Out of all the vehicles I've sprayed I've never stripped them down, just feathered out all the imperfections. Even when my dad had his body shop I can recall only a specific few that were stripped and that was usually only because the surface was that bad. If you really want to spend a lot of time and or cash, then yes, but you must also make sure that you put a proper e-coat primer down to etch the metal for proper adhesion. If you can do this work yourself the you will only be out your time and some extra product. If you have someone else do this, this is where it can get very costly. The first shot here is of my '84 F150 prepped and ready for paint, the second shows it shortly after I sprayed it (in the background is my '86 Cougar that I sprayed about 5 years ago), all just feathered out. p.s.the Comet's in the background also
"Hmmmm .... I thought color sanding was wetsanding the basecoat before applying the clearcoat." i don't know if this is "color sanding" or not but it needs to be done anyway. then wet sand the clear and buff. this will make it as "slick" as it can be. i'm a single stage man myself..frank...
I sprayed my F100 myself. I think the painting part of the job is the easiest myself. I thought I had all the little dings and chips filled and feathered until I shot the first coat of color. lol I could see eveywhere I did any work. lol. I'm going to paint my daughter's Maverick when I get it ready plus my wife's 95 T-Bird. I agree about the doing it yourself part If you have the space and the time. I think anybody can spray OK if they practice a bit and take their time. Might not be perfect but it'll look pretty good. The body work is where all the skill and experience comes in. If I can spray my truck and it look good enough to get many compliments then surly anyone can do it. lol Clint
In our shop, a quality paint job useing PPG basecoat and 3 coats of clear runs about $3000 to $4000. The actual paint colors can vary in cost. For example, red is one of the most expensive colors of paint to buy. Painting, wetsanding ( or color sanding) and buffing a car is very labor intentsive. The time spent on the wetsanding and buffing can mean the difference between a beautiful finished product and a crappy one. I don't know what the labor rate per hour is in your area is, but all that time spent painting, wetsanding and buffing is included in the labor rate. If the labor rate is around $60 to $65 an hour, then a $5000 paint job is not really that far out of line.
are you wanting a show quality paint job or a basic looks nice paint job... just remember...you get what you pay for....and uh oh...stay away from Maaco... cheap paint...will fade inside a year.... if left outside much....and cars are usually outside..
Looking for a nice wekend warrior paint job that will look good at "fun" car show, no concourse! Car is in the garage 100% of days. Except when I am driving!!
well you could always do it yourself.....or some of it yourself..... 1. sand down the paint thats on it.... sand out the little scratches etc... 2. buy a cheap paint gun 1 QT conventional or HVLP doesnt matter ($35.99) 3. buy a gallon of laquer primer... 4. mask off or remove what you dont want primered/painted.. 5. prime the whole car... ( clean primer out of gun using paint solvent) 6. let dry look for low spots and high spots and do body work as needed.. 7. if you dont mind the little door dings...you can paint... or you can do body work until you are sick and tired of bodywork..and that doesnt take very long. 8. wash the car with a mild soap and water... using a nice terry cloth...dry the car soon after you wash it... 9. tag rag the car 10. primer all the areas again one more time.. 11. repeat steps 6-9 until you are satisfied (at this point you could take it to a body shop and have them finish it...you will save yourself a lot of money in doing this....but remember, any bodywork you left WILL show through the paint if not done right or not done at all) painting Single Stage Paints you can buy a single stage paint usually about $40-$120 per gallon system (paint, hardner and reducer).. single stage is a gloss color paint and doesnt need a clear coat... spray 2-4 light coats over entire car until you have a uniform appearance.. 2 stage paints more expensive.. 140-1000 per gallon system... paint, clear and reducer spray the base coat like you did the primer. nice light coats until it has covered the entire car.. allow to dry this is where you can color sand the car...lightly sand with water and 600-1200 grit sandpaper...this gets ALL the orange peel from the paint out and makes it look like a mirror if there is bugs...dirt... sags..runs or any other blemishes...you can lightly sand these out and re spray over them.. once the car is sanded or you are happy with it.... solvent wipe the car (this is how i do it...as long as you dont soak the car in solvent it should be ok) and then tag rag the car to get any residue that is on the surface.. clear coat.. 2-5 coats of lightly spray clear... clear runs REALLY easy.. so take your time.. once the clear is on you can always sand and polish it out after you paint.. just make sure you dont let the buffer sit in one place to long or you can "burn" the clear this may sound like a real hard thing to do...painting takes patience and a even pattern. if you have airbrushed or anythng like that before , you know to take your time.. its all about technique and it takes years and years to master painting... i love painting cars...i just HATE bodywork... i can paint cars all day long if they are all ready for me to spray.. try a small area on the car first....like a door... or fender....get the idea for how to do it.... a hood is good as well.. you can save yourself thousands of dollars by doing it yourself and the satisfaction of telling people...i sprayed that car myself. but you can take it somewhere and have them do it for ya good luck... my email is always open for questions...
Thanks for the details. It reaffirmed that I would rather re-ring my motor (something I cn do)than paint my own car(something i can't do) LOL! But I do have an appreciation for the amount of work that goes into even a decent job. Thanks
when you have been doing something for 15 years...it becomes easy.. i have painted over 45 USAF jets.... and parts..wheels..etc..that goes with them... i have painted 3 cars. and primed 2 others.. i am no expert at cars and all the little tricks but i do know how to turn a wrench..there is very little i WONT do...tranny and rearend is where i draw the line...and i HATE electrical stuff for instance...i have a ford tempo alternator that i know i can have work in my maverick and several people have said oh thats easy...do this and this and be done....but i still havent..why? i dont know...just too scared to do it and fry my electrical system ...but i can lay down a very nice coat of paint.,..thats easy...the hard part and about 75 % of a paint job is in the bodywork.. engine is ok...i have built 2 and repaired NUMEROUS.. lol.. i dont know alot about selecting parts to make a good engine...i did build my 302 from scratch and from 2 different blocks. i wish i knew more about that part, i could have had a better engine .. hind sight is 20/20. ths good part of past lessons.. they are to be learned from. i just wish more people from this forum lived closer to me, i would GLADLY swap painting a car for some engine advice and work.
Painting a car is extremely easy to do. Its all the prep work that takes skill. A $8,000 paint job on a car that is poorly prepped, will look like crap. On the other hand, a well prepped car can look great with a cheap paint job. Pay a professional to prep your car and then paint it yourself. JMO
My car had 90% of the original paint on it. So, it was extremely thin. It was DA'd and sprayed with a primer/sealer (I didn't do it-not sure which) after the body work to take care of the obvious. We did not attempt to get it to bare metal, just get the original enamel off. We then spent mucho time blocking, and blocking, and blocking.... I believe Dan's car had the original paint too. Seth
So let me go off subject for a second and ask ya'll a quesion about my wife's 95 T-Bird. I want to paint it sometime soon. It looks like at some time in it's life before we got it it w3as in a wreck and re-painted. It does'nt appear to be 2 stage paint. If you wax it you get paint on the rag. It has no body work needed to speak of except a few rock chips. Can I just wet sand it, feather out the chips, prime it with a sealer/primer and paint it? Or is there other steps I need to do such as removing the paint that's on there. If the paint is solid do I just wet sand it, feather, seal it and paint? clint
if the paint is lacquer ( which might be why it is flaking off and thin in areas) you will need to put a catalyzed primer or a sealer down...this will stop the paint above from leaking through and lifting the lacquer below.... lacquer can be wiped off with solvents... and not good when you spray wet paint over them...they have a tendancyo to lift up, and then all that work is wasted...you will see big bubbles in the paint... i would suggest.... do a good scuff job on the existing paint and blending the chips or filling them in with filler materials... then primer sealer with a catalyzed primer.... once you get this primer on there...as long as you dont sand through it..it now becomes your base and you work from that...
I dont think lacquer has been used on cars for quite awhile. As long as the paint is in good shape and not cracking, you can seal it and paint over the top of what you got.
Typical of a single stage paint. Feather out the chips, prime it and you're ready to spray. On this new of a vehicle it would likely be either an enamel or an acrylic enamel that someone has shot on it at some time but I would guess to say definitely not laquer. Oem on this car would have been base clear.
