DIY Paint advice needed

I'm considering doing my own paint job and could use as much advice as you experienced painters can afford. I've checked out the knowledge section as well as most posts with "paint" written in it. Rob Mairs, Angela, Dave Johnston and others have contributed before and I'm sure others may have something to add also. Generally, the body is in pretty good shape with only a few spider cracks to fix up. I'd be looking to do it with the low bucks HVLP machine I picked up and never used for another project. Colour choice is the Porsche POR 51A Carrera Cream that Marty has picked. (Hope you'll take my choice as a compliment, Marty.) Anyone inclined to offer a bit of a tutorial or a list of do's and dont's, what is the easiest for a novice to handle etc. ? Is waterborne an option for a beginner ? Thanks.

Right on David! I hope it comes out great for you. I have only seen the color on new Porsches (in person) but I like it.

David - I am a clueless, hairless monkey for painting. Steve is the mad-skillz dude.

Okay, I do have some hair, but it's sort of a non-monkey color - think oranguatan.

angela

There are quite a few people who paint, but if you can get ahold of Mark Greenberg on the spyder club - he is probably the best source out there. He is in Canada, can't remember if he's still in Vancouver or if he is over near Calgary right now.

A PM to him through spyder club will get through. He ran a series of production shops in BC and is both skilled and knowledgeable. Plus, as he's in Canada, he knows what products are readily available up there. We've got some more restrictions down here.

Remember that any paint brand can be made in nearly any color. This is important because some processes and some paints are more beginner friendly. Obviously practice is good. Kids toys like wagons, that cool car Mango-smoothie did, etc., are big enough to actually practice on but not use too much material. Plus, you might make something really cool.

angela

Thanks for that, Anglea. I'll try to contact Mark. I'm hoping to hear from others within this group who have experience too in the hopes I can get some feel for it and other listers may learn also.

I personally like fixing the spider cracks (see other threads although I like 3m HSRF) and doing whatever repairs you like then shooting 3-4 coats of a good hi-build poly (last few times I used Evercoat G2...not sure if its still out there) and then blocking the car out.

After that it is your standard process of BC/CC applications.

I have painted all my fiberglass cars in my garage...except for a couple of early ones that were painted outside!

Based on the experience of Chris, my son, and me, I would recommend hanging drop-cloth plastic along the walls of the garage (if you're painting it in your garage) and having some sort of ventilation system going to exhaust the overspray. You only get one pair of lungs so take care of them.

I've always shot acrylic enamels and have had good results. They would have been better, but painting is NOT my strong suit as I tend towards orange-peel (although few runs).

I went to a seminar at an autobody shop here owned by a local car club member and they did a demo on water-borne paint. Very nice finish (the guy doing the spraying was a pro) but, as I remember, the gun orifices are different, pressures run are different, clean-up is different, primer is different, the only thing the same is the body prep. Made a bunch of us decide to run acrylic enamels as long as legally possible.

" ..You only get one pair of lungs so take care of them..."

Yup I would shoot a quick panel with just a shop rag over my nose or quickly blow primer on for ten seconds without any protection. These toxins gets into your pores and surprisingly travels throughout your body coming to rest in your kidneys and bladder and because of same, I'm bladder cancer survivor that was caught just in time.

why not try a coronary bypass on yourself, might be easier.

Used to repaint British Sports cars years ago with Acrylic Lacquer which was very forgiving. It dried fast and could be laboriously rubbed out to high shine if enough coats were applied. Not sold locally any more - but available via internet. Just materials would be $400. Probably 2/3s of a $2K paint job is prep. You might try doing prep and priming --- followed by block sanding, priming, and more block sanding --- and leave final shooting to a pro.

Ya I was thinking about painting my car myself but realized its probably best taking it to a pro. After doing some research it seems like you need a really high powered compressor so you don't lose compression when you are shooting. Also you need this thing which traps moisture out of your line. All in all it seemed like a lot of time and money for only one car. I may be wrong and would really like to see how your car comes out if you do decide to diy.

My first 4 paint jobs were the bodies on two sawhorses in my back yard with a little compressor and single stage paint. I finally stepped up to a bigger compressor and BC/CC paint. My biggest issue then was moisture in the paint because I was running the compressor for 7 or more coats versus the 3 or 4 for the single stage. I then picked up a nice air dryer and ran a dedicated copper line with water traps for the paint gun. I then noticed my air flow was insufficient for good flash times so I installed a huge wall fan to help with that.

If you wanted to do a 1 person, single paint job then I suggest the following:
1. Priming can be done outdoors. You are going to sand most of it off anyways. You need a big tip for most poly sigh builds.
2. Consider a single stage, non-metallic paint.
3. If you have a small compressor then consider spraying panels.
4. Always wear a good respirator and appropriate clothing.
5. be ready for lots of work and not perfect results.

That was exactly what I read about on other forums as well. It didnt seem worth the time and expense for me.

I look at it this way. I have more time than money. After all is said and done with the cost of materials, compressor, paint gun (harbor freight by the way) I saved money and now I have a compressor for air tools. For venting in my garage I used a cheap box fan and taped a ac filter to it. Make sure you have very good lighting. Even with a hvlp gun it gets a little cloudy while spraying. Make sure after spraying the high build primer you let it totally cure and shrink. I didn't and the body work is starting to show. The paint manufacturer doesn't tell you this.
Be safe and good luck

Some may cringe at this but....if you're ona budget go have a chat at MAACO telling tham what you expect and once you have it ..in writing... GO and talk to the paint guy there, tell him what you have coming in and as you hand him a $50.00 mention you would appreciate a decent job, this has worked for me on a few econo resto's.

A lot the painters that work at quality shops do work on the side. Even out of a home garage. I would find a guy like this. Do some of the prep yourself as it seems you are very handy and have the pro shoot it on the side.

I did all the body repair and prep, right down to wet sanding with 400 grit cloth, on the latest car...... Because I'm not a pro, I took it to the shop that painted my Spyder and ask the owner to finish the priming and sanding as well as paint it.... The owner took it as a personal project, and found most of the things I had missed..... Then he laid on 3 coats of color that GM could NOT master.... As well as two clear coats.... This was doors off, nothing on the body, no instruments..... All shot at the same time, with the exception of the outside mirrors..( shot later )

I saved appx.$1,000.00 by doing the glass work and primary sanding.....

Maaco shot my car in 1992 and did a clean job of it. Not perfect, but that was mainly 'cause I prepped. Looked good for 10 years after. You bring them a nice car and show you care, they'll probably take a little pride in it. An $50 tip for the guy shooting probably isn't necessary, but probably wouldn't hurt.

Leon...what did they charge for the rest of the prep and paint work? Ed how much work did they do on yours and do you remember the cost?

Three primer coats, block and finish sanding, and fixing a low spot on the hood along with removing the doors, hood and decklids, and then reassembley after painting ran me $2500.00.... This car was in rather a poor state when I started with it.... Massive front end cracks and lip damage, butt and nose sag. ( no front support installed ) Door, hood and deck misalignment.. etc. etc. etc. Paint was faded, and spider cracks were everywhere....

Three primer coats, block and finish sanding, and fixing a low spot on the hood along with removing the doors, hood and decklids, and then reassembley after painting ran me $2500.00.... This car was in rather a poor state when I started with it.... Massive front end cracks and lip damage, butt and nose sag. ( no front support installed ) Door, hood and deck misalignment.. etc. etc. etc. Paint was faded, and spider cracks were everywhere....

It was in 1992. I'd done a bunch of body work to it, pulled out some dents (not all, just most), replaced the front fenders, fabbed up new quarter patches, re-set the back window in a bed of silicone, stripped the doors, primed the car with clean metal brush primer, high-build spot putty and rattle cans, blocked it all out a couple or six times.

I took it to Maaco and asked them to prime, block and and shoot it with enamel. I also wanted a double pinstripe. They said fine. Called me the same day and asked if I wanted those last few little dings taken care of. I said no, as they were tiny and I figured it would double the cost, which was $400. They sighed and said OK. Marina Blue with integral clear.

Two days later I picked it up. It had a tiny bit of orange peel on the passenger door. My gap to that fender was tight, so the first time I opened it I nicked the paint on the door and fender edges. Otherwise it was flawless. I'm sure if I bitched at 'em they'd have redone the door, but I had no intention of laying the car up. It had spent the previous 10 years or so in various stages of primer.

Drove the car from 1992 until 2000. Drove from CT to Ohio, then to Florida. Drove all over Florida. Nothing but compliments, offers to buy it, offers to trade for people's Corvettes, etc. No one ever said anything like "Why the cheesy Maaco paint job?" No one ever noticed the dings.

Rust started coming back in the early 2000s. She was parked outside, under a cover, but that doesn't work. Needed a redo by 2003 when I sold it.