How to paint your car in 5 easy steps

[gsracer]

Just kidding its more like 30 steps, but what ever. Thought this might help most of you guys wanting to paint there own car. Now i am no professional and i do this in my backyard, but i get fairly decent results. So if you are a pro please chime in with any discrepancies. As i said i am not a pro so do this at your own risk. Im doind the whole car but so far only have finished the engine bay, interior and trunk. Anyway here goes...

What you need

spray gun
This is a widely debated subject there are many types available, i use a harbor frieght HVLP (high volume low pressure) special

Compressor
Also widely debated, just make sure its got enough cfm (air flow) to feed whatever fun you use

Sanding aparattus ( this means sand paper) you need a few different types including scuff pads ( these are some what like sponge pads with texture for sanding

Bondo , no body really uses bondo any more its really a plastic filler

Primers
I like two types
DTM direct to metal ( for bare metal)
And 2k primer (overall primer)

Paint and clear
I use urethane basecoat and clear coat.


First thing i do is gauge what i want to do with what im working with, IE any repairs and what not.

Here is my engine bay before (I started to take pics partway thru) so the narration might not match but you get the idea





I decided to stitchweld the engine bay and remove the battery tray, also to cut the front fenderwells and stretch them out to create more tire clearance also to cut the front fender areas out and weld panels in place to get rid of the holes


Sticth weld




Make sure to apply direct to metal primer, any where you have gone thru to bare metal





Next i welded these panels more for decoration than anything else, but maybe the would add support





Next i decided to change the radiator support, so i drilled out the spot welds and reinstalled a used one from the junkyard









I got tired of having clearance issues with the 265/275s up front and was to lazy to do a full front tub, so i cut the front fender well bent it forward added some metal then smoothed it, placed some filler and done. Have plenty of clearance now.












Now onto filler, i am no expert on this stuff. I avoid using it when at all possible. Reason being is that in this area i struggle alot, it ussually takes me a few tries to get it right. Just follow the instructions on the can and you should be good











Ok at this point all repairs have been done and we are ready for primer.
What i like to do is scuff the surface very well with a 3m scuff pad. They have a few different types, I use here the red one which is the coarsest. The idea is to give the surface some texture for the primer to bite on to. For primer i used some dupont urethane 2k primer.

Here is the primer layed out









At this point you have your primer and it needs some sanding. You want to smooth out the surface as much as possible so the basecoat will go on flat. You want to wetsand this as it will make the process easier and save sand paper. Hopefully if you layed your primer flat enough you can start with a 320 gritt and sand everything you primed. If your doing an engine bay or something like that it gets to be really hard to get into those hard to reach places but do your best. After im done with the 320 grit i wet sand with a 600 grit to get the surface as flat as possible.

At this point your ready for paint.

For paint i chose to use duponts chromabase system. I purchase one gallon of chromabase basecoat. It is supposed to be reduced 1 to 1 so i also purchase one gallon of chromabase high temperature reducer. Reducer is sold by temperature ranges, its 95 degrees in miami, so i chose the high temp reducer. One gallon of paint once reduced turns into two gallon. In reality you probably only need two quarts ( reduced to one gallon) to paint a car, however i wanted to have extra paint as this is a race car and would probably get messed up. Also I purchased One gallon of dupont chroma clear with 1 quart of hardener. This is mixed 4 to 1. I also purchased one gallon of duponts final klean. This is a cleaner that you use right before you paint as to clean the surface. Heres a pic of all the products. Cost on these items is arount 550.00






First thing you want to do is blow the area your about to paint with air to remove any dust or debris. Then you wipe down the area your about to paint with the final klean. After your done you wipe up any residue with a clean rag.
This will be the last time your touching the surface with your hands other wise you will have to redo this procedure.

Well now your ready for paint, its best to do this in a enclosed enviroment but whatever i did it outside.

First you want to mix the base coat with the reducer remember to do it per the instructions recomended by the manufacturer.

first coat you want to spray very lightly your not looking for complete coverage you just want to get the surface wet for the subsquent coats.
Important is to pay attention to flash times, this is the time between coats. On the dupont paint its 10 minutes.





Then most people will spray two coats, but i typiclly spray for coverage. As much paint as required to cover the surface. When spray mettalics its good to do a fog coat, like really fast about 18 inches off the surface just to even out the mettallics.

Here it is after coats two and three






Yuca saying oh snap that looks hot






Now at this point if you have no runs or drips your ready for your clear. You should wait at least 30-45 minutes to clear. The clear mixes 4 to 1. So you mix again per manufacutres directions and shoot. This stuff goes on pretty wet so becareful as to not get runs. The flast time for this is also ten minutes but i wait about 15-20 minutes to ensure its good and ready. I sprayed 3 coats of the clear. Here aree the pics spraying

first coat





second coat and third coat








Now you just sit and wait for it to dry. Typically you can handle it in 2-3 hours and its fully cured with in 24 hours.
Since this is the engine bay i will not be wetsanding and buffing it, i will cover that later as i do the rest of the car.


Heres pics of the finished product


















Now this is somewhat vague i understand, however you guys can get an idea of the work involved. Hope this helps.

[Maximamike]

I like how you didn't mask shit and just rolled the car cover back. Looks good!

[gsracer]

well i still have to paint the rest of the car. lol so it dont matter too much lol

[crazybb]

what kind of compressor did you use??

[zugoi]

good shit. Good pre-work is whats most important.

[BustedS13]

blatantly off topic:
what's with people on this board having like... car decks instead of driveways? i don't think i've ever seen one of those in person. or is that your deck and you pulled your car onto it? what's going on i'm so confused >.<

[Jordan-S13-Silvia]

NIce job man it like its profesional

[gsracer]

Originally Posted by crazybb

what kind of compressor did you use??

devilbliss 5 hp 40 gallon

Originally Posted by BustedS13

blatantly off topic:
what's with people on this board having like... car decks instead of driveways? i don't think i've ever seen one of those in person. or is that your deck and you pulled your car onto it? what's going on i'm so confused >.<

Its a car deck we built in the back yard, the prime realestate is taken up by a 1957 chevy belaire lol

[gsracer]

Here is the inside and the trunk process start to finish was the same as above

[silpena]

nice work man i just glad someone else doesn't refer all body filler as freaking "BONDO". That just annoys me. Again nice work. Your someone i could trust helping me on my car if i needed a hand to get stuff done quick. Only thing is did u use all of the base in the engine compartment?? or for the whole car inside/out. 1:1 mixing ratio to make 2 gallons is whole shit load. You could do almost 2 1/2 fb 240sx with that. I only use half a gallon at a 4:1 mixing. got about 3 coats. I had to stretch it out alot and choosing a good color like midnight black helped also since my car was allready black.

[gsracer]

i used 16 ozs of paint to do the engine bay, 3 coats 16ozs lol. I spilled more paint on the floor than i used to painit the engine bay.

Your right you could probably paint two s14s with the paint i bought, but i wanted to have extra since this is a race car i will be repainting peices in the future ha ha

[turboboost12004]

wow really nice

[ka-turbo]

wow really great work and ass for the engine bay and you saying your not gonna be wet sanding and buffing it still looks like a thousand dollar paint job from what i can see in the pics

now im kinda of a newbee at painting soo can you explain why you wet sand(and also what it is and for and what is used in the process) and buff as these are the only things im only kinda of not a 100% sure of but almost everything else i pretty dam sure i know really well.
maybe a few things here and there that the veteran painters could give me some insight and tips but other than that im pretty confident

[essforteen]

did you have any prior experience painting or is it your first time
good job by the way

[xpertsnowcarver]

phenominal job bro. great thread.

[Phaze*2_Mizzark]

niccccccce! cant wait to see the finished product! looks great

[crazybb]

very nice job......

[projekt_s13]

Nice write up, the results are amazing. Rated and subscribed. Keep us updated with pictures.

[a_ahmed]

wow man that is one sexy sexy, hehe, keep us posted... subscribed for sure. Loving the project man.

[miggypq21]

Wow man, awesome color and props to doing it yourself.

What are you doing with the overs?

Are you just gonna paint them on the car?

[KwKouki]

lmao @ gastons face in the pic. You know what sucks about gsracer........hes doing this shit for fun and hes embarrassing people that do this for a living in the process

[gsracer]

Originally Posted by essforteen

did you have any prior experience painting or is it your first time
good job by the way

Ive painted before but in my backyard. Small things , fenders, sideskirts, valences, bumpers etc. But i learned from reading the web and buying a gun and just spraying old panels and such.

Originally Posted by miggypq21

Wow man, awesome color and props to doing it yourself.

What are you doing with the overs?

Are you just gonna paint them on the car?

The overs are glued onto the car at this point so they will be painted on the car.

Originally Posted by Kwkouki

lmao @ gastons face in the pic. You know what sucks about gsracer........hes doing this shit for fun and hes embarrassing people that do this for a living in the process

i apreaciate the kind words tj however this isnt rocket science if you can read instructions and can aquire the tools you can do this too. One thing you guys have that bodyshops dont is time. You can take your time and do it perfect, they have to move work in order to make money. Of course there are always exceptions, but you usually pay for it $$$. Im tend to get caught up in making things perfect only to realize half way that its a race car and im probably gonna break it anyway.



I got the to front fenders sanded today and ready for primer/sealer.

first some of the tools,

Sandpaper, if you need pics , step away from your car now please.

Dual action sander. Some of the pros can do the whole car with this and make the panels come out straight , but i have never tried. I used this to get the bulk of the material off then i do the rest by hand.




Then this is the scuff pad, i use this for the hard to reach places and for a once over of everything before i spray the primer or basecoat.





Here you can see the panel beiing ready to be sanded. Its a good idea to purchase a pre cleaner from your local body shop supply store to clean the item you are sanding. Because if its dirty your only going to work the dirt/grease/wax etc into the pores of the item your painting and this can make things difficult later.





Here you can see the top part has been sanded. As i said before i use the DA only to get off the bulk of the material and then i hand sand from there.





In this picture you can see the whole panel has been sanded. This is after DA and hand sanding. At this stage since this panel will be primed and sealead all i have used is 180 grit. This is just to give the sealer something to bite to. Later once the panel has been sealead and primed. I will wetsand to flatten the surface further.





Here you can see the dull surface scuffed and sanded.







This is a neat trick an old school body guy taught me, it helps give you an idea how straight the panel is. After the surface is nice and dull, pour some water on it, the water will film coat the panel and look just like clear has been sprayed on. It helps give you an idea where more work is required. However if you do this on bare metal take care to clean and prime it afterwards so as not to rust.









Heres on the car ready for primer

[miggypq21]

Sorry to go off topic but,

LMK how those fenders come out painted, I'm actually thinking of going the over fender route myself, lol.

Awesome skills broski.

What color are you gonna paint it?

[Ninjabread]

Good stuff!

Subscribed

[surreybc]

thank you for documenting this. sad, but most are parasites.

[thatdrifterguy]

did you use the same gun for primer and base?? some people say to use different guns but i dont wanna have to buy another one. im also starting to get into painting. good info!!!!

[mehsilvia]

Originally Posted by thatdrifterguy

did you use the same gun for primer and base?? some people say to use different guns but i dont wanna have to buy another one. im also starting to get into painting. good info!!!!

Read the products. the paint, clear, and primers will recommed "tip" sizes. Most of the Harbor Freight guns have a single tip and prob would do just fine for all materials.

gsracer is dead on. Just read the materials, and practice, practice, practice - its not too hard.

Great writeup and beautiful color choice.


p.s. neighbors must LOVE you i know the smell from my garage lasted for hours and covered the whole block.

[FRpilot]

Originally Posted by mehsilvia

p.s. neighbors must LOVE you i know the smell from my garage lasted for hours and covered the whole block.

does it smell that bad?

[xsparc]

I got a question about the filler you used. Did wet sanding it mess it up? Im gonna be using poly glaze putty since i can get it by the gallon. I dont wanna wet sand it and then have mosture trapped inside after i spray the primer.

[a_ahmed]

I wana quit my day job and just do this too man... lol...