Mr Charisma's Guide To Painting your car

ft04me · Post by **ft04me** » Fri May 22, 2009 1:20 pm

hey simon.. can u do a DIY on how to paint? lol in its something that shouldnt be tackled by anyone but im thinking about respraying my car too...

i spoke to a lot of people and im getting scared with the clear coat..lol

mr-charisma · Post by **mr-charisma** » Fri May 22, 2009 3:59 pm

ft04me wrote:hey simon.. can you do a DIY on how to paint? lol in its something that shouldnt be tackled by anyone but im thinking about respraying my car too...

i spoke to a lot of people and im getting scared with the clear coat..lol

plenty of guides online.. have a few good ones in my favourites, I'll paste some links when I get home

It's 10% theory, 90% practice .. just go get yourself some decent equipment & practice on scrap panels.. go to a local smash repairer & ask for some dented panels so you can fix them up & practice your skills with..

Post by **I8A4RE** » Fri May 22, 2009 7:50 pm

ft04me wrote:hey simon.. can you do a DIY on how to paint? lol in its something that shouldnt be tackled by anyone but im thinking about respraying my car too...

i spoke to a lot of people and im getting scared with the clear coat..lol

pm me buddy, i have too close friends who are/used to be car painters.

Ill Be painting mine in 2 weeks tops, so pm me withany questions

yano · Post by **yano** » Fri May 22, 2009 9:26 pm

I8A4RE wrote:
ft04me wrote:hey simon.. can you do a DIY on how to paint? lol in its something that shouldnt be tackled by anyone but im thinking about respraying my car too...

i spoke to a lot of people and im getting scared with the clear coat..lol
pm me buddy, i have too close friends who are/used to be car painters.

Ill Be painting mine in 2 weeks tops, so pm me withany questions

Would they feel like spraying a certain spoiler for a certain someone's car

ft04me · Post by **ft04me** » Sat May 23, 2009 5:42 am

hey simon...

yeah just pretty much need info on is it better to rub down the car back to primer or just the top coat of if i wanna spray it the same colour again?

and whats the go with clear coat?

ill be in Gold coast in 2 weeks (queens bday long weekend)

mr-charisma · Post by **mr-charisma** » Sat May 23, 2009 9:16 am

You don't need to go back to primer, or back to bare metal when repraying the same colour, it's far easier to sand back just past the clear coat.

If you have any deep dents or scratches that go back to the metal, you may need to go back to metal in a small area around the dent, feather out the edges and then re-prime, give a base coat or 2, allow to dry (maybe a couple of days) & then prep it back to the same level as the surrounding area..

When sanding / prepping the body, use a sandpaper block to ensure that it is all sanded evenly..

what do you need to know about clear coat?

Post by **I8A4RE** » Sat May 23, 2009 11:59 am

You dont need to sand back to primer or metal even if you are changing colour.

You just need to remove the shininess from paint. Use wet and dry sand paper 240-400grit to remove the shine from the paint. Then clean down area with wax and grease remover (VERY IMPORTANT). Then primer

Post by **I8A4RE** » Sat May 23, 2009 3:32 pm

WOOOHOOOO, just primered my first panel.... well it was my practice panel, my old bonnet. Learnt heaps just in doing that.

Ill get pics up later.

@ John, Mate neither of them have any equipment any more, its their knowledge that im using.

@fto4me, what specifacilly do you want to know anout the clear coat?

ft04me · Post by **ft04me** » Sun May 24, 2009 2:46 am

how do u apply the clear coat?

mr-charisma · Post by **mr-charisma** » Sun May 24, 2009 11:25 am

ft04me wrote:how do you apply the clear coat?

If you're attempting to respray a car based only on the answers you get on this forum you are going to run into problems .. Go down to the library & read a couple of books on the subject - or try Googling for some Instruction manuals / videos! :facepalm:

But anyways;

How you apply any of the layers, all depends on the type of paint & how long the product specifies as a drying period for the primer, base coast & subsequent coats .. Some paints might require you to do each coat while the previous coat is still wet, or within a certain flash time (~10 minutes .. flashing is allowing the solvents in the paint to evaporate), or not completely dry in order for the coats to properly settle & meld with the previous coat..

Here is a basic guide to go by,

Instructions

1.
Step 1

Allow the second coat of paint to dry. Before you apply the clear coat, the second paint coat needs to have dried completely. To test the car, place your finger on the paint. If it feels sticky, you need to wait and check again in 5 to 10 minutes.
2.
Step 2

Mix the clear coat paint. You are going to mix together 4 parts of the clear coat and 1 part hardener in a paint gun.
3.
Step 3

Apply the first coat of clear coat. Use your paint gun to completely cover the area with the clear coat mixture. You'll want the clear coat moderately applied, not overly thick.
4.
Step 4

Wait for it to dry. After about half an hour or so, the first coat should have dried adequately.
5.
Step 5

Put on the second coat. You need to place one more final clear coat on the auto to finish the paint job.

(I think I need to make it clear that the above is a VERY BASIC guide .. Go read a book or two, or at least the technical manuals for the type of paint you're using before you even think about painting your car..)

The amount of clear coat layers you apply depends on how glossy / deep & hard wearing you want the paint job to be .. I think I read somewhere that even show winning paint jobs wouldn't normally go more than 3 clear coats..
But you should be able to do some research to find out exactly..

ft04me · Post by **ft04me** » Mon May 25, 2009 12:13 am

How long do i generally need time in the booth? and also how many litres of paint and clear coats would i need?

also how much should i expect to pay?

Post by **I8A4RE** » Tue May 26, 2009 8:07 am

3 coats of clear is a minimum. I would be putting at least 5 0r 6 on a show car if not more

Booth?? what do you need a booth for, i thought you only got the rear quarter panel to paint?

What type of paint are you using?

ft04me · Post by **ft04me** » Tue May 26, 2009 1:57 pm

ohh..im thinking of sraying the WHOLE CAR... my rear has been smashed from an accident and yeah doing everything myself..

not to mention i have about 10 different shades of red on my car so i thought i would respray the whole thing...

Post by **I8A4RE** » Tue May 26, 2009 2:04 pm

Im spraying my whole car too, but i aint worrying about a spray booth. But it all depends on whether you are using 2 pac (not the rapper) or acrylic.

There are pro's and con's of both.

ft04me · Post by **ft04me** » Tue May 26, 2009 2:18 pm

I8A4RE wrote:Im spraying my whole car too, but i aint worrying about a spray booth. But it all depends on whether you are using 2 pac (not the rapper) or acrylic.

There are pro's and con's of both.

wats the difference?

Dan25 · Post by **Dan25** » Tue May 26, 2009 2:26 pm

Where do you live fto4me? I know someone who is an ex-panelbeater with years of experience and MAY be interested in doing it for you cheap if you've got the stuff ready to go. Just a suggestion...

Post by **I8A4RE** » Tue May 26, 2009 3:28 pm

Well most people will agree that 2 pack is a better finish and dries a lot harder than acrylic. However acrylic is much easier to use for a beginer especially when doing it home. 2 pac takes much longer to dry (you really should use an oven) and if you use it at home you can expect it to cover everything. Where as acrylic dries alomost as soon as its left the gun. There are many other pros and cons JFGI

mk1_escort · Post by **mk1_escort** » Sun Jun 07, 2009 1:25 pm

hey guys. interesting topic. i'm a spray painter. just saw the topic as i'm about to respray my girlfriends fto. don't be using acrylic or spray in your backyard if you care about your car a lot. i live in sydney and without sounding like a tosser i am one of the better painters this country has as i've been in some nation wide comps with spray painting. so feel free to throw me an email (mk1_escort@hotmail.com) if you want your car painted or even just some advise. i'll be priming my car on 13th and prob spraying on the 20th so will post some pics. it's no show car just a quick tidy up and change of colour.

payaya · Post by **payaya** » Sun Jun 07, 2009 3:18 pm

I did a backyard job with acrylic and it turned out better than I expected. I hard to buff the rest of my car as the panels I painted has too much shine! I heard 2PAC is dangerous and harder to get right.

First attempted ever! Below image is with cutting compound only. I still haven't finished it off in the below image.

Tippin · Post by **Tippin** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 5:21 pm

im in the middle of making a front bar and will be looking at spraying it myself soon, what do you look for in a quality spray gun (air), and does anyone suggest a good one?

one other question i have is, does heating the bar after coats make a difference in colour or is it solely for quicker drying times?