fengqiu Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Hi everybody, new poster stalked for a while haha. So I've been wondering about repainting my vehicle. I see so many people with projects and painting their vehicles in their she'd themselves. I was always under the impression that to make a good paint job you need a super gun and compressor a temperature, humidity, dust controlled room As an avid diyer and cheapo I would love to give the painting a go myself Cheers guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rookie Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 a good paint job Yes, then you need all of the above. You can certainly do an acceptable job in the shed but it will definitely have imperfections in it. That said, with a cheap gun and a tarped off bay in your shed you can also do surprisingly good work, but painting is pretty difficult, and the prep work that goes into doing a good job will take a long time. But as long as you are aware of this then the isn't any reason why you can't have a go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fengqiu Posted January 4, 2015 Author Share Posted January 4, 2015 How cheap are we talking about haha. The main problem I have is that I don't have a compressor. Hmmm is that an absolute must? I'm assuming the electric ones are rubbish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rookie Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 I have a $50 gun and it works ok, but I have to be super accurate with my movements as it is very unforgiving. To paint properly you really need at least a 10 cfm compressor with a 50l tank, obviously bigger is better, but you can make do with a small one but you can get water in you paint. Basically everything to do with painting is about minimising damage; to do a cheap job in you shed you have to pick which things will do the least damage and then skimp on those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullitt Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Here is a good place to start reading //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/20121-paint-thread/?hl=%20paint%20%20thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhyscar Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 In my experience it's a pain in the arse job. Good weather helps with relatively low humidity. Really need a decent compressor and a good gun (read: well tried and settings well known by owner is best). Your average home diy compressor from super cheap etc isn't good enough. Try to find a 2 cylinder compressor with at least 50l tank and good airlines. It's really hard work on the compressor but also helps a lot if it can keep up so you don't have to stop or worry about the pressure - another variable you don't need when trying to get things right. I found a 3m plastic sheet for lining the shed that is static and attracts dust/paint particles floating around the air. Helps keep the dust down and make sure everything isn't covered in paint at the end.. like such In saying all this it is a prick of a job and all the work needs to go into the prep. Consider the actual work involved, your skills, resources available and what your expectations are before undertaking the job. I know for sure that my next car I'll just be dropping it off at the panel beaters and I'll just pay the money. Hope this doesn't scare you off its just my advice from the experiences I've had with painting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlownCorona Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Another factor that I discovered the hard way, that I've never actually seen documented. Is that they quality of the paint you use, DRAMATICALLY effects the final outcome, I spent nearly a month preping a starlet in the evenings, and the paint was really cheap shit from supercheap, and it came out nice, but just not what I expected. On the contrary, when I painted the engine bay on my Corona, with the nice high quality paint from spray store that I got for Josh to paint the whole body with. It turned out surprisingly nice for my substantial lack of experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spencer Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Yea well that's a no brainer. Anything from the recpo/supercheap is some crappy enamel or some out-dated cheap as fuck paint technology. The paint that lasts will be a 2-pac/2 part/2k (You mix the paint with a hardener that makes it set) whatever you want to call it urethane based paint. This is what every car now uses it has the best UV protection and hardness compared to older paints (ie it lasts). Then you have the Acrylic lacquers that can give good finishes and is easier to spray, but wont last as long and is more maintenance to keep looking nice. Most DIY guys will spray lacquer as its safe and easy to spray at home, although you kind of have to use 2k paint if you want a awesome job that is durable (you just need the safety gear to do it at home). There's enamel also which has its uses but its real soft, there's 2 part enamels but yea beyond the scope of this yarn. Anyway its a massive job, start researching and when you have specific questions I'm sure we can all help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tortron Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 I painted my morry myself - outside and it came out pretty good i even managed to keep it under $1000 including buying a second hand compressor and gun prep work is 80-90% of the job i used john deere tractor enamel (blitz black was going big in the hit rod community at the time) which was pretty cheap i just used a water/oil filter on the compressor, then a disposable one just before the gun. Hung up a drop cloth in tge shed and played with the guns nozzle and airflow settings till i was getting a nice pattern, then tried on some spare panels i had till i was confident i wouldnt cock it up. Then waited on a nice early summer day. With minimal pollen count haha. As it is i only got 2 little bits of dust, and one very small run in an awkward spot. The small compressors do struggle. But as a beginner you will probably want to go one panel at a time (ok for a solid colour not so good for a fancy metallic or similar) Of course you could do it the old fashion way with 50 coats and a tonne of wet sanding. My advice: if you are a keen diy'er go for it. You can hire air compressors which may he a good option if you dont have any other use for it. Buy a quality gun. Good secondhand ones wont loose their value, i got an iwata and then an old dewall? For primer. Use an inline filter buy good sandpaper. It will last twice as long Get used to sanding. The painting only takes a couple of hours, the sanding takes weeks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlownCorona Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 The cheap stuff we got was actually a 3m spray laquer, which is the 'same' as the quality paint I got for the Corona. Just saying that 'paint type' isn't the defining nature of the outcome, but I guess it is a no brainer cause you get what you pay for etc etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fengqiu Posted January 4, 2015 Author Share Posted January 4, 2015 wow, so many replies so quickly! Thanks loads guys. Yeah i was thinking about renting a compressor, i wonder how much that'll cost... hmm I think I need to do more prep work haha Hopefully i can do a nice job for under 1000 too. where did everyone get their paint from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spencer Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 My third paintjob I did was in the driveway and for around your budget. I had a compressor I could borrow, you need this for multiple days of primer work. I think hiring would get spendy for 3-5 days. If you are in the car game for good, go buy one. I borrowed an expensive gun for topcoat, bought a $50 primer gun. But you can probably get a good enough gun these days for like $100 I had a hook up at the paint store and used acrylic lacquer and matching solvent drying primer. Super cheap etc paint is garbage, go to a paint store. Now I wouldn't paint anything in this paint unless it was a ratty type build or I was going to flick it. Plus I had already learnt all the hard mistakes on my previous cars. I don't think that lacquer paint job would have lasted long and I didn't get it properly straight with some decent high fill primer. How long do you want to keep this car? what kind of paint look do you want? For me now your budget wouldn't even get the materials to do the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fengqiu Posted January 5, 2015 Author Share Posted January 5, 2015 hmm yeah good point, I dunno how long i'm holding onto the car for.. maybe i'll wait a little before painting it. what do you guys think of the cheaper alternatives? plastidip/vinyl? I kind of like the matte black look of plastidip but i hear vinyl is really hard to apply Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlownCorona Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I personally hate that vinyl shit, the second it gets a tear, or any damage, and there's really no repairing it without re wrapping the panel. Plus a mate got his hood wrapped white to match the rest of the painted white car, the court doesn't match and it looks like they used duraseal, also the wrapped under edges are lifting / never stuck down. Saw a few wrapped bmws when I worked there and all looks terrible. My 2c. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benno Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I've never painted a car using plasti-dip, but would not recommend it for anything further then some racing stripes or something. Firstly, it needs a decent base paint and once applied it really isn't that durable - a small scratch or scuff and it starts peeling off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickJ Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 +1 all said above.This is the set up where I painted mine, nothing flash but had a decent compressor and gun (plus help at hand, thanks dad!) paint was from a good supplier and whole job was sub 1k, I was in a hurry before winter with the weather coming in and did it in 10 big days, start to finish, only painting the last few, prep work is everything!Don't be scared, leave yourself with plenty of time and give it a go, but I for sure won't be painting another car for the next 5 years 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azzurro Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 prep work is 80-90% of the job ... Get used to sanding. The painting only takes a couple of hours, the sanding takes weeks this. putting colour on is like the very last step in a 10000 step process of which about 9995 steps are the same ones over and over again. Like others have said i was happy with the result having done it myself and have a bunch of tools and experience for the next one (but i dont really want to do the next one) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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