Full body paint help

[gleachy]

So my dad has had this 96 stang since 04' and its been sitting exactly the way youre seen it for about 14 years. 12 of those covered in a garage, 2 outside under a cover. He half sanded it or whatever it looks like 14 years ago and wanted to paint it but never has had time and the knowledge to do it. Now in my ripe early 20s i decide i want to get into cars, and whats more perfect than a 96 mustang my dad has as my first project.
The help i need from you guys is to just help me lay out the steps we need to fully paint this thing candy apple red our selves, on a budget. (he also has a 70 grand cope in the yard he wants to paint the same cover but that thing will never ever be restored due to the money it takes to put into it).
I have been doing a lot of research on painting this thing but i really need help to fine tune what exactly has to be done. I will lay out some of the things i know and request some tips and guidance.

We want to make the process as simple as possible for this, and want the job to look decently good.

Obviously its partly sanded, so what all else needs to be sanded on the car, and to what extent, and what grit of paper? We will need to buy a DA sander, what is recommended on a budget There are some dents he said are present so when sanding it for the first phase do we take the dents down to metal and then bondo. I think this part is where im the most unclear... also where does the guide spray come in if needed??

One of my biggest questions is what all needs to be removed off of this car for priming and paint? he just wants to do the exterior and door jambs
Next after the sanding is it time for primer/ filler? Can we do a filler coat instead of primer and then sanding again. If multiple needed how many?

as for the paint we are using a single stage candy apple because of the budget, as the candy on top of metallic base is just too expensive.https://www.thecoatingstore.com/product/candy-apple-red-single-stage-kit/?srsltid=AfmBOoqxC9NA6tsv7G4Ar2zRrHf74us0E0hIncRrnAmJoKzFHPxwO02Gw3E.
there is the link to the paint.

for painting we have a huge air compressor so that is covered. we will be doing it in the garage. Ive heard to use a seperate gun for filler or primer, and then u can use the same one for paint and clear. Ive seen some videos on the harbor freight one, is there any other recomendations for the gun? how many coats are recommended for the candy? same with the clear how many coats?

Ill just lay out the simple steps so you guys can correct me and help

Sand whole car, what grit, when to go do the bondo
guide coat?

red scuff pad
wash car for dust

What parts to take off the car
Primer or filler

Tack cloth, wax and degrease

start paint, coats?
next do clear, coats?

wait a few days, polish?

mechanically the car is great, thinking about doing coil overs, but maybe springs are more budget friendly, just worried about how it rides.

 

[ttocs]

I painted my car last time by myself. After the investment in the large enough compressor, filter/dryer, paint gun, primer/paint/clear I am not sure I can say I saved myself anything. I have done a lot of painting with cans and got good results but it still took time to learn the gun, what pressure to set it at how far to hold it how fast to move it ect. It isn't as easy as they make it look on tv where they just mix the paint up and spray it right on. What I learned from doing it myself is that I will pay someone else to do it next time.....

 

[Bronco2Fan]

Prepping and painting a car, really is a learned skill. The more you do it, the better you get. Pros know all the short cuts that make it easy and don't usually have to guess. Plus, if you make a mistake, you're on the hook for the respray. Fisheyes, runs, not mixing paint correctly, is all on you.

I'll give you an example, my 06 F150 Harley-Davidson was faded and cracking on the hood and roof. Body shop quoted me 1300 bucks, not bad at all. They had my truck for 4 weeks. Got it back and it looked awesome, 2 weeks later, after sitting outside and letting the paint cure more, I noticed it had started to bubble in 3 spots and had some runs. Took it back and they had to sand, prep and paint it all over again, on them. They couldn't tell why it happened, bad paint, something got under it, who knows. And they have booths and exhaust fans. Point is, they lost money.

But if you really want to do it yourself, practice, practice, and take your time. Heat, humidity, and dust can ruin it quick.

 

[96blak54]

Remove hood, front bumper, rear bumper and side skirts to prep and paint separate will yield better results. Sand, spot putty, sand putty, prime, block sand and then when you think its great, mist prime with a different color and block sand with a high grit will reveal the low spots, then prime again, block sand.......a person can really go great lengths prepping a paint job, but then again a great paint job is all in the prepping.

 

[gleachy]

Remove hood, front bumper, rear bumper and side skirts to prep and paint separate will yield better results. Sand, spot putty, sand putty, prime, block sand and then when you think its great, mist prime with a different color and block sand with a high grit will reveal the low spots, then prime again, block sand.......a person can really go great lengths prepping a paint job, but then again a great paint job is all in the prepping.

Okay great thank you, what grit for the initial sand before putty? And am I taking the visual dents down to metal? Also what grit after primer

 

[badass98svt]

I'd honestly take a look on YouTube. I bet there's loads of people giving the basics to prep for paint.

 

[ttocs]

that is hard to say since it is not in front of us but the smoother it is the better off you will be. I will tell you that there are a LOT of spots that you will not be able to see but by rubbing your hand over it you will feel something. While you can't see it sanding once the color/clear hits it, you will be able to see it so don't trust your eyes.

 

[Slice]

I've done a lot of backyard paint jobs because my father was an auto body mechanic and I can tell you without a proper spray booth with the exhaust fans and all the lighting so you can see how dry or wet the paint is going on it's extremely difficult to get anything that looks good even 10 ft away. I found if I didn't have the proper booth lighting I was having to stop spraying and step back and look at it from a different angle to see how wet the paint was. Too dry or too wet and starting to run you can't always see it as you're spraying it if you're just doing it in your garage or outside. Every time you pause you lose the flow . True Candy apple is a two-step process so now you're having to spray the car twice. Once for the silver, and the second time for the clear red. If it's just metallic red then that's not an actual candy apple color. I urge you to let a pro do the final painting. If you do a search, you can find some U DO IT body shops where they have the guy in the booth doing the painting but you do all the sanding and masking and trim removal yourself. They usually Supply the paint so they make some money on the materials as well . Try to use one of those services and you'll be a lot happier. Remember once the car is painted you're going to look at it every day.

 

[Slice]

I've done a lot of backyard paint jobs because my father was an auto body mechanic and I can tell you without a proper spray booth with the exhaust fans and all the lighting so you can see how dry or wet the paint is going on it's extremely difficult to get anything that looks good even 10 ft away. I found if I didn't have the proper booth lighting I was having to stop spraying and step back and look at it from a different angle to see how wet the paint was. Too dry or too wet and starting to run you can't always see it as you're spraying it if you're just doing it in your garage or outside. Every time you pause you lose the flow . True Candy apple is a two-step process so now you're having to spray the car twice. Once for the silver, and the second time for the clear red. If it's just metallic red then that's not an actual candy apple color. I urge you to let a pro do the final painting. If you do a search, you can find some U DO IT body shops where they have the guy in the booth doing the painting but you do all the sanding and masking and trim removal yourself. They usually Supply the paint so they make some money on the materials as well . Try to use one of those services and you'll be a lot happier. Remember once the car is painted you're going to look at it every day.

If you're bent on doing it yourself then get some old rusty doors and fenders from scrap cars and try practicing.

 

[badass98svt]

If you're bent on doing it yourself then get some old rusty doors and fenders from scrap cars and try practicing.

Are you giving yourself advice?

 

[ttocs]

I saved my old dented fenders to play with so I could get the pressure right as well as how far to hold it away how fast to move it what kind of cross over from the previous layer, ect. I was glad i did but again I will never paint another car again.