Thread: I wanna paint my car.but I've never done it

Tweet

I'm gonna sound like a fool but what the hell. IT LOOKS EASY!Any pointers would be greatly appreciated Thanks

Seriously, go to your local community college and see if they have autobody in their industrial arts program. Tuition should be pretty cheap and you get instruction plus the use of all their tools and paint booth.

ITS NOT EASY, at least not as easy as they make it look on Overhaulin'. Most of the work is in the preparation.

Pat

Originally Posted by like2gofast

I'm gonna sound like a fool but what the hell. IT LOOKS EASY!Any pointers would be greatly appreciated Thanks

It ain't easy.

It takes a lot of work

It takes a fair level of tools

It takes a fair amount of money

It takes days to months to do right

Now, with that said, there are a couple of pretty good books published by HP which is a good starting point.

Then we need to talk about tools, equipment and paints:

A minimum 10cfm compressor, but bigger is better. A mid range price HVLP spray gun. A DA (dual action) sander is very handy. If you have rust, a mig or gas welder is needed. A set of hand tools is necessary. Several different sizes and shapes sanding blocks are needed. Sand paper from 80 to 2000 grit will be needed - and that starts at about a buck a sheet to about $2 - and 75 - 100 for a good job. Then there are the fillers and primers - and these depend on the body condition - 2K primers start at about $20 a quart and go up, filler is $40 gallon and up. Then the paint - base coat with clear coat for protection is the best - and many of them are toxic without the proper protection. These paints are very expensive - primers from $30/quart and up, base coats from $400 gallon and (mostly) up, clear coats from $100 a gallon.

Now - still interested? Remember seeing all those cars with splotches of primer on them? These are the folks who didn't know what it would take to paint a car right. We can and will help, but getting this out on the table first can save a lot of later grief

I cannot for the life of me find that book you suggested! Do have any more information to offer me?

Originally Posted by IC2

It ain't easy.

It takes a lot of work

It takes a fair level of tools

It takes a fair amount of money

It takes days to months to do right

Now, with that said, there are a couple of pretty good books published by HP which is a good starting point.

Then we need to talk about tools, equipment and paints:

A minimum 10cfm compressor, but bigger is better. A mid range price HVLP spray gun. A DA (dual action) sander is very handy. If you have rust, a mig or gas welder is needed. A set of hand tools is necessary. Several different sizes and shapes sanding blocks are needed. Sand paper from 80 to 2000 grit will be needed - and that starts at about a buck a sheet to about $2 - and 75 - 100 for a good job. Then there are the fillers and primers - and these depend on the body condition - 2K primers start at about $20 a quart and go up, filler is $40 gallon and up. Then the paint - base coat with clear coat for protection is the best - and many of them are toxic without the proper protection. These paints are very expensive - primers from $30/quart and up, base coats from $400 gallon and (mostly) up, clear coats from $100 a gallon.

Now - still interested? Remember seeing all those cars with splotches of primer on them? These are the folks who didn't know what it would take to paint a car right. We can and will help, but getting this out on the table first can save a lot of later grief

Originally Posted by like2gofast

I'm gonna sound like a fool but what the hell. IT LOOKS EASY!Any pointers would be greatly appreciated Thanks

That's what I thought when I painted my S-10

Spraying the paint wasn't that hard, the surface prep was!

The truck turned out looking like s***!!! On the plus side I learned a lot of things "not to do" . Have since read several books on the subject, and bought better equipment to work with.

When my next project comes, I'm gonna be ready!!!

I once painted a Chevelle (a lot o' years ago). I read all the books, removed chrome and trim, sanded and primed (primer looked real good). Prepared the surface for the final coat and shot the color. I used a compressor that was too small and could not keep up with the paint as it flashed.

It looked real bad.. I was very disappointed and at the time several hundred dollars poorer! In the end, I swallowed my pride and took the car to a shop where the guy immediately sized the situation and took care of my mess. I put the chrome back on and the car looked great. If I hadn't received orders to go overseas, got married and had four kids, I'd probably still have that car!

With the new HVLP guns (a good one is a Binks HVLP — Model SV100, about $150 from several on-line sources) , the minimum compressor size needs to produce 10cfm at +/- 40psi. More is better. The Binks gun needs 10-14cfm at 25-27psi. You have to have a compressor that keeps up with the gun or you will experience what happened to me - the paint will flash and as you lay on additional material it will be rough. The compressor needs to be a constant duty - 220 volt is certainly better than 110 if your shop is equipped with such.

The air needs to be very well filtered as well to keep contaminates from entering the gun (clogs up the works) or worse, splotching out with the material on the finish.

A spotless, well vented enclosure with gobs of finely filtered fresh air is a must. You can fabricate a "poor mans paint booth" using 1 x 2 wood framing and clear plastic with box fans and furnace filters. However, you need more than a respirator, you need lots of fresh air too because we do not want to read your obituary!

If you want to give it a go, look at this web site - http://www.paintforcars.com They have a great selection of material for substantially less money as well as a help section and a lot of customer testimonials. They have a wide selection of acrylic enamels, lacquers, and urethane clear coat finishes.

Good luck my friend!

Every word of advice given to you above is absolutely the truth. Fact is, shooting the paint is the easiest part of the procedure, a trained monkey could hold the gun and shoot some color on a car. The tough part, as mentioned above, is the proper preparation of your car, making sure the paint is going onto as straight of a substrate as possible, and that it adheres.

Modern paints have made it easier, and with a little planning and a lot of prep work a novice can get pretty decent results. But he can also get one that turns out horrible too. I have painted for years, everything from car frames and other automotive items, all the way up to my '27 foot cruiser that I Imroned. I am not in the same league as Hotrodpaint, or some of the other really good painters on here, but I do know one end of the gun from the other. Even at that, I know my limitations. I will paint the running gear, but when it comes to large, flat surfaces like a car, I take it to a pro and let them do it for me.

However, don't let us scare you away from it. Do what the others suggest and get some education on the subject. The VoTech suggestion is a good one. I just had a Dupont rep in my office last week, and he also teaches body work at the local votech. He says they can't get enough students to make a class some times, and the equipment is there to use if you take the course.

Don

It's all in the prep work. That seams to be the re-acurring statement.

Originally Posted by Sinister

That's what I thought when I painted my S-10

Spraying the paint wasn't that hard, the surface prep was!

The truck turned out looking like s***!!! On the plus side I learned a lot of things "not to do" . Have since read several books on the subject, and bought better equipment to work with.

When my next project comes, I'm gonna be ready!!!

OK - compressor. The biggest you can afford. Mine is not huge, but does have the cfm rating, which is the buzz word along with duty cycle. If you buy a 60 gallon tanked compressor but it only has a 35% duty cycle, it wont last long. A 30 gallon with a 100% duty cycle will run all day at full output. Be very careful of the units you get at the big box stores. My first one blew and they replaced it with a bigger better.

DO NOT use your lubricator and DO NOT use the air hose that you used with it as there still might be some oil carry over.

As far as a dryer, a 50 foot run of copper or cleaned black iron with a couple of valved drip legs seem to work the best. DO NOT use PVC. It will fracture plus has no cooling value. At the end of the line, add a pretty good air dryer. I have a cheapo Harbor Freight as a pre-filter to knock out any crud, then a Sharpe for final clean. I'll post a photo later - it works.http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i8...irfilters1.jpg

I'll dig up my copy of the book(s) and give you better information - mine came from Border's. The best IMO, one is the book on the left and by Motorbooks Workshop, ISBN 0-7603-1583-3 http://www.motorbooks.com/.
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i8...Paintbooks.jpg

A Campbell Hausfield gun will probably do fine for primers. I've had good luck with my Devillbiss Finishline 3, but really love my Iwata LPH 400 photo here - but too much $$ for casual use. http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i8...hild/Iwata.jpg

To do one car, a full face mask with a charcoal cannister MIGHT work for you. I had to buy a supplied air system as I found that I am allergic to the clears and epoxies. This stuff is nasty - iso cyanates (cyanide ??) - in sufficient quantities can mess up your lungs forever - and each individual has a different tolerance level. I vote for the supplied air system. Mine is a low end Hobbyaire

Colors - for a newbie - stay away from highly metallic paints, especially silver - that is unless you like tiger stripes. The orange that I used is very forgiving but you do need light gray or white primers under it as it will take more coats to cover then they say

To answer Sean's question - filler can always be sanded but it gets harder as it ages. It just takes more sandpaper

Thanks a lot pard, you've been a great help. A virtual plethera of statistics. No but seriously, thanks

Originally Posted by like2gofast

Thanks a lot pard, you've been a great help. A virtual plethera of statistics. No but seriously, thanks

Did I mention having the right guns for the day/materials/temperature/humidity/etc


Bill S.

PS: Hopefully you saw the my other posts in regards to paint the last two days

It might look easy, but after 40 years, and over 400 custom jobs, I can tell you that the "learning curve" has no end. When you get too confident is when you will get an immediate lesson in "humble". :-(

I would agree with the others here. Take a class if possible. That should teach you all of the needed information to get started. Take note of the basics, and stick to them. No matter how good you get, if you bend the rules, you will get bit. Also, get familiar with one paint system, and stick to it!

practice on a friends car

" whatever's there when you start .gonna be there when your done "
paint guns dont fix sh$t , they just make it shiny . good luck with it.

Originally Posted by shine

" whatever's there when you start .gonna be there when your done "
paint guns dont fix sh$t , they just make it shiny . good luck with it.

I'm just starting on the bodywork to get my car painted so I found a lot of this info very helpful, thanks. How long can fiberfiller be on the car before you can't sand it?? I just put some on today and didn't get a chance to finish sanding and now I have to go back to work for a few days.

Shine-that's one of the best lines I've heard in a long time .

Sean