Paint Job

guys, im planning 2 paint my love....its a 1990 mazda 626....any suggestions?? :banghead: u can find a pic of it at...

one colour or two....and what's the difference in price :2cents: (approx..)

http://www.carboerse.de/bilder/c8d38b035eebaf61d1a365f681cd2a9f.jpg
**my car isn't that colour, this is just a sample...

http://www.cardomain.com/member_pages/search_results.pl?filter=all&make=Mazda&model=626&country=&state=&sort_by=&year=1990

all the colors of the rainbow! see what you like! the 2nd question really depends on where you go. go to your local shops and see what they cost. but to give you a idea your looking at 400-1000 bucks, the more money the better the paint job.

Longevity of the paint is what costs. You can buy cheap materials and have a good looking paintjob (because of technique and prep) that will last a few years, or you can buy expensive materials and have no skill at painting and end up with a bad job.

If you're planning on painting it yourself, practice on something else first. Prepping the surface is 90% of the job. Be sure to sand the surface down evenly as much as possible. Scotch brite the surface if it's fiberglass in places, or even plastic that you want to paint. Block it out. Lay your primer.

When I painted my apron and my rear bumper I ended up using two different colors of primer, one red and the other grey to determine high/low spots. I laid the primer on very thick and dry sanded until I was happy with it. I then wet sanded it. Build a paint booth at home if you have the room... if you can't... then don't paint it yourself. Use a tack cloth on the primer combined with windex as it will clean and won't leave a residue because it evaporates.

Prep your paint by using the correct amounts of hardener and reducer and use an HVLP gun to apply it. First coat should be very light. Just enough paint to get a sticky surface. After that you can lay just about as many coats as you would want in 20 to 30 minute intervals depending on temperature. Don't paint a car in temperatures exceeding 85 degrees or so as the paint will harden in the air on its way to the surface. After you're done painting let the car just sit for a week or two if you can to allow it to cure. After the paint has cured and become hard as nails you can wet color sand and buff it to get the orange peel out. Be very careful when doing this... if you burn through the paint (especially on edges) down to the primer, you'll have to start over again to get the surface to look even. If not, touch it up with paint and live with it.

This was probably too long winded... and I'm not sure if you needed advice on painting or just advice on what color to go with... in that case... it's up to you. Google search for your type of car and see what others have done and what looks good.

I'd like a dark pearl blue on that.

very well said.