42 replies to this topic

[zakats]

I am currently looking for info on how to go about painting my hatchie and what materials to use. I have a pretty good understanding for body work but have never painted a car all together SO I am curious to here some testimonial on what has or has not worked for you.

AS IT SITS




BTW yes I am searching and yes I googling!
Thanks,
-Zak


Edit... I want to post up a poll and cant seem to edit that into it, coulda swore I saw someone do that before

[3gencivic]

under 100bucks of paint and materials. mind you that is my discount.

that is by spraycans and lots of newspaper and painters tape

[zakats]

thats not bad... not bad at all...

Looking around at all of the different kinds of auto paint and the science there of....I am overloaded and confused by all the varying info and searching online. It seems that there isn't a very good DB of info that explains things completely. Im getting close to saying scew it and just going to factory...or getting lasy and going with primer, even then with primer I wouldnt know what kind of primer to go with that doesnt look tacky and will keep rust out wtf mate!?

[3gencivic]

i was in that debate too before i did what i did.
for a factory normal repaint at a shop wasgoing ot be a good 4-5grand.
i dnt have that puls to do all the layers and time todo the job i waslooking for.
i went all trimclad spraypaint. i used the gray primer first then the paint. my mistake on my finishing was to use a clear coat it was the wrong stuff and peeled the bumppers and hood.

here is a link to my gallery of stages of my painting
link
all in all if i was given Xamount of money to do th ejob i would do it again but with car paint and proper bummper paint.


for a solid color the one everyone seems to go with is a flat black paint

[zakats]

whats this bumper paint I've heard of...Yeah I'd suspect that the rubber ought to require a bit different kind of paint but wouldnt matching that with the rest of the paint be an issue? or would it be bumper paint with whatever paint over that?

[DEIVIONCRX]

if your gona go the DIY professional route, id suggest a nice air compressor with a pretty big tank, a nice spray gun, and then spend some money on a nice 2part primer, sealer, base and clear, and youll need some flex additive for the plastic bits(youll want to put the flex in the primer, sealer and clear

just get some nice big pieces of plastic and cover the ceiling, then cover the walls, might get a couple box fans and close the garage door on them, then tape some filters to the inside of them, wet the floor down and get crazy sprayin, just be shure to wear your resperator and eye protection

you said you know body work so get your dents banged out, and your filler sanded, then give it a couple good coats of primer block it out, repeat if necessary

then spray some sealer matched to your color, base then some clear

youll probably have some trash in the clear cuz its not in a real paint booth, but just go after the car with some 2000-3000 Wet-sand paper, then buff it out to a gloss

[zakats]

its just a flex agent you put in your paint.

enamal paint=single stage=easy=cheap you only need the paint and some reactor

base coat clear=two stage=alot harder=more$$$$ need base coat paint,reducer,clear,clear reactor

primer will not work as a paint it will not last

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

thanks jus so we all know, im not that lost thanks again!

if your gona go the DIY professional route, id suggest a nice air compressor with a pretty big tank, a nice spray gun, and then spend some money on a nice 2part primer, sealer, base and clear, and youll need some flex additive for the plastic bits(youll want to put the flex in the primer, sealer and clear

just get some nice big pieces of plastic and cover the ceiling, then cover the walls, might get a couple box fans and close the garage door on them, then tape some filters to the inside of them, wet the floor down and get crazy sprayin, just be shure to wear your resperator and eye protection

then spray some sealer matched to your color, base then some clear

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

*Got a 33gal 5hp(i think) compressor
*Thanks for explaining the flex addative, might need to go further into that though
*I was thinking I might have to use a friends house or even possibly block off the 2 open sides on between my house and my fense(pic)...I read that it shouldnt be too bad but im not so sure about the houston heat, humidity, and mosquito problem(they dont come out until the temp goes down to 84 deg or so)
*Also I hear a lotta bad things about wetting down the ground under the car being painted saying the water vapor causes problems with the paint gun(which I will but when I decide what kinda paint Im gona get)
*never understood the whole deal with sealer...?

[DEIVIONCRX]

the flex additive, goes into the paints that usualy dry hard and lets them dry but keeps them flexible, you use this on your plastic bumpers and side skirts anything that will flex, so if the wind catches it or you come to close to a curb and bend the bumper it wont spider web and crack the paint

33gal should be ok, you might need to paint a hood, stop for a min or 2, then paint a fender and stop, door stop, ect... id go in there with the primer and start and see how far you can get before you loose pressure then slack off a bit, maybe a door and fender, and hood and fender or something

we painted in the booth at 75-115degree's and never had a problem

my auto body teacher always told me to wet the floor down if i was gona paint at home to keep the dust to a minum, idk how it could affect the paint gun

sealer gives you a base color for your paint, you usualy use a dark grey for dark colors, a gray for mediums and a light grey, almost white, for light colors, it also seals the surface and gives the paint a good surface to adhear to, but rember your paint needs to be shot over the sealer within 2hrs of the sealer going on, if you cant do it within the 2hrs, you need to let the sealer completely dry, then go back over the whole car and scuff the sealer, clean it off then paint

[DEIVIONCRX]

ive also used U-POL clear and primer, both pretty good for the price, also Dupont clear, its very nice

as far as paint, i used alot of Dupont, some Sikkens, and some RM, all were fine

[JeepGirl]

dont forget to tack alot if your going to paint it outside.

as for wetting the ground... even pro's hose down their booths before laying down paint to keep the contaminates to a minimum. doesnt affect the gun unless your pour water right into it.


the 2 fan idea is good, but have both of them pulling the air OUT of your makeshift paintbooth, your trying to creat a negative pressure zone inside your booth, by doing this you can pull alot of overspray away from your work and considering you wont be using a freshair system for breathing you will want to get all those isonates in the paint/clear as far away from your lungs and eyes as possible (cancer causing agents)
i know you might think its better to have one fan pushing and one fan pulling air through the booth but you'll end up with a ton of trash in your work that way.

remember 50% OVERLAP!!!

you should be chanting that last statement while your spraying the car. 50% overlap means less chance of tigerstriping your work.

have fun. i think thats the most important step. it takes alot of prepwork and labour to paint a car and sometimes you'll lose sight of the goal. its a learning experience, so even if you do screw up you can always go back later and fix it. just dont try to fix it right away or you will end up making a bigger mess, let it dry and sand out whatever it is you goofed.

make sure your work area is super clean, clean the car with a proper degreaser before painting, you'll be totally bummed if you leave any oily stuff on there before you spray, it'll look like ass and it will peel.

i suggest test spraying a few panels before you move onto the car, just so you can get comfotable with the gun and so you can adjust your pressure and practice overlapping a bit.

heres some shots of my car while we were painting it. we used some freebee R-M Carizzma candies over a charcoal base and finished it off with 2 coats of standox clear. the paint and candies were free so no poking fun at the colours....

base coat.


orange candy stripe:


50%red/orange candy lower:


yellow candy top:


then finally the clearcoat:


outside the next day:



final money shots.


just click this link to go to my build thread for a better explanation.

Edited by JeepGirl, 12 July 2006 - 08:59 AM.

[lopezi]

thats not bad... not bad at all...

Looking around at all of the different kinds of auto paint and the science there of....I am overloaded and confused by all the varying info and searching online. It seems that there isn't a very good DB of info that explains things completely.  Im getting close to saying scew it and just going to factory...or getting lasy and going with primer, even then with primer I wouldnt know what kind of primer to go with that doesnt look tacky and will keep rust out wtf mate!?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Here's a great place to check if you want to come up to speed on a the paint lingo, plus there is a forum there where you can ask questions. That site was very helpful for me in understanding everything.

[lopezi]

whats this bumper paint I've heard of...Yeah I'd suspect that the rubber ought to require a bit different kind of paint but wouldnt matching that with the rest of the paint be an issue?  or would it be bumper paint with whatever paint over that?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You do not need to do anything special or different with the bumpers as you would the rest of the vehicle; I didn't use adhesion promoter or flex additive. Others may disagree with me, but my bumpers came out just fine applying the same steps as I did with the rest of the car (high build primer, sealer, topcoat).

[JeepGirl]

You do not need to do anything special or different with the bumpers as you would the rest of the vehicle; I didn't use adhesion promoter or flex additive. Others may disagree with me, but my bumpers came out just fine applying the same steps as I did with the rest of the car (high build primer, sealer, topcoat).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

sure thats great and all as long as you never plan on traveling on gravel roads.... because the first rock that chips your bumper will crack the shit out of the paint. look at all those chevy corsica's or whatever they are, they never used adhesion promoter or flex agent either and those cars all look like ass because the paint chips/seperates after a year or two.

the only way i would do this is if it was just a winter beater. otherwise your just wasting material and time going through the motions whilest cutting corners.

ultimately its up to you, its your car. if you want it to last you'll do it the right way. if you dont care and are just slapping some paint on it go buy some tremclad and a bunch of rollers......

[lopezi]

*Got a 33gal 5hp(i think) compressor

I have a 13 gallon, 5hp max. compressor(probably 3.5-4hp continuous) and it worked out fine for me. What is of the most importance is to look at the CFM rating for a given PSI. With paint guns generally you want to look at the CFM rating for ~40psi, and then check to make sure that your gun doesn't want more than what your compressor can give. Some paint guns are air hogs while others are a bit liberal. What worked out best for me was using a detail gun when I applied topcoat, it used a 1.0 nozzle and didn't require a lot of air, and since our cars are small it didn't require that many more passes over.

I read that it shouldnt be too bad but im not so sure about the houston heat, humidity, and mosquito problem(they dont come out until the temp goes down to 84 deg or so)

I don't know how your heat/humidity compares to upstate New York, but I was fortunate to catch a day that was 75-80 with avg. humidity. If you know you are going to be painting in a higher heat/humidity scenario, I would try getting a slower reducer and hardener.

*Also I hear a lotta bad things about wetting down the ground under the car being painted saying the water vapor causes problems with the paint gun(which I will but when I decide what kinda paint Im gona get)

I would be sure to mop the floor and let it dry a few hours before you actually start working.

*never understood the whole deal with sealer...?

Just be careful with the sealer, in my experience it has a tendency to run more so than primer or topcoat.


Also, you can get other single stage paint that are not enamel based. PPG has the OMNI line, that comes in single stage acrylic urethane and a base/clear. I used the single stage option and found it to be very easy to work with.

If you do go with a base/clear remember that you are not suppose to sand the base and then apply clear....so if you get crud in the base you will have sand the base to get the crud out and then re-shoot the base again, so what I'm saying is that your base coat has to be pretty dead on and free of as many blemishes as possible. With single stage you have a little more freedom as far as sanding and getting dust and crud out. You can shoot multiple coats of single stage top coat and go to wetsanding to get dust and crud out and then polish to a nice shine.

[zakats]

wow... this thread is turning out to be more helpful than anticipated, well I guess i shouldnt say that-this being rpr and all.

wow so I'm still not sure what kind of paint to go with, a single stage sounds best for me although I'd like to go with a 2 stage. Im just not sure how good I'll be at it so I'm gona have to wait until I'll actually be ready to begin with all of this to go that road. even then I have to figure out what color I'd want to go with. Looking into the stock color, it was very expensive until you get down to the cheapest version which was $100~ a gallon. which btw, about how much paint should I use with only minimal noobie screwups?? later on after I get one of these jobs Im interviewing for; I will establish a budget, decide if i wanna go 2 stage or one, and figure out what kind of paint(chemical type). in the mean time Im still rely heavily on what you guys say.