Anyone paint their own car?

[jy116]

My clear coats pretty much gone... sun rapage... Im too poor/stingy to get a real paint job, so Im planning to spray can it.

1. I've done a hood before, but not a whole car. Any tips? Stuff I should look out for on a s13 coupe?

2. I have three day weekends so hopefully I can pull it off in 3 days?

3. Take off the weather stripping, or just mask really carefully?

... still debating on whether to remove the blak strip... might look cool with it on still :]

Any insight appreciated :bow:

[HyperTek]

umm i never painted a car, but id say remove all the window trim, take out the side signals, front signals and rear tail lights.

Umm there was a really good thread on rx7forum.com (or was it rx7club.com).. in teh FC section, i think teh author was IntegraLS or something like that. He painted his car in his garage with a make-shift paint booth.

[element240]

^do you have a link to it?

[s0ldats]

you don't need to remove anything, just mask everything off decently.

sand it w/ 180 grit, wipe down with acetone, and spray. after that clearcoat it if you wish, then wetsand with 1500 grit, buff, then wax.

[SilviaDriver]

look at the new thread i made of my car

i mased everything clearfully

[ThatGuy]

Take your time, the more precise you are in masking and prepwork, i.e. sanding and smoothing, the better it will look. Definitely do some more research. There is plenty of info on the internet and in your local library, or even stop by a local body shop and talk with the guy runnin the paint booth. Good Luck!

[matlock]

Do you plan on using a spray gun, or just cans of spray paint? I am just curious.

[oojpeeoo]

Do you plan on using a spray gun, or just cans of spray paint? I am just curious.

ROFL... hez gona use krylon and crayola

[mykem]

i spraypainted mine this weekend, took me about 10 hours, cost 50 bucks, turned out better than i expected..i kinda like it

http://www.fototime.com/54C96352A4E7191/standard.jpg
http://www.fototime.com/38FFEDCC4C316D6/standard.jpg
http://www.fototime.com/CFF488F092172A2/standard.jpg

[s0ldats]

ROFL... hez gona use krylon and crayola
hey that's what i'm using

[The ROMAN]

i spraypainted mine this weekend, took me about 10 hours, cost 50 bucks, turned out better than i expected..i kinda like it
That's hot. I painted mine with a mix of dark gray primer and black paint.
CAR (http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid116/pa679bb05887592bff2e068ff85afd7f4/f8ac2b49.jpg.orig.jpg)
Now I just need some window tint to block out my red stripped interior.

[Pepperoni]

Here's some advice: Don't rush through it. Every little detail counts. The more you spend time on it, the better the outcome.

[HyperTek]

opps sorry, just reread that.. didnt see teh "spray can" part..

check this.. http://forums.freshalloy.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB27&Number=67760327&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1#Post67760473

[Teerawood]

the most important aspect of painting is the prep work and bodywork.. don't even slack...

http://img38.photobucket.com/albums/v117/wishb0ne/hahaah.jpg

the front is flawless on ym car but i started to slack off on the door and the rear quarter panel....

don't sand the primer too fine.. it paint needs to stick.. and don't forget to wash your car off before u paint.. smooothness..

[MakotoS13]

you can not put enough time in getting dings and stuff out. you MIGHT be able to pull it off and do a decent job in three days but i'll bet against it.

if you rush this you will regret it.

i'm restoring my 90 240 and have already put many hours into the deck lid alone. i'm trying to find every little dent or ding so that the car will look like glass when i'm done.

you can do it the right way or you can do it the quick way but don't expect it to come out looking that great.

[morpheus8486]

I just recently finished painting my '91 fastback in my autobody class at my high school. It's an insane amount of labor. When I first rolled my car into the shop I figured it would only take maybe a month. After about 3 months I finally finished. But I did alot of shaving and only had a couple hours a day to work on it. But just don't rush it. And take your time and do everything right the FIRST time. If you want to do a thorough job strip your car of everything and then mask carefully. If you do everything the way it should be done, you wont regret it.

[element240]

^^^ that looks really good teerawood , do you have anymore pics?

[Salty_X]

Here's my gift, from me to you... Linky (http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4286776339)

[wanganwonder]

terawood that looks REALLY cool. more pics?

[Teerawood]

Yea quite a few... i do side jobs if anyone is intrested

http://img38.photobucket.com/albums/v117/wishb0ne/IMG_3226sad.jpg
if you look on the doors.. its kinda rough.. i might be able to buffer that out.. or i'll have to repaint it... This is why prep work is so vital too a good outcome..

http://img38.photobucket.com/albums/v117/wishb0ne/IMG_3077.jpg

[element240]

^clear daytime pics would be nice :D

[Gladman]

Yea quite a few... i do side jobs if anyone is intrested

http://img38.photobucket.com/albums/v117/wishb0ne/IMG_3226sad.jpg
if you look on the doors.. its kinda rough.. i might be able to buffer that out.. or i'll have to repaint it... This is why prep work is so vital too a good outcome..

http://img38.photobucket.com/albums/v117/wishb0ne/IMG_3077.jpg


whats up with your wheel gaps?

[Teerawood]

my wheel well liner is gone.. so it looks more deep... i can't seem to find anyone who has these laying around for sale... my suspension set up is kyb with eibach sportlines... its not that low... :P the way i took the picture makes it seem there is a large wheel gap

[Teerawood]

My clear coats pretty much gone... sun rapage... Im too poor/stingy to get a real paint job, so Im planning to spray can it.

1. I've done a hood before, but not a whole car. Any tips? Stuff I should look out for on a s13 coupe?

2. I have three day weekends so hopefully I can pull it off in 3 days?

3. Take off the weather stripping, or just mask really carefully?

... still debating on whether to remove the blak strip... might look cool with it on still :]

Any insight appreciated :bow:


You can attempt to prep the car in three days... i won't guarentee good results though..... i took me about 4 days to do my prep work.. and i am not satified.. i am going to repaint it in a month or so... also if u look really hard u can tell that the usual crese that is located on the fedner door panel and rear quarter panel are gone :)

also i used tape to tape off the weather stripping.

[steve shadows]

You can attempt to prep the car in three days... i won't guarentee good results though..... i took me about 4 days to do my prep work.. and i am not satified.. i am going to repaint it in a month or so... also if u look really hard u can tell that the usual crese that is located on the fedner door panel and rear quarter panel are gone :)

also i used tape to tape off the weather stripping.

i taped off with a hammer , bondo and some electical tape

and used bbq flat black paint (stealth paint) lol :fawkd:

[DRFT]

the most important aspect of painting is the prep work and bodywork.. don't even slack...

http://img38.photobucket.com/albums/v117/wishb0ne/hahaah.jpg

the front is flawless on ym car but i started to slack off on the door and the rear quarter panel....

don't sand the primer too fine.. it paint needs to stick.. and don't forget to wash your car off before u paint.. smooothness..

nice plates

[jy116]

MAn... i doubt u did that with spray cans! haha. I don't have a spray gun... maybe Ill ask around, looks nice.

When I did my hood on another car, I used sumthing like 300 grit just to take off the clear coat, then went flat black then clear coat without sanding after the primer [before the clear coat]. Then I used 3m rubbing compound to make it smoother. Looked ok... not real good, but ok. I was wondering if you still wax it? Do you only wax if you have a clear coat? O yeh, in the FA link, was the car yellow [not the tape, the car is yellow before it ws black]? Is that bondo or something?

Thnx for the tips :] Ill either do it part by part so I can prep well, or wait til the 1 week I have off between summer school, work, and fall semester... one 9 day week/end...

[Teerawood]

invest and buy a aircompreessor and a spray gun.. and learn to paint..

[ibanezxguy]

i dont have time to type everything out but email me if you need advice. I used to work at a bodyshop and painted my car, but yeah prep work is what makes or breaks the paint job

[jy116]

coo, thnx for the tips + pics everyone. Ill be sure to post pics when Im done. I found a week of no school and work at the end of summer, so that will probably be the time :]

[jy116]

i spraypainted mine this weekend, took me about 10 hours, cost 50 bucks, turned out better than i expected..i kinda like it

http://www.fototime.com/54C96352A4E7191/standard.jpg
http://www.fototime.com/38FFEDCC4C316D6/standard.jpg
http://www.fototime.com/CFF488F092172A2/standard.jpg

O hey, is that primer only? Or did you spray a clr coat too? Smooth it off with 1000 grit or rubbing compound?

[jy116]

heres wut my car looks like now. Bad clear coat...
http://img46.photobucket.com/albums/v142/jy116/DSC00865.jpg

bumper [ding?]:
http://img46.photobucket.com/albums/v142/jy116/DSC00862.jpg
closer
http://img46.photobucket.com/albums/v142/jy116/DSC00863.jpg
and closer!
http://img46.photobucket.com/albums/v142/jy116/DSC00864.jpg