cans to do the entire car. That adds up quite fast.

If you have any specific questions, send me a message. I can link you to sites that get really specific on how to do things.

 

[Bud92gsx]

Take the car to macco..I think they do paint for 299 or 399...Body work is extra..

 

[Boostnvegas]

Rattle can can look decent if the body is straight. And I agree that white or flat or satin black are the easiest/best looking colors out of a rattle can on a car. It works for someone who doesnt have the 300+ dollars for a crappy cheap maaco paint job.