A few years ago i helped my father paint a car and it really wasnt too hard.
Well I no longer speak to my father, so I can’t ask him for help.
I was wondering if anyone on here has painted their own car and what advice you can give me.
Morasso did a huge thread on just that.
He used rattle cans though.
I was going to buy a spray gun to do it.
His car is totally what I want to do (color wise)… which makes me rethink it.
Opinions needed:
should I go 2 tone white and black or do it in BMW Steel Gray Metallic (I always loved that color)?
If you read the majority of it he used a rattle can for only a portion the rest was done with a roller. Color choice is up to you, but if you like what he did go for it. Otherwise go with the grey metallic (hint: you won’t be able to use his method with the metallic).
Been there, done that.
First, if you want to do it yourself, I would figure how much the paint supplies is going to cost you and the cost of renting a booth. And if you want the paint job to turn out good, practice practice and practice! find fucked up fenders and prep it and practice body work and laying the clear down flat. I also advise you not to spray metallic if it’s your first time…unless you’re very good at it. go to autobody101.com and download the basic of the basics and read it all. you want to source out he cost before doing it yourself, because sometimes, it can turn into a nightmare and it may have been better if you took it to a shop. what do i know? i painted my car at the age of 17 in the garage.
The roller thing works, but it really takes a lot of work. Since you’ve got some experence painting a car, that’ll help. I had none when I started.
If you’re intersted in it i’ll gladly help you with whatever questions you’ve got.
Morasso, I think Im going to do the two tone like you did with the black and white, but I liked how it was with the trunk black too.
And I’m not going to use rattle cans… I plan on renting a spray gun and compressor to do it with.
Can anyone give me a ballpark figure on how much a 2 tone (black top white bottom) would run at a body shop?
I’m kind of a broke college kid and would rather do the paint myself then pay Maaco to mess it up for me.
I was also planning on buying this book http://www.neilslade.com/Papers/Painting.html
from that site. It seems pretty straight forward and in simple terms.
Am I biting off more than I can chew with this one?
look at the forums on autobody101.com, the have alot of useful information on doing it right.
It takes a 1/4 of the work to do it right (sprayed out of the gun), just the paint will be a little more expensive then home depot paint, I would suggest going with a good single stage (check your phone book for PPG paint jobbers), without metallic for your first paint job.
I have read alot of threads on the internet on the $50 paint jobs (roller), I can’t believe the crazy amounts of time people get involved in those paint jobs.
You can get a gun and a compressor that good enough to keep up with paint guns for a little over $200 at harbor and freight.
Wet sanding and polishing is your best friend when doing garage paint jobs.
Last car I painted was my CD5 accord (daily driver), sealer, paint, clear, HOK pearl, I think I had a bit over $200 in supplies, but we have an account at our jobber and got a bit of a discount. 100,000 times better then a $200 macco paint job. Came out better then OEM paint.
thanks lowridin acura.
You gave me hope.
I think Im going to do the black top, white bottom two tone.
Im not planning on doing it until like June so that gives me enough time to read up on everything.
Does anyone have any tips or pointers?
you should talk to your father. who cares if he stole your girlfriend and got her pregnant. the past is the past. go talk to him.
Anyways, check out the autobody101.com and go to the forums, alot of pointers and you can ask specific questions if you make an account.
Here are some pics of the $200 paint job, white on white pearl
i will defnitely spend the next month or so reading up on autobody101.com and that other site I posted the link to.
I saw a TSX today in a dark grey that I really liked. So I think I may do two tone with black on top and the TSX grey on the bottom.
The two tone I did probably cost around 100ish bucks.
It’ll cost you less if you do it all at once, but I did mine in spurts.
Prepare to have your car down for about a week though.
would it be okay to do the body work and priming one weekend and painting the next and driving it in between?
I wouldn’t
If you drive a primed car, you risk oxidizing the paint. A week may not be to bad, but you’d have to wetsand the primer to get the road debris out.
I do belive that it is all in the prep work , do not rush any thing. How long from last coat to wet sanding?
[QUOTE=Morasso;1658852]I wouldn’t
If you drive a primed car, you risk oxidizing the paint. A week may not be to bad, but you’d have to wetsand the primer to get the road debris out.[/QUOTE]
oh really, professional painter.
^ yes really, And yeah just wetsand it with 400 if you drived it. If ya need some Tips PM me. I didnt take 3 years of autobody for nothing:roll:
He’s just driving it for one week. Of course he’s going to need to wash it, degrease it, and slightly wetsand it over. It won’t oxidize anything, especially 2K primer.
good luck whatever you decide. is the grey your talking about called Anthracite? its the color i chose. If you get that book slide a copy this way:excite: