Has anybody painted their own vehicle?

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
 
batchainpuller said:
one time I painted a 75 F-100 with a roller and exterior flat black (true story).
Click to expand...
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.
 
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
 
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!
 
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!:scared:
 
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