60$ paint job
 

Heres my first contribution :) This is a paint job for someone like me on a serious budget. Its very simple, inexpensive, and yields great results. The catch? It's serious hard work. This isnt intended as a tutorial it's just a walkthrough of what I did. You could use it as one if you want though :)

What I used:
7 cans of "Rustoleum Protective Enamel" spray paint ($30)
Masking tape ($5)
Sand paper; 800/1000/2000/3000 grit ($25)
Various household products

This whole process is very simple. I'm not going to go into anything too advanced here, its mostly common sense. Don't over think it or try any weird techniques. I use simple back and forth motions with the sand paper and made sure to have plenty of water where i sanded otherwise the sand paper would get clogged up and be unusable. I used 2 sheets of each grit to cover the entire car.

I started by spraying the car to get off the bulk of the grime. I used a generic dish washing soap to clean the car. I then wiped the entire car with 90% alcohol to get any wax/residue off. To be completely honest this paint I used will stick to practically anything but as a good practice I think you should always make sure whatever your painting is as clean as possible.

I went over the entire car with 800 grit. I made sure to dry it off and wipe off any paint dust and inspected my work to make sure I sanded evenly, touching up as necessary. I only wanted to take off the clear and a partial layer of paint. I dont think theres any need to sand down to bare metal and primer. I used the existing paint as a primer.

I masked off anything I didnt want paint on with old sheets/newspaper and masking tape. I Followed the instructions on the can and sprayed evenly over the entire car spraying at about 8" away putting about 2 even coats on the entire car. I put 3 coats in areas that get the most resistance when driving like the hood and bumper to protect against rocks/sand/debris etc.

I let it cure for about a month and this was the result. You dont need to wait that long but I was in no rush. I would say a good week. Note I used flat paint. I chose flat paint because for some reason theres something about the properties of flat paint that make it stick much better and not fish eye or blush like gloss paint. If you want flat paint then your done. If you do it gloss and your happy with the results, I would leave it and just buff/wax it to protect it. Otherwise you can continue to do what I did to get a more professional result.

http://i1172.photobucket.com/albums/...8/IMG_1758.jpg

After I went over the entire car with 1000, then 2000, then 3000 grit. The 3000 grit is really what gave it the shine. Afterwards I used a generic wax and hand polished the entire car and this was the result. Note the taillights were sprayed with VHT but I used the same sanding/polishing steps.

http://i1172.photobucket.com/albums/...8/IMG_1791.jpg

http://i1172.photobucket.com/albums/...8/IMG_1814.jpg

http://i1172.photobucket.com/albums/...8/IMG_1824.jpg

http://i1172.photobucket.com/albums/...8/IMG_1827.jpg

http://i1172.photobucket.com/albums/...88/photo-1.jpg

Let me know what you think!

Re: 60$ paint job
 

That looks great..I'm gonna do that, one question though ..when wet sanding off the clear, do you have to remove it all down to the paint or can the clear be sanded down enough that it can act like a primer then lat down some flat?

Re: 60$ paint job
 

any tips for what to dp if u get runs in the paint