Who has painted a car yourself? Options

[Steve91T]

Hey guys! I'm getting to the point where I need to paint my car. I have a black 97 SS and swapped the doors, deck lid, fenders and hood from a red 99 SS. I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos and it doesn't seem too difficult. My question isn't about details, but basically, how'd it go? Once you were done, did it end up being much harder than expected? I have a 2 car garage that I'll be doing the work in. Another question, is painting a mostly plastic car more difficult?

Any advice would be great!

[CrashTestDummy]

Never done it myself. Never had the patience. The painting is pretty straightforward, it's the prep that's the important bit.

[Lonnie]

Painting is not difficult but it does require some practice to lay down a good finish.
As stated above preparation is key, but an ugly paint job will still negate excellent prep work.

My concern is black is a very unforgiving color, it shows all flaws & also any orange peel in the paint from poor application.
If it was your beater/work car, I would say go for it, but if it looks bad & then you turn to someone else to fix it, you will likely pay substantially more to get it fixed than letting a shop do it the first time.

As for painting plastic vs. metal, there is a definite difference as the paint will not flow as well on non metal surfaces.
There are some anti-static sprays/pretreatment coatings out there that help paint to flow on plastic/fiberglass.
With that said, if you never painted a car before, that will be the least of your worries as this is more of a character difference between a 98% to a 100% finish.

This post has been edited by Lonnie: Dec 2 2015, 09:59 PM

[slowTA]

I took a body shop class to prep my car for paint. I wound up painting the bumpers and edges but had the instructor do the rest.

Your garage will be covered in body dust and overspray unless you cover it all with plastic drops cloths.

As said above, black and other dark colors are unforgiving. Talk to your paint supplier to see what they recommend for rubber and fiberglass... And use the same mixture in the whole car. I've 'heard' some flex agents change the color some. Also, if you want something that looks impressive then just prep the car yourself (sand, prime, and repeat until smooth) and have the color/clear done.

If you decide to do it all yourself, another option is single stage paint, the color dries shiny so you don't need a clear coat and have to worry about spraying at just the right time.

Good luck and post pictures!

This post has been edited by slowTA: Dec 3 2015, 12:49 AM

[CrashTestDummy]

<SNIP>

Your garage will be covered in body dust and overspray unless you cover it all with plastic drops cloths.

<SNIP>

^^ This! EVERYTHING in the shop our SVO was done in was this blue-gray color. EVERYTHING In the car was covered with gray dust, too. It's a sticky mess to clean up.

[00SSHarrison]

Have you considered wrapping it?

[Steve91T]

Hey guys, thanks for the help.

So here's the new plan. My buddy just built my dream house with a huge shop and had a 12k two post lift and a beer fridge installed before they even moved in. He wants to build a folding paint booth in the corner of his shop and learn to paint also. Perfect.

So, he's what I'm working with.


(IMG:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v199/Steve91T/Camaro/6D90DFCC-34C1-4523-A796-32A5F2B7964C.jpg)


I still need to swap hatches with the red one that has the stock wing so I don't look like a tool driving down the road with a huge lexan spoiler.
I was going to worry about the go before the show, but it looks pretty rediculous. So paint has moved up the priority list.

So I've got a hard top panel that I pulled off the roof of a junk yard Camaro that replaces the t-tops for the track. That will be the perfect panel to practice on. I'm also going to pull all the red panels off the car and paint the back side of them black. That'll also give me a bit of practice. I can do all of that in my garage. I'll make a small paint booth out of 1x2's and plastic. Then I'll put the car back together and drive it to my buddies shop to paint the whole car.


So I know painting obviously isn't something you lean over night, so I'm planning on taking it slow. I also realize that my expectations can't be a show quality paint job after my first crack at it. Isn't the worst thing that could happen is I sand it all down and start over?


I've thought about wrapping the car and I just don't think that's for me.

Anyway, our goal is to try to get this thing done this month. So I'll keep everyone posted! Please keep the tips and tricks and opinions, good or bad,coming.

[nape]

So I know painting obviously isn't something you lean over night, so I'm planning on taking it slow. I also realize that my expectations can't be a show quality paint job after my first crack at it. Isn't the worst thing that could happen is I sand it all down and start over?


I've thought about wrapping the car and I just don't think that's for me.

Anyway, our goal is to try to get this thing done this month. So I'll keep everyone posted! Please keep the tips and tricks and opinions, good or bad,coming.

Depending on what your patience level and time allow, you can sand and paint until you're happy. From my experience, if imperfections are going to gnaw at you, you'll be way money and time ahead paying someone to do it. If I recall correctly, you already lost a chunk of your time and that's why you decided to convert back from a CMC build.

I paint my race car, but that's because I know someone is pretty much guarenteed to run into it. It's also about 5 shades of white, bad prep work, with a bunch of dust in the paint, and runs all over. It's also white because it hides more sins than most colors.

Trying to paint black as my first painting project would be a huge chunk of NOPE.

[79T/A]

What nape said. All of the race cars at the shop are white for that exact reason. It hides a lot. The old saying goes - if it ain't right, paint it white.

Black will be tough, but it's doeable if you aren't looking for perfection. Sounds like you just want to get the car one color and back on the roads. I say go for it.

[Steve91T]

Thanks guys. I know black was difficult but I didn't think it was that bad. 79TA is correct, I just want it one color and back on the road/track.

So I'll definitely spend more time practicing. I have the old 97 front end they I can practice on and once I'm fairly comfortable, I'll probably go for it. I'm thinking lots of coats and even more sanding (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Maybe I'll change my YouTube search from "how to paint a car" to "how to paint a BLACK car"

[NOT A TA]

Saw this a couple days ago but didn't respond because the OP was such a broad type of question.

I do quite a bit of body work and paint in a 2 car garage for myself as well as customers. I could spend hours typing (hunt & peck) about tips. It's easier to respond to particular aspects as you move along. As an example "I'm going to start on this front bumper cover I'm practicing on , what should I do first?" Answer: Wash thoroughly inside and out with dish detergent then clean all areas with wax & grease remover using the wipe on and dry off method with two rags. This prevents the possibility of starting off your project by contaminating your surfaces sanding wax or Armor All type chemicals that might be on the bumper into the plastic that can come back to haunt you.

I lurk mostly and don't post a lot here because the stuff I work on is old compared with most members but I visit daily to learn something. If I don't have an answer to a particular question there's another old guy here I rent a room to. He's been a bodyman/painter for over 35 years and works in a higher end production shop doing collision work as his day job. Between us we should be able to answer most questions or provide tips to help you get the best results using what's available to you.

Lots of coats and lots of sanding isn't really a good way to go for several reasons. Can explain why when you get that far.

[robss96dcm]

Dip it, http://www.dipyourcar.com/

[SuperMacGuy]

Personally, I'd try a wrap myself before painting myself. I've messed up airbrush paint jobs, spray can paint jobs, and household paint jobs. And I think that I have OK skills, HAHA! (Some projects do turn out nice). So, set realistic goals, have a backup plan, and don't paint it black or any metal flake, IMO. Hey maybe the matte (sanded) look would be cool?

[Steve91T]

Personally, I'd try a wrap myself before painting myself. I've messed up airbrush paint jobs, spray can paint jobs, and household paint jobs. And I think that I have OK skills, HAHA! (Some projects do turn out nice). So, set realistic goals, have a backup plan, and don't paint it black or any metal flake, IMO. Hey maybe the matte (sanded) look would be cool?

Have you seen what's involved in wrapping a car? Might as well paint

[Steve91T]

Saw this a couple days ago but didn't respond because the OP was such a broad type of question.

I do quite a bit of body work and paint in a 2 car garage for myself as well as customers. I could spend hours typing (hunt & peck) about tips. It's easier to respond to particular aspects as you move along. As an example "I'm going to start on this front bumper cover I'm practicing on , what should I do first?" Answer: Wash thoroughly inside and out with dish detergent then clean all areas with wax & grease remover using the wipe on and dry off method with two rags. This prevents the possibility of starting off your project by contaminating your surfaces sanding wax or Armor All type chemicals that might be on the bumper into the plastic that can come back to haunt you.

I lurk mostly and don't post a lot here because the stuff I work on is old compared with most members but I visit daily to learn something. If I don't have an answer to a particular question there's another old guy here I rent a room to. He's been a bodyman/painter for over 35 years and works in a higher end production shop doing collision work as his day job. Between us we should be able to answer most questions or provide tips to help you get the best results using what's available to you.

Lots of coats and lots of sanding isn't really a good way to go for several reasons. Can explain why when you get that far.

It was a broad question. Mostly because I just wanted a general idea of what people think. I really appreciate your offer to help. I'll do more reading then I'll post specific questions.

[Steve91T]

(IMG:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v199/Steve91T/Camaro/2A3D8502-D858-41C1-80BD-9340C7074503.jpg)


Last night I had my neighbor help me swap hatches. Now it is officially more of a red car than black. How much easier is it to paint red than black? I'm kind of toying with the idea making the car red, but I don't know. I really love black.

What do you guys think?

[NOT A TA]

I really love black.

What do you guys think?

I think you have your answer ^^^. It's a lot of work to go through and not paint it the color you want.

[Lonnie]

Tuff call... I like both black & red so its a toss up.

If you go with the idea of red, you just need to paint each quarter, rockers & rear bumper cover...if you like the black roof look.
Personally to do a good job, you need to paint the jambs then as well & this gets much more involved.

The unfortunate part is if you were going to paint the car black, you should have painted all the parts before installing them.
This way all the edges are done properly. Another thing to consider is removing all parts 1 at a time & painting them then reinstalling.
It is much easier for a beginner to paint panels nicely than an entire car.

[Steve91T]

(IMG:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v199/Steve91T/Camaro/22F69FE0-C4FD-4D6E-BD00-1A11DACF7716_1.jpg)


Hmmmm. Maybe?

[NOT A TA]

That Cyber Gray is a metallic. Probably be better off sticking with a solid color for your first paint job. If you do decide on the Cyber Gray don't try to paint it in pieces. The metal flake probably won't match panel to panel.