Advice on Painting
 

So i have been trying to decide what to do with the car, so for now i think im going to get the paint and body whipped back into shape. The car is not worth paying someone to go in extreme detail and put a 3k dollar paint job on a 3500 dollar car, and before anyone suggests it i will never take a car to macco. So i have a bit of understanding on painting from watching my buddys dad prep and paint cars for a while. im looking for technique cheaper but good products, and miata specific info. Im not looking for super show quality, just a fairly good paint job.
PS: the car photographs better than it looks in person, and the black on the bottom and rear bumper is rhino liner for some reason P/O fail.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1338947577
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1338947577

I went a bit overboard but maybe you can get some info from my paint thread....
https://www.miataturbo.net/build-threads-57/240_s-project-paint-57288/

Let me know if you have any specific questions

It sure LOOKS like you could paint the bumper cover and call it good.

That and let a good detailer give it a good work-over. Is it a respray? What year is it? They were single stage paint for the first couple of years. If it's an early one someone that knows what they are doing might bring that paint back pretty good, along with the bumper re-spray.

there are rust bubbles all over the car with deep scratches and the hood is faded but even across the entire thing, compared to the bumper it looks perfect. this is a 92, we have buffed the crap out of it, and that is one of the pictures after one of the attempts. as said before it photographs way better than it actually looks.

Take some rubbing compound, polish, and wax to that front bumper. You will be surprised by the results. My pink Miata turns red after a day's worth of work.

just read this from begin to end, very informative, and very nice job. my time line is a bit shorter than yours, i have less than a month. it will be relatively the same color so no door jams or anything like that.

we burned through it with the buffer on slow, theres like 2% of the paint left.

Prep the body, build a pvc paint booth near a good air compressor, buy some quality paint, let it spray.

i think im going to need 2 compressors, we have a 5 gallon auxiliary tank with a 3way one from our compressor and one out. borrow another compressor and i think i should have enough air power. and of course a water trap/filter.

Hello there twin. I'm about to do a cheap paint job myself, on my red NA. My front bumper is that same faded, zero shine pink with ugly spots and speckles, and the rear bumper isn't far off. The trunk lid is pretty rough, as is the rest of the paint. Mirrors are now pink with white on top, from primer completely showing through. I'm just going to blast some Sherwin Williams single stage in factory color and call it a day. Even if it only lasts another 3 or 4 years before it starts to fade again, at least it'll look OK for that time, and won't cost more than $150 or so for the paint and supplies. Already have a HF gun ;)

I wish I had the ability to talk myself into doing simple body work and paint jobs. I always end up going crazy with it. I think I had about $1200 in supplies alone. my paint was over $100 a quart for the base.

im not doing a super cheap job, i want it to have clear coat.
im thinking Porsche red is my color
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1339001403

From my past experience painting cars with my dad:

#1) Think surface prep. The more you sand before you paint, the easier it is to get a good finish. 2 hours prep saves you double that later on. Paint will NOT fill imperfections, it will accentuate them. Filler, primer, sand. Repeat until it's flawless. Use a large block plane sander to even out the panels and avoid the ripple effect.

#2) Buy decent supplies, and don't skimp. While HF sandpaper may be cheaper, you'll use it up faster, resulting in constantly changing it. Better paper cuts longer and builds up less. Change as needed; using paper that is shot only tires you out faster. If it stops cutting well, don't rub harder, swap it out. Rubbing harder will result in low areas. Let the paper do the work.

#3) Adequate curing time is a must. If you fill, prime and sand in one day, it will probably shrink on you, resulting in a second go. Shink in filler will show up in the final paint.

#4) Sand betwen coats. If you don't get adhesion, you're gonna have to sand it off and start over. A light sanding will make the next coat stick, and won't lift from the heat of buffing out.

More later if I remember.

why not just paint your car flat black and cover it with DC Shoe and Monster decals?

so talked to some people today, found out there is like no way im going to be able to get that rhino liner off. got a quote from one of the miata salvage yards, they want 250 a side. for a while i thought about selling this and getting a 1.8 car, but none around where in my price range. till today, i see one i may go look at. so this might be a fix some small spots and paint the front to sell.

See if Carl will give you a discount price on paint if you help him. :P

The paint on my '92 is flaking off in spots down to the grey stuff underneath, on the hood and around the windshield surround. How do you smooth that out? Sand off all the paint? Or do you somehow spray filler and sand it all flat? And won't the new paint flake off if it's attached to crap original paint underneath?

You must remove all loose paint. Scrape, sand, whatever. If you paint over it, it will separate, and look like hell. If it's really bad, take a grinder to it and go down to bare metal.

For smoothing afterwards, you skim coat with filler. Very thin coating, just to smooth the edges. You sand most of it off, so the thinner you put it on the better.

If i could get that rhino liner off i would paint it, but thats not going to happen. So the car is for sale, and im going to look at a 94 next week. and eric, Carl will probably end up painting the next miata i have.

I thought you said you wanted an NB? :)

Saw your ad on CL this morning too. Here's an NB that's pretty similar in price that I also saw: http://columbus.craigslist.org/ctd/3062215113.html

Not a bad deal imo..