Paint Touch-ups: DIY or pro?

mooktank · Nov 1, 2004

my car is an 86 gt thats silver. The guy who had it before me stripped off all the paint (1 stage paint) and re-applied paint with a clearcoat. It looks really good and I like it alot it just needs some touchups here and there. There are tiny rust spots, small nicks, etc. I want to fix these little imperfections. Should I try to do this my self? I have all the tools needed (except maybe one of those airbrushes) im just a little sketchy on the procedure and if i could ever match the paint. Would it be better to just take it to a body shop? Would i need to repaint the whole car?

Mavrick · Nov 1, 2004

Professional paint guy can do nice touchups, it would take some blow in etc to get everything to match right. If you do it yourself, i doubt you could make it look perfect.

mooktank · Nov 1, 2004

yeah i was thinking it would be best to bring it to a pro once im done with the turbo and trans.

jpctln · Nov 1, 2004

I generally think of it this way: If the place you need to touch up is clearly visible, and paint blending is required, then have a pro do it. I take care of all the little things myself like rust under the door panel and in the hinges and weatherstripping and such. I have a spot on the front-left fender and the hood that need to be fixed, so I'm going to leave that up to a pro.

criticman · Nov 1, 2004

Don't waste money going pro...DIY all the way!

When I bought my silver '93, the side molding was chipped off of most of the paint and the yellow plastic base shown thru. All it took was matching the paint (which was easy thanks to finding the proper Ford silver in 5 min at Advance Auto Parts), good primer, and a good clear coat. I was able to repaint the strips on both sides and they match up dead on with the rest of the car as if they had never faded.

So, if you trust yourself, try it. Worst that happens is you spend $15-30 on painting supplies and learn that you just aren't good at it, and have to take your car to a shop. Best thing would be saving hundreds of dollars.

See my end results below.

Daggar · Nov 1, 2004

criticman said:
Don't waste money going pro...DIY all the way!

When I bought my silver '93, the side molding was chipped off of most of the paint and the yellow plastic base shown thru. All it took was matching the paint (which was easy thanks to finding the proper Ford silver in 5 min at Advance Auto Parts), good primer, and a good clear coat. I was able to repaint the strips on both sides and they match up dead on with the rest of the car as if they had never faded.

So, if you trust yourself, try it. Worst that happens is you spend $15-30 on painting supplies and learn that you just aren't good at it, and have to take your car to a shop. Best thing would be saving hundreds of dollars.

See my end results below.

If you're painting an entire "piece" of something like a trim strip or molding or whatever then do what crtitic posted. Paint it yourself, it's no that tough to get a good result. If you're painting body parts and need to blend so that looks good with the rest of the car. Take it to a pro. Your paint and clear just will not blend right out of a can or air brush, especially on flat or large sufaces. To do it right, a paint chip the size of a dime will need to be blended in an area the size of a basketball in order to look good. Then there's the sanding between coats and clear so that there's no ridge at the masking points. A small project becomes a large one in short order.

87GT 306 · Nov 1, 2004

Definately have a pro do it. I know someone who had one of his freinds paint his car and it looked like $hit. It looked like someone grabbed a case of rubber undercoat and sprayed it on his car. He had to have it re-painted by Maaco a week later.

bln92cpe · Nov 1, 2004

I am gonna get my LX painted soon and for 1500-3500 you can get a sick job done and that will be the last paint job youll ever need..I plan on getting it right the first time, so i am gonna have a ord do it. No maaco or 1 day paint and body for me.

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