Thread: Painting a car

Clean the garage, use fans to blow the dust out. Tape off everything!! Coveer it even if you dont think you'll get overspray on it. That is the worst shit having overspray on something you want to show off.
Oh and paint whats less visible first so you get your gun set. Spray the bottom and what not then the fenders then hood. That way there is the best chance of having the good coat where your wanting to show off. Dont cheat out on anything. Use very good lighting!

And what with the spraying all kinds of aerosol crap around, make sure you get good eye and breathing protection. And in the words of my uncle, who was a mechanic for many years, and had these words of wisdom for dealing with paint: if it starts to smell good, take a break!

Make sure you wash it. During or just after washing it ground it to something. It will keep the dust off of it. As some have said keep your wrist straight. Spray past where you want to start and stop. This lets the gun spit out the thick shit and keep it from orange peeling and running. If you mess up, there is always sand paper to bring it back smooth. Just go slow and take your time. If at all possible you can remove some quarter panels for easier painting.

I am a third generation painter (though I no longer paint for a living). I painted my first car at 16 and plan on painting another this summer. The idea for a smooth finish is prep work, and then when you think you are done... more prep work. You should be prepping the surface for twice as long as it takes to paint on a car. If you are covering up any imperfections (old rust spots, spot welds, body putty) then make sure they are as smooth as a baby's bottom before even thinking about a primer coat. Thin coats are key when you really want an ultra smooth finish on a car.

Take frequent breaks when painting, but make sure you leave the air on the gun. Never, ever, ever take the hose off the gun and leave it, since the compressed air actually keeps it from gumming up the works. I'm assuming you know what consistency to make the paint through the gun as well. Be sure to have something to spray the gun at in case you have to take a break or if you need to stop for anything, as the first bit of paint out of a gun that has set can have a clump (especially on a cheap gun).

If you are putting on multiple clear coats, start at one end and finish with another so that you do not lose your place as sometimes it is hard to see what you just sprayed when doing multiple coats.

Good luck, and keep it dust free.

Just bumping this as I found out about a budget way to paint cars....

Rustoleum and foam peanut rollers

Yeah that's right. It won't be like a spray finish, but folks get decent results depending on how much time they put into it. I plan on spraying rustoleum on my car as it is cheap and my old beater would look better with anything, but while I was looking into this I found out about the rolling method. Hot Rod Magazine did an article about it where they painted a 62 Ford Falcon and said it was about a '5 foot paint job', so it isn't showroom quality.

http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/b...job/index.html


The magazine found out about this method from a post on moparts.com where a Canadian used thermclad (rustoleum in Canada evidently) to paint both his Charger and his VW bug.
[img width=700 height=525]http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/69martin/paint/DSC02763.jpg[/img]


Moparts post - http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/...0&fpart=1&vc=1

Like I said, personally I am going to spray and use Rustoleum because it is a cheap paint that covers well, but this rolling method seems to work for some people so I thought I would pass it along.

wow what a little wet sanding can do...