Some painting ideas

[Macfreak007]

I want to repaint my nose, front spoiler, the passenger door, and maybe a few other touch up parts. i have no experience with painting, but i could get a compressor. I need to know if its stupid of me to try, i have confidence i can do the prep work, but maybe not spray it perfectcally, but i would like to try. Where can i buy paint? (Guards red) and what else do i need to know?

[todwic]

I'll prolly get flamed for this, but Haynes makes a bodywork manual that has a lot of really helpful info for the newbie. I tells you the best way to wash, polish, and wax your car, to deciding wether to repair or replace. Painting do's and don'ts, and even tells you how to do lead work and welding.

[Macfreak007]

yeah i've looked at that it is okay, i know everything there is to know about washing waxing and polishing, I used 3m imperial hand glaze on the car and parts of it look great, just some places are screwed up. I know all about the detailing side, just wondering about the actual painting, and i have done the prep work before, on a friend of mines volvo, including bondo, and sanding, and priming, just never any painting

[todwic]

then you're ahead of the game. I did my hood, and I learned the hard way. I think a lot of folks have a dip in thier hood where the latch goes. Well when I bought a new hood for my car, it had a dip in it, and a couple of dings (bought it from a J.Y. for $50, I knew what I was getting) and I thought it would be a simple thing to get em out. It was harder than I thought and required a lot more patience than I was prepared for. I finally got the bondo right and the primer and sealer good. I bought the manual before I even try to paint it. I has lots of pictures of paint gone wrong. I found it helpful. At least now I have a vague idea how to go about it.

[Macfreak007]

haha thats awesome thanks for the advice todwic, I'm looking to learn just like you did probably

[Zero10]

I have a little advice. I have done some minor painting, and from what I have learned, it left me secure enough to take on repainting the entire front end (next year). The important thing is the prep work, once you have the surface smooth and straight, don't forget to lay down a different color primer, then sand through it, make sure it's nice and straight before you put the finish coats on. If you make a mistake on the paint, i.e. too much and it runs, or perhaps it orange peels or whatever, remember, you can always sand it off and start over. One thing I learned, that I did not find in any book, is I layed down 3 base coats (of white on my subaru), and noticed some small irregularities, such as a little bit of dust, one ridge from the paint and such, so I took some 1000 grit sand paper, and gradually smoothed everything out before the last color coat. Left me with a great looking finish, so I guess the moral of the story is, until the clear coat is going on, you can still sand it.

[speedracing944]

I did the back end of my 944 because of a rust spot next to the licence plate. I never painted a car before. I studied one of those "how to paint books" then practiced first on my tool box. I removed everything. Bumper, taillights, seals, brackets, lock, ect... Instead of using bondo to fill I used marine epoxy. The benifit was it was alot tougher but the down side was it was alot tougher. It was a pain to sand. Hard as a rock. If I had to do it again i would wait a month after spraying the primer to sand it out to make it smooth. The paint will continue to shrink for an additional month after application which will show inperfections later on that were not visable right after spraying. That is why a fresh paint job always looks best right afterwards. Paitence will bring excellent results.
I purchased my paint from a body shop supply store. I used a base coat clear coat system. Make sure to wear a resperator or you will get a major buzz that kills brain cells by the millions.

Happy painting

[TCMdocs944]

It has been said by psychologists that every criminal thinks he is right or justified for commiting the crime at the time.

I think the same can be said for the home mechanic......

So what I really would like to see is a list of this guys atrocities with his reasoning behind each one.....I think it would make for some really great reading..




......Maybe he is macrobiotic and thinks socks are more eco-friendly than rubber or plastic.

[TCMdocs944]

Ok, now I am a moron....Just replied to the wrong post....thats what I get for using the system at my new job....



Good luck with the painting...I am going to try to blend my spoiler in next week....I'm right here with ya.

[cruzermusic]

you must think,,,, whose going to clean up the spilled paint...