Has anyone on here painted their car before, and do they have any suggestions where to get a DIY from, or could they whip one up themselves?

thanks in advance!

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90 percent of paint work is preparing the surface to be painted. the other 10 percent is knowing what to look for while your painting. i just got done 3 toning my car. but i'll make a diy soon.

I've been considering this a lot, but don't have a complete idea of what all is involved. A DIY would be terrific!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (rd2pimp @ Apr 18 2008, 08:07 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>90 percent of paint work is preparing the surface to be painted. the other 10 percent is knowing what to look for while your painting. i just got done 3 toning my car. but i'll make a diy soon.</div>


awesome, you rock.

http://www.rdtiburon.com/index.php?showtop...mp;#entry350929

Like rd2pimp said, it's ll in the prep work. If you do a crappy job sanding nad preparing the surface then the paint job will look like crap. You need to take your time and sand everything down properly.

It's easiest to do one part at a time. Start with the roof or a fender and sand it down till its nice and smooth then apply the primer. If you try and do the whole car at once like I did then you are going to start rushing areas just so you can get it painted and you will see scratches from not sanding smoothly through the paint.

Wet sanding is a heck of a lot faster than sanding dry. The difference between the two is one uses water. I know it seems simply but some people don't know that. The difference between sand papers wet/dry is that the wet sand paper can hold water better where as regular paper will tear quickly.

I'm not an expert on the grits but I found 220 wet sanding worked pretty good. It takes me about 4 hours to prep one area properly but thats because I rushed the first time and now I have an extra lair of primer to sand through before I get to the original paint.

My first time through I just scuffed everything up but my base coat was coming off, peeling, and bubbling so You can see that in the primer.

Basically just take your time and it can turn out all right.

some good tools can speed it up alot. but when it comes down too it the best idea is going to be to do the most body work you can get then try to get a shop to paint it. That will save you a ton and not sacrifice quality. btw, don't use bondo as a crutch.

Not sure how it is where you are, but in Montreal you can rent a space to spray paint your car for 100$, plus about 100$ for paint, depends on how you want to do it.

I think it would make it much easier with better effect if you use proffesional equipment to do the job.

What would you guys suggest for painting just a bumper? I have a pretty low quality fiberglass front, that seems to need quite a bit of flexing to get into position. I know if I paint it off the car, when I install it the first time it'll probably show signs of cracking in the primer/paint. So I'm thinking I'll just install it, and buy a can of paint from a Honda Dealership (Type R Integra White). Since I'm not trying to win car shows or anything, just get the bumper to have a shine to it, where should I start?

here's the bumper, and as it sits, the top sides come out really far, but DO flex easily under the fenders.

http://www.flyryde.com/flyryde.com_n...RD2Blitz01.jpg

http://www.flyryde.com/flyryde.com_n...RD2Blitz02.jpg

I think the fiberglass should definitely be treated with something to beef it up a bit, but I have no clue how to go about this. Do I just sand, then go over it with a thin layer of bondo, or is that a no-no? No matter what, I have to do something, cause it seems one little rock will do some damage. I just think it'd be better if I did it than have somebody paid to, as I have almost zero cash to put towards this, and if something happens I should be able to fix it again later. What do you think guys? I'm sure plenty of others have the desire to just paint a quick job like this. I'm hoping it'll only take 6-8 hours? Let me know if I'm way off, haha. Thanks!

Lol, the fact that you have to flex it like that to get it under the fenders isn't that big a deal man. You should have seen the clubgtr I had before the blitz, it was so much worse then that. As far as I'm concerned that's a darn good fit for an aftermarket bumper, especially since it has no problem flexing up under the fenders.

Right? I was way off. I just knew if I flexed it and cracked the corners, that NRG wouldn't swap it out for another bumper, so I didn't even try. I just assumed (like an ass) that it wasn't going to work, and when I saw your car I was friggin jealous, lol. Now I just gotta paint it and toss on my splitter. I was seriously bummed until you posted those pics of your car, and it gave me some hope smile.gif Kevin from NRG laughed when I said it'd crack if I pushed it into place under the fenders. I told him I'd happily admit I was wrong if it didn't crack, and sure enough with him holding one end in place, and I the other, the thing sat as nice as yours does. I couldn't be any happier to admit I was wrong!

Hint: Don't try driving through anyones yard, it's not good for the bumper.

Honestly though it's pretty tough. I've given it some hard scrapes, but had to actually run it into the ground to break the corner.

I wouldn't bondo over it, bondo cracks when it flexes, FG doesn't.

Cool then, I'll just spray on some flexible bumper primer and a few coats of Type R White. Thanks!

if you heat up the fg front bumper with a heat gun it will make the fiberglass more flexible and easier to work with. be careful not to heat it up too much becuase it will melt. then after you have it on the car go over it once more with the heat gun so you can get all your edges perfect and as it cools it will actually form to the shape of the car.

its a little more time consuming but ends up looking alot better

as for wet sanding istart of at 320 wet and work up to about 600 to make it nice and smooth. then clean it to get all dirts oils ec. off. b4 paint

bumping this to see if anyone has a definitive car painting guide. Possibly taylored to the RD's curvy lines.

I should be able to many of you guys out with questions on paint/prep on cars. I have alot of experience in this field. i was a painter at a body shop for about a year and a half and have painted two of my own cars, tibby included. Like was said earlier prep is the majority of the work. i will list some basics for you.

1. Wash your car EVERYWERE before you even start.
2. Fix any damages even small dings. (any small dent will look bigger once painted)
3. The best thing to do now is wet sand the whole car with 400 grit. (to save time you can get away with 220 grit on a orbital sander with a foam pad between the sander and paper)
4. Mask your vehicle windows and any other parts you dont want paint on.
5. Wipe your car down with a water based solvent and then with a wax and grease remover.
6. Prime the car with one light coat and then two medium wet coats. (allow each coat to dry for about 5 mins at about 80-85 degrees.)
7. Bake the car at 160-180 degrees for 12-15 minutes.
8. Use a spray on black guide coat and mist coat the whole car.
9. Wait A couple hours to start sanding so the primer is completly dry.
10. unmask your car completly.
11. Wet sand the primer with 400 grit paper till all guide coat is off.
12. Fix any small blemishes you can see. (guide coat will show these)
13. WASH YOUR CAR AGAIN (dry it off completely)
14. Mask vehicle back off.
15. Wipe down with water based solvent followed by Wax and Grease remover again.
16. Lay down your first coat of base color. (between light and medium coat and let dry for a few mins. If you want lay down 1 coat sealer before starting color coats)
17. Lay down two more medium coats of base allowing dry time between each coat.
18. Check base coat for any blemishes and fix if needed. ( do a light- medium coat again over the fixed areas.)
19. Start spraying your clear coat. First coat lay on a little light but make sure you still get even coverage.
20. Spray two more medium coats of your clear.
21. Back your car again at 160- 180 degrees for 12-20 mins.
22. unmask your car now but be careful the paint will still be kinda soft.
23. let paint harden for 1-2 hours
24. look it over for dust and other contaminents in the paint
25. wet Sand down the contaiminents with 400 grit.( but DONT break through the clear coat.)
26. Use 600 grit and wet sand your 400 grit scracthes.
27. Now use 800 grit to wet sand out the 600 grit. continue this up to 2000-4000 grit.
28. Use a buffer and buffing compound to bring the shine back to fixed areas.

Make sure if you are painting Fiberglass or plastic to put a flex additive in your primer and your clear coats. other wise they run the risk of cracking.

Also make sure when wet sanding you always use a pad between your hand and the paper other wise you will make finger ridges in the primer, Paint, etc.

Ask me if you still have any questions.

Nice job dude! Any recommendations as to how to get paint off, either solvents or sanding techniques, or something?

I just got this small Kobalt paint gun from Lowe's, I'm using it to finish furniture. Would this be ok for painting a car too?
http://www.kaboodle.com/reviews/kobalt-sma...-feed-spray-gun

yeah that gun should work great

What parts are you trying to get the paint off? and why? The best rule of thumb with paint is if it is still stuck to the car keep it on there. It acts as a good bonding base for paint on top of it if sanded correctly. If you have really bad star cracking down to the primer or E-Coat and you are working with a metal surface you can use something called aircraft stripper to take it off. ill give you more steps.

1. Remove the part you are trying to strip.
2. lay it on a big piece of cardboard.
3. but on Big rubber gloves that go to your elbows.
4. Spread about a quarter inch of air craft stripper all over the part using a bondo spreader or crappy paint brush.
5. let sit for 20-30 minutes. ( you will literally see the paint start poping up and peeling. it way fun to watch.
6. once it looks all cracked and peeled like dried mud take a pressure washer and clean off ALL stripper.
7. Get some 220 grit on a orbital sander and take off all oxidation on part.
8. Clean with water base solvent and wax and grease remover.
9. spray on a Self-Etching primer.

at this point you are now ready to prime and all that jazz.

Be very careful with The Stripper though cause that shit burns like hell if it hits your skin. Just a tiny amount will make your whole arm be on fire.

As for the Gun that one may work fine since it is a gravity feed type gun but I would look into something nicer that will atomize the paint better. what i use are SATA guns or IWATA. they are a little pricy but they can work wonders. Better atomization makes for smoother paint with better overall coverage.

I was thinking for example, my spoiler, it's starting to get white (normally black), and doesn't feel quite right. It's not peeling per se, but it's not good paint anymore.

For another example, if I wanted to paint my entire car (paint is pretty good on it), you'd recommend just painting directly over what's there? Would there be any sort of prep work, like sanding the current clearcoat or something (or is that where you'd start at the previous list of actions?)?

My spoiler had the same issue. What happened is the clear coat separated from the Base coat and is flaking off in tiny little bits. It isnt necessary to strip the paint off all you need to do is Get some 400 grit and start wet sanding till it is all smooth again. Then prime and sand again to take out imperfections.

Make sure not to use to harsh of a grit on plastics because if you break through the paint and hit the plastic it will stand on end giving the part a fuzzy texture. If you do do this you will need to prime that spot heavy and sand it down to get it smooth again.


You always have to sand the Car if you are Repainting it. Yes my list starts with sanding the clearcoat down on the whole car. paint will only bite into something with a texture to it. if you paint directly over unsanded paint you will just be laying it on top of the old stuff and it will flake off very fast.

Edit: Personally if i am repainting a car i will Always prime the whole vehicle that way i have alot of material on there so i can get the best surface once its sanded out.

im planning on two toning my car in a year or so. Would you be able to make a tools list on the best tools and materials to use. I currently have a devilbiss paint gun and a decent compressor. What would you recommend using?

Sure Heres a basic list of what you will need. I must be in some Crazy list mood lol

1. Masking paper and tape. Get a few different sizes of paper. they come in 6 inch rolls, 16 inch rolls, and 36 inch. The white colored is the best because it is very solvent resistant. the green kind sucks. It will get solvent bleed threw and ruin your fresh paint. For tape you will need 3/4 inch and two inch masking tape. Also get some Fine line tape for sharp edges and for making crisp clean lines were you two tone.

2. Sand paper. The grits you will want to work with are 400,600,800,1500,2000,4000. And defiantly get a box of scotchbrites.

3. Sanding blocks. Mostly if you are just two toning a car you will want a soft block type. its about a half inch thick 2.5 inches wide and 4 inches long.

4. Water born solvent and Wax and grease remover.

5. And obviously the paint. This is personal preference as to what kind you get but please make sure you get something high quality. It will last much longer and look way better.

6. Nitrile gloves. Latex will work also but they are not very resistant to solvents so they will break apart easily.

7. good air respirator. We dont want you coughing up a lung and dying lol.

8.Shop towels for clean up and wiping down the car with the water born and wax and grease

9. mixing buckets and wood stir sticks. the buckets come in different sizes. Pints, Quarts, and gallons.

10. Orbital sanders make things easier as well. They make scotchbrites that are cut to fit so they will become your best friend.

11. Razor blades are a must have thing aswell

I will add to this list if i think of anything else useful.

how much primer, base, and clear will finish a tibby?

When i did mine i just bought about a gallon of each. I had some left over but that can be very nice incase something happens and you need to repaint something. Paint is mostly mixed by hand with a ton of different toners so keep the extra paint so you will have a perfect match. other wise you will have to do blending and tinting, not much fun.

so you only need about a gallon of each to paint an entire tib? the guy who bought my paint gave me like 3 gallons of each

Three gallons of each must have been a ton of money lol. The stuff we used at the shop i worked at was 200-500 dollars a gallon.

Is that what you charged or what it cost? unless you were spraying hok on everything, that's more than I ve heard of anyone paying to buy paint

Thats what it cost for us to get. Most good car paints cost that. There is much more expensive paint out there. HOK has some pricey stuff but its by no means the most expensive or best paint. Sherwin williams has a special spiral flake paint out that cost $5000 a gallon and yes i meant to put 3 zeros on that. lol

What about painting environment? My father in law used to do a bunch of wood staining in his garage, and bought some thick styrofoam walls (like 7 feet tall by 7' wide and 2" thick), and made a make shift paint booth in his garage for under 100 bucks. Would you recommend that? And any clue about how to ventilate (little fan pulling air out of the booth, etc?

Also, at work we have a huge oven for high VOC wood finishes where we bake on the enamel, but I have no clue where else I could "Bake" the car anywhere else. Would this be something like a heat lamp setup in the paint booth, or what? I'm just thinking of contaminents in the paint, and how to build the best environment smile.gif Thanks dude, awesome contribution for us all!

Good question, I have the same problem. I just work in my garage, and get all kinds of junk on the part that I paint. Those styrofoam walls are a great idea, but that might take a lot of work... How do you prevent contamination if you don't have a cleanroom that you're probably used to?
And baking? Does putting it in the sun work? lol

yea baking is the difference between a $500 paint job on our car done by some schmuck, and a show quality job. at least that's what my research has lead me to believe.

backing your car though, i dunno, maybe space heaters? lol

The styrofoam and a small fan for a vent may work but You need to be careful and make sure that it doesnt contain any silicon or silicon products. Silicon makes paint "fish eye" really bad and will ruin a paint job. A fish eye is were a particle of silicon/product gets onto the surface of the vehicle and once paint hits that area it cant stick so it moves over to the sides leaving a pinhole or a huge crater depending on the amount of contaminate. How about this for an idea. A PVC pipe frame for the booth and then cover in plastic. Or a wood frame whatever you get the idea.

Heat may be a issue as well. I am used to having a booth that is temperature regulated from 60-200 degrees It is possible to use heat lamps though, i have done it on small repair jobs to help flash the primer faster. As for heat lamping a whole car, i know and have heard of people doing it. they just move the lamp on a new panel after ten or so minutes. Just becareful to always leave the heat lamp 2-3 feet from the vehicle surface other wise you may bubble the paint. Paint Can be left to cure on its own as well but it has its sacrifices. Your primers will be dry enough to sand on after about two hours. base dries fast anyway so no need for heat on it just clear over it. Clear coat will be dry to the touch with in 1.5 hours but will still be very soft and imprint if you put pressure on it. Clear should be completly dry after about 3-4 hours but thats just a guess. Baking a car also increases the amount of shine that a paint job has. so if your looking for a show car job you obviously wouldnt let it air dry.

In all honesty I would see if its possible for you guys to rent a paint booth. I Know here in salt lake quite a few places would rent me one if i had the need. Even try going to a few body shops and see if they will rent the booth to you on a saturday or something. If you really dont have a booth rental option than you can use things like garages but make sure you cover everything with plastic so you dont get over spray on everything. Also its a good idea to wet down the floor after you swep it. that way dust is kept to a minimum.

yay for all the helpful info! hail.gif

thanks a lot man.

your welcome!!!! cool.gif

Oooh, here's one on clearcoats: lacquer or polyurethane?
Tried searching the difference, but still can't make up my mind...

Poly For sure. easier to spray for amateurs. It smooths its self out more than a lacquer type paint will, so you will have less orange peel look when finished. Its whats on 95% of cars today. <span style="font-size:8pt;line-height:100%">excluding old school restores.</span>

*Staples button voice*
"That was easy"

Thanks doode!