I want to learn how to paint cars and i have a stock z28 spoiler that i want to practice on. What grit sand paper should i use to remove the paint? Its doesnt seem that hard.........sand the paint off, primer, paint, then clear coat am i right? any suggestions? Thanks

 

The only paint expierence I have is .99 cent walmart yellow spray on my calipers..

It's been on there for almost 4 years now.. Only needing slight attention since about Aug this year.. (the rear's with the cheapo heatsink lines make em hard to clean out..)

I'm gonna re paint in a couple weeks or so.. I'm thinking "typical performance red" with some white (or silver to match my stripes) "CAMARO" decals..

BTW.. I barely preped.. Light sanding and cleaning. No primer... I put no clear coat or protectant on top either.. Lasted quite well for cheap paint on a daily driver..

 

i would assume that painting calipers and body panels would be comepletely different??

 

YEP!

 

I was kind of joking...

 

Its a long process and not worth doing unless you have the stuff. Ill give you the just of it though.

Sand it down with 80 grit paper, finish it off with 220. Spray Primer.

Block sand til its smooth with 600 grit paper, Spray color, then spray clear.

Its not easy to do, you need to mix the right amount of color with reducer and activater, same with the primer and clear.

Clear runs REALLY easy, but if you lay it on to light you get dull spots.

 

to pop your cherry, use a 1 stage paint.
you don't need to sand to bare metal or 'glass. get the clear sanded down and make the car/part smooth. like it was said above use 80 then 200 or alittle higher. i would highly recommend primer and then SEALER. then sanding with 400 is fine. if you use a 1 stage then you only need to add a hardener and thinner to the paint and spray it. much simpler and dosen't run as easy. keep the floor wet to keep the dust down and take your time. also use a gravity feed gun

spray the WHOLE car down with air in all the little cracks and boody lines. painting is VERY EASY. you have to take your time and prep the surface. the #1 thing is prep. if you sanded sh!tty and hurried it, it will show once you get color on it. again take your time and use a 1 stage urathane enamel.
some may hate 1 stage paint but it is good for a beginner and you can always repaint it once you get good. pic of my car are on my page. first time i ever painted any thing and i love the way it turned out.

sorry so long , hope this helps.
david

 

Thats awesome, great job. So how much did you invest in all the supplies, mainly the paint, clear, and gun. Do you think you would be any happier with a basic repaint from a body shop???

Sorry I have so many questions man, but I am looking to do the same thing, and hopefully this will help the thead starter out too. My main question is, do you think it is atleast factory quality?

Did you have problems with runs or anything like that? I have all the time in the world, well kinda, because I love doing stuff like this, so please let me know everything possible. I have a beater and friends cars to practice on. Are there any good writeups or sites that might help?

 

notstock... IT COST ME $305 AND SOME CHANGE.
i bought
3 rolls of tape (BUY THE GOOD $$ KIND, IF YOU DON'T IT WILL SHOW)
2gal of thinner
3 or 4 rolls of brown shipping paper for masking
1 gal of paint
2 qts primer
1qt sealer
box of gloves
sandpaper, sandpaper and more sandpaper
wet sandpaper

I AM MILITARY AND THERE IS A PAINT BOOTH ON BASE.
i used their gun also. that was $30 a day.

the only thing i don't like is a few spots have dirt or dustfrom one of the dumba$$es that worked at the paint booth shop changed a shop vaccuum bag in front of the only door to leave the booth and when i opened the door a cloud was sucked in and i SCREAMED.

OTHER THAN THAT. i just went slow and checked everything twice before i did a coat. and i FOLLOWED THE DIRECTIONS. i did what the can said. i waited for the paint, primer and sealer to flash off like the instuctions said.
i didn't have any runs of flat spots or any thing. i sprayed 2 coats of primer. 1 heavy coat of sealer.DO NOT SAND THE SEALER. AND ABOUT 5 OR 6 COATS OF PAINT.
i took 2 days of spraying and about 2 months of prepwork.


any more questions??? fire away

 

Do you think I could get a decent gravity fed gun for about $250? And why so much thinner, do you have to actually thin down the paint?

I plan on reading a lot more before I even think about trying this, but what do you mean when you say you had to wait for it to 'flash off'. Thanks

 

i bought 1 gal of normal thinner to use as cleaner and to thin the primer. i also got a gal of slow reducer( a special kind of thinner) for the paint. yes you have to reduce the paint. it won't flow right if you don't.

flashing off... means the amount of time it takes for the chemicals to evaporate off the surface you are painting. if you don't wait the correct amount of time you can get fish eyes. the paint will roll and not stick right. i waited 15 mins after each coat.

 

oh and yes 250 is plenty for a good starter gun.

 

Cool, I read some stuff before you posted and thats pretty much what I came up with. What about a clear coat, I didn't see you mention that at all...

and how much was the paint itself (and clear if you used it)....

Do you think your paint job is gonna hold up pretty good?

 

a 1 stage paint has the clear already mixed in it. you spray the paint and it does the rest. i think it will hold up great.it has so far. i got a urathane(sp) enamel because its tougher than the others 1 stage paint. i will be waxing it for the first time this weekend. i live in az so the sun is a pain but for 305 bucks i can do it myself every 3 years if i wanted. the paint was 169 a gallon i think. just call around to the supply shops in your area.

 

How long did you wait until now to wax it, I heard that you should wait like a month or something, but I don't know how true that is. It is hard to tell from your pics, but is it pretty shinny too, with the clear being mixed in??? I'm out for the night though, but thatnks for the help.