Painting wisdom...

[302StangGirl]

Anyone paint their SN95 themselves? I'm considering painting mine. I've done body work and paint repairs, but haven't painted a whole vehicle before...

I'll go ahead and let you guys know that the cheapest paint job (besides Maaco) I've found is $3000+. The materials for me to paint my own car are going to be about $650-$750 + alot of labor. I don't want to pay someone 3k for something I feel I can do, and I'd really rather have the hours put into my car rather than a receipt.

Any wisdom for me?

 

[MeanGrn Gt]

cant help much. just do a lot of reading etc. a lot of people have done it themselves. some make their own temp paintbooths etc. i plan on going to hri and doing body fab/refinishing in the fall

 

[TxCobrA98]

PREP your car reallllllly well before painting..

 

[eliyarbrough]

I can't help you here! My best friend/cousin is the best painter I have ever seen! I watch and surf for all the car stuff, too. He is just great!

 

[AaRoN]

]
PREP your car reallllllly well before painting..

+99999999999

 

[trav_19]

get ready for some serious agrivation.....it takes soooooooo much out of you ....and there is soooooo much to do ....im sure you want it to look good so your probley going to be super anal about it.....

my serious suggestions are to do some practice spraying and when you feel your ready shoot the car ....theres nothing more then having to do it 2 times!!!!!!

 

[94Pro-5.0]

Painting a car really does take a LOT out of you. its about 10 times harder than most people think.

just sanding all of the filler/bondo is hard, and thats only the first step.

I'll be painting mine with my dad (my dads a pro painter of 25 years now) and i know its not going to be easy or fun.

the main thing about doing your own in take your time. when you body work the car and have it in primer, run pre cleanal (sp?) over the whole primered surface. this gives it a temporary glossy finish so you can see how it'll look when its painted. prep work is the most important part, so you have to be very dedicated to do your own paint.

 

[AaRoN]

Prepping and painting a car takes LOTS of work and patience.

 

[Schiffy]

painting the car is the easy part... prepping the car to paint is what sucks balls... I plan on buying the house of kolor paint, and taking it to Maaco, the guys that work there have TONS of experience, they just use shitty paint... tell them there's a 12 pack in the trunk, and to do me right... it's all in the paint... you buy your own paint and let them spray it, and you get a great paint job for half the cost.

 

[302StangGirl]

Lol. You have a good Maaco then. The jobs I've seen from the three Maacos around here were horrible. Alot of overspray EVERYWHERE. Trim, glass, tires... It's a nightmare. I know Prep is the most important part... I intend on doing alot of it. I've enlisted a couple friends to help me... but I don't think they'll be helping long. The first time one of them screws up I'm likely to freak out and scare them away.

"Anal about it" is a sever understatement... try "psychotic about it". ;]

 

[TxCobrA98]

yeah sanding the car is very tiresome. i sanded about half of my 64 mustang and i was beat.. it wasn't even in one setting.. it realllly makes you tired and want to quit.

hope you have fun doing it though. :thumb: just prep the hell out of it. if you dont, your paint job will look terrible, no matter how awesome of paint you use or how good you lay the paint down.

 

[Hybridbird]

Well I guess I'll echo one more time PREP 80% of a great paint job is in the prep.You can have the highest dollar paint and the best sprayer in town, and if the prep is bad the paint will be bad.

 

[Schiffy]

we started tonight at our "guys work on car night" at my buddies house... take the wife and kiddo, let the kid chase the dog, and the wives talk, while us guys work on the car... nice... we did interior today, I painted the roll cage, however next thursday we will begin the sanding, and prepping for paint... :wall:

 

[realitygt]

how do you do prepwork? we should have a walkthrough or something lol I know nothing about paint and body.

 

[trav_19]

Lol. You have a good Maaco then. The jobs I've seen from the three Maacos around here were horrible. Alot of overspray EVERYWHERE. Trim, glass, tires... It's a nightmare. I know Prep is the most important part... I intend on doing alot of it. I've enlisted a couple friends to help me... but I don't think they'll be helping long. The first time one of them screws up I'm likely to freak out and scare them away.

"Anal about it" is a sever understatement... try "psychotic about it". ;]

haha thats every maaco i have ever seen working at the auto store we supply all the materials to maaco...they use dupont and thats not shitty material by any means......they just do production jobs and that means not good prep....if you run your hand down the side of one of there jobs its feels like sandpaper....and if you walk through the shop theres about 2" of bondo on the floors lol

 

[BlackMachDown]

http://www.autobody101.com/
and
www.honda-tech.com (dont laugh these guys are effin crazy and will do their own work, besides the fact that its an import the same concepts apply)

 

[1996mustangGT]

if an idiot like me can do it then anyone can...
if i need to post up a walkthrough then i can along with material cost estimates and the like.
as well as pics

 

[rick focks]

:rolleyes2:

 

[Schiffy]

if an idiot like me can do it then anyone can...
if i need to post up a walkthrough then i can along with material cost estimates and the like.
as well as pics

still waiting?

 

[95KBGT]

Do not use Maaco. They use the cheapest single stage they can get their hands on which is Sherman Williams.

Word of advise?

Start with body work, go panel to panel. Once your done, everything should be at no less than 320. Shoot the primer on. Once your done take some black spray paint and haze it over the primer. Use a block and 600 Gritt (i prefer wet, less messy) Sand until all the black is gone.

Next pull into paint booth or garage, and wax and grease remove the whole car. Right before you paint tack rag everything, even the paper. Make sure you dont panel paint, cross over the gaps. (i cannot stress this enough, i see this all the time, and it will cause build up.) After two coats of paint, 10 minutes flash time, do the clear the same. DO NOT RUSH IT DO NOT PANEL PAINT.


Im a professional painter, and i could sit here for 3 hours to try to teach you how to do this, but at the end, you really should let someone that is confident and knows what they are doing. I have been painting for 5 years and i still have yet to get everything right. (Im a perfectionist)

If i was you i would go find a fender from a junk yard and practice on that acouple times with the steps i told you about. Once your comfortable let me know and i will tell you on where to paint first etc on your car.

There is a trick to doing it, you cant just start somewhere and then go. Everytime you come back into color, that exsisting color has to still be wet, if its flashed allready you will have dry spray. (For instance, start with the roof, in the middle work your way back to you, go down the A and B pillars to the door. (Remember DONT PANEL PAINT GO OVER THE GAPS AND DONT FORGET THE ROCKERS.) Next carry on to the rear quarter and deck lid and bumper, Work to the other rear quarter, then STOP and go up to the other side of the roof in the middle and come down. Next carry on to the front fender, then across the hood and front bumper then finish off with the other front fender)

If you do it like this you wont have any overspray.

I cant stress this enough, PRACTICE. Go find a couple fenders to try on. This is not an easy task. I still hate it lol, but its great money. I hope i helped some.