Has anybody painted their own vehicle?

[tonysandiego]

The answer to your question is <strong class=`bbc`>Yes[/b].

I was a rookie when I got mine and it made life a lot easier on my black cars! Can`t imagine not having one now.

[xconwrathx]

This question is aimed towards the low budget do-it-yourself crowd, although some bodyshop insight would be appreciated. I`m wondering what kind of results I could expect if I took the time to paint my own car, on the cheap. Super cheap. ~$600-$800 cheap. Would I be better off doing the prep work myself and sending it to a shop to be painted?

I have a red `99 Nissan Sentra, not the most beautiful car in the world, not by a long shot, but I love the little piece of ****! I have a new engine and transmission waiting in the wings until next summer, and until recently I`ve always just put up with my paint being ````ty. The paint is sun faded pretty bad, it had some vinyl pin stripes on it when I got it four years ago, when I removed them there was a significant difference between where the paint was exposed and where it was not. I also have some problems with the clear coat, it doesn`t like staying on the car. Occasionally it will chip off in large chunks. There is only a single small incidence of rust on the body, an inch long spot on one of the rear fender edges, easily fixable. There are also plenty of small dings and dents here and there, nothing a little plastic filler bondo wouldn`t solve.

I`m not afraid of a project, and could take a week off work to get the whole shebang done if necessary. I`m really not looking for a concourse finish, but would like something a little fresher and in one piece, I put on about 20K miles a year and plan on having the car for at least another 5 years or so. It looks alright from about 10` back, but it drives me crazy. So whaddya guys think, anybody else done this before?

Here are a few pictures for reference...

[imported_RaskyR1]

I`ve done two paint jobs "color change" but I had the help of my father. I`m guessing you will have a good $500 just in materials.

Do you have a paint gun and an air compressor? have you even done any painting before?

[xconwrathx]

No, and no!

Well, no automotive painting. I understand the basics of rattle can painting, consistent distance, smooth strokes, overlapping edges, etc.

I wouldn`t go down to metal if I could avoid it, just sand, bondo, sealer, base, and clear. I would probably do this in my two car garage and get a small compressor and paint gun from Harbor Freight. I plan on respraying the engine bay once I get it emptied of all the noisy bits in there, and depending on how that goes I may attempt to do the entire car.

I wouldn`t do a color change, I`d stick with the OEM red, maybe with a slight pearl added to it.


The pictures do the car much more justice than reality offers, they are, err, enhanced via lightroom editing.

[imported_RaskyR1]

I can`t believe I`m saying this but...you may be better off doing to body work yourself and just paying Macco to do the actual spraying. That or get someone who has lots of experience come do it for you. The guys at Macco do know how to lay the paint down (at least they should), they just cut corners on prep and use cheap materials...much like detailing, prep is key.

Be sure to remove all the trim, moldings, lights, handles ect, so that you`re not taping any of them off. Tape lines kill a paint job!

Here is a restoration job I`m working on with my old man right now. The entire car is being torn down so that there will be no tape lines.

[imported_Tuscarora Dave]

one time I painted a 75 F-100 with a roller and exterior flat black (true story).
But on a serious note I have painted a few cars in the back yard. the problems I have encountered with doing this was dirt or dust blowing into the wet paint. I was able to wet sand and polish them out though. I am talking beaters though. I have painted a few in the booth as well and would suggest cleaning your work space very clean and leave the floor wet with water and don`t stomp around in the water, for sure ground the car with jumpers to a water pipe or a ground rod. Pre clean with prepsol or equivalent before doing any grinding on dents prior to filling. If you don`t you will grind wax or oils into the metal and end up with bad fish eyes and bondo possibly falling out before the 5 years you want to keep the car is up.

I would suggest that you use the pre cleaner on any panels that you accidentally touch with your hands because finger prints cause fish eyes and other adhering issues. and make sure you get a few tack cloths to pick up any dust before you spray your base and clear. make sure that your paint flashes between coats. and always paint the hard to paint areas such as wheel wells, window pillars, bumpers and tail light and headlight areas first then single even overlapping stokes from front to back going past the end of your work on each paint stroke.

I would say without a booth it would be nearly impossible to do without getting a small amount of dust or dirt in the paint. Beware of the fact that if you do this in your garage you will need a respirator, maybe a tyvek suit, hair net or painters sock and cover anything in the garage with plastic including the walls because you will have overspray and a lot of it. If it were me I would just prep the car, buy some quality paint and have a pro do the painting. all the prep of the space you will work in will probably take more than a day. and what about the local ordinances. is painting your car at home even legal.

These are just a few thing off the top of my head, I am sure it is not a complete reccolection of how I painted a car being it was before LPHV equipment was mandatory.

Hope this helped, Good luck

[HotRod]

one time I painted a 75 F-100 with a roller and exterior flat black (true story).

Actually thats not a bad idea if your on a budget. Check out this link http://rollyourcar.com/default.aspx
I have tried this method, and it does produce decent results. Of course I just tried it on a spare hood, and have not tried it on a whole car yet. But I used gloss rustoleum paint thinned with mineral spirits and applied with a high density foam roller. Its alot of work but if your on a tight budget it works. If I had an older car that needed a repaint and could not afford a pro-paint job, I would definitley try this out.

[imported_Stokdgs]

I have painted many vehicles working in a couple of auto body shops.
It takes a while to get the hang of the primer and the paint gun, as they both take time to learn, you need to learn all about your thinning agent/s, moisture content, air temps, filters in the booth, sanding with a DA, priming, guide coat blocking with wet sand paper, masking, back-masking, the right tape, the right paper, and this is AFTER the bodyguy has done the body work.

If you are just wanting to re-shoot it, and not make it perfect, then its your car and you can do what you want.

If you want to just get it prepped for Primer, block sanding, more primer, last wipedown and tackdown, and shooting the color, that would also be a good place to learn about this type of work.

Its not going to work correctly if you just read a book or look on the internet and try to copy someone else. Too many variables involved, and if you are going to use your garage, I would be really careful - especially if your hot water heater is in there. You would need to absolutely find a way to get all the fumes out and then you have tons of overspray on about everything that is not visquine`d off. Perhaps you can rent a booth or find a paint shop that will let you come learn a little more about it before you start.
Good luck with this, I hope it turn out great for you !!
Dan F

[MB Fan]

Oh the memories!

Yes I (or more correctly assisted) the painting of the wifes 76 Datsun 710 in the garage. It was called the "Green Pickle" for obvious reasons.

The advice above is spot on. In my case I created a spray booth inside the garage by drapping heavy plastic all the way around the car including the ceiling. Before I pulled the car in to spray we swept and hosed down the garage floor just to keep dust from rising as we walked around.

I did all the prep work ahead of time outside. I pulled all the trim, removed the bumpers, etc. I did all the rust repairs and treated with an acid wash, then did all the body work and primed as needed (outside). I did a quick wipedown outside, then again inside the garage - first an IPO then with a tac rag.

The key for me was the guy that helped me had worked in a body shop as a painter for a few months and he shot it for me. It really turned out well and since I already had the compressor and he had the paint gun I was only out $$ for materials.

Good luck!

[imported_firebird]

I had a `78 Cougar that was midnight blue. Lower rocker panel started to show signs of wear. This happened about 25 years ago. My Dad thought he would do me a favor and he bolted metal over the bad area and painted it with a good `ol paint brush. Yes, by hand. I sat on a bucket in the garage and cried for about 4 hours. He felt bad cause he had only good intentions. We laugh about it today, kind of! I would not recommend this method!