DIY Automotive Painting...noob inside!

[aka Larry]

The wife and I want to get our '96 Miata re-painted this year. I got a quote from my painter (he did the stripes on the Mustang in my avatar) and it's more than we would like to spend. I'm not saying he's too high because I'm sure at a body shop it would be even more. He does great work, but I'm just saying due to the age and condition of the car it may be time for me to save some cash and attempt my own DIY paint job.

Keep in mind I'm not looking for a show car finish, just something decent (i.e. even color, no runs or stand-out orange peel, etc.). I could construct a PVC paint booth in my shop for the job. I have a HF gravity feed HVLP gun and a 60 gallon compressor.

For simplicity and budget, I was thinking about the Dupli-Color Paint Shop system. It seems to be reasonably priced, available locally, and DIY friendly. Any of you guys ever used it? Do you think it would be a good way for me to start even though it's a two-stage BC/CC system?

The car needs some minor body work (a few small dings in the trunk lid) but otherwise I *think* I could just sand it enough for the new paint to stick. I don't *know* this is what I should do, so I'm asking you guys.

I'm looking for info I can read to help me get started. What say you guys about this book? Anyone have this one, or maybe can suggest a better one? I'm a total novice with automotive painting, but I'm pretty good with a rattle can LOL.

 

[dr_clyde]

Ive painted a few cars, and I used to work in a high end custom car shop. Most of the cost of a paint job is labor, mostly sanding and masking. If you decide to repaint yourself, plan on spending a LONG time wet sanding. I assume there's no body work so you don't any primer, but you will need:

Quality sandpaper, at least 400 grit wet/dry and 1200 wet
Appropriate fluid tips for color and clear
A buffer and appropriate compounds.
Good masking tape and paper.
Good mixing cups
Obviously paint

Painting out of a pressure booth, you WILL have dirt in your clear and you WILL have orange peel. No way around this. I don't care how clean you are, that's just life.

If you are OK with spending some tool coin, get a wet DA and a better gun. It will save you HOURS of sanding and buffing. That said, you can get a good finish with what you have, it will just take ideal conditions and some skill in laying paint.

I recommend PPG paints and clears, although I really like DuPont's line of paint as well.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[gungatim]

I have that book and it is very good, shows a basic used car scuff & sghoot re-spray up to higher quality rubbed out finishes.

HF guns are generally considered on of their diamonds in the rough, I have several and they work very well.

One other option is using rustoleum out of a gallon can and rolling it on...I know it sounds stupid but there are lots of folks who have had excellent results and one of the car mags (HOT ROD?) did an article as well. You can google how, but basically you roll on a coat, let it dry, sand with 1000 grit, and repeat about 30 times...

 

[lilredex]

Here's that $50 paint job link.

http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=2338616

 

[arrowhead]

You already have a compressor and a gun, no need for rollers. The duplicolor ready to spray seems to do what it's intended for so it might be an ok option. If you use any filler to fill those imperfections, you'll need to cover with primer before painting. Wet sand the whole car with 600 and you should be good to go. You may need to shoot a coat or two of color on the repaired areas so you get even color coverage.

 

[evildky]

The duplicolor paint shop stuff is garbage, I id a car with you, you have to lay it thick to keep it from orange peeling and you use so much material getting proper mixed urethane paint at a real shop is cheaper. it also being lacquer is very susceptible to chemicals, brake fluid, brake clean acetone just about anything eats it.

 

[Hpozzuoli]

I have painted t tops in my garage before. It's a royal pain to make a small booth/filter set up. Then paint, reducer, hardener, and clear (depending on the products you use) cost decent money. Then prime, sand, buff etc. I used ppg thru my husky hvlp gun. It came out great, but there was some trial and error. It took way too much time for the prep and adjustments. Guys that can paint well are great to have as friends. My buddy's shop is close enough to push a roller to on a warm day. We basically trade off work all summer long and I have built up a nice little "you owe me" from the camaro I helped with this winter.

 

[rsanter]

Another option
If you remove all the lights and trim and such
Do the prep work and body work as needed, you can take it over to one of the cheap paint places like color glow, earl scheib, or such and get a decent paint job out of them.
Sometimes you can pay them a little more to use a little better paint and if you can ask them to paint your car at the end of the day and leave it in the booth overnight.
When you get the car back take it to a shop that will do a quick cut and buff on the car and you can have a paint job that looks like it cost 5-10 times what you have into it.
The drawback is typically you will not get paint that is as durable over the years as an expensive paint job.

I have a couple of friends that have done their own prep. Painted the car (one in the garage and the other in the driveway) and then did a color sand and buff on the car and they looked really good for the little they had into it. Another friend had some left over paint from painting his car ( in the garage) and was given some left over paint from a friend. He mixed them together and painted his old beater truck with it. Ended up with a redish burgundy is color and didn't color sand or polish. Looke decent but not great but still 20times better than it was before

Bob

 

[Kevin54]

Larry.....if you decide to do it yourself, do it the proper way and go with BC/CC. The base coat......a blind monkey could do it. The clear coat will take a little more finesse to it, so you don't drown it in runs. Your local jobber can hook you up. You want to be sure to get some wax and grease remover, some Rage filler, and also some glazing to fill the small chips and such. But be warned....dong an overall paintjob can cost as much as a couple thousand depending on colors and how far you want go.

 

[Vegaman_Dan]

Best place to start in my opinion is http://www.autobody101.com/forums/

You'll be doing a layer of color, then several of clear- it's the clear that you'll be wet sanding a lot to get rid of imperfections (and there will be!). But it's also magical to have a dull clear finish start to take a shine as you keep polishing with finer and finer grades.

Good luck! I need to do it myself as well.

 

[48RON54]

Larry.....if you decide to do it yourself, do it the proper way and go with BC/CC. The base coat......a blind monkey could do it. The clear coat will take a little more finesse to it, so you don't drown it in runs. Your local jobber can hook you up. You want to be sure to get some wax and grease remover, some Rage filler, and also some glazing to fill the small chips and such. But be warned....dong an overall paintjob can cost as much as a couple thousand depending on colors and how far you want go.

What is a jobber?

 

[srmofo]

thinned rustoleum, foam roller, and a **** load of coats.
$50 paint job

seriously look it up, these damn kids are getting show quality finishes because of their patience.
Ill get you started
http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forum...1-My-quot-rustoleum-50-roll-on-paint-job-quot

 

[dr_clyde]

A jobber is someone who mixes paint.

 

[cburnscrx]

Prep work is your friend. That's what will determine how good your paint looks. I'd do a base coat/clear coat. When I did that Denali fender, I sprayed it with two coats of color, wet sanded with a really high grit (i think 2000) and then hit it with a couple of coats of clear. Didn't even touch it after that. That's no wet sanding, buffing, or polishing. Would it have made it even better? Sure. I will say this however, it looked BETTER than the factory paint when done.

*oh, and this was done with rattle cans, no compressor or paint gun of any kind.

 

[toomanytoyzz]

I've been doing bodywork for twenty years now so I will give you my two cents on the subject. I agree 100% with the others that have said that prep will determine the outcome of a paintjob. With that said, the product you use will determine the longevity of the aforementioned paintjob. If you purchase the Dupli-color system and follow it to the letter of the law it might last three years if you keep it out of the elements in a garage when its not being driven. I'd give it half that time if you leave it outside all year around.

Primer can "make or break" a decent paintjob especially if you do a lot of bodywork requiring filler (is the Miata metal??). Cheap primer will cause shrinkage showing sanding scratch marks and eventually bubbling in the paint. You definitely need a quality two part primer , and depending on how you are prepping the body you need to figure out if you need an epoxy for bare metal or high build primer to block sand as well as a sealer before basecoat.

So, you could technically have to purchase three different types of primer before you even lay down your first coat of base. I use epoxy as a sealer once properly reduced to avoid having to buy a sealer. You can even get away with wet sanding (600 grit) the final coat of 2k primer and shoot your first coat of base color. IMO the base coat is where you can skimp. With that said don't use some cheap *** Dupli-color junk over quality primer and under quality clear. Some of the cheaper (NAPA, Dupli-color, Sherman-Williams etc.)base coats will lift from the primer WAY too early. Basically, buy from an autobody supply shop staying within the paint company's line and just use the low end base to save some coin. Also remember that color choice can be a kick to the nuts. The difference between a gallon of black compared to a gallon of red can be rediculous!!

Clear is also VERY important in protecting a great prep job followed by good primer and decent base coat. I use RM's line of clear, and I've done so with great success for years. Whatever clear you choose I'd recommend doing some research on it before laying down the dough.

 

[ZRX61]

One thing that seems to have been missed: Are you planning on metallic or solid color?

 

[toomanytoyzz]

One thing that seems to have been missed: Are you planning on metallic or solid color?

It's definitely something to keep in mind when spraying metallic over a solid color paint job, but the advantage to the OP is he/she is painting the entire car. Blending a metallic job can be a serious chore. Up there in difficulty with three stage. An entire metallic paint job is a bit more forgiving since you are laying it down on the entire vehicle.

 

[pipsters]

Any paint with a catalyst is probably going to contain some really nasty chemicals, most notably iso's. Personally, without a large investment in breathing equipment, I wouldn't touch a 2 pack (2k) paint.

Stick with an enamel or something IMO if DIY. Otherwise the suggestion to do the prep work and take it to Maaco for the spray is a good one.

http://www.rustoleum.com/product-ca.../auto/premixed-diy-bulk-paint/auto-body-paint

Painted this:
http://s32.photobucket.com/user/69martin/media/DSC00194.jpg.html

This used the same paint and was painted with a foam roller:
http://s32.photobucket.com/user/69martin/media/DSC03813.jpg.html?sort=3&o=18

 

[dadsEH]

Sure....go ahead and sand that sucker, its a good way to learn and yer not practicing on someone else's pride and joy.
Me? If it was my first job I would prep it and get yer mate to blow a coat of colour on it.

 

[Kevin54]

Any paint with a catalyst is probably going to contain some really nasty chemicals, most notably iso's. Personally, without a large investment in breathing equipment, I wouldn't touch a 2 pack (2k) paint.

Stick with an enamel or something IMO if DIY. Otherwise the suggestion to do the prep work and take it to Maaco for the spray is a good one.

http://www.rustoleum.com/product-ca.../auto/premixed-diy-bulk-paint/auto-body-paint

Painted this:
http://s32.photobucket.com/user/69martin/media/DSC00194.jpg.html

This used the same paint and was painted with a foam roller:
http://s32.photobucket.com/user/69martin/media/DSC03813.jpg.html?sort=3&o=18

If you have a good respirator, then you won't have any problems with BC/CC paint. For a full-time job of painting, then one would want to invest into a suit that has a constant fresh air supply, but for the weekend warrior, it's not needed. Where ever you get your paint from, most places also sell Tyvek suits to keep yourself clean, plus to block over-spray from settling into your pores of your skin. One can end up with isocyanate poisoning from absorbing it through the pores of your skin just as easily as getting it from constantly breathing in the fumes from it.

Be safe, and use common sense. A Tyvek suit is maybe $10 and are disposable. A 3-M respirator with dual cartridges is around $35.

The filters in the respirator will last through a few paint jobs, but to play it safe, buy yourself an extra set of replacement cartridges. You just want to use precautions anytime you are spraying paint. I have a cousin that has Isocyanate Poisoning. When I was painting my truck, he came up to see how things were going. Just from breathing the paint for a few minutes, broke him out in a hell of a rash, plus made it a little harder to breath, along with getting a cough.

So yes, it is dangerous stuff, but using proper precautions, that are relatively inexpensive.....just one paintjob with the safety gear used in doing so, you will get your money back right away. Proper PPE is way cheaper than a hospital bill along with the follow-up appointments.

 

[Jagmandave]

If you really want to shoot it yourself, check your local area for a paint booth to rent, I know you can do it here in KC, and for a very reasonable hourly rate, that way you'll get a better result and they'll have the fresh air system already in place.

I think I'd probably do all my prep and prime, then just take it to Maaco or Earl and let them drown it in color, then I'd do the final sand and buff.

 

[Kevin54]

Cburn mentioned above that he sanded the base coat. You do not want to sand the base (sorry cburn) The only reason to sand the basecoat is if you go past the 24 hour timeframe of shooting the clear. If you go past that, the clear will delaminate. I found that out when I had my purple truck shot. The guy that shot it for me had a booth and he is a good friend. I wasn't set up to shoot paint as I didn't have any guns anymore, plus I didn't have the compressor I have now. He waited a couple days to shoot the clear. I went to the carwash a week or so later after I had the truck back together, and all the clear started coming off the bumper. Luckily though, the truck was shot and cleared the same day. The old paints used to take quite a while to cure, but with todays formulations, everything bonds by chemical reaction instead of evaporation.

Painting is not as intimidating as it sounds. I find working with concrete to be more intimidating than paint. As long as you have a decent basecoat laid down, the clear is what you need to watch, just so you don't get runs. But even with that, you can knock runs down with sandpaper, a razor blade, or even a nib file. You just need to make sure you have enough clear on so that when you sand it, you don't sand through to your base.

If you are seriously thinking about doing it yourself, pick up a couple of DVD's put out by Kevin Tetz Paintucation. Take a look at the last two links I put up first. These are Kevin's site.

http://www.autobodytoolmart.com/kev...ng&utm_campaign=New - General Terms & Vendors

http://search.eastwood.com/ppc/kevin+tetz+dvd?SRCCODE=MN090050

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&ke...=aps&hvadid=3527199327&ref=pd_sl_1k83dl4gnf_p

http://www.paintucation.com/

http://www.paintucation.com/blog/

One thing I would highly recommend though is go with brand name products, and try to stay with all of the same manufacturer. A lot of people can mix manufacturers, but they know what they can and can't use together. For a DIY, stay with all the same products, and get to know your paint jobber. They will hold your hand through any questions that you may have, and most that I have known will go out of their way to answer any questions you may have.

You can paint in a garage just fine, but you will need to cover a lot of items up. Some make makeshift paint booths by using PVC pipe. When i painted my truck, I had a panel under the garage door with a furnace blower in one section to pull the overspray out, and I taped off the top of the door so nothing could come in. I then bough some furnace filters and put them in my side window and window at the rear of the garage. It worked out great, and the paint came out fantastic.

 

[L&L CUSTOM]

I have been doing custom paint and body work for 40 plus years. cleanliness, prep work, and quality materials are all very good advice. the best advice I can give you is don,t make your car your first paint prodject!! use the materials you will use on the car, but paint some other things first. I don't care if its spare parts, the beer fridge in the shop or what ever. get the feel for adjusting the gun ,the distance and what you can get away as far as wetness off coats and over all finish and the practice your color sanding and buffing too! nothing worse than buffing through a paint job. practice,practice. later larry

 

[kmacht]

I would suggest doing like someone above said, do all the prep work, take all the trim, lights, emblems, etc off and then bring it to a place like Maaco and have them shoot it. You won't save money doing it yourself if you aren't already tooled up to do so.

If you really want to do it yourself that harbor freight gun works fine for primer and some basecoats but you will need another gun to shoot clear. You also need to buy the stuff to setup your air system. A large 60 gallon 5hp compressor is the minimum. You will also need a descant dryer, filter, high flow air fittings, a new airhose (because your old one is filled with oil from the compressor), plus a filter for the gun. You need perfectly dry clean air coming out of the gun otherwise you will end up with fisheyes and other paint problems.

Once you get your gun setup you then need a paintbooth. Tarps and pvc pipe work fine but don't forget to buy 6 or 8 fluorescent lamps for lighting, at least two box fans, and some furnace filters. If you value your health you will also need to get a forced air breathing system. Some people can get away with a cheap 3m cartridge mask but you won't know if you will have a reaction to the isocyonides in the paint until the first time you breath them in.

Don't bother with the duplicolor paintshop stuff. It is a lacquer based paint. It will look fine for a year or two but then quickly start to fade. You want a good basecoat / clearcoat system. Take a look at TCP global. They have some decent stuff at a really good price. I would also suggest skipping the single stage stuff. Clear coat is a little harder to spray but it is alot easier to fix mistakes in.

Finally, shop around before you decide to do it yourself. I just went through this whole process to paint my plane. I was going to do it myself until I started adding up the costs to get setup plus having to worry about having the right temperature and humidity conditions in an non-climate controlled booth. The first guy I found on craigslist and had him shoot my wings. He was cheap and did them in his garage booth but they turned out horrible. There was tons of orange peel and all sorts of junk in the paint. I asked around for references from people when i went to do the fuselage. I found a guy about an hour away after several people recommended him to me. He did the work in an actual paint booth with a guy spraying it that does body work every day for a living. The work was phenomenal and very reasonably priced. He actually came in a little under budget. There is no way I could have gotten the same quality of finish if I tried to do it myself. My point is don't just settle because the first guy was too expensive. Go get a few more quotes. You never know what you may find.

Keith

 

[FriendOfYours]

Don't spray at home in a PVC booth. DON'T. THERE ARE NO RESPIRATOR CARTRIDGES THAT WILL HANDLE ISOS

You will not know when the cartridges in your mask have gone because the isocyanates are ODORLESS. They can also get in through any uncovered skin AND your tearducts. You may not feel the effects, but we don't know if you will have long term damage down the road.

Me, I am extremely intolerant, had a 25x25 booth with 4 box fans and filters, 2 out 2 in. I painted two cars over the course of a weekend and changed my cartridges twice. When they weren't in use, I put them in a sealed container

This was about two years ago. My lungs STILL do not feel the same. I was coughing for weeks and I now have asthma. I'm only 25. Great

 

[toomanytoyzz]

Don't spray at home in a PVC booth. DON'T. THERE ARE NO RESPIRATOR CARTRIDGES THAT WILL HANDLE ISOS

You will not know when the cartridges in your mask have gone because the isocyanates are ODORLESS. They can also get in through any uncovered skin AND your tearducts. You may not feel the effects, but we don't know if you will have long term damage down the road.

Me, I am extremely intolerant, had a 25x25 booth with 4 box fans and filters, 2 out 2 in. I painted two cars over the course of a weekend and changed my cartridges twice. When they weren't in use, I put them in a sealed container

This was about two years ago. My lungs STILL do not feel the same. I was coughing for weeks and I now have asthma. I'm only 25. Great

I would recommend letting someone else do your painting from now on. I've known people with the same issues and have outsourced it when they need painting done. It's not worth it.

 

[FriendOfYours]

I now have a fresh air hood and wear a Tyvek suit. The suit is a small investment for the safety

If you can spend a couple hundred extra, do it. Otherwise, let a shop

 

[cburnscrx]

Cburn mentioned above that he sanded the base coat. You do not want to sand the base (sorry cburn) The only reason to sand the basecoat is if you go past the 24 hour timeframe of shooting the clear.

No worries, it was past the 24 hour period by a few days. I laid the color on a Tuesday, but had to wait on the weather to paint the clear on Saturday. Nothing bad has happened to that paint job and it's been beat on with off-roading (why, I'll never know) , and that was quite a few years ago.

When painting rattle cans outside you're really watching the humidity more than anything else, that and direct sunlight as it can make the paint dry too quickly not allowing enough flow.

 

[cburnscrx]

One thing I would highly recommend though is go with brand name products, and try to stay with all of the same manufacturer.

This is important, as any problems I have had with painting can be contributed right back to this.

I am a rattle can guy and haven't expanded into the paint gun/mixing part of the equation. With rattle cans you eliminate some of the variables and chances for mistakes. Since I am an amateur, I like to eliminate as many possibilities for errors.

The Denali I showed used all DuPont products. Primer, color, and clear. Had the color mixed and put into cans. The primer and the clear were already available in cans. Worked like a charm. I've also had good luck with Duplicolor as well. (not their whole car system, just the colormatch)

Plastikote and Duplicolor do not like each other.

I've painted outside plenty or in the garage with the door wide open, but you really, really have to watch the weather. Low humidity (very important!), low wind, temp ect all factor. You can do a great job in the driveway, you just have to make sure the conditions are right.

You can also paint the car panel by panel. You're painting a Miata not a school bus. The panels are small and it won't take long. The hardest part about painting a car (in my opinion and for me personally) is horizontal surfaces. I would seriously consider removing the hood and trunk and painting them vertically.

This can be done and done well, just take your time and learn all the steps necessary, even with a rattle can!

 

[cburnscrx]

I went to the carwash a week or so later after I had the truck back together, and all the clear started coming off the bumper. Luckily though, the truck was shot and cleared the same day.

Metal bumper, or plastic/fiberglass? I ask this because plastic bumpers react differently to paint, and often times you need to add a flexible adhesion promoter to get the paint/clear to stick.

When I use Duplicolor for my bumpers I use this.

http://www.duplicolor.com/products/adhesionPromoter/

I've never had a bumper peel yet using this stuff. I am sure they make a version of it in your favorite brand of paint. I am particularly fond of DuPont these days.

 

[aka Larry]

Thanks for all the info guys. Just to let you know I am following along and listening to all of you who have BTDT.

Thanks again!

 

[tcianci]

Don't spray at home in a PVC booth. DON'T. THERE ARE NO RESPIRATOR CARTRIDGES THAT WILL HANDLE ISOS

You will not know when the cartridges in your mask have gone because the isocyanates are ODORLESS. They can also get in through any uncovered skin AND your tearducts. You may not feel the effects, but we don't know if you will have long term damage down the road.

Me, I am extremely intolerant, had a 25x25 booth with 4 box fans and filters, 2 out 2 in. I painted two cars over the course of a weekend and changed my cartridges twice. When they weren't in use, I put them in a sealed container

This was about two years ago. My lungs STILL do not feel the same. I was coughing for weeks and I now have asthma. I'm only 25. Great

While I agree with the basics of this post, the statement that there are no respirators for ISO's is completely untrue. What is true is that you need to follow the changeout schedule and take all of the other precautions that the poster mentioned. There's a lot of good information in this thread.

Painting a car at home is a complex job these days. It's not just the technology, it's the costs for materials and the possible health issues you expose yourself to. A cheap, safe at home job typically has longevity and durability issues. A top of the line job done at home exposes you to potential health hazards. Doing a top of the line job at home and keeping yourself safe can be nearly as expensive as having an experienced shop do the job for you. When you couple the expenses with the hazards and your level of experience (or inexperience) it can be a tough call as to whether its worth trying.

I do not do bodywork or paint for a living but I sometimes do have a project. I have found that doing all of the prep work, including the priming and block sanding with non-iso polyester primers and shipping the final BC/CC out to a good shop will yield you a great paint job, cost savings, maximum quality and minimum health risks.

 

[Kevin54]

Metal bumper, or plastic/fiberglass? I ask this because plastic bumpers react differently to paint, and often times you need to add a flexible adhesion promoter to get the paint/clear to stick.

When I use Duplicolor for my bumpers I use this.

http://www.duplicolor.com/products/adhesionPromoter/

I've never had a bumper peel yet using this stuff. I am sure they make a version of it in your favorite brand of paint. I am particularly fond of DuPont these days.

The bumper was metal. And I won't use Duplicolor because all it basically is, is a lacquer paint. Any paint I use is brand name. And yes, I know about adhesion promoter. All that is for is for painting plastic. You can get a flex additive for paint, and all that does is give you a timeframe to allow you to assemble parts that may flex during assembly. It eventually evaporates out.

As far as painting a car at home, it is done all of the time, and the paint job will last just as long as taking it to a professional. This was my truck that I bought, swapped engines, wrecked when a girl ran a stop sign while talking on a cell phone and painted in my garage. All brand name materials. Shot one day, cleared the next morning, and cut and buffed a few days later.

 

[Kevin54]

I would suggest doing like someone above said, do all the prep work, take all the trim, lights, emblems, etc off and then bring it to a place like Maaco and have them shoot it. You won't save money doing it yourself if you aren't already tooled up to do so.

If you really want to do it yourself that harbor freight gun works fine for primer and some basecoats but you will need another gun to shoot clear. You also need to buy the stuff to setup your air system. A large 60 gallon 5hp compressor is the minimum. You will also need a descant dryer, filter, high flow air fittings, a new airhose (because your old one is filled with oil from the compressor), plus a filter for the gun. You need perfectly dry clean air coming out of the gun otherwise you will end up with fisheyes and other paint problems.

Once you get your gun setup you then need a paintbooth. Tarps and pvc pipe work fine but don't forget to buy 6 or 8 fluorescent lamps for lighting, at least two box fans, and some furnace filters. If you value your health you will also need to get a forced air breathing system. Some people can get away with a cheap 3m cartridge mask but you won't know if you will have a reaction to the isocyonides in the paint until the first time you breath them in.

Don't bother with the duplicolor paintshop stuff. It is a lacquer based paint. It will look fine for a year or two but then quickly start to fade. You want a good basecoat / clearcoat system. Take a look at TCP global. They have some decent stuff at a really good price. I would also suggest skipping the single stage stuff. Clear coat is a little harder to spray but it is alot easier to fix mistakes in.

Finally, shop around before you decide to do it yourself. I just went through this whole process to paint my plane. I was going to do it myself until I started adding up the costs to get setup plus having to worry about having the right temperature and humidity conditions in an non-climate controlled booth. The first guy I found on craigslist and had him shoot my wings. He was cheap and did them in his garage booth but they turned out horrible. There was tons of orange peel and all sorts of junk in the paint. I asked around for references from people when i went to do the fuselage. I found a guy about an hour away after several people recommended him to me. He did the work in an actual paint booth with a guy spraying it that does body work every day for a living. The work was phenomenal and very reasonably priced. He actually came in a little under budget. There is no way I could have gotten the same quality of finish if I tried to do it myself. My point is don't just settle because the first guy was too expensive. Go get a few more quotes. You never know what you may find.

Keith

Keith.....Although I agree with most that you say, you are also basing things on the worst case scenarios. One does not need a new air hose, or an expensive desiccant air drier, or a brand new fresh air system. When I painted my truck it was one furnace blower under the garage door with plywood closing off the rest of the door. I had furnace filters in the windows to pull air through, but no bugs. The garage was washed out and blowed out the day before shooting. I ended up with one dog pecker gnat in the clearcoat. I had a ball filter at the gun to catch any moisture.

The guy that painted your wings, was probably someone that thought he could paint but didn't have a clue. It's not hard to paint something, but it does take a little bit of practice to get the feel of the gun. I grew up with a bottom cup siphon Devilbiss. When I went to paint my truck I bought an HVLP FinishLine gun. It was awkward at first because I wasn't used to a cup on top.


Now if someone said that they were going to paint their lawnmower in the garage using Basecoat/Clearcoat, most of the threads that say the sky is falling wouldn't be here, but as soon as someone mentions an automobile it total panic.

ANd as far as the paint is going to kill you.....use common sense. A fresh air system is great, if it was affordable for everyone. Cars are painted everyday in garages, by homeowners, due to the cost of having someone else do it. the truck I showed was totalled because they said there was $3500 damage. I talked them down to $3000, took the check, and fixed it myself. Granted, the paint was the most expensive part of the whole truck. More than the rebuilt engine I had done. Paint was $135 a quart at the time. If I had taken the truck to someone and had all of the work done, I would have had probably close to $8000 in just getting it painted and buffed. Plus you get the satisfaction of doing it yourself.

 

[Hencini]

Subscribed for the solid info in this thread.

 

[countryroad82]

I do a lot of paint/ body work in my shop as it is why my building stands.. To make me money! That said there have been some good suggestions here, all I am going to chime in on this is stay with the same brand of product since you are a newbie. Buy a good respirator. If a solid color you may want to think about a single stage, it is a little cheaper, but I still reccomend to use basecoat clearcoat. When you think you have the car sanded check out the edges, I hate seeing a car with paint chipping off the edges.
With all that said stay away from the Duplicolor!!! I used to do work for an ambulance company and they were always trying to save money. Once they bought that **** to paint a 'new' unit they acquired. It took literally 4 1/2 gallons of that garbage to get it to cover, I couldn't get any real shine to it, I had to wait a few days and buff the snot out of it. A few months later it looked like garbage. I could have used 1 1/2 gallons of the cheapo acrylic enamel that I normally painted with and it would have saved so much more money... Oh well I tried to warn them lol!!!

 

[kmacht]

ANd as far as the paint is going to kill you.....use common sense. A fresh air system is great, if it was affordable for everyone.

You can get a hobby-air system for about $450. That will be alot cheaper than a trip to the ER if you find you are one of the people that have a reaction to the paint. You won't know if you will or won't until the first time you breath it in.

Keith

 

[48RON54]

subscribed

 

[pop pop]

Definitely some good information included in these posts. Two items I question:
One, I've never found a paint shop/body shop that would be willing to paint over my prep work at any price. How do you do that?
Two, how do you keep the neighbors from complaining about the dust, vapors?

 

[countryroad82]

Definitely some good information included in these posts. Two items I question:
One, I've never found a paint shop/body shop that would be willing to paint over my prep work at any price. How do you do that?
Two, how do you keep the neighbors from complaining about the dust, vapors?

To answer question 1, most shops, including myself will not go over someone else's work. Reason being if I paint Joe Blow Down The Roads' car that he 'prepped' for me how do I not know he didn't slap body filler all in those rust holes? Is it my job to fix his screwups when I charge $500 to 'just spray it'? And even if I were to actually do a job like that (which I have and I've got burned) no matter what if it's bad prep work, bodywork, whatever, it's always the painters fault. And trust me people always forget how much they cheaper out, they only remember who they can blame! So yeah it's pretty hard to find a shop that's willing to risk it's reputation. There are a very select few that I will spray over thier work, and those people are guys that are very close to me not just some person off the street.
As for question 2, move out where your closest neighbor is a half mile away. Never had a neighbor as I have lived up the same road all my life without any crappy neighbors lol.