DIY painting

[1 Wild R/T]

@Yobie   This might be of some use:

https://www.e-bodies.org/how-to-paint-a-show-car-step-by-step-guide/

Thanks for the very good instruction. One small question, would you use the sealer only on water-based modern paints or also on old fashion thinner based paints?

The sealer does two things....
1) is a uniform color under the base... This is good for all types of paint...
2) is act as a barrier between the primers & the base coat to prevent chemical reactions... Water based paints are pretty non-reactive... Solvent based paints on the other hand can cause certain primers to lift or wrinkle.....  Sealer is more important to solvent based paint than water based.... Cheap insurance with what materials cost these days....

[Ifixmycarmyself]

@Yobie   This might be of some use:

https://www.e-bodies.org/how-to-paint-a-show-car-step-by-step-guide/

Thanks for the very good instruction. One small question, would you use the sealer only on water-based modern paints or also on old fashion thinner based paints?

The sealer does two things....
1) is a uniform color under the base... This is good for all types of paint...
2) is act as a barrier between the primers & the base coat to prevent chemical reactions... Water based paints are pretty non-reactive... Solvent based paints on the other hand can cause certain primers to lift or wrinkle.....  Sealer is more important to solvent based paint than water based.... Cheap insurance with what materials cost these days....

Thanks for answer! Painted some cars in mid 80's and things were less complicated then. I'm trying to catch up with new water based technique but it's not so easy without heat owen and so on. Water based paint is more or less what is easily available over here.

[Mopar5]

Don't use acid etch primer or acid treatments UNDER modern epoxies or 2 k primers unless the TDS says it's ok or you risk your primer delaminating always read the TDS

[tparker]

I just finished painting my car outside. It was a LOT of work. It took me a LONG time to prep, but I had LOTS of body work to do and only worked about 10 hours per weekend. I am not a painter and had to learn as I went. I did work at a body shop in high school for a short period of time, but wasn't doing body work, though I was able to pick up some stuff here and there.

I stripped a lot of the car. The only places I didn't strip to bare metal was where the paint was in GOOD shape. It might take 2-3 hours to sand a body part such as a fender depending on lots of stuff. I did the body work first, then stripped, then filler then paint. I painted some parts first and had to repaint it. I was VERY unhappy with the primer. I think it was SEM metallock. It came out like sandpaper. I was probably doing something wrong. I ended up getting a better paint gun and I found a better paint store that supplied me with House of Kolor primer. That along with the new gun went on GREAT. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007N69IRA. I put down 3 coats of highbuild primer and sanded so I could get the body even smoother. Then I sealed it with 2-3 coats. Same primer, just more reducer to it, according to the directions. Then 3-4ish coats of paint. I did yellow so it requires a little bit more than some other colors. 3 coats of clear. The biggest tip is time management and patience. I wasn't patient and it cost me a couple runs in the primer and paint that I didn't catch. I cut corners cause I was running out of time. I had limited time during the week to paint and limited time during the day. The temp inside the tent would get to 100 degrees. So make sure you have an extra day or two as a buffer and that it isn't going to get too warm on the days you shoot.

I built a "paint booth" out of two popup tents with painters plastic from home depot wrapped around it. Not sure if that was a good idea. I think the dust that got into the paint was really dried paint that would stick to the plastic then flake off. I tried to seal it as best as I could(which was very difficult) then over pressurize it with a blower I got from Homedepot for about $50. I left it in the box, cut out holes in the side of the box and put a couple cheap filters around it then shoot the air into the tent from the outside. Not sure if it worked, but it seemed like a good idea. The plastic holds in heat so I had to plan accordingly when painting so it wouldn't get too hot for the reducer.

Also I did a LOT of research. Mostly I found myself using Eastwood videos for the most part. Kevin Tetz has a whole bunch of eastwood videos that I found Very helpful as well as one of his DVD's. I used other videos too.

It was a lot of work and it came out ok. I screwed up a few things, but it actually looks good. I spent probably under $2500 and a lot of time. But I easily saved that much. I think a little more patiences and attention to details and I would have caught the couple runs and it would be near perfect. But again... it was a lot of work. But well worth it I think

[7E-Bodies]

I have the @Cuda Cody writeup printed out, in a 3 ring binder, in my shop with all of the attached material links printed out as well. I'm following it to the letter since it's been 30 years since I worked in the auto body industry and chemicals have changed radically. Cody, if you see this, I'm only curious if you used BCCC even in the engine bay, cabin, trunk and under carriage or if you went with single stage there. My F8 base is $900/gallon.

[JS29]

You didn't ask me but here is my  F8 has a lot of metallic, single stage is tricky to apply and not get zebra strips. I use Exalta, formerly Du-Pont. they also sell Nasons witch is there cheaper line. I personally would use Nasons base coat on the undercarriage and engine compartment. I use the snap clear over that, then chroma-base on the rest.     

[70 Challenger Lover]

I painted my Vette myself and it is a ton of labor! The prep came out good and I had no trouble laying down the metallic silver blue paint. Trouble came for me on the Nason clear coat. While it was shiny, I just couldn't get it smooth. I had a shiny orange peel finish everywhere and was forced to sand it and buff it afterward. Looks decent now but it felt like I had to do twice the work. It sucked bad. I probably put the clear down to heavy or used to much air pressure. I'll never know for sure.

In contrast, on my RT, I bought some single stage acrylic urethane and it has been a real pleasure to work with. Might just be that I have learned along the way but I think this paint is more forgiving than spraying clear. Everything I have painted like interior, trunk, engine compartment, has come out really nice. And that's not even blocking stuff out and trying to get a nice finish.

Next time I paint the outside of a car, I'm gonna hire a pro to work by my side for the actual spraying. Not to do the work but only to advise me on setting up the gun, identifying problems before it's too late, etc. I'm confident an amateur like me can learn it but making mistakes is devastating so having a pro there to watch me might be worth a couple hundred bucks.

[Cuda Cody]

There are some colors that it's easier to use base / clear and single stage on the same car, but like JS29 said the metallic paints are much harder to use in single stage.  I use the same paint all over the car so I do not have to worry about it matching.   

[7E-Bodies]

@Cuda Cody do you actually do a surgical cut/buff in the engine bay then?

[Cuda Cody]

@7E-Bodies   No I do not.  I don't use as much clear in the engine bay so it doesn't pinch back as far.  Maybe 2 to 3 coats of clear should work good. I would never want to try to cut and buff an engine bay.     Burn through would be almost certain.

@Cuda Cody do you actually do a surgical cut/buff in the engine bay then?