self painting

I want to strip and primer my car myself and have a pro just do the paint so i can save some money. Im a body work newbie, so should i not do this? i want it to look pretty good when its done.

hey, you got questions, im your man. It's all relativley easy. even for a newbie such as yourself. do you have any major fender benders? or is it a simple scuff and shoot?

not many dents, just a lot of scratches and fading. the fender and hood are a little messed up from an accident so im just going to get a cf hood and a new fender. when i get ready to do this ill have a few questios so ill write ya an email or just post em. I want to start it now but my hands in cast for 6 weeks. about how much will it cost me to get the car painted after i do everything else? itll have a new body kit, but im planning on fitting that myself if it isnt too hard. so a rough outline of what im doing would be:
sand with 80 grit
paint stripper
wash completely (clear coat a pain)
remove dents
primer
sand
then my friends said something about a spray on wax thing or something that i put on then sand again.

make sure you wet sand it before you shoot the primer. Take a running hose and squirt the water on while you're sanding. And how are you going to shoot the primer, paint gun? Just please tell me you're not gonna do it out of a rattle can, cause sometimes the aerosal(sp?) can counteract with the paint and cause some problems.
And for the cost of having it painted after you do all of that, it really depends on the area. My shop would probably charge a little over a grand including cost of paint, but you could probably find it cheaper and more expensive other places.

ok, 80 grit is pretty mean, youd be better off sanding with a rock, use 220 or 180 at the most, but id use 220 or 280. wash the car completely and then wipe it down with some sort of de-greaser, like prep-sol or ask your local auto paint store for something similar. sand the entire car, feather out your chips, if you know how to feather, actually, are oyu doing this by hand or with a DA? if the chips are really deep, then fill with some spot putty, then sand when dry. I don't think paint stripper is necessary unless your existing paint is checked or cracked. otherwise clearcoat fade can be sanded out, just sand the clearcoat till it blends fairly well, if it still kinda sands off in flakes, keep sanding or it will haunt you after you paint it. when you think your car is all straight and ready to go, then prime it. i don't know if your using a spray gun or rattle can, if you rattle can, don't buy the cheap shit cause it gums up sandpaper like no other. anyways, lay down a couple good coats of primer, then spray on your marker paint (flat black paint works well) mist on a light coat over the entire car. then sand it down with 320 only, this is a good final sand grit and it wont leave grain marks in your paintjob. anyways, them arker paint will show off all your hidden chips, high/low spots or any heavy grit marks. only prime when you feel all the major work is done. this will save you time if you do this step by step. I can't quote you on a paintjob since it varies depending on where you go, and as for your body kit, test fit test fit test fit, i cant stress it enough to make sure it fits properly, and again, depending on the shop, you might have to pay quite a bit of pocket change just to have your body kit prepped properly. my uncle has a well known shop down in cali, and he charges about a minimum of $1000 to prep certain pieces of a kit, since most are cheap garbage that sag and such. anyways, you may already knowm ost of what i said, ask any other questions if needed.

damnt maybe i wont paint it. i was going to do arsol can primer, but not if it isnt good. Im doing this in my garage so a sprayer seems like too much. i think it might be too much to get it painted... how much if i have the shop do the entire job anyways? 3 grand? man thats a turbo... doesnt look like theres any way i can do this good and cheap. is it hard to fit a good kit like wings west, or just take a lot of time?

You're looking at at least $2,250 to have them do everything. To primer your whole car in rattle can would take maybe around $35-$55 bucks. Go rent a spray gun for maybe $75 and do it in your garage. And if you think you're really good enough, go with the paint. (not recommended) But anyways, I think you could do the primer part yourself with a spray gun.

so i would have to completely tape off and cover the parts of the car, or do i remove each body panel? and i would have to cover my entire garage cause the sprayer is pretty messy right?

Check out this thread I made a long time ago, I think it might be a little helpful to you. And I'm really sorry if you have dial up. :D
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=48860&highlight=ever+wondered+how+to+paint+a+car

cable is nice. yeah that answered a lot of questions i had. if i take it to a nice shop and have them paint it, can they fix the spots i maybe didnt do so great on? i pretty much want a fairly good paint job doing as much of the bitch work myself to save some money. how good do i have to be to paint it myself... and how long does doing an entire car take? i have 2 weeks off for xmas and my friend said hed help me paint my car if i helped him with his. he has a tercel so we could practice on that first, then do mine. i also have another buddy who will help sand the entire time for $20 lol. So my final question... in two weeks can 3 noobs strip a car, mount a body kit, and paint it? and doing a lot of hard work and buying nice supplies will it be better than maaco? i dont need show quality.. just something shiny and fairly nice looking thatll last more than a year. im willing to wotk hard as hell, but i dont know if thatll make up for lack of experience and good equipment.

My cousin and I usually go down to the shop at about noon when we're doing friend's cars and finish between midnight and 2. So two professionals that have done it before can do some body work and the entire paint process in about 12 hours. If there was no alcohol, it would probably be an hour or two shorter. I think you guys could do one car in about 2 days.
I would suggest clear coating it and mixing a little bit of pearl into it before you spray, that would give it shine and some sparkles. You can get a thing of pearl for about $10 at a paint store, any color you'd like, but don't use all of it, cause it will definately change the overall color if you use a bunch of it.
And this "he has a tercel so we could practice on that first, then do mine" is the funiest thing I have read all day. :D

As for the price of the painting, I took mine to a cheapy place called One Day Paint and Body. Did it all for $500, granted it's single stage paint. That's all I wanted to spend on it, and I am an average Joe and can't find an imperfection anywhere. Paint pros probably can, but I can't. If the difference between perfection and decency is $2,000, I choose decency.

i think your car looks pretty good from the pic. if i were to "shave" my moldings do i just take off the side moldings ans use body filler or what? hey kicker, you should paint my car for cheap and ill hook you up with 30% discount at the vitamin cottage lol

I would suggest clear coating it and mixing a little bit of pearl into it before you spray, that would give it shine and some sparkles.

Though be sure to spray another couple coats of clear itself over that or your pearl will soon fade away. also, there is a new product that you spray the pearl with and it drys just like spraying your basecoat. It helps give the sprayer a better chance of a perfect pearl paint and it wont run or get out of hand when you dont want it to. and i find that if you remove most of the easy things, (head/tail lights, markers, mouldings, etc) that its a little easier to get an edge-to-edge paint job. and if you want to shave your mouldings, first tack weld on a piece of sheet metal, then create your body lines with bondo, though don't use much bondo, shoot for about 1/8" thick. thus prevents body panel flex cracking.

yeah i dont know how to weld so i guess i wont be doing my side moldings myself. if i did everything but the paint myself and paid 1000 to have someone do it... it would be a really nice job right? i want something in between maaco and show quality.

Originally posted by FREED0MFiST
hey kicker, you should paint my car for cheap and ill hook you up with 30% discount at the vitamin cottage lol lol, yeah, drive up here and I'll paint it and shave your moldings for $500 including cost of materials if you help me. :D
And yes, you could probably get a nice paint job for about $1,000.

I want in on the deal too.
KICKER, I'll come up and join you guys, Shave my moldings, handles,
And strip, primer my car, then repaint it pearl white for me. I'll bring some cash, and some Beer!!! :xelicon:

Late,
Brian

i want something in between maaco and show quality

But you can have a somewhat crappy paintjob, or even a maaco one, and all it takes is some quality time and some elbow grease and you can have that paintjob so deep you could swim in it. just first make sure how much paint you actually have on that car so you dont go through to the sealer.

Originally posted by Duatone


But you can have a somewhat crappy paintjob, or even a maaco one, and all it takes is some quality time and some elbow grease and you can have that paintjob so deep you could swim in it. Indeed, I spray painted a truck once, with a bunch of rattle cans. Once I buffed and polished that thing like crazy, it looked damn good.

hmm so i can make up for noob painting skills with hard work?

Originally posted by FREED0MFiST
hmm so i can make up for noob painting skills with hard work? yep, buff, cut, polish. Read up on that stuff, that's where you really make it shine. :)

yeah, DEFINETLY read up on it if you want to do it right and get that high gloss show finish. I've been reading about a new product, a kit you could say, that goes beyond making it easy. i'll get the name tomorrow. but normally when your buffing with 'finesse" or whatever your using, your actually putting more scratches in (very very fine) than your taking out, which leaves spider lines or fine scratches that you can see in the sun, or if you really want to see how bad it looks, park it under a street light at night or under florescent light, like an indoor show, after all your hard work it'll make oyu think you didnt do crap at all. though this is probably more work than your interested in, its something to think about....