I am painting my own car and I was wondering if I can paint the body with doors, fenders, hood etc off, then put them back on and have them still match right. I really want to paint the parts separate because I want to pay alot of attention to detail areas like the mouldings for example. I want to paint the car then put the mouldings on after (ainted as well) so the car ends up body color under the moulding and ground effects etc. Redfire is what Iam using and it is a base then clear, not a 3 stage. Will the stuff match when reassembled?
A question for people with experience painting base / clear...like Redfire 4 example!
- Thread starter tim_the_toolman
- Start date
I know this post is for redfire but I thought I could answer this for you in case he's not around for some reason. yes you can paint you parts and have them still match up as long as paint them at the same time. set saw horses out lay all all your parts paint one part at a time and when you finished you last part the first piece you sprayed would have flashed depending on temperature and all then go thru and spray you second coat. I have done a few times now with vibrant red,chrome yellow and Kawasaki green nto on the same car mind you, but have not had any paint problems matching and I use dupont chromabase basecoat clearcoat hope this helps you out some
everyday the weather is different, "humidity" and temperature all plays a role when you shoot paint. the air pressure when you paint.when I painted my 87 LX, man that was a long time ago 8 years. I painted the body first and the next day I painted the hood,hatch and both doors and it was chrome yellow but to make a long story short it was a couple shades off. needless to say I was not a happy man. Talk to a couple of body shops and this is what they told me humidity and temp, air pressure, don't switch spray guns when painting base coat,and clean place to paint.next car I painted was a 92 GT vibrant red this car I did in a day From 5 in the morning till midnight mind you the car was ready for paint had sealer on it and everything just paint and clear that's it, painted and cleared the body waited an hour for the clear to flash rolled it outside Nice sunny calm day, then did the doors,hatch,and hood and ground effects let them flash and rolled the car back into the garage let it sit over night and started wet sanding the following day.once wet sanded and buffed it matched perfect
Iowa91LX
Founding Member
As long as you use the same gun, with the same fluid tip, at the same air pressure, with the same amount of basecoats applied, you should not have a problem.
Watch your air pressure and apply the same amount of coats.
IMOP flex additive is a waste of money for painting your mustang parts. Nothing is going to flex that much that it will require using it. It just thins out the clearcoat and makes it more prone to running. Then before you can wetsand and buff the run you must bake it, and once you bake it the flex additive is cured out. I stopped spraying cars using flex additive after I did about 5 bumper covers and the PPG rep came out and showed me how flexible the 2021 clear is without the flex additive.
I dont know what redfire is, but if it does have a high metallic content then after you achieve hiding with your base then spray a light coat cross directional across your parts to get rid of all the metallic streaks that guns leave. If you dont do this you will regret it and have a zebra striped car.
Good Luck and enjoy.
Watch your air pressure and apply the same amount of coats.
IMOP flex additive is a waste of money for painting your mustang parts. Nothing is going to flex that much that it will require using it. It just thins out the clearcoat and makes it more prone to running. Then before you can wetsand and buff the run you must bake it, and once you bake it the flex additive is cured out. I stopped spraying cars using flex additive after I did about 5 bumper covers and the PPG rep came out and showed me how flexible the 2021 clear is without the flex additive.
I dont know what redfire is, but if it does have a high metallic content then after you achieve hiding with your base then spray a light coat cross directional across your parts to get rid of all the metallic streaks that guns leave. If you dont do this you will regret it and have a zebra striped car.
Good Luck and enjoy.
Thanks for your input guys. I know I am probably just being anal but I want to make sure the jams and every thing are perfect prior to reassembling the car. And I have a bunch of little odd parts to paint too. My fear was that if I actually laid it all out I would need like a 5 bay paint booth. Maybe I can paint all of the major outer components at the same time and do the little stuff later. How many coats of base are generally laid on?
Iowa91LX
Founding Member
Depending on the color, and what your laying it over. Usually I apply 3 coats, I have done 4 before. Most paint companies require you to "achieve hiding" usually 2-3 coats of base.
EMW150
Founding Member
I just painted an '87 LX as you want to do yours. Everything matches up fine even though I did have varying conditions (temp and humidity). It wasn't redfire though, it was Ford High Performance Red (PPG Omni). As IOWA91LX said, you don't need flex agent. The new paints are very flexible without an additive.
