Self Painted 66 Dodge Coronet

Hi guys,
This is my 1966 Dodge Coronet Convertible 500. Within the past 2 days, I have embarked on my first paint job on my car. I chose to use Duplicolor primer and paint (sold locally in Pepboys) for my automotive paint. Since it was my first time, I went cheap :/

I have put 3 coats of Performance Red paint on the Coronet. I wet sanded after the first coat, but I have not yet wet sanded the last 2.

The instructions on the Duplicolor can advises me to put the clear on directly to the paint without wet sanding it. Once the clear is on....then I wet sand with 1500.

The paint is still rough though, so I think I should wet sand with 1000, or 1500 and then clear, but the can suggests differently, what should I do?

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but it's my understanding the clear won't properly adhere unless the base is still tacky, or it's been sanded and wiped down with thinner etc

Wow, painting the car in your yard, what'd the neighbors have to say? I've seen Clear applied when the paint was tacky, and also seen it when the paint was dry, and wet sanded.

I have tried the same paint system (Duplicolor) on a few items that could easily be redone, so with that said, here is what I learned. Do not use thinner to wipe the car down after your first coat, thinner will take it right off (lacquer), use a wax/degreaser of the mild kind. Wet sanding is the way to go before you clear it. use lots of clear cause you will wet sand and polish a majority of it off. I was gonna go the route your taking, but since I dont want to do it again in a few years, I gonna go with the " higher end paint ". I will admit, what I have done looked really good, but the long term quality is just not there, and I dont wanna do this twice. Your car is looking great, keep it up.

I have tried the same paint system (Duplicolor) on a few items that could easily be redone, so with that said, here is what I learned. Do not use thinner to wipe the car down after your first coat, thinner will take it right off (lacquer), use a wax/degreaser of the mild kind. Wet sanding is the way to go before you clear it. use lots of clear cause you will wet sand and polish a majority of it off. I was gonna go the route your taking, but since I dont want to do it again in a few years, I gonna go with the " higher end paint ". I will admit, what I have done looked really good, but the long term quality is just not there, and I dont wanna do this twice. Your car is looking great, keep it up.

I really appreciate and its nice knowing someone has already experienced what I'm about to. Currently after wet sanding, I will use a tack cloth, which works well, but if the wax/degreaser works better, I will surely use that instead. My plan is to wet sand with 1500 the red paint, and then use 2000 on the clear coat.

I have 3 quarts of clear, will that be enough or will I need more? How heavily should I apply the coats, and should I wet sand between every clear coat? How long should I wait to wet sand between the clear coats?

I'm sorry to ask some many questions, but I just want to do this right :)

I'm just a novice at best. I use the wax/degreaser cause I think it works better and you wont have to worry about taking paint off with the thinner. I wet sanded the base color with 1500 and the cleaned it off, the shot about 9 coats of clear, then wet sand with 2000 then polish, looked great. Hell the clear is cheap, so if 3 quarts dont do it, get another one. I did a light coat for the first 2 and then got heavier as I went till I ran out. Just keep in mind, I'm a novice at best and I did 1 panel that I could blast back down to metal if it turned out crappy, so with that said, go for it.

Don't forget the after pics

Nothing like good advertisement. You may get a few more cars to paint out of all that. :grin:

Looks great so far! I'll be interested to see the finished pics. I'll be self painting a car myself in the near future (not a mopar, an Edsel of all things!).

while wet sanding with 1500, I found out I was a little thin in particular areas of paint and the primer was shown through. Today I will be putting on two more coats of red, and try color sanding again tomorrow, and possibly use 2000 instead of 1500, but as of now...I have not decided.

I will be posting pictures as soon as I get the clear on.

I know with DuPont you use to have a 24hr.window,but that was in the late 80s.lol

2 additional coats have been sprayed on the car. I hope to begin to color sand tomorrow afternoon.

Is there a specific sanding motion you should use? Circular or Straight? And what is the best tool to use. My largest block is about 10 in. I've thought about wrapping the 1500 around a fine grit sponge. The Coronet has lots of curves, so I was wondering what is the best approach.

Any Suggestions?

I was just wondering, what compressor did you use and what paint gun etc.?

Thought this might help you out...

http://duplicolortv.com/?p=136

http://duplicolortv.com/?p=134

Awesome ! Thanks

No problem, let us know how it turns out!...With pic's ;)

Due to wind, I am only able to paint parts of the side so I sprayed the left side of the car with clear. I have probably put on 5 coats of clear = 2 quarts on that side.

I was wondering if anyone knows how much clear is enough? When I put my hand about half a foot away from the car, I can see a blurry reflection. I'm just curious about how much to put on so when I wet sand with 2000, it will still have a semi-glassy look?

Again, due to wind picking up lately and school/work hours, it has been hard to find times to paint, but I will have more pics of the finished product asap.

Thanks for all the support

I was just wondering, what compressor did you use and what paint gun etc.?

I am borrowing the compressor from a friend, but its a vertical craftsman.
150 PSI Max
2HP
26 Gal

And the gun is from harbor freight.

http://www.harborfreight.com/air-tools/paint/professional-automotive-hvlp-spray-gun-kit-94572.html

How did the Harbor Freight spray guns work for you?
Starting to plan my cars paint job.

I normaly only put down 3 coats of high quality clear but if it's a really nice car I hit it with 5 or more when I wet sand.

How did the Harbor Freight spray guns work for you?
Starting to plan my cars paint job.

The Harbor Freight guns work well, but it wouldn't hurt to spend more on a higher quality gun.

Here are some pictures of the completed Clear Coat. It has not been wet sanded, or buffed so there is obvious orange peel as of today.

Cool ,way to go..Just remember when your wet sanding that corners and edges will burn threw quicker than a flat surface even with a buffer ;)

Wet that bad boy and polish it, I want to see more car porn. Looking good.

Anyone know some good polishing compounds I should use once wet sanded. I assume I don't want to wax it right after the buffing so any helpful rubbing compounds and tools to apply them will be very helpful.

How's it coming along?

How's it coming along?

It's doing alright at the time. I didn't realize how long it takes to hand sand down the clear in order to get rid of orange peel. Much of the body are curved surfaces in which I have wrapped 2000 grit around "fine sanding sponges."

I've also been trying to see how much sanding is too much sanding and the proper time to start buffing. But all in all, I am happy with the way the paint has turned out so far, and will hopefully finish fairly soon and get pictures up when the car's paint process if completed.

Boy! living in ca.and painting a car outside,I'm surprised the epa didn't pack you and your car off to pollution jail!(lol)looks like you're on the right track!Good Luck!

Screw the tree huggers. You do what you can do with what you got.

Well, how is going? Got any pics?

man, i can hear your neighbors screaming all the way on the east coast !!

Any progress?????????????????

Here is the top of the front left fender. I have been using 2000 grit, and it is taking forever to get a smooth "orange-peel free" surface. The last picture is the top of the front right fender, which has not been sanded at all.

I am dealing with a lot of curved surface on the body, and I was hoping there may be a quicker or more efficient way to sand the car. Currently, I have been wrapping 2000 grit around fine sanding sponges. Should I move down to 1500 to start the process and then go to 2000 after, or should I stick with the 2000?

The first two pictures are the sanded pics, and the last two are not sanded.

Boy! living in ca.and painting a car outside,I'm surprised the epa didn't pack you and your car off to pollution jail!(lol)looks like you're on the right track!Good Luck!

I knew a guy who got raided by the CARB Nazi's. He was painting his car in his garage and they got him. Keep your head low and keep sanding. It's looking good.

Painting the easy part. it all in the sanding afterwards that makes the paint job. When my cousins did their car, he was so sick of sanding he was about to chock. check out this site for some good tips

http://www.jefflilly.com/Fabrication/Fabrication-F/block-sanding/index.html

Looks like you may have had your PSI just a bit to high or may have not got enough clear on there. As far as good compounds go, I love maguires products and use them on lots of the stuff I work on.

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h4/Jeremymacdonald/E-Bodies/hemicudacroped2si.jpg

are you dry sanding or wet sanding if dry get wet sand paper and use water it will cut faster and the paper will last longer. and as for the comment "Painting is the easy part. its all in the sanding afterwards that makes the paint job" this is spoken like a true novice no offense but a GOOD painter can make it look just as good if not better than factory before even touching it with a quick wet sand and buff to make it like a mirror unfortunately top down is the victim of dusting his clear on wich makes for a lot of sanding i would also go to a courser sand paper to help take it down faster

Have you sanded the color coat before the clear? If not, go down to 1500 wet, and use some dish soap, a drop or two in the bucket will go along way. Keep it up and dont get discouraged, it'll be worth it in the end.

I sanded the side of the left fender this morning with 1500 and 2000 grit. Some parts on the fender seem to have a clearer reflection than others, and I'm not sure why.

The picture with the obvious orange peel is the top of the left door which has only been lightly sanded with 1500 grit wrapped around a sponge. I'm nervous that in order to match the highs and the lows of the orange peels, I will end up sanding to the paint, which I want to avoid.

I've watched some videos that show people sanding it as I did, and then applying an additional clear coat, in order for the new coat to fill in the low spots of the previous clear coat.

Is this a good idea, or should I keep going with the 1500 and 2000 grit.

Thank you for all the input you all have a provided, your advice and opinions are very important to me throughout this long and tiring process.

Hell, you could block the whole car with 1500, and shoot more clear, then do it again and again, till your satisfied, but that would make your arms tired and sore.

the idea of respraying more clear is not a bad idea only if you are willing to spray it on a little thicker, in my opinion a few small runs would be easier to sand out than all that orange peal. im not a profesional although my father and little brother are. i havent sprayed base coat clear coat in about ten years until this last weekend so i figured i would post a couple pics for you for reference purposes. this is only 2 coats of clear by the way and i have not touched it with anything since i sprayed it. spray the clear on so it looks like wet paint and give about 15 min between coats or you can touch a none visible area and if it leaves your finger print or the clear kinda pulls away stringy its ready for the next coat.

If you want that shiny look you have to use much more clearcoat and put it on at one time, I usally starts with a thin layer to get it sticky, looks pretty much as your paint right now, wait so it is half dry, THEN I sprays on so much clearcoat so if floats out and get that mirror surface, the only problem with that is you might get some areas on the sides where it starts to run down like curtains, the trick is to stop spraying just before that... On the other hand it is less work sanding those curtains down then you have now. On top of the car, roof, hood etc there will not be a problem. Then you get rid of those orengepeals. Good luck and awesome project!

after wet sanding, should the paint be kind of dull or should it still have shine. I have now a smooth, orange-peel free surface, but the paint seems to be dull and non-reflective. But the car still feels (to touch) as if there is clear rather than paint.

After the wet sanding the paint shall be dull, if it is shiny you haven´t sanded enough. If you sand to much you will break the clear coat down to the paint, don´t do that...
This is when it has dried from the water of coarse, if you wet a dull surface it will look a little shiny. Then you "only" have to polish up a mirror shine!
Don´t you watch overhaulin ;)

Sounds like you have sanded through the clear and into the base coat. If you see color on your paper, you went to far.

So, I believe I had made some progress with my wet sanding, and I have buffed and polished the top of the front left fender. I hope you guys enjoy the new photos, and it is now time time to tackle the rest of the car!

Looking great!

Now were talkin!

:yes::yes::yes::yes::yes::yes::yes::yes::yes::yes: :yes:

only 6 more months of wet sanding and buffing and you'll be good to go. lol just kidding its looking good so far

Lookin' sweet!!!!

Finished left fender and left door. Only 75% more car to finish. Enjoy.

wow turned out much better then i though it would NICE JOB

Looks nice

Looking good.
Keep on sanding and polishing, should be done by August, but it'll look SO GOOD.

Looks great!!!

Well done man! Wow this really boosted my garage painting confidence! :D

Nice work!!!

Awesome, can't wait to see the final product. Even more so I can't wait to paint some of my cars.

any more progress on her?

Anything new on this?

While sanding, it occurred to me that there was not enough clear on the car in order to color sand, so I have to re-spray specific areas of the car before i can continue sanding. Due to some really hot weather, the paint has been drying to quickly, so I'm going to have to spay earlier in the day.

Sorry to disappoint