I am plaining on painting my own car with the help of a friend. He has already done a car or two but this will be both our first major project. We have all the spray guns and a large enough compressor so that is not a problem I just need general tips or a web site that could help too. I am plaining on practicing on my body kit when I get it then doing the whole car.


Thanx
Nathan

Fix any and all dents and other mistake in your body or fiberglass. If you used any type of body filler, poly primer over that filler. Wet sand your whole car w/ 400 grit sandpaper. Once it is compltely prepped, put down a coat of sealer to make you car one solid uniform color. Then wait 20-30 minutes for it to flash (appear dull) and shoot your basecoat, let it flash and shoot over that ( another base, kandy, pearl, or clear).

I would recommend 600 for wet sanding....

I say 400 for wet sanding because that is what most body shops use, not just T&L.

i have no clue, but post pics as you go along with the process.

Most shops only do 400, but i did 400 and 600 because i am using a Kandy paint so my teacher said i needed to use 600 as well. But 400 would have worked just fine.

I am taking a ton of pictures of the entire build up of my car from performance mods to system to painting should make a nice scrap book. I am not sure when I will actualy be doing the painting I have to pay for my kit first and mold all that in. Pics of it so far are in the link below and I will update that as I get more pics developed. Thanx for all the help so far keep it common.

Nathan

Any tips for keeping the dust or air born particles of your car so you don't paint over it. And if you do paint over a piece of dirt or a hair how do you fix it? Do you have to start all over?


I am planning on doing my car as well. I just don't have access to a booth and was wondering how to keep all the dirt off the car. I tried cleaning every last particle of dirt off my car in a garage and by the time I got all the way around there was new dust and hairs. (Not many but enough that it would cause your paint job to look bad)

No matter what, you really can't paint it anywhere but a paint booth. Especially not in a garage if you have any gas flames in their (paint is highly explosive). You can't even smoke within 25 feet of a paint booth. A tip is to pour water on the ground so you won't blow dust up into the air. You also use the air hose to blow on the surface right before you paint it...

a lot of times there are paint boths in your area you can rent. Just go to your local auto body supply store and ask them if they know of any. Or do what i did, take an autobody class at your local junior college if they offer a class. I get access to every autobody tool you would need, including paint booth and paitn guns.

Clean out the paint both real good and like Eclipse804 siad, put a layer of water on the floor to help. Blow all the dust off your car before you go in the booth. After masking, use a final clean solution to wipe down your car and immediatly before you paint, use a "tack cloth" to wipe down your car. It removes all dust and lint. Lightly tack the car between coats once it has dried.

Ya use reducer if you want to clean the surface of the car before painting. It takes everything off. That's what I did, but I don't think I did it carefully enough because I was in a rush. I still need to wet sand and buff it..guess that won't happen to christmas.

I am now trying to get prices on paint I am looking at either doing black or going orage :) More then likely it will be orange so I am wanting to know what kind of price am I looking at for each if their are any painters out there. I just need to know price for paint alone of course.

btw yes I know what a pain it will be to do a complete color chage but it should be worth it (engine bay is staying black though)

Figure around 600 bucks for paint supplies, including the clear. That's for PPG or house of kolor stuff. It can range from 500 to 700, red is especially expensive. But figure out all the materials you need, so you don't miss anything at the last minute. All I know off the top of my head is the base coat, clear coat, pearls (if any), and reducer. A lot of colors actually mix a lot of pearls into the paint, which may make it really expensive if you don't already have the pearls. For example, my paint used three different pearls, and if I had to buy all 3 (but only use a bit of each), that would be 300 bucks right there just for pearl.