How hard is it to paint a car???

[drobertson]

Ok.... Before I start, I'll give a little history. The car- a 1973 Dodge Charger SE. I'm an assistant taxidermist, where we use Bondo & Airgun Paint. So I do have experience with that, but I do have a few questions.

After is remove the old paint and texture the metal, does a coat of primer go under the paint? Or over the paint?

How much does a good painting gun cost, & where can I get one?

What protects the paint.... and how do I apply it?

Can I buy paint ready to go into the airgun... or does it need diluted?

How many gallons of paint, enamel, primer, etc do I need?

Do I need to polish the paint before I add the enamel, or just sand it smooth?


This is how I see the process going: 1. Remove trim 2. Sand off old paint 3. Fill in dents with bondo, and shape it 3. Apply primer to car & let dry 4. Paint & dry 5. Polish the paint until it's smooth 6. Apply enamel, and dry. 7. put the trim back on, and vinyl top.

Am I right? Please correct me.

Oh, and how much money will this cost me? It is in no way going to be a showroom vehicle, but a daily driver.

Peace

 

[eldubb440]

lol......you make it sound so simple......

 

[charger360]

anyone can paint a car..... if you want it nice it takes skill and knowledge. those things take time and money to get. it is not as simple as strip bondo sand prime and paint. just blocking a car out is a skill and actually laying down a nice even coat of paint is not as easy as it looks. don't even think about metalics if you are not good with the gun! so I think what I am saying is it is easy and it is hard. also the material is not cheap! if you do it and miss it will sting your wallet.

 

[patrick66]

Plenty of "how-to" books, video, and youtube out there where you can get your questions answered to your satisfaction. "How do I paint a car?" isn't a forum-answerable question.

 

[mopar 3 B]

And how does one get good at it if you never try.I say go for it. Keep the paint area clean and dry with pleanty of light. Do not rush anything. Keep the paint coats light. Lots more fun to add paint than remove runs. I have found gravity feed guns more forgiving than pots. Do not forget your lungs and buy a good resporator. There are plenty of books on the subject. Just do not get discouraged if it does not come out right the first time.

 

[62 Dart Convertible]

Here ya go -
http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/moparforum/showthread.php?75213-How-to-paint-your-car-The-unofficial-guide

 

[Magnes]

You CAN paint your own car. I paint all my own cars and I taught myself how to do it, and I do it in my garage. There is a lot to this stuff though. It is not for the faint of heart and it is something that you will have to commit yourself to do and do right. All it takes is one screw up and you just wasted hundreds, if not thousands of dollars of paint, and you'll be sanding it off and doing it over.

I taught myself just by reading articles and write-ups on the net as well as watching youtube videos.

Check out DIYautoschool on Youtube, as well as SWRNC. Both Youtube channels are done by the same guy and he is a bit rowdy to say the least but he explains a lot of the techniques and really goes over EVERYTHING you could possibly run into or ever need to know about doing bodywork and paint. Seriously, he has so many videos that you could just watch them for a couple weeks. Take notes. You need to read and spend a lot of time watching videos to get your head wrapped around what you need to do and how to do it successfully.

The BIGGEST thing you need is a 2 stage air compressor. I use a Ingersoll Rand 60 gallon that I bought at Lowe's. You are not going to want to spray with anything smaller than that. It is able to pump the air in faster than I can use it and that is very important... If you try to paint your car and your air compressor takes longer to refill itself than it takes you to empty it by spraying your paint, you are going to have major problems. Your paint is going to dry while you have to stand there and wait on the compressor to pump back up and your paint job is going to look like crap because you end up with dry spots. You want to be quick enough so that basically ALL the paint is drying at the same time.

You are going to be painting a very large car so you are going to have to be QUICK as well as thorough. Practice by priming your car. Primer is much cheaper than paint and you can get a feel for what you'll need to do when it's time to paint. Make a plan. You have to think about stuff like: Sweat dripping off your body. Hairs falling into the paint. Dust from your shop blowing up and into your work. Hoses being drug across your paint. Condensation from your air compressor, lines, or in your gun, WILL spray out if you do not have water traps. Those are simple stupid little things that can completely RUIN your paint job.

Your best bet is to completely disassemble the car and paint it in batches. It'll be a lot easier and come out a lot better if you are painting different parts as opposed to trying to paint the whole car together. Plus you'll be able to get in all the nook and crannies MUCH better. You have to make sure everything is set up the same when you do that though. Different air pressure can make the same paint 2 different colors.

There are so many possibilities and variables of things that CAN go wrong. You have to prepare for those and do everything you can to minimize the chances for disaster.

DO NOT SAND YOUR CAR BY HAND. ALWAYS use a block. Buy yourself a full set of Durablock flexible blocks. Criss cross as you sand.

I advise you buy a cheap but good set of HVLP guns and practice practice practice. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Devilbiss-S...1438662504&pt=Motors_Automotive_Tools&vxp=mtr - Those are good guns to start with. You CAN do a very good job with those.

TCP Global sells decent quality supplies. I've used their base coat paints, their clear coats, and their 2K primer with good results. You can buy just about everything through them

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-Gal-KIT-2...1512776467&pt=Motors_Automotive_Tools&vxp=mtr - That is some very good primer. You can buy it directly from TCP Global. Not crazy expensive but if you mix it right, spray it right, you will get good results. It's a high build primer. Very thick. You mix it up VERY good, add the hardener, and spray at recommended pressures. It'll stick great to properly sanded and cleaned body fill, paint, or bare metal.

And as for paint, I would NOT advise you shooting enamel, or single stage urethane, or any crap like that. You want to do a base coat clear coat paint job. People think it is just easier to do a single stage paint but bull-crap. It is not. It's a pain in the ***. You are going to want to do the base coat clear coat FOR SURE. It's so easy to do and do right. It looks 1000 times better when it's done. And it is 1000 times easier when you are able to color sand and buff the clear coat down flat to get rid of any dust or orange peel that WILL happen.

I'm not going to keep going on and on about this, I'm just trying to steer you in the right direction. Unless you have a heated shop, you are going to want to wait until the weather warms up anyway. DO NOT try and spray anything when it is below 70 degrees. I only prime, paint, or even do bodywork when the weather is above 70 degrees. The materials will not "flow out" properly if it is cold. So look at it like you have ALL WINTER LONG to read, watch, and learn how to do the job.

If you do as I recommend and read all about it plus sit there and watch the videos I recommended, you will answer your own questions. If you aren't 100% committed to doing this right, DO NOT DO IT!!! Just pay someone to paint your car. If you do not already have a compressor that is big enough, you might consider just having someone paint the car for you because that 1 piece alone is going to cost you.

This is one of the cars I did in my garage last year....

Before:

After paint:

And here's one I did this year....

Before:

After:

And the build thread here has some info on it including bodywork, and paint info: http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/moparforum/showthread.php?81535-She-s-a-keeper!-72-Plymouth

And here's another one I built this year.

The only single stage paint that is OK by me is the satin or flat colors like this

I hope that gives you some ideas and helps. WATCH THOSE VIDS! DIYautoschool and SWRNC - It's a great place to start.

Good luck to you. If you want to, any of you guys can message me for info. I'll do my best to help.

 

[kiwigtx]

Anyone can paint a car with a little practice....it's the preparation that makes a paint job pop! :icon_thumright:

 

[Bwingard]

Excellent post Magnes, and you have provided me with encouragement and inspiration as painting a car is on my bucket list. Malcolm Gladwell claims you can become an expert on anything in 10,000 hours, but with YouTube and forums like this one, I bet it could be cut in half. Besides, I believe a determined beginner can do as good or better job than most body shops because of the rush to get the cars in and out of their shops.

Barry
68 GTX

 

[Bladecutter]

informational outlets with visual aid are certainly helpful, but at the end of the day it is hands on experience & MISTAKES that are the greatest teacher. And the materials now are prohibitively expensive. I NEVER call anything EASY. There is only easiER or harder......45 years and i saw a reaction a couple months ago that never before had happened...so i gotta say, in this sandbox, nobody knows everything there is to know....it's APPLIED SCIENCE....not exact science....chemicals are volatile, fallible, prone to bad reactions at times. My Bible advises that if You paint Your car a SOLID color....go quality single stage. Clear was only introduced as a UV protectant for metallics because the metallics themselves were oxidizing far faster than the paint they were suspended in. Look @ new cars, in the elements the clears are only good for about 5- 7 yrs before top surfaces turn white, then peeling and flaking follows. Single stage will cost half of a two stage system, less work, less stuff to fail either during application or later down road and a lot of clears are NOT clear...they're milky or oil slicky....single stage will produce a deeper lustre in the sand & buff if that is done w/ finesse. The overall job will last twice as long....only clear trik paint jobs w/ graphix to bury and the metallics present in that work and straight metallic jobs...then You HAVE TO go w/ 2 stage or 3 stage. Good luck

- - - Updated - - -

Bwingard....Luck with Your project, it will test Your limits, but the satisfaction of looking at a shape that You have manipulated and become a part of is its own thing. In this sandbox, even bad work is still hard, but thats what makes getting on the other side fulfilling...no pain no gain. You got right to the heart of the problem with the business of body & paint....TIME thank the insurance companies for that and peoples schedules that they can't afford to take THEIR investment to a good fix even though THEY are the ones that F'd it up in the first place....BUT it was the other guys fault.....BS if One person is paying attention chances are 99.9999999% the accident could have been avoided....so at the end of the day, when one wrecks a car, THEY wrecked the car, not the frickin guy trying to unwad the POS and the insurance cos. don't supplement....well thats just STUPID The biz is screwed before it starts....but Good Luck with Your personal project

 

[fatecaptured]

You could always check out the turbine spray systems. Clean dry air with a higher transfer rate. Some even combine a fresh air respirator.

 

[Bladecutter]

Good point to be well adhered to made by Fate Clean, Dry air is an absolute must.....water 7 oil are constant nemesis. There's so much stuff to think about...here's one.....any where that mouldings clip to or like drip rail moulding (good example)to drip rail...WATCH Your material build ups on these areas panel edges like doors and lids keep it cut down throughout job...usually when the car is ready to go in booth, one of my check list items is to check all lid and door gaps and i 80 the edges to metal...the paint will do fine to seal it down...reason being i've done three cars where all was peachy, cars slick & prepped..paint it , all good open a door and RIPPP the final 5 mil build of the paint closed the door gap just enough that it makes contact and rips a chunk of **** off the countering edges...makes you want to eat a bullet..heart sinks. There's a million stories in the Naked City...this is just one.

 

[Bruzilla]

As with everything else, it's all about managing expectations. Magnes is right when he says anyone can learn to paint a car, but that means getting all the right equipment to do it right. Not an issue if your intent is to paint multiple cars or maybe do it as a business, but not worth it when you're looking at painting a single driver. You'll spend as much in paint alone as you would pay for a Maaco paint job when it's on sale.

Maaco won't do any more of a show-quality paint job as a newbie, but it will be a heck of a lot cheaper.

 

[Bladecutter]

Bruzilla...yes...i say muy mas than macco especially 2 or 3 stage red. One thing about macco that can be capitalized on at pretty good benefit in terms of economics and decent work....i worked in a macco once long ago for 2 days...i shot 30 cars...use a macco, try to hire the gun on the side or run your car through the front door....probably charge 200- 300 to shoot a 2 stage with your materials....odds of a real nice flow that will really make the color sanding faster and better are much improved if the gun is a daily shooter......They run at least 20 cars a day through the booth and oven. I've run stuff thru them and the others like one day and such. They can also do nice tight symmetrical masking with folds well sealed if you tell them to make the mask tight, so car is ready up to mask, final pre-kleeno, tack & blow, and the the fun begins. Try to find one that has heated, pressurized downdraft booth that they keep the overspray cleaned off the walls......bits of different colored overspray will shake loose from walls like when door is open & shut...will get in job....frustrating bastard color sanding black *& breaking open little errant white specks and vica versa. oy vey....yet another story from the naked city. Peace

 

[69B5]

Like Bruzila said
To buy the proper equipment to paint one car is not cost effective.
I understand that it's on your bucket list but if you don't have good equip. and knowledge your in for a battle
The prep work is also critical. If you don't have a good foundation, chances are you will not have a good finish
There is a lot of good advice in what the guys told you
For me, I'd work extra hours at work to earn the monies to have it painted professionally
My cars are just drivers but I want them to look spectacular.
Just my opinion.
I wish you the best

 

[kiwigtx]

I just had a re-read of the initial post here and remembered some pics I took at Christmas time while out shopping. It got me thinking about how hard it would to do some simple Taxidermy.... (no offense intended toward OP)









I guess painting a car would be easier, but some prior experience would be an advantage. Maybe see if you can spend some time at a local paint shop to see what is involved. I learnt through hands-on experience painting several cars. I didn't paint my GTX or A100, but only because I had access to a master in the field. :headbang: