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

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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

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 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.

I appreciate all who replied. Thank you very much.

OK. First. The reason I am embarking on this endevour is that I was told by a friend of mine that "these days" with low pressure equipment and differences in media it's a lot easier than it used to be, I'm not trying to insult anybodys inteligents here by stating "it's easy" by no means as I am sure my first job will be quite an undertaking, and probably not produce the results I'm after. But nothing ventured nothing gained right?

School is not an potion as I have a Heating and Cooling bussines that does'nt allow me the time. Although it would be nice.

I want high quality eqipment and am willing to pay the price within reason, not to sound cheap but big $ doesn't always mean quality as we all know. Consider my air system below, I've got $367.32 invested in it and it out performs my friends $1200.00 outfit by far.

Tools; I do have a MIG ,a DA sander, plenty of hand tools ,and I will get every size sanding block that's offered, unless you guy's could give me a list of blocks so I don't end up with s*** I don'r relly need. I have 2 -15 gal. 125 psi 5.1 cfm compressers that I have ran in series w/a 80 gal external tank. I basicly Frankenstiened a 2-stage that produces exceptional delivery and pressure and should do the job, However, is there any sort of test i could perform to be completely sure it has what it takes?
I have a place I can convert into a booth and I have several old furnaces with high cfm blowers that should do the trick. I will want good filtration but it seems like I would want to try to keep the air-flow down to a minimum for obvious reasons. My only concern with the room would be space. I want to make sure I'm not bumping into any walls or anything right?

Here's the plan so far; Sand down the car w/120 and assess the damage.The passenger rear quarter might need replaced, not sure, I'll upload pictures of the Camaro (don't worry it's an '86) and see what you guy's think. Fill in any problem areas with filler (any brand should sufice?). Is there a rule of thumb as far as when to knock down the filler with a "cheese grater"? Like time or consistancecy?
'I have done a lot of sheet rock finishing and should help a little in this area(I hope). Sand, sand, sand, and sand some more, until I'm satisfied with the results.
Are there any tricks to insure it's gonna be good enough for paint? And then reduce the grit until I get to 1000/1200?

Is HVLP "high volume low pressure"?

Enamel, urathane, or lacqure?

Are there any water-baced paints as they said on Trucks? H.O.K I think they said.

Is it feasable to paint 1 area (fender or quarter panel) at a time, considering my lack of expertise?

I guess that's all for now , I'm sure I'll have a lot of questions, but I'm gonna try to avoid any problems I can through all the knowlede that all you guy's have and hopefully come out with a descent paint job.
Thanks for everything so far.
Rick

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I have a horse trailer that needs painted. I can practice on that. And not make friends into enemies. Cape-Cod Bob.

Go with urethane. It is the standard of the industry.

Use heavier sandpaper grits than you list. Work up to 180 before primer, then up to 400 before paint. Fine grits over 1000 are for final finishing after paint. If you use fine grits, you tend to smooth, but not flatten your body work and primer.....and you will take a lot longer than necessary to get anything done.

If you want to do a panel at a time, I would not attempt anything but a solid color.....and you'd better mix the hell out of it every time if you want a chance for the paint to match. I guarantee metallics will mismatch if you try this.

Originally Posted by like2gofast

I appreciate all who replied. Thank you very much.



Is HVLP "high volume low pressure"?

Enamel, urathane, or lacqure?


Is it feasable to paint 1 area (fender or quarter panel) at a time, considering my lack of expertise?

I guess that's all for now , I'm sure I'll have a lot of questions, but I'm gonna try to avoid any problems I can though all the knowlede that all you guy's have and hopefully come out with a descent paint job.
Thanks for everything so far.
Rick

:

Rick,
I'm sure that others will chime - but here we go:

Your compressor - It probably wont make it for a full car, but for panel painting it might work fine.Buy all of your paint at the same time and if in several quart cans, need to be mixed for color consistency. You will also have to make sure that your compressed air is dry - and that's another entire subject for discussion.

Sanding blocks are almost a personal thing. I'll show you in a photo some of what I use.

As far as blowers - just make sure you are pushing air over the surface instead of drawing it over UNLESS you are sure the motor is explosion proof. Paints and their solvents can get explosive with the correct mixture - then bang.

HVLP = High Volume Low Pressure and the best are gravity feed. You need between 10 and 15 cfm depending on the gun make for them to work right.

Urethane with a Base Coat/Clear Coat combination works the best and is the easiest though not necessarily the cheapest for a newbie to use. It will be the same as new car paints and most custom paint jobs

Water Based - not for the average guy. TV shows really don't tell you how difficult any paint job is - they tend to gloss over the hard stuff.

Lacquer - old technology and really not a good way to go in today's world.

Primer - epoxy is the best while the lacquer is the worst for protection with what is commonly called 2K in between and is a urethane base. Regular lacquer primer is NOT water resistant.

Your trailer will be a good place to start - but you do need that book I suggested if for no other reason then to get an idea on what it really takes.

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i8...dingblocks.jpg

And what I'm building:

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i8...ld/Gone-on.jpg

Don't forget the safety issues. The new urethanes and catalized primers have isocyanates that can do great harm to you. Without a very good down draft booth a full face air supply mask in almost manditory. Take it from someone who has experienced the nasty effects. let the pros do it, you be glad you did.

John

First I haven’t painted a car in almost twenty years but when I did, I painted Acrylic lacquer, and also Dupont Centari Acrylic enamel. I had an explosion proof fan, a Dupont respirator 5-horse power sears air compressor three spray guns, Binks, DeVilbiss, Sharpe the old style before HVLP sometimes I would have to wait for the compressor to catch up.
The Corvette red was $100 a gallon and that was high back then, the enamel was cheaper.

My point is the paint jobs came out ok. I stripped a 77 Thunderbird in 81 that we bought new. I let my friend spray it, and I put it back together, after having the car look like new for a short time. I tried to miss a big buck deer with a big set of antlers but I couldn’t, he wiped the passenger side front fender, and door. I wasn’t working at the time and I told the insurance company that I would fix it myself. They said you can do that but before you get the money you will have to bring it in for our ok! I worked for along time trying to save as much as possible. It would have been a lot quicker to replace the fender since I took it off to pound it out I took the door off also. I got the fender, and door fixed and painted them. I put them back on the car, and went for my money from the insurance company. The guy could not believe how well the paint matched. I didn’t tell him the car had recently been painted. At first he tried to find fought so they could get by with out paying, as much as the damage, he said well you didn’t put a new fender on. I said no I didn’t but I put much more labor then a fender would have cost. He paid up.

My point is what’s wrong with the old paints? Are they also costly today? I know for a show car finish the base coat clear coat would have more of a shine.

This car was painted almost 20 years ago color change; it came out pretty nice according to a lot of people, and the guy that bought it. The cameras were not as good as today’s. I tried to make them bigger but it didn't work so they are hard to see. I was only going to paint the jams, hood edges, but Chris, my good friend had just gotten out of the hospital from a spinal cord injury that left him a quad. When he was in the hospital I told him he would have to get better so he could help me finish the Vette. I figured I would give it a coat outside, so he could be apart of it, and wet sand before the other 5 coats of lacquer, Chris could not have been in the garage with all of the fumes.

Richard

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(QUOTE)"My point is what’s wrong with the old paints? Are they also costly today? I know for a show car finish the base coat clear coat would have more of a shine."(QUOTE)

First of all the urethanes are far more durable and long-lasting than lacquer.....and I used lacquer for over 30 years! The real problem today is that nobody stocks it....no new color formulas are available in it....and it will eventually be outlawed, like it is in California. When I finally made the decision to switch, I had 350 cans of lacquer....but the last store selling lacquer, in a town of about a million people, called me and said they had been stocking their lacquer mixing system for ONE customer.....me! Now I can only get black, white, and clear, without going out of town for it. I gave my lacquer away, and switched.

I have also used acrylic enamel. Acrylic enamels are tough, especially with a hardener, but nobody makes custom colors in it, and the urethanes are just as easy to spray. Maybe easier.

Since a painter may have different types of work, why not use the paint that is most easily available, and with the largest selection of products? Some of the alternatives would be to try to mix products, or not be able to get the same paint to fix it with when a fender gets bent in five years.