About Painting...

[thoughtless]

So i just picked up a s14... It is a maroon color with a black primer hood..
I was wondering how hard it would be to learn how to paint a car.... I never painted before.... =/

So with that being said... I would like some peoples opinions on some things..

- Should i try to paint it my self (like start off with a extra fender or something, then move on to the car)
- or should i just get it professionally done?

Sorry for the :newbie: post.. lol

Another thing i was wondering is if learning how to do it my self would save me some money, instead of taking it to a shop?

Thank you for your time.

[x'ed]

Google "$50 dollar pain job", it takes a lot of work, but anyone can do it and it actually looks pretty decent. It usually actually costs about $90 bucks for the whole car, but that is still pretty awesome. Everyone who tries it loves it, that's what I am going to do eventually.

[ROIDMONKEY]

body shop .........

[ByeByeSti]

painting actually isnt that hard. start off with something small if you dont trust yourself. i tend to start off with 220 sand paper, and then work my way up in grit. then primer a couple coats. then sand. it out with a high grit paper. spray base coat. then go from there. wet sand coats. and then clear. it. clear coating is the hardest part, you have to make sure your area is clean for one, and that there is enough lighting and ventilation..

just keep a steady hand, have the gun about 28-40 psi depending on compressor. while spraying keep the gun perfectly perpendicular to the car about 6+ inches away from the surface <~~ practice on another object to get a feel for how it sprays first. if you have any more questions feel free to ask me. i started a little over a year ago and its rather easy.

[shade]

My brother did that whole roller paint deal(ss14.net by simples14?) with black paint though. Its hard to roll dark paint, white comes out best because it hides the imperfections.

I don't recommend on doing roller. Either learn to paint first or take it to a body shop. Do it right the first time. It'll save you more money in the long run, trust me.

Google "$50 dollar pain job", it takes a lot of work, but anyone can do it and it actually looks pretty decent. It usually actually costs about $90 bucks for the whole car, but that is still pretty awesome. Everyone who tries it loves it, that's what I am going to do eventually.

[x'ed]

My brother did that whole roller paint deal(ss14.net by simples14?) with black paint though. Its hard to roll dark paint, white comes out best because it hides the imperfections.

I don't recommend on doing roller. Either learn to paint first or take it to a body shop. Do it right the first time. It'll save you more money in the long run, trust me.


Yeah all the cars I saw that did that were white and looked pretty good. Just thought I would throw it out there.

[HyperTek]

there is a thread in premie land about painting your car under $300.. if you decide to join premium.

Get a air compressor harbor frieght 21gallon for like $130.. will do the job *mine died after a few months, I plan to get another one but jus treat it better*
Duplicolor sells a cheap ass paint system at your local autostore http://www.duplicolor.com/products/paintshop.html
but for the price you can just get something complete on ebay that will be better


otherwise google is a great source for your quest there is tons of info on the net how to do it..

Even search youtube you will see how people spray and prep thier cars

This guy is pretty dorky but i found his videos very informative
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Hufvs97NTgs
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ymnTUoC32Os
I know hes selling his videos but for a few bucks it seems like a decent guide
if this guy can paint a car, shit i can too lol

Here is a guy spraying a car
http://youtube.com/watch?v=EdCSn0ZrO50

[thoughtless]

thx for the info guys.... keep it coming plz

i really want to learn how to paint..

hypertek do you know a good sit to get a gun and air compressor?

i think i will start on small things like a fenders or something close..

[LloydXmas]

byebyesti, by no means am I trying to be harsh but I believe you are simply a hobbiest and new to painting still. Painting and doing it right is a very hard thing to learn throughout so idk how you say it is easy. I can show a monkey how to hold and move a gun but to do it professionally takes skill, a good eye and knowing when to do what. I do it professionally and have been doing it for around 5 years now and I still haven't learned it all. If you want to learn then get a beat up fender and have someone with experience help you. Don't do the roller jobs, they suck and are cheap. For a drift car maybe but for a nice dd or show car don't do it. You can't be told how to paint in words its a practice makes perfect thing. Yeah it will save you money if you do it right, but paint supplies are still very expensive if you use quality paint, which I would b/c if not it will need to be repainted in a year. It can be expensive if you are on a learning curve and screw up a bunch trying to jump the gun and paint the car. Sorry for the long post, but if you have any specific questions fill free to pm me.

ps. That guy in the video's might know how to paint but things change every year, white is easy to paint and hides a whole lot. A video or picture does too. My paint alone was 1k, so no it isn't easy or cheap. Maaco is a hack job and is why they shut down around my area, believe me I know good bodymen who worked there and almost fell victim to doing shady work just b/c they want it done fast, cheap and shitty. The guy in the video does shady work, he is filling holes with bondo which is wrong, metal is the only thing you should be filling holes in other metal with. You have to plug weld them up or the shit will fall through no matter what!

[S13Leprechaun]

just find a goooooooood gun... and go to even napa sells bomb ass paint in any color you want.... ANY color.

[HyperTek]

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93271

thats the one i have. its cheaper in store, i think i recently saw it for around $130.. it worked great.. mine broke *one of the shut off capacitors burned out*, i think its because i left it on all the time and didnt have it in a area with subtle room to breathe.

Harbor is pretty cool on thier warrentees if its within time and something happens. Mine broke out of warrentee and i called them and the manager said its cool he will let me pay for extended warrentee and jus give me a new one.

Should do the job. For home use it works. Can always use it for other things too

as far as paint guns, not sure, get soemthgin that has the paint canistor on top. I havent painted a car yet, but always was interested to try a few years ago. I got a friend who bought a $200 snap on gun that he loaned me so i was planin to spray but didnt have a place to do it. Ive heard people use a harborfrieght cheap spray gun too, but ive also heard that you can tell its a cheap gun by how the job comes out.

But yah there is a excellent thread in the premium section with a write up on how to set up your garage etc.

[LloydXmas]

a $200 gun is cheap, my sata was around 5-600 can't remember exactly. Like I said many can stumble through a paintjob but to truly know what you are doing takes time, patience and a experienced professional to show you but then you must go on your own to learn further. You learn more from mistakes then success....

[powersteeringless180sx]

there is a thread in premie land about painting your car under $300.. if you decide to join premium.

Get a air compressor harbor frieght 21gallon for like $130.. will do the job *mine died after a few months, I plan to get another one but jus treat it better*
Duplicolor sells a cheap ass paint system at your local autostore http://www.duplicolor.com/products/paintshop.html
but for the price you can just get something complete on ebay that will be better


otherwise google is a great source for your quest there is tons of info on the net how to do it..

Even search youtube you will see how people spray and prep thier cars

This guy is pretty dorky but i found his videos very informative
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Hufvs97NTgs
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ymnTUoC32Os
I know hes selling his videos but for a few bucks it seems like a decent guide
if this guy can paint a car, shit i can too lol

Here is a guy spraying a car
http://youtube.com/watch?v=EdCSn0ZrO50


nice info Hypertek +1 makes wanna try painting my car now. lol and god knows it needs some new paint.

[CrimsonRockett]

Buy a compressor, paint gun, materials, and do it yourself.

Once you get good at it, start slanging!

Paint cars for friends, family, and other people and turn it into a profit.

[mehsilvia]

Even better advice, find a Junior college near you that has paintshop as a class, pay the $30 (tuition) and use their equipment and booth. Hell you might even learn a little about the process before you shoot your car.

Or pay a kid in the class $50 to shoot it for ya - lol

[ms!3]

for you guys out there that dont have access to actual painting supplies and are to cheap to give your car to a shop, try out that rustoleum industrial strength. That is the best spray paint ive ever used.

Did a friends fender with it once. if you prep correctly and wetsand/buff it comes out really nice. basically like a stage 1 paint job.

[an_orange_s2k]

i was planning to do a home paint job as well (still very interested) but my car has too many imperfections so im jus gonna take it to a body shop

[imnotmatt1189]

i was planning to do a home paint job as well (still very interested) but my car has too many imperfections so im jus gonna take it to a body shop

just fix the imperfections? what exactly do you mean by imperfections? like small dents and door dings?

[thoughtless]

man i feel like im digging a myself in a big hole lol... but im still wanting to learn...

but anyways... hypertex could i find that compressor at a lowes, home depo, or any other hardware store..

Lloydxmas i been surfing the net for a gun and i found this website:

http://www.autobodytoolmart.com/c-559-paint-guns.aspx?s_kwcid=automotive%20paint%20guns|563246 469&gclid=CNTVwqXl95ECFQEfFQodRxEevw

i know you said something something about a sata... but was also wondering if one of the kits in here would be something good to start off with?

http://www.autobodytoolmart.com/c-916-devilbiss-paint-guns.aspx

and again thx for the help guys :D

[bwake 5]

if you dont plan on painting regularly on other cars and doing alot of painting then there is no use for you to learn. i have also been painting for around 5 years and still learn new techniques every day.... not only that, but if you wanted to get it done as good as a bodyshop would do it you would have to spend some money..... lemme explain
(this is my equipment at my shop)

paint gun-$400
60 gallon compressor-$450
hose-$30
moisture filter-$20
primer,sealer,paint and clear for 1 car $350-$600
miscellanious tools(sanders, da's, tape, etc)-$300-$400


if you add all of that up you already have enough to get a professional to paint the whole car......

the perk of doing it yourself the proper way would be if you plan on continuously do it..... if you do a few cars and couple jobs then you would make your money backa and be ok.

but personally i dont think that you would be better off painting it yourself just for 1 or 2 jobs

and when you say" i want to learn how to paint"
you dont learn how to paint by doing it once........

i have painted 20-30 cars and im still "learning" how to paint

in no way am i trying to be rude. im just trying to throw in my perspective

[firelizard]

Learning to paint is really easy.

I painted my car for $400 bucks, HVLP base clear.
That was in school though, if you buy your own equipment you'll have to account for that

Experience is the best thing to have anyways, and you can only get that one way.

[IRN]

if your broke and dont want to do a $50 paint job then try the duplicolor laquer that you spray out of the gun. ready to go right out of the can. dries fast and there is no re-coat window meaning it will not bubble up if you try to paint over last coat. no time limit so you can DIY when ever you have time. Im finishing up my front end tomorrow and its already looking prety nice. there is a thread called "93 coupe build" on here where he painted his whole car using the paint and it looks good.

[crazybb]

eastwood.com has a lot of paint guns at a good price

[HyperTek]

u can only find that air compressor at harbor frieght, check to see if they have any locations near you..

major chain autostores might have some cheap compressors.
Partsamerica has a 19 gal
http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductDetail.aspx?MfrCode=ALT&MfrPartNumber=835534&CategoryCode=3483A

You can try lowes, sears etc, different brand air compressors that cost alot more.. but ARE BETTER QUALITY.

imma have to replace mine since again it blew out but im sure i can get it replaced and just need to be more cautious with it. I use brand name air guns on it so at least that side isnt cheap lol.

[LloydXmas]

devilbiss are good guns too, that is just preference. Sata and devilbiss are the top 2 though.

[boosted98gst]

ive been painting for about 5 years also , panting is not easy ,and anyone that tells you it is, a liar or never has done it before. the best bet is get some old school painter to help out around his shop, thats how I started, in no way am I a expert painter, just takes time , over and over . do it right the first time , dont use cheap paint, everything to paint is going to run 500-1200 depeding on the product and color of paint. then your going to need, sandpaper which is not cheap anymore, sanding blocks, ect. BTW I also use a sata gun.