DIY Paint

[Cipher]

Alrighty, Weve discussed paint more then a few times, but one area mostly unscathed is Self Painting? Anyone have any thoughts?

Ive been researching and ive found that alltogether for my goal of jet black with ungodly gloss itll be just under $400 in primer, base, clear and hardener.

That said, I havent researched the tools and availability of a bay somewhere to do it in, and a kiln style baking system to get it dry faster.

Just throwing that out for ideas and suggestions. Fire away :P

[Dave C]

If you haven't done it before, I'd suggest starting small... Of course if you're going to change colors, are you going to take the time to sand down around the engine bay, door hinge areas, and under the trunk to paint?

If it were me and I wanted a black car, I'd go buy one...

[Cipher]

Well, if you were me youd be moderately broke in an economy that blows :P SO, I take what I can get and make it what Id like it to be.

btw, if everyone just bought the car they wanted, what would the fun in these forums be? ;P

[Dave C]

sorry I was just stating my opinion, and I was not trying to be stuck up. I was saying that with: a.) selling your car, b.) spending money on paint/supplies/equipment/shop time, and c.) some compensation for the time to prep your car and paint it... you could get a better black car than what you would have after yours was painted. Also, how long do you think this project will take you? What are you going to drive while your car is not driveable?

If you are going to take the time to completely repaint your car, why don't you do some body work to it first? Maybe buy some fender vents and a sweet hood scoop to mold in? Or else do something original to your front bumper? Maybe shave your trunk? These things would be cheap (but take a lot of time), and would really justify your plans to repaint the entire car.

I'm not telling you not to paint your car, I just want you to explore all options and realize what you are doing before you dive into a project that large.

Maybe you should make a post in the bodyshop section about this.

[TA^Guy]

Spraying a car isn't as easy as just pour, point and spray.

However doing some home work and careful prep work you might be able to pull it off, it all matter on your ability.

Check out AutoAir, they now make a water based paint that you apply in very light coats, kind of like a tack coat on a normal paint job. this is if you are goin gfor a base coat clear coat paint job. Mor eowrk but worth it in the long run. Easier to buff and shine than a single stage, plus it'll last longer and be more durable.

I will be painting my truck sometime in the near furture and I'm torn between a seude look (DP90) or gloss black. I do have a bit of experience in finish painting and how to mix and spray paint properly, but Im far from a professional at it.

[Cipher]

Hey Dave, No I was just being a smart ass :P Didnt think you were stuck up.

This is a project hopeful for spring, Ill be doing engine mods for at least the next few months or so, I just wanted to start looking now for a viable alternative to 3000 at the local body shop.

I found a few good paint sets comparible to 3M in their Deep Gloss Black. Base, Clear and Hardner would run about 400ish altogether premixed base.

Well see how it goes, I dont have any facilities yet, im looking into rental of the bay from a few of the local shops ive been to before, one even said theyd try to give me a hand if I did, but didnt know a price for the bay for a few days.

Anywho, Ill keep you updated, but this is definately a spring project :)

[TA^Guy]

I'd also like to note that black is the worst color to paint as it shows every little flaw.

A paint booth, especially one with a heater/dryer is a huge plus. However if you have access to a garage you can still spray at home. I will be cleaning my garage from top to bottom, sweeping and blowing it all out with compressed air, then laying down a very lite mist of water to keep the dust down.

The floor, sides and cealing will be covered with plastic drop cloth and taped at the seams. I am going to pick up heating/AC panel filters from Home Depot and make frames for them. Using those in the front garage door I will put two box fans at the back door blowing the fumes out while drawing fresh air in from the front though the filters. I should have enough room as I will most likely be painting the bed and cad of my truck sperate from each other anyhow so I can cut in between the two.

[tenspeed]

The mist of water also keeps the static electricity down. I had a car painted and they ran a ground strap from the frame. That was before the base and clear coats of today, so it may not be valid.

[TA^Guy]

Not sure Jim. I used to spray in a normal booth and also in a electrostatic booth. I do know that in the electrostatic booth with it turned on, if I didn't have the part grounded more paint stuck to me (I was the path of least resistance). In either booth we never sprayed them down or anything of that sort so Im not sure.

[Cipher]

I know, but you have to admit black is uber sexy when its done up super glossy and waxed :P

['96GAGT]

And you'll have to wash it every two days because it shows dirt and road film like crazy.

[Cipher]

To each their own ;)

[TA^Guy]

Originally posted by Revolutionary
And you'll have to wash it every two days because it shows dirt and road film like crazy. Totally worth it however.
Nothing shines like a freshly waxed black paint job.

[DontPassTheFence]

Originally posted by TA^Guy
Totally worth it however.
Nothing shines like a freshly waxed black paint job.

Amen to that. in all my freshly waxed shots, you cant even tell the paint is slightly old, or the many scratches that grace my car's surface. Its blang-blangin' --yo :lol:

[Red99GT]

I don't want to burst anyone's bubble but I don't think you guys realize how difficult black is to paint. It shows everything wrong e-v-e-r-y-thing. To make it come out the glossy perfectness that you want, you're gonna want to do major body prep. Get rid of all dent/dings/deep scrathches/rust....that'll require countless hours of bondo and sanding (not filling holes with bondo, smoothing areas with it). Then once you actually paint it, be prepared for probably 3-4 times of shooting the base coat, then wet sanding to get rid of any imperfections...be it runs or orangepeel. Once you have the basecoat the way it needs, shoot the clear....oh that's fun. Clear goes on almost like water so you have to be super careful about runs and orange peel (and because it's black it's show every little thing) One it's shot, you'll need to wet sand that to get rid of the runs and orange peel (yes, it will be there) and keep doing that process until the car looks perfectly smooth.

This is how you should paint any car, but other colors don't show imperfections as much. Painting it a lighter color would hide things making the project much easier.
For your first paint job, I'd recommend doing something lighter, blue, maybe red? If you want black and are determined, good for you! It'll certainly be a learning expereience...and even though it's a pita, the results (if you do all the work) will be stunning cause my favorite color on a car is black too (http://www.cardomain.com/ride/287500 - my other car)

Good luck!

[TA^Guy]

Originally posted by Red99GT
I don't want to burst anyone's bubble but I don't think you guys realize how difficult black is to paint. It shows everything wrong e-v-e-r-y-thing. To make it come out the glossy perfectness that you want, you're gonna want to do major body prep. Get rid of all dent/dings/deep scrathches/rust....that'll require countless hours of bondo and sanding (not filling holes with bondo, smoothing areas with it). Then once you actually paint it, be prepared for probably 3-4 times of shooting the base coat, then wet sanding to get rid of any imperfections...be it runs or orangepeel. Once you have the basecoat the way it needs, shoot the clear....oh that's fun. Clear goes on almost like water so you have to be super careful about runs and orange peel (and because it's black it's show every little thing) One it's shot, you'll need to wet sand that to get rid of the runs and orange peel (yes, it will be there) and keep doing that process until the car looks perfectly smooth.

This is how you should paint any car, but other colors don't show imperfections as much. Painting it a lighter color would hide things making the project much easier.
For your first paint job, I'd recommend doing something lighter, blue, maybe red? If you want black and are determined, good for you! It'll certainly be a learning expereience...and even though it's a pita, the results (if you do all the work) will be stunning cause my favorite color on a car is black too (http://www.cardomain.com/ride/287500 - my other car)

Good luck!

As wetsanding and all that is recommended for any color for a good paint job, black is no different. However a bc/cc paint job is easier to hide and fix inprefection over a single stage. Often sanding out runs in a base coat will swell and reappear in the clear coat. Not much sanding is needed on the base voat as your thinning out the actual paint coverage. A light scuffing to remove any drastic highspots is all thats needed. After a few layers of clear are applied and dried that is what you want to cut down to produce a flawless finish.

A good tack coat and proper mixing will help reduce runs, sags and oranger peel. I have sprayed black for production assembally. Single stage, no wet sanding. If it came out bad, you tried to buff it, if it was real bad you had to strip the section and respray it. If it failed inspection the entire box was stripped and repainted resulting in a loss of may man hours. The Japanese are very critical of their products. Messuring the paint thickness, adhersion, and amount of dirt was tested on every box we produced.


If your the type of person worried about runs and sags check out Auto Air Colors (http://www.autoaircolors.com/technical.htm#conditions) new water based paints. Unlike typical urithanes the coats go on light with a typical 50/50 overlap. Almost as dry as a tack coat. After about 4 dry coats it's ready for clear. The clear however is sprayed on wet after a good tack coat like any other typical urithane is applied.

I might, might consider using this process for my truck as I will be spraying in my own garage and don't have a ovan or drying system.