The big question is how nice do you really want the car to look ? If youve never held a spray gun in your life I would tell you to find a guy that does side jobs in his garage. These guys are all over the place. Automotive paints are not cheap. Even the cheap ones arent really cheap if you can make sense of that. Then sandpaper, bondo, primer. If you spend all the money on materials and dont have the skill to do the work youre going to waste your cash. Ive painted everything from small parts to frames, I have a nice sized compressor, 4 different spray guns and I wouldnt attempt to paint a whole car. Even after doing the stuff that I know how to do for years, its different when you do a whole car. If I had an old bomb that I just wanted to try it on maybe I would take the chance but not anything that I would want to look good.
Painting the car, tips?
- Thread starter 81Malibu-4DR
- Start date
True i am just looking for a one uniform color that wont rust for a season that's about it my only condition is that's its gray.
ok so you want to do the spray can thats cool im assuming from your original post that your just wanting to cover the car to keep it from getting worse. Heres the thing with most rattle can paints evenif they look great when you lay it out they dont last long out in the sunlight they tend to chalk up and fade so just be prepared for it. Once you start thinking about how many cans it will take to cover the car your still gonna spend a good chunk on paint and if your thinking about those 97 cent a can spray bombs dont even waste your time. Heres something you can look into, once again stop in at your local paint supply store and check on theyre spray cans. Alot of shops can mix single stage paint and put it in a spray can for you so basicly your laying down "real" automotive paint just in a spray can form. It does real well for jaming out a car in a pinch and theres no mixing involved or measureing just point and spray. As far as painting goes im not an expert but i have painted a time or to and even a guy that does it for a living will tell you that the painting with a spraygun isnt hard with just a little practice what is hard is the prep work involved before the paint. Dent repair rust repair panel shaping and of course the hours on end of priming sanding blocking and on and on till its perfect.Thats where the difference between a macco job and a true custom show winning paint job comes out. If you can take a little time to make sure the body is square and clean then you can paint your car yourself. Dont think im beatin on ya im just tryin to help out ive been there a long time ago and although flat black rattle can paint with baby oil on it looks killer from 100 feet away the bugs sure do stick to it lol but thats another story
I would be ok using a gun and practicing a bit just don't know how to make adjustments and what not to the gun, and what if a threw spray can clear over it also?
your air pressure and fan pattern are all you really have to adjust. As far as that goes hang some paper on the wall and shoot it and adjust the pressure and fan till you have an even pattern. When you start to lay paint use about a fifty percent overspray meaning lay down a stripe and with your next stripe half of the paint will cover the bare panel and the other half will recover the last stripe you layed. Keep your wrist locked while you fan the gun and work top to bottom. Look up some painting online or watch a couple videos to help ya out its not black magic you can do it. If you go with single stage paint you dont need clear. Single stage is just that you have color and hardner together you lay it out and your done you can wet sand it and buff it out if you have an orange peel problem but you dont have to cover it with clear it will dry shinny.
You can get a basic spray gun from Harbor freight for less than 30 bucks and a decent compressor for less than 100.00 Make sure you use a water seperator.....
The key to a good paint job is body prep..
Take the time to wetsand, clean and clean, and clean, and clean your surface before you lay the paint to it. HLVP guns spray so smooth and it's really hard to mess it up. Another thing a lot of people do is spray in terrible weather conditions. A general reducer is meant for 70+ degree temperature. If you reduce paint at a normal 4-1-1 mix at 50 degrees, it will run in the floor lol. I suggest getting a pressure valve like a sharp valve, water seperator, a bunch of cleaning supplies like limco L139, a steady hand and a precision tape job.
Take the time to wetsand, clean and clean, and clean, and clean your surface before you lay the paint to it. HLVP guns spray so smooth and it's really hard to mess it up. Another thing a lot of people do is spray in terrible weather conditions. A general reducer is meant for 70+ degree temperature. If you reduce paint at a normal 4-1-1 mix at 50 degrees, it will run in the floor lol. I suggest getting a pressure valve like a sharp valve, water seperator, a bunch of cleaning supplies like limco L139, a steady hand and a precision tape job.
