Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Aesthetics ANY PROFESSIONAL PAINTERS???

Just got one question. i am going to do body work and paint my own 98 svt. if i am changing it from silver frost to cobalt blue to i need to sand all the way down to the bare metal.thanks :rolleyes:

No sir! Sand, prime, wet sand, shoot. Well, there's a bit more to it, of course... anyway, you don't need to strip the puppy. Just scuff it up enough to get the primer to bond. The paint will bond to the primer. If you need any help at all, post back. I'll be happy to walk you thru it! Remember that this will be a hell of a lot of work. I wouldn't reccommend repainting your car yourself, but if you've got the itch it can be done. Good luck!

:p Rob

Also i dont have a paint booth. i will be doing it n my own garage. is there anything special i should do. i appreciate ur help. my stepdad has painted b4 and he will be helping me. the reason i decided all of this is because my entire engine compartment is empty since i am rebuilding my engine. plus the body work is minimal. also how many coats of clearcoat should i use and how long should i spray the clearcoat on after i put the paint on the car. also i am getting the new body kit from the gb that Hellahydro started. all help is appreciated

Yeah, I figured you would be painting in open air. The only problem this poses is that your final product will be full of dirt and debris, but a lot of this can be sanded out and buffed to a nice finish.

Really as long as you have a decent compressor, gun, buffer, DA & sandpaper, and of course good paint... (whew) you should be okay. Another issue you will face is drying time. Many paint lines will not cure fully, even after an hour in a bake booth. Spies Hecker, which is what I paint with, sometimes won't cure for weeks after it's been baked and finished. In fact, for the first six months of your new paint's life the chemicals in the product will still be surfacing and curing. This is why you should never wax a new job.

As you can see, there are a lot of nuances involved with painting cars, and it would probably be a good idea to pick up some books at the library. They can help you immensly. Regardless, I've painted a car in open air and had pretty good results. It was a '71 VW Beetle with bad paint. I DA'd the paint, primered it, then shot it in white with a clear coat. It was very dirty, even though I took a lot of time cleaning my garage and keeping dust settled. Luckily for me, white is the easiest color to deal with and my finishing sand/buff wasn't too bad. Of course, two weeks later I found all the spots I missed.

As for the clear coat, you will spray on one coat almost immediately after applying the base coat. That's the easiest part of this whole process, though. It's the little things that will kill you... get those wrinkles ironed out and viola! You'll be good to go. It sounds like you're in a pretty good position to paint (with the motor out), so now is the time. Just make sure you're ready to finish once you begin. This can be a taxing process.

Like I say, any help you need is right here. No question is too stupid, and as you can see I'm very thorough!

No disrespect to anyone who is trying to give advice on something you obviously havent a clue as to what your talking about. BUT........

The 1st thing you need to do is go to that book store and buy a Paint & body guide, for around $25.00.

All you need to do to the paint to prepare it for refinishing is to use a grey 3-M scotch brite pad.Or no coarser then a 400 grit wet/dry sand paper.
Once you have cleaned all areas to be painted, using Dawn dish detergent. Scuff or sand any areas to be painted until it is completly dull , Looking like a white dull . You have no need for primer unless you are priming over body filler, or a bare metal area, bigger then a dime or so.

I could go on and on. But i strongly recomend you reconsider. Paint and body work is an aquired skill that takes years and years to master. But if you feel you have the ability to deliver the quality you are content with. And hopefully when you finish and people ask who painted your car. You say uhhhhhhhhh Maaco, yeah they f**ked it up.
Or I DID IT!!!!!!!!! And they pat you on the back and say man that is nice good job.Good work, will you paint mine?

Good luck and GO BUY A BOOK....... Youll be glad you did..
P.S better go buy a buffer too.Your gonna need it.

Explain this to me, bro: what did you tell him that I didn't? eah, I told him to prime the body first.. over the bodywork. Guess I should've clarified :p . I gave him warnings about the difficulties involved with this job, but if he wants to do it, then by God I'm going to help him out! I do know what I'm talking about and I would be happy to walk him through it... if he wants me to. I'm not going to type four pages of steps and techniques to auto painting unless someone requests it. Until then I will give basic advice and tips that I have learned while painting cars. I don't mean any disrespect to you, either. I just don't get your point... let's just help this guy do what he needs to do. :rolleyes:

hahahahahaha
Just pushing buttons to see what responce i would get........ :rolleyes:

My initial response was pist-offedness (just created a new word), then I checked your profile and realized you just might know what you're talking about. Good to see you were just pushing buttons, though! :p

is there anywhere on aol that i can get some more information on auto-body and painting. Also can i get a book like this at my local Advance Auto, Auto Zone, or Carquest store. Thanks again.also one more straight forward ? Will the paint cure enough by painting it outside an how long should i wait b4 i drive the car or wash it?

I don't think parts stores carry paint books, but I vaguely remember seeing a Haynes manual on paint & body... could be wrong, though.

As for the open air curing, I used rolling heat lamps on my Beetle. I'm not sure if you can simply let the paint dry. I'm sure you will need to bake it. Now, back to Extreme LX !