Painting a car (NOOB!)

[bryce1991]

I don't know if you guys have time to field a bunch of questions for a rookie, but here it goes anyways.

My girlfriend is about to get her license and her car is a little beat up and she expressed an interest in having it painted, OK, no problem. However, i don't have enough to have it done proffesionally so i'm going to do it myself.

I know how body fillers and what not work, But im not too sure about a few paint related things. Can i primer right over the existing paint? should i sand it and then primer it? Or do i need to strip the car first?

What kind of primer would you suggest using? and how many coats?

I'm not too sure about paints either, Do i use acrylic? enamel? And how many coats would you suggest?


As for clear coats, Any specific type or brand i should use?

I dont understand the technical terms, Like the sealers and hardners and what not.

If you could give me a basic run down on how the process works, it would be GREATLY appreciated.

If you can give me a hand, i'll take pictures of everything from start to finish so you can see the result of your advice.


Thanks,

Bryce Green

[MagicRat]

Welcome to AF.
Painting a car is an extremely complex process. There are lots of choices available depending on your budget, skills and expectations.

Each of your problems require detailed answers, so I suggest you get a book on the subject. Also, research some on-line articles. Youtube is good for demonstrating some techniques.

You should do lots of research. Most paints are harmful to your health if mishandled. Some of them are so toxic when sprayed they really may kill you if you do not have the proper respirator.

Next, you will need to build or rent a spray booth; and buy or rent good equipment like an air compressor and paint guns. You will also need to practice on scrap pieces of metal (old appliances, like dryers, refigerators are good) to practice your skills as you learn, before painting the car. If you don't, it will be easy to waste $500 worth of materials and end up with a car that looks worse than when you started.

If you are really in to working on older cars, all this time, effort and expense will be worthwhile because you can use it in the future. But if you only expect to pain this one car, it may not be worth it. There are many devoted, skilled car enthusiasts who simply don't paint their own cars, for this reason. They are happy to swap engines, transmissions, to weld, build cars from scratch, but never paint a car, simply because it takes far too much time and effort to be any good at it.

Hope this helps.

[wwiliam654]

hii.............
i m wiliam white,
according to your favorites colors you can paint your car,
thanks.............
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2013 mercedes benz sl-class