Painting?

[midnightalero01]

i kind of want to paint my car a metallic black color and i know someone who has all the equiptment, however i'm not so sure about doing it myself or not... is it all that hard because i've read about electrostatic painting and that makes things seem much easier... anyways would it be worth it to try or how much would a job like that cost?

[AGT]

Originally posted by midnightalero01@Dec 13 2004, 05:36 PM
i kind of want to paint my car a metallic black color and i know someone who has all the equiptment, however i'm not so sure about doing it myself or not... is it all that hard because i've read about electrostatic painting and that makes things seem much easier... anyways would it be worth it to try or how much would a job like that cost?
how good a job you wanting...a good paint job 1500-3000, A nice azz paint job can cost all the way up to 10,000 depending on how much candy(clear coat layers) you put on. I would see what you can do. I know a dude named the Kid and he never painted but tried it once and started to impress people. did his truck frame and exterior paint himself. :thumbsup:

[midnightalero01]

would you suggest practicing on anything... and what :unsure:

[kwhauck]

your friends cars....:lol:

[smlzalero]

Yes!! practice!!!
I painted my old car and the first time it sucked, but then as I did it over and over, I got the hang of it and the last time it looked pretty dang good.
Also, painting someone else's car is always a good idea! No sense in messing up your own car if there's others to mess up!

[jamcllw]

Originally posted by midnightalero01@Dec 13 2004, 06:18 PM
would you suggest practicing on anything... and what :unsure:
I suggest a Geo Metro. Here's the first car that I painted. It was about a month ago and it's not great at all. It's got tons of orange peel and it's kinda streaky. It's all because after about 2 minutes in the paint fumes I was high as a kite and forgot that I was painting a car. :lol: But it'll do until I redo it in the spring. The color is Copper metallic and sorry for the night pic but I just took it and it's night outside and it's kinda a crapy pic. :unsure:

[midnightalero01]

could either of you two write me up some tips or what not... possibly a handy how to?

[AGT]

Originally posted by midnightalero01@Dec 13 2004, 08:07 PM
could either of you two write me up some tips or what not... possibly a handy how to?
I know for sure that you need nice even strokes back and forth left to right or up and down depending on the area. Stay a good distance back and...you are preping the metal properly right...sanding or sandblasting or atleast removing the original clear coat and then primering?

[bluephoAm]

What's the price range of restoring the original factory paint?

[AGT]

Originally posted by bluephoAm@Dec 13 2004, 08:34 PM
What's the price range of restoring the original factory paint?
haha...nothing is as good as factory unless you strip the car down to nothing but the metal and repaint and bake it...because that is what is originally done...you might check to see if you have a Vocational Technology School around like Metrotech or Votech and have their autobody kids do it...cheaper and they use the oven but no gaurantees if it will be Maaco or look like sucko :lol:

[bluephoAm]

Hahah damn.. that sounds like a good idea, though.

[Youngblood77]

Dude, if you're seriously considering doing this yourself, PM Bdyman, he's a paint guru to say the least. I HIGHLY suggest that you don't do it yourself though, as some things should be left up to the professionals.

[forbidden]

its not to hard it is all in the prep work... and if you just take off the clear before you paint it..... YOU seal it not prime it there is a difference... and use a good paint dont go cheep.

[smlzalero]

yea, make sure to prime the entire surface you want to paint.

A handy How To: sand, primer, sand, primer, sand, paint, wet sand, paint, wet sand, paint, wet sand, paint, wet sand, clear, wet sand, clear, wet sand, clear :P
of course, it depends if you're using a 3 step paint or whatever. you may not have to sand all that much. Just follow the instrux on the paint(if there are any)

[midnightalero01]

has anyone ever tried electrostatic painting... i just learned about it in physics... basically you charge your sprayer with one charge and then what you are painting with the opposite charge and then all the paint particles become charged and are attracted to the material... sounds like it produces a very even coat

[Youngblood77]

I have NO idea if that's done on vehicle paint, but I know that's how most powdercoating works. The end result is tough as nails, too. :thumbsup:

[midnightalero01]

ummm i tried to pm bdyman like suggested however i recieved this message

This message can not be sent because the recipient does not have permission to use the personal messenger.

This personal message has not been sent

help please?
:unsure:

[forbidden]

electrostatic painting is used for stoves and and washers.... not your ride bro.... It is where they make the paint a pos charge and the "stove" a neg and it bonds to it.. It is real thick paint

[Vtolds]

Bdyman was banned from the site for being a bad boy. If you try to do it yourself just go nice a slow using nice even strokes, may sound stupid but try to paint with paint can something first to get a feel for it. And that electrostatic painting sounds exactly like powder coating if you plan on powder coating your car it most likely wont work becuase I dont now if the make a oven that big and you would ahve to strip the whole car including the glass, I beleive you need to get the heat over 400 degrees or so for it to work.

[|Rev|]

yeah, bdyman was banned, I'm not sure of anyone else who knows how to paint a car that well around here.

[midnightalero01]

i dunno guys... my physics teacher made it sound possible with anything... his example was a spray paint can and a metal sphere... with the elctronegative fields, he painted the whole thing without moving the paint can it was pretty cool

maybe not though... i dunno it seemed to work

[Vtolds]

Electrifying a spray can sounds stupid and dangerous and would be way to complicated to do it to a car.

[midnightalero01]

how would it be hard for a car... just charge the nozzle and then charge the panel you are doing... or a rod touching it.

[midnightalero01]

also why was bdyman banned... and does anyone know how i can reach the guy?

[smlzalero]

He was kind of a dick to all he posted to...judging from my own observations of the boards. he always flew off the handle.

[Vtolds]

^Correct

[midnightalero01]

well anyways if i didn't do this job myself... does anyone know how much it would cost to have done?

[Super White Alero]

Go to a BD shop and ask for a Y-nozzle tip number, should be easily purchase at your local Sears, you don't need to bake the paint unless you going for the show room look. Start from the bottom and make nice long stroke side to side. Keeping the tip 9-12 inch from the surface(assuming you prep it first). If the tip is too close you will get runs if the tip is too far if turn out like the skin of an orange. Don't worry if you see you miss a few spt on your first coat, Most paint shop including myself uses 3 coats. Then a clear coat enamel to finish it off. The process take about 4 hours for the paint.
I suggest using a PlastiKote t-235. We never use Electrostatic painting because it cost way to much to do. And generally unless you going to powdercoat your car. it not worth it. And a ballpark figure for powdercaoting for the hood alone, say about $2000 and that stripping it down to bare metal.

[Texas_Alero_01]

Hey man it's Texas here. I say just go for it man. Be sure to practice first, Its good to get a nice feel for it. When you're done, you can say that you did it yourself. Just make sure you stand back about maybe a foot back and stroke up and down at a consistent pace. Be sure to contrast and follow tho on the scenes good, because it will look like your paint is fading. The coat may not look the same as the rest of the car. But go for it.

[Youngblood77]

Originally posted by smlzalero@Dec 13 2004, 11:19 PM
He was kind of a dick to all he posted to...judging from my own observations of the boards. he always flew off the handle.
I dunno, that's a toss-up in my book. He does have a temper, i'll vouche for that, but I think half of that's due to the way he's treated. People have come to him for help and suggestions in the past, then do the exact opposite, then complain about it. He just used to get tired of hearing the same old story. I'm in no way condoning things he's said and done on this forum that have offended other members, i'm just trying to shed some light on his side of the story, to maybe help people to understand why he's so high strung all the time.

The other reason he's frowned upon, is how he never sugar-coats anything. If he thinks something is a bad idea or looks like crud, he'll tell ya just the way he sees it. He just needs to work @ doing so in a polite manner I guess. :lol: I dunno, but if i were doing something half-assed, or just plain distasteful to my ride, I hope like hell someone would tell me before the damage was done, and he's definately good for that. In a way, I wish there were more people like him. Honesty is becoming rarer and rarer by the day it seems. :unsure:

Just my .02

[kddanger]

I have been painting my own vehicles for about 5 years. I went through the votech class and just paint in my garage. Painting your own car (without experience is ok) just don't have expectations for a killer paint job. One more idea is to ask someone who paints, If you do all the prep work (90% of painting a car) most are willing to come over to actually spray the car.

Go to PPG home page and the have all the product listings, directions, compatibillity, and trouble shooting guide. the guide shows diferent paint defects , what stages they occur in and how to repair redo them, and is also true of most other brands of paint.

First step is CLEANING You really need a clean envrioment, a clean car, dirt is the ultimate mother ******* when you paint without a booth. Also painting without a booth is a law infraction.

Then you sand everthing that you want paint to stick to. A new car like ours, sand with 1000 grit the whole car. take 400 grit to any scratches, chips. 180 grit to any small dents ( door dings, hail dents) and fill with bondo, sand flat. When sanding out sctratches etc. you want to feather edge the defect, (it should show all the layers of paint prime and be flat as possible. Sanding with the 1000 grit is very critical to the paint job. You cant sand in just one place. your strokes need to from end to end of the panel top to bottom, front to back. It takes alot of time. When done there should be no gloss to the paint it should be dull. The marks the sand paper leaves is all the paint has to "stick" to the car, if you don't have good sanding your paint WILL come off the car.

If you have a straight car with no or little repair work, then you can seal and paint. if you did alot of the repair work then you must primer the areas,( meaning large sections past the repair work, sand again with a sanding block/ board with 400 grit and check the work. it needs to be flat and featheredged. re primer as much as needed.

I can't stress how important sanding is to painting. If you can't put 100% effort into sanding every inch of ever panel, door jamb, the edges of the panels, for a color change on the car, the backs of the panels, the trunk area, inside the trunk, under the hood the firewall, If you cant sand all these thing 3 times or more, I think you should consider have it done at shop.

You can paint a car without doing this stuff. this is just what it takes for it look good.

I have plans to someday next year to pull my car all apart and paint it a tri-coat yellow (lots of yellow with a gold flop) I plan on having 1500 plus in matarials alone no labor.

For inexperienced painters stick to the older paint processes. I use PPG for example they have two ways to mix basecoat clear coat paint. the newer version is desgined for high flow body shops to speed up the process and it is very frustrating to paint with if your not really good at using it. I really recommend using the older DBU paint for inexperienced painters.

I hope I didn't scare too many of you here, I just want try and prevent alot money being spent and wasted, and ALOT of headaches.

[kddanger]

I know the boys at Pimp my ride get it done in 2 minutes, but that just doesn't cut outside the studio.