DIY Painting Opinions Wanted

[foothilltom]

Hello folks,

Forgive me if this question has been posted a billion times before, but I'm curious to hear any opinions, war stories, warnings, etc. about painting our own 69 Mustang.

I should first mention this is a father-son project car (my son paid $1500, so we're not in deep) and we have no illusions of creating a showcar. This is going to be his high school daily driver. In short, perfection is not in the cards, but we'd like the result to look good.

Having never painted a car before myself, I wonder if one can learn how to do it w/out creating an abortion a few times. Does anyone have any success stories, or advice on how to learn how to do this?

Am I crazy for even considering this?

A gearhead friend of mine just told me he had to wait 7 months to get his son's car in for painting and the job will probably be 3 more months at a cost of $4,000. This has led me to consider doing the job myself.

I know this is a naive question at this point, but I would love to hear opinions on whether this can be done. I'm not the dumbest guy in the world and willing to do what it takes to learn.

Thanks for you opinions!
Tom

 

[iskwezm]

I can say i was in your sons spot.My car was NEVER supposed to be a "show car" but well, things got out of hand.

You wanna spend time with your son and have appreciate the work. Both you and your son enroll in some bodywork classes at your local community college.Thats what my dad did with me, we did all the body work and I painted it the first time at 17. I learned a lot as well as knew what it took to get there and all it cost was enrollemnt in a saturday class and materials(maybe 1200 for paint)

 

[xoxbxfx]

bodywork is 90% of the equation in my opinion... spend the time and do it right. It sucks (atleast in my opinion it does) and you will put in many many hours hand sanding to get that nice smooth finish..but in the end it could be worth it.

Painting isnt hard...the key is having the right tools. A decent paint gun (dont have to buy a $400 one...but I wouldnt buy a $15 harbor freight special) and a compressor that can keep up is crucial. Also, a water separator is needed and needs to be away from the compressor. I have had mind bolted to the compressor stand for a couple years not and it doesnt do squat. After reading, I learned that the air needs to be cooled before the water will separate.

Like said above, materials will cost over $1000 if you do it right. Sandpaper adds up quick and a nice high build primer does too. As for the amount of paint, just make sure you get enough (even extra) and have it all mixed at once. Dont paint a hood with 1 quart and the body with a different quart mixed at a different time.

Put up plastic everywhere so you dont overspray everything and it helps keep down dust. Use a garden pump sprayer and wet down the plastic a bit and the floors to keep dust down. I like to try and keep the air hose over my shoulder so I know it doesnt rub in the paint.

Paint never goes down completely smooth, but the smoother it is, the less color sanding you will do. Id shy away from black in a garage because its the hardest color to paint and shows the most dirt in the paint when you paint it. Its really not hard, but again, the better you do up front on prep will save you time and materials later.

 

[iapexl8r]

its realy not that hard! just time consuming most of the work is in in the prep of the body as stated before. I have done it a few times with decent results. The last one I did I got the paint from the swap meet for 75.00$$ (for 1 gal)The paint was acrylic enamel , it was so much easyer to shoot than the two stage paints I have shot in the past. I say go for it some paint shops will rent you their paint booth for around 150.00$ good luck

 

[zookeeper]

I painted my car a few years ago, and I can tell you it's not rocket science, but it is very time-consuming and a lot of work. I read a couple books, rented a video, then sucked it up an gave it a try. Here's a couple pics of my very first paint job.

There is very little dirt, almost no orange peel and only a couple of small runs. All of it will buff out, and I did all the work right where the car is sitting in my garage. It's just a matter of cleaning your garage out as best you can, get it WARM and be patient.

 

[zookeeper]

Also, after using House of Kolor paint, I am a firm believer in using the very best stuff you can afford. I chose House of Kolor primarily because the books I read were written by Jon Kosmoski, who started House Of Kolor. But I was very, very glad I did. First of all, it's very inexpensive price-wise. The Shimrin base for both the white and blue were only (if I remember right) about $30 a quart. Although it sounds like a lot, I only spent about $1500-$2000 on materials, including the $150 Devilbiss gun. Because money was tight, I used the same gun, start to finish. That's kind of a no-no, but I cleaned the gun very carefully everytime and got away with it. The neat thing about the Devilbiss gun is that even though it's made overseas, you can get parts for it at any local paint store. Mine came with two tips, and I bought anohter one for the epoxy primer for $25. I also used a LOT of paint because I did the door jambs, engine bay, etc all in white. I also used about twice as much primer as I needed to because I blocked the car 4 times. That epoxy primer is spendy, but necessary. Give it a try, what's the worst thing that could happen?

 

[ForceFed70]

My advice is simple:

- At least 90% of the work is in the bodywork/prep. Spend your time accordingly.

- You will see a lot of DIY methods advertised lately that involve hardware store paint and rollers, or even spraycans. While this method works and can produce a very nice result... I don't think the amount of extra work is worth it. Buy an inexpensive HVLP gun and regular automotive paint. It'll only cost you an extra $150-200 over these other methods but will literally save you days worth of time and effort.

 

[xoxbxfx]

My advice is simple:

- At least 90% of the work is in the bodywork/prep. Spend your time accordingly.

- You will see a lot of DIY methods advertised lately that involve hardware store paint and rollers, or even spraycans. While this method works and can produce a very nice result... I don't think the amount of extra work is worth it. Buy an inexpensive HVLP gun and regular automotive paint. It'll only cost you an extra $150-200 over these other methods but will literally save you days worth of time and effort.

I agree with you 100%. While the rattle can and roller $50 paint jobs are ok, they have their place. I wouldnt EVER waste hundreds of hours of prep work to go with a cheap $50 paint job. Why waste all that blood, sweat and tears to go cheap at the end? Nicer bc/cc systems cost more for a reason.

Also, like said above, a single stage paint job can look great and its much cheaper. The only downside is usually you wont get the depth that you get with a clear coat. You can still get the metallics and pearls though in a single stage acrylic. For a daily driver and low cost option, it is a good one. When you get a chip or scratch, you can just buff it and shoot over and not worry about the clear.

 

[RogerC62]

I would do the roller paint job before ever considering a paint job at Maaco or Earl Scheib. At least you control the quality which those places lack.

Inexpensive paint don't necessarily mean cheap paint. Industrial (not the household) enamel may be better than automotive single stage enamel. These cars came with single stage enamel paint from the factory anyhow. There's no reason single stage auto enamels should cost more than industrial enamels but they do.

I'm gearing up to do the roller method myself but may borrow my neighbor's air compressor and spray it. I've sprayed several vehicles in the past at work as a fleet mechanic. My 69 has sat in primer for far too many years and saving for that $5000+ paint job just ain't happening.

Either way you decide, don't skimp on the prep work. Whether you spray or roll, a single stage enamel or urethane would cost less than a BC/CC and easier to repair dents and dings as the car will probably get a few with teens climbing in and out. that's my recommendation for a daily driver.

 

[NasaGT]

Lots of good advice here, I'll add one thing and I can't stress it enough: You can't rush bodywork or painting, you have to take your time. If you try to cut a corner it will come back and bite you in the ass everytime. Do it right the first time and it will save you time.

 

[Skymarshal]

Harbor Freight carries a Chinese copy of the DeVilbiss gun that apparently delivers identical performance for about 1/6 the cost.

I've seen the articles about rolling a paint job for less than $100, but I wouldn't do that on any classic car- only on a commuter or something.

 

[danny clemens]

It can be done because I have done it. My son and myself restored a 64 1/2 quite a few years back and did all of the work ourselves. We changed rear quarters, tail light panels and floor pans. I had to buy a MIG welder to do this but the end result was worth it. I used acrylic enamel but if I were to paint another single stage it would be urethane. It's supposed to be much better than enamel. Make sure that you don't cover any rust up with filler. Get all rust out and weld or glue a patch in. If you use an HVLP paint gun you'll have to have a fairly healthy compressor because they use a lot of air.

Good luck and www.hotrodders.com has a lot of good painting answers in the body section.

 

[ron67fb]

Here is the Harbor Freight gun which is now $20 from the old $60 price:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=43430

The setup page for it:
http://www.purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/techinfo/HVLPspraygun.html

I bought one myself for primer purpose and it's a dream to use. Being my first HVLP gun I was surprised on the coverage plus the reduced noise. I went back to my non-HVLP touch up gun and I thought something was wrong with it because it sounded like the blowgun. I forgot they're all that loud.

I'm getting another one, well worth $20.

I also have the HF turbine sprayer but never got around to trying it. Might be worth a shot for the compressor-impaired, however I fail to see how one would do a good job on bodywork without a compressor anyway. Unless you have lots of time and pain tolerance a compressor is a must-have. For a straight, rust-free body not so much but come on, look at what forum we're on. I could easily pretty-up my daily driver Mazda for $50, but the Mustang adds a few more zeros to that price.

 

[66forfun]

I would try to do the body work myself and work with a paint shop for final coats, thats just me though. I dont have a good size garage or paint booth or heat lamps. If the prep was good and all the trim was removed you should be able to get a decent spray job out of maaco.
Tools almost always pay for themselves but if your starting from scratch there will be some big buck items, be prepared to drop some coin.

 

[Platonic Solid]

Kevin Tetz's videos are a good place to start: paintucation.com

 

[Platonic Solid]

If you use an HVLP paint gun you'll have to have a fairly healthy compressor because they use a lot of air.

FYI, HVLP = High Volume Low Pressure. HVLP guns deliver more SCFM (Standard Cubic Feet per Minute) of paint than siphon guns at the same regulator setting. This is critical as the more paint you can lay down per stroke - the faster you can paint - resulting in less overspray and orange peal - thus less color sanding and buffing.

 

[zookeeper]

That's true, but you should make sure your compressor can keep up since HVLP guns use a LOT of air. The trick I learned from www.paintucation.com is to set your regulator, then let the compressor fill up and shut off. Then attach your gun (empty) and hold the trigger for two full minutes and see if the pressure drops at all. If not, your good to go. My compressor shuts off at 125 lbs, I set my wall regulator at 60 lbs and my regulator attached to the gun is set at 10 lbs. I can run mine for over 4 minutes with no pressure drop at the wall, so I know I'll empty the cup before the pressure drops. But some small 5hp compressors have a low CFM rating and can't keep up, which will lead to a splotchy job if you're shooting metallic or pearl.

 

[chromedog]

what zookeeper said... if your compresser doesnt deliver 11.5 or more cfm, consider renting one. also, invest in a couple of the final water traps that screw right to the spray gun. keep one unused until final paint.

 

[rbohm]

contrary to popular opinion paint material cost doesnt have to run in the $1,000's of dollars for a quality paint job, and you dont have to settle for a roller job, or krylon like a friend of mine. once the bodywork is done, and unless you are doing a high end show car paint job(maybe you are going for the riddler award??), you can lay down a nice paint job with a system from dupli color. it is a laquer paint system that meets todays epa standards, and runs about $20 per quart of product. and it is a base coat/clear cost system as well. you can be in the paint for around $120, including the primer, for the average car, and NO MIXING of paint involved. just strain the paint as you put it into the paint gun, and shoot.

 

[iskwezm]

i wouldnt trust MONTHS of body work to a $20 quart of paint............... I used HOK and glad i did