Anyone here paint their own car?
 

I've done some small projects, like basic bodywork (banging out panels, applying body filler, etc.), and I helped my uncle paint his car with a standard old-school paint gun, so with that experience in mind, I think I'd like to take a stab at painting my whole Miata. I've done everything else on the car myself, why not at least attempt the body work? :)

I have a 60 gal 3.2 HP Campbell Hausfeld compressor and a Husky HVLP gun from Home Depot. The car is a combination of about 5 different colors right now, but I'm trying to decide on a final paint color. I'm leaning toward a dark silver, but may end up just repainting it Silverstone metallic just for simplicity's sake.

I don't have access to a paint booth, so I'm thinking I'll just put up some clear plastic sheeting around my carport, rig up an exhaust fan and a furnace filter, and have at it (using a respirator of course).

Anyone care to offer up some advice? I have a couple weekends worth of work prepping the car before I can attempt this, so I'm soliciting opinions.

http://i31.tinypic.com/2u8gmmg.jpg

. . Does that count?

No. :)

hey nice location. :giggle:

Does anyone not from a Whale's Vagina have any input? :rofl:

I once painted my 94 Geo Prizm black in the front, a silver diagonal stripe followed by a blue rear end. It had rally lights on the hood and a CB radio with a HUGE whip antenna. I put 185/75/14 snow tires on it. Looked HILARIOUS and was a huge joke.

I know that doesn't help you, but I did paint the whole car.

I have always been told the prep work makes the finish. And I know the 2 most common problems are bugs and orange peel.

I've painted my car with some cheap single stage paint and a 30 gal compressor. Its not perfect but I'm happy with how it came out and i learned a lot while doing it. Prep work is very important. If you don't spend the time to clean and smooth the entire car you will see almost every small defect (chip, scratch, dirt, rust) once you start painting. Also before spraying you might want to get a scrap hood or fender and try painting that first.

Here are some picture of my project, there is a link to more pictures in my signature.

http://inlinethumb51.webshots.com/33...425x425Q85.jpg
found this after some light sanding, stupid quarter was all filler :vash:
http://inlinethumb01.webshots.com/20...425x425Q85.jpg

my quarter on the passenger side looks just like that. :(

i have painted several cars. the ones that turned out best i did on a sunny day in the driveway. prep work is important, but wet sanding and buffing is just as important after the paint is applied. use a 1500 or higher grit wet sand paper, then finish it with a high speed buffer and some 3M finishing compound.

painted mine satin black in the driveway. the wind was blowing to hard though. looked decent until i got some engine de-greaser on it, need to re-paint it.

i painted my car a month ago with Nason single stage black and it turned out alright, but got some orange peel and a few runs that I have been able to mostly remove with sanding and buffing. That is the beauty of using a single stage nonmetallic paint is that you can sand and buff the defects out and that is why I went with it. If you go with that metallic paint and try to sand and buff it will screw up the metal flakes in the paint and it wont look right, so you are stuck with orange peel and runs.

Do all the prep yourself with the time you have, then have a bodyshop paint it. Its really not all that expensive....and not worth fucking up in my opinion. So what if you have a air compressor, spray gun, and car port. Shit like painting a car is all about experience......:noob:

Vash-

For the same reason i could ask, "Why don't you bring your car to BEGi to have them put a turbo kit in for you, because turboing a car is hard."

because then i never learn how to do it and if i want to paint a car again, i have to pay a body shop again.

I already have the equipment, and i have the desire to learn. plus i have a ton of spare body panels from my old wrecked chassis to get my technique down. :)

I don't care if it comes out perfect. This is my track slut anyway. I'm not going to drop several thousand dollars on a concourse perfect paint job just to scuff it all up when I murder a cone. ;)

Well whatever suits your needs then. Have fun with it.

Vash-

just go for it trent. if you really want to go cheap like i did. just get some rustoleum from home depot, thin it with acetone, then spray. $20 paint jobs FTW!!!

Ive done it the key here is patience and good equipment+mats ehaust fans and shit like that are secondary, and only apply to concerns of your health. A dust free enviroment it a must until the paint is cured abit though.

i find spraying the paint is the easy part. prep work is the hard part

A year back, I was pretty hyped up about painting cars. Did all the research. Finally decided against it after reading about ISOcyanates.. Stuff will mess you up pretty badly even w/ one of those 3M masks (I bought the full face mask too. Never used it.) However, I understand in theory that one will be able to smell another larger molecules in paint b/f the ISOs penentrate the 3M filter.

What you really need is a respirator that has it's own air supply outside of the paint booth.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b1.../tictac_05.jpg

Scott here on the forums painted his own car in his garage.

https://www.miataturbo.net/forum/sho...thesnowboarder

So far, my research indicates that a good 3M respirator will be sufficient for painting a car. The problem with the charcoal masks is that you have to make sure to change the filters regularly, something a shop finds difficult to coordinate. That's why positive-pressure systems are recommended for painting in volume.

But for an amateur, a simple 3M respirator looks to be sufficient.

Believe me, i did a bunch of searching when I found out about isocyanates. lol.

I plan on rolling mine this summer like Aussie Driver did: https://www.miataturbo.net/forum/showthread.php?t=5199

Couple of things...

I doubt your compressor will run an HVLP to paint an entire car without running out of steam. Mine is 60 gal, 8hp and I can paint with my HVLP for about 8-10 minutes before it won't keep up. Plus, the longer you go, the hotter the air and that draws more moisture. Moisture = FAIL.

Second, you need a really good water/oil separator. Also, ANY oil in the lines, which is common, will fisheye the paint.

Third, stick with solid colors so you can sand. You can get a good paint job by putting on an extra coat or two so you have plenty to sand out any imperfections. Lots of elbow grease, but it can be done.

Finally, I don't know how it is in your area, but here in Lincoln, there are rental paint booths that go for $150-200 for the weekend. You might want to check around. You will wrap up close to that trying to wrap the carport in plastic and filters. Plus, you have good lighting and ventilation and plenty of air.

Already have the filters (i mean, fiberglass air filters aren't more than a few bucks for a box of them). I actually already have the plastic too from a home painting project.

I have a cheapish oil/water filter from Kobalt. So far/so good.

What is the SCFM rating of your compressor? Also, what is the rating of your gun? Some guns require more than others. The one I chose is less than 9 CFM. My compressor can put out almost 12. I'm hoping I'm okay there.

I'm looking forward to the project. :) Hopefully I'll learn a little with it. It doesn't have to be perfect, especially for a first effort. But it can't look worse than it does now.

My total investment will be in the paint itself, some masking and sanding supplies, and the HVLP gun (which i technically got for free by cashing in some credit card rewards points for some Home Depot gift cards). I wanted the air compressor for other tools anyway. :)

Even if it comes out completely crappy, I will have learned a lesson. lol.

Mine from two years ago!
 

I had to dredge up the thread from back when so you could see the progess and finished product.
Overall, I enjoyed it and would do it again - Just for the knowledge that it was done right.
https://www.miataturbo.net/forum/showthread.php?t=3501

Damn Lola that came out fucking great! Nice job man! :)

Vash-

You're being sweet on me --- I figured if a paint shop can do it, then I should be able to.
Now, when it comes to Trigonomitry and Calculus- Forget It

wow, that did come out nice.

inspiration for sure. :)

Thank You for the compliments guys. Makes my heart warm!!!!!

+1

Gotta get my own bike, or hold on to my brother's while I do it though.

Chris

Great work Lola...
I plan on doin my car later this summer but I'm worried about doing Base coat clear coat since I don't have a nice clean garage with a lot of space. I'l probably just do single stage in the driveway. I've painted panels and bumpers before but this will be my first whole car and seeing lots of pics of driveway painters would real build my confience up so please keep them coming.. Also has anyone used that Cheap Ebay acrylic enamel single stage 1 gallon painters pack with thiner and hardner? Any thoughts?

PS. Sorry If I'm hi jacking the thread but I figure the info will help everyone out...

Painting right now with Rustoleum rolled on. We'll see, so far mixed feelings.

hrk

Show us pictures of the job (under construction), and the finished project!!!!

I will, when I get around using the camera again.

After 4 coats on the hood the bondo still shines through a bit, I am not too worried about that. The paint evens out pretty well after rolling, no worries in the applying bit at all. The shine is a bit "soft" at the moment. Maybe a bit milky. I am not experienced with bodywork and painting at all before this, so the expectations are about as low as the cost of the paint $7.84 and $10 for mineral spirit .

hrk

Ive painted my 240sx before. im in the process of doing body work and painting my friends 69 grand prix now

Some photos
http://www.russmarshall.com/v/cars/c...geViewsIndex=1
Images can be seen in 1600x1200 size.
Looks better on photos, but still reasonable in person. Paint evens out pretty well, dust, bugs and dirt are the problem in not so perfect unprepared garage. Another issue is coverage. It takes quite a few layers to cover the different colored areas with either bondo, primer or bare metal. After 5 or 6 they start to disappear.

I am sure the paint will end up ok
The next suspense will come from seeing how the car was taped... and then how it will stand weather.

Comments welcome.

hrk

Nice, are you sanding between coats ?
I read that other post from Aussie Driver as well and am having thoughts about attacking my car this summer...
What are your plans for finishing ? Buffing/waxing etc ?

I am sanding between every second coat, starting with 400 grit, 800, 1000 and 1500.
havent found any finer sandpapers locally yet.

The bad :
-Plan on doing an hour - hour and a half a day for 8 days to get the paint in after prep work.
The good:
-Applying is pretty easy and forgiving, just time consuming.
-No smells or huge mess, some dripping on the garage floor. no need to prepare garage extensively.

hrk

i was just going to comment on the roller jobs. i really want to try one of those.

just not on anything i own.

Nice job on the car. I did mine several summers ago. The painting was not bad, it was the hours of sanding the final coat. I found some 3M pads that worked real well for the final sanding, they are used to polish bowling balls I think. They were not cheap, but they really smooth out any swirls or imperfections.