Thinking of painting the car myself

[andrew.brandon]

But I have a question, I am wondering if it will look good. I will be doing all the sanding, priming, and painting over the next 2 weeks if I do. I am thinking of going with silver or puter. wondering if anyone has done this with those colors. I will be doing a paint test on my headlight covers saturday, just to see how it will look. if its not too good I will rapaint it green. need your opinions(by people that have done it ;) )

[BLLDOGG]

i havent done it but i have seen many many many people try it. even one that has and still istaking body classes for over two years and they all came out crappy. i have never seen anyone paint their own car and it turn out good. just some warning

[BiH]

I painted a huge dent that I fixed,and it looks like a factory color [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[andrew.brandon]

Originally posted by BLLDOGG:
i havent done it but i have seen many many many people try it. even one that has and still istaking body classes for over two years and they all came out crappy. i have never seen anyone paint their own car and it turn out good. just some warning

yeah I have heard storied like that. anyone try it and have sucess?

[nikon]

certain colors take great skill to paint....its body work and making sure everything is smooth that counts....read up on it and Im sure evrything will turn out ok...you have to know what grit paper you need to use for the paint to stick...you need to have a decent gun...a buddy of mine did his 86 300z and it come out beautiful. Take your time and you will probably impress yourself

[AlienInv8r]

It generally depends on how much practicing you can do beforehand, and what sort of conditions you're painting in (ie- rented paint booth or dusty makeshift garage). Check out www.autobody101.com , they should have some info on painting yourself. Most people that do it themselves end up with a mediocre to pretty rough job on their first car, and mainly start with a beater or something. From what I read, to do it properly, you'll end up spending as much money in initial supplies as you would getting a so-so paintjob from a mom-n-pop shop. You'd probably be better off just finding an inexpensive shop to do it that will back their work.

[evangelion137]

I haven't done it myself, but i've seen my brother paint the gas tank on his motorcycle. It looks really nice.
What he did was primer it first

Then took sandpaper (i think it was 3000 grit or something) and water sanded it to make it real smooth.

Then painted a first layer, then water sanded it again.

Repeated it a few times.

Then finally put a clear coat or two on it and sanded it as well.

It looks really nice.

....although it might take a while for you because you would have to do that for the whole car.... [img]graemlins/omg.gif[/img]

[BLLDOGG]

like stated above, i think to make sure you get the best quality job, take your time, study, use the best tools possible, and wet sand to get the best smooth surface you can. im sure since your an f-body owner, you have an eye for detail and wouldnt allow some of the shatty work to happen like some i know [img]smile.gif[/img]

[WishIHad$$$]

Where are you getting your paint andrew? What kind of paint are you using?

My friend and I spraypainted his weekend warrior [img]graemlins/rofl.gif[/img] That was only because he was missing paint in some areas anyway, a lot of the car is black primer. The other half is black spraypaint. It's a sleeper, and fun watching a vette driver's reaction when he gets roasted by the '85 monte carlo SS. :D

[5SpeedBird]

A car is hard. It so big. gotta build a temp booth or plastic off a garage. Dirt is funny. Gotta be a sterile, almost surgery ready.

A pricey expensive gun is also the key.

[RdBrd83]

My first suggestion would be paint something more than headlight covers.
I've painted the front end of my brothers car, the bumber on my dad's truck, a ground effects kit, tailgate, grille, and finally tackled a hood, and will be painting a mustang next summer. I think that's it...
What I've noticed lighter paints are so much easier to spray than darker paints. The dark will show imperfections a lot easier. Which is something to remember when I'm guessing you'll be doing this in a garage. Cleanliness is key, it's not going to come out perfect no matter how hard you try or practice.
My recomendation is to start out with something small if you have no experience. I taught myself, with the help of the guy at the paint place who was a big help on mix ratio's and spray gun selection and how to set it. One thing to watch out for, especially if you go with a metallic paint, is to get a good gun. Take your time, read up as much as you can before hand, but nothing is going to help as much as painting something, even if you can get some scrap piece of metal just to play with the settings and gun speed. It is very difficult to get the speed down to where it's slow enough to not orange peel, but fast enough not to run.

[joe01V6]

the best way to learn is by teaching yourself, cuz u will decipline yourself more than anyone else can. thats how i learn. your own personal mistakes are a constant reminder no matter what.

[andrew.brandon]

well I am putting it on hold for a few weeks, I got an oppoturiny to work some overtime so I am gona do it and put the money toward the FFF kit. but please keep it comming guys. I am gona bookmark this page and refer to it later.

oh and I think i'll go to the local junk yard and get some body pannels and practice. [img]smile.gif[/img]