What parts/tools do I need to paint my car?

BlueOvalStangGT · May 13, 2006

Towards the end of the summer I think I am going to go ahead and try to paint my own car. My sister has this 1980's Fiat which needs paint so I am going to practice on that first, then do mine. Hopefully that will give me enough practice that my car wont come out looking like ****. As a starting point, what tools/supplies/parts do I need to buy for this? I need to fill a couple holes(antenna,badges,etc.), fill dents, and respray the entire car black again. Where can I buy all of this stuff?

The Green GT · May 13, 2006

Well for the holes you can buy bondo stuff at pretty much any autoparts store.

SVTCobra306 · May 14, 2006

Well, to do it right you really need:

Paint booth
Bad azz air compressor system with a good filtration/water separation setup
a nice paint gun
the paint
the sealer
the primer(epoxy primer especially for urethane bumpers)......

You get where I'm going. If you want a good job, you gotta do it right. I was lucky enough to have a good friend who is a painter and does side jobs (and really needed help putting a blower on his '05 GTO)

giddyup306 · May 14, 2006

2 cans of Krylon

Danman765432 · May 14, 2006

When I went to get my car painted i asked the guy about the holes where the emblem goes and he told me that he couldnt just bondo them, that he actually had to weld them since it was to big of a hole.

stprorolla49 · May 14, 2006

Danman765432 said:
When I went to get my car painted i asked the guy about the holes where the emblem goes and he told me that he couldnt just bondo them, that he actually had to weld them since it was to big of a hole.

Thanks danman, i was just gonna mention that...the holes are too big, and you needa weld them up otherwise they will crack.

For prep materials, you'll need bondo, lots of sandpaper (60, 220, and 400 grit is what i used moslty), a sanding block, and a rubber sanding "thing" (kinda molds to body lines. You'll wanna sand the dings out to bare metal with 60 grit paper, then fill them with bondo. Fill them a bit more than level with the body, and get ready to sand! Once the bondo is dry, sand with 220 until just about smooth with the body, then sand 400 wet to make them smooth.

Then take the spoiler, head and tail lights, bumpers, side skirts, mirrors, A and C pillars, wipers, weatherstripping, etc off the car, and get ready to sand. Wetsand the entire car, and removed panels with 400 grit paper WET. This will take quite a bit of time because you'll get tired fast. Took me about 3-4 hours to to the whole car. Just make sure the paper, and body stay wet. You'll know when its ready when the water dries and the paint is dull and no longer has a sheen. Then you use a i think 400 or 600 grit (can't remember) 3M roughing pad to finish that all up.

Mask off all the windows, and anything else you dont want over spray on. Make sure you peel the weatherstripping around the front and back windows badk enough that you can stick tape inside, and fold it over to cover the visible part of the weatherstripping. This will prevent the weatherstripping from getting paint on it.

Materials wise, heres a simple list:

sandpaper
bondo
water
3M finishing pads
painters tape- we used blue 3M
primer
thinner
black paint
clear
decent spray gun (check out harbor freight or northern tool for decent guns for cheap)
good air compressor (20 gallon is probably a decent size)
water trap for air lines

I'm sure im probably forgetting some things, but these should get you started. I myself haven't painted a car before, only primed some bumpers for the chevelle, so i'm not sure i can help with the actual act of painting, but PM blk9450 who painted my car, and maybe he can be of some help. Hope i helped man

95BLKGT5.0 · May 14, 2006

http://www.autobodystore.com

There is a great web site that has everything you need even a forum for newbies. They have videos on body work, primer painting, and autobody painting 101.
It has all the info you need. I have painted cars and boats for over 20 years and I still learned a lot of good tips from the site plus there prices on tools and supplies are great.

http://www.autobodystore.com

BlueOvalStangGT · May 14, 2006

Danman765432 said:
When I went to get my car painted i asked the guy about the holes where the emblem goes and he told me that he couldnt just bondo them, that he actually had to weld them since it was to big of a hole.

Well thats not good, think I could pay a shop to do that for me? Is that just for the fender badge holes or the trunk ones as well?

SVTCobra306 said:
Well, to do it right you really need:

Paint booth
Bad azz air compressor system with a good filtration/water separation setup
a nice paint gun
the paint
the sealer
the primer(epoxy primer especially for urethane bumpers)......

For a paint booth I am gonna have to use my garage which Ill have as clean as possible. I already have a 25 gallon air compressor, where can I find a filter setup?

stprorolla49 said:
For prep materials, you'll need bondo, lots of sandpaper (60, 220, and 400 grit is what i used moslty), a sanding block, and a rubber sanding "thing" (kinda molds to body lines. You'll wanna sand the dings out to bare metal with 60 grit paper, then fill them with bondo. Fill them a bit more than level with the body, and get ready to sand! Once the bondo is dry, sand with 220 until just about smooth with the body, then sand 400 wet to make them smooth.

Then take the spoiler, head and tail lights, bumpers, side skirts, mirrors, A and C pillars, wipers, weatherstripping, etc off the car, and get ready to sand. Wetsand the entire car, and removed panels with 400 grit paper WET. This will take quite a bit of time because you'll get tired fast. Took me about 3-4 hours to to the whole car. Just make sure the paper, and body stay wet. You'll know when its ready when the water dries and the paint is dull and no longer has a sheen. Then you use a i think 400 or 600 grit (can't remember) 3M roughing pad to finish that all up.

Mask off all the windows, and anything else you dont want over spray on. Make sure you peel the weatherstripping around the front and back windows badk enough that you can stick tape inside, and fold it over to cover the visible part of the weatherstripping. This will prevent the weatherstripping from getting paint on it.

Materials wise, heres a simple list:

sandpaper
bondo
water
3M finishing pads
painters tape- we used blue 3M
primer
thinner
black paint
clear
decent spray gun (check out harbor freight or northern tool for decent guns for cheap)
good air compressor (20 gallon is probably a decent size)
water trap for air lines

Is their a particular brand of bondo thats better then the rest?What about primer? Ill have urethane back/side skirts, but my front bumper is fiberglass... do I need different kinds of primer?

BlueOvalStangGT · May 14, 2006

95BLKGT5.0 said:
http://www.autobodystore.com

There is a great web site that has everything you need even a forum for newbies. They have videos on body work, primer painting, and autobody painting 101.
It has all the info you need. I have painted cars and boats for over 20 years and I still learned a lot of good tips from the site plus there prices on tools and supplies are great.

http://www.autobodystore.com

Nice link.

Do I need a seperate gun for primer/base/clear? I am looking at the guns on this site and im pretty confused as to what to get. What guns(s) are you guys using?

xr8d302 · May 14, 2006

SUBSCRIBING!!!!!!

Therian · May 15, 2006

xr8d302 said:
SUBSCRIBING!!!!!!

ditto...

going through the same thing after the clutch is in...

BlueOvalStangGT · May 15, 2006

Teh Bump

Yobi1Kanobi · May 15, 2006

i dont know about all these home made paint jobs i think in order to do a decnt paint job years of practicing are needed. But hey if you wanna give it a shot yourself go for it but your going to end up with drips and spray blotches. If your not carefull as far as preping it is concerned that no that bad pretty easy actually. Spraying is the tough part I say prep it then find some one who does it on the side and give hime what you where going to spend on a spray gun and repainting the garage. good luck tho.

mo_dingo · May 15, 2006

yobi1kanobi said:
i dont know about all these home made paint jobs i think in order to do a decnt paint job years of practicing are needed. But hey if you wanna give it a shot yourself go for it but your going to end up with drips and spray blotches. If your not carefull as far as preping it is concerned that no that bad pretty easy actually. Spraying is the tough part I say prep it then find some one who does it on the side and give hime what you where going to spend on a spray gun and repainting the garage. good luck tho.

I would disagree. Prep is much harder than spraying. All the crap you have to remove/mask (tedious much), then all of the dents to pull/bondo/sand/bondo/sand/etc, then looking over the car dozens of times, looking for imperfections, bondo/sand those, etc......Once the car is prepped, the rest is easy.

I would recommend a good filter for the air lines, plus a really good respirator for yourself with many extra cartridges. Safety is most important.

Also, you will want a couple different guns. A detail gun is good for small areas and whatever custom stuff you need to do, as well as any precise spraying you need to do.

A medium sized gun with adjustable spray patterns is very important. You aren't spraying a brick wall, you still need some precision.

Spraying in multiple light coats is the way to go. This limits the chances for over spraying which = runs. And if you do get runs, don't fret. Some wet sanding will take care of that in a jiff.

You need very good lighting for this, as runs/imperfections/spots missed are difficult to spot with inadequate lighting. A shop light doesn't count. Bright halogens!!!!!

For a note, my work has a body shop with 15 bays and zero paint booths. We have been completely re-doing rv's for a long time without one. It certainly is not necessary. If some dust does get on the paint, that is what wet sanding is for.
Scott

mackey · May 16, 2006

It is all in the prep work. The more time you spend prepping it the better the paint will come out. You have to know how to prep different surfaces different ways, and you can't use just bondo on our front bumper because it flexes. You also have to use a scuff pad on that to get the clearcoat off. Make sure you know what you are getting into before you try and paint your own car.

94-302-vert · May 17, 2006

subscribing.

BlueOvalStangGT · May 18, 2006

95BLKGT5.0 said:
http://www.autobodystore.com

There is a great web site that has everything you need even a forum for newbies. They have videos on body work, primer painting, and autobody painting 101.
It has all the info you need. I have painted cars and boats for over 20 years and I still learned a lot of good tips from the site plus there prices on tools and supplies are great.

http://www.autobodystore.com

The only video I can find is the $35 one, is their others? Think its worth buying that video?

BlueOvalStangGT · May 18, 2006

Also, this video was reconmended on Corral....which do you think is better?

http://www.paintucation.com

94-302-vert · May 19, 2006

How much paint does it take to paint a car?

BlueOvalStangGT · May 24, 2006

What parts/tools do I need to paint my car?

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