Have you ever painted your own car?

[sigp220.45]

My daughter's car is an ex-cop car 2001 Crown Vic. It runs great and has been no trouble at all, but the paint has peeled in some spots and she wants me to paint it.

I bought a house with a large workshop that is completely wasted on me. There is a huge compressor in it, and there are brass air outlets in the walls which I assume I can use to spray paint. My Dad has spray guns that plug right in, and the shop itself is plenty big enough to hold the car completely out of the weather.

So I'm all set, right? What do I need besides paint and stuff to mask off what I don't want painted?

I'd like to hear about your experiences in painting your own car (or someone else's) and what kind of pitfalls I can expect.

Thanks!

 

[venomballistics]

paint stripper, laquer thinner to clear the residue from the stripper ... zinc chromate primer, then we'll need to discuss finish systems a bit.
ya usually have a choice between acrylic, enamel and polyurethane .. each will prefer to have its own type of primer over the zinc chromate.
try to stick with one brand and type of paint system through the whole project for a solid result

 

[Duke426]

Unless this is something you've always wanted to do and can afford the time and money to acquire what "venom" has indicated and learn how to do it - pay someone else to do it professionally.

Personally I would have Maaco shoot a paint job on it and be done with it. Even their best job will be less than the cost of what you need plus your time involved and it is likely to look a whole lot better than a first timers DIY venture.

 

[Frank237]

Once painted an old Datsun pickup DESERT CAMO..... does that count?

I'd go the MAACO or Earl Scheib route, unless your reasonably handy and have a bit of an aptitude for mechanical things.

Your going to need a CLEAN and DRY air supply, a dust free environment, etc.

 

[sourdough44]

Yes I did, U.P. style. That was my 1971 Monte Carlo, black with a red racing stripe. I did it with a regular paint brush. I also had 2 coats of window tint on all windows but the front.

 

[venomballistics]

Maaco ?!?!? ... sacrilege .. thats the cheesiest shop since the kindergartners discovered your stash of spray paint.
Unlike the brake job elsewere on the forum ... paint does represent a poor entry point into the gear head arts.
if youve wanted to try it and know a thing or two about getting your hands to produce things ... go for it.
if in your research (I gave you just enough of a bread crumb trail to ask the right questions here) you determine it to be over your head ... then find a good shop by asking the questions the bread crumbs above lead you to .... you wont make it Maaco

 

[bitstream]

Had a friend with an old postal jeep once. His girlfriend painted it while it was at work one day... She used some flat white water based paint and a big 4" paint brush... Yes, it looked exactly the way you are picturing it right now. My cousin and I were laughing so hard we couldn't talk. That's when my cousin saw the paint can and realized it was water based paint. He grabbed a glass of water, juked past our friend who was trying to stop him, and splashed the water right across the hood. As the white paint was running down the hood and body, our laughter reached a new level. Then we noticed that the roof wasn't completely done; she didn't have a stool to stand on, so she only covered as far as she could reach with the brush. That pretty much completed the episode as our friend jumped in a drove off in a huff as we were now on the ground rolling.

 

[kritter]

yes I have, and don't.....
really for total cost involved, your close to MAACO price not to mention the expearance of mixing, getting the proper flow rate on the paint, proper prep, having to right "speed" in your painting to avoid runs, fisheyes, exc..
you could check with some of the vocational schools that offer bodywork & paint classes.. some offer discounts just to have something to paint on..

 

[cowboy117]

One of the nicest paint jobs i've seen was done by a cheepie company[the owner did the prep].99% is in the prep.Do the prep & let a cheap company paint it.Talk to the painter & pay him x ammount to do an extra special job.Painting a car is something for pros IMHO.

 

[venomballistics]

theres that M word ... again ....
auto paint was my profession for a while ... I got that job after a body shop owner followed me through town till he finally caught me at a gas station to feed my pony a tank of premium.
the subsequent conversation went thusly ...
"excuse me sir? where did you have this done?"
"No shop rat touches my ride"
"you mean you .... Okay .. what paint did you use?"
"Imron"
at this point he handed me his business card and asked rather politely to take a closer look ....
in his inspection he asked "What primer did you use?"
"Zinc Chromate base and Coralar"

"Stop by if you have the time"

a week later I was laying paint in his shop.

its a tangible goal if you are willing to do some gumshoe work to figure it out ... easy to do ... no .. it takes a level of finesse not common to any other aspect of automotive work .. you may or may not have this.

this will likely be passed along to a shop .... but what shop?
find yourself a local body shop ... no franchise car butcher like M word. and ask about what they use.
if youve done your research ... you'll know if they care to do it right or not

 

[Steave]

Man, I can't even imagine trying to paint a car. And lemme tell ya, if I did it, there would be so many runs, etc in the paint, someone would BEG me to take the car to Maaco!

 

[feralmerril]

I once had a friend who told me he painted his old harley with one of those old fly spray cans that you pump. Actualy he said it turned out good!

 

[JcMack]

I painted a '64 Chevy P.U. once with an electric vibrator sprayer. Painted it rustolium primer brown, and it worked out great. I tried to paint my then wifes '71 Volkswagon ragtop. I found a load of bodywork had been done on this used car. It involved a lot more work than I ever imagined, mainly because of my inexperience. When I was done, it looked like crap. Lucky for me that model was popular, and I sold it for what I originally paid for it. That was in '79. Don't paint your own car, unless it's a truck/jeep/offroad vehicle that is expected to look utilitarian.

You could choose a low cost pro job and do some prep. sanding and bodywork prior to save money. If the car is two tone pick the color the trunk and door jams are painted. If you must do it yourself. Thoroughly wet the garage floor down to hold down the dust. Make sure the air line has a water trap/filter.

 

[Duke426]

A couple things to keep in mind here:

We are talking about a 10 year old Crown Vic. Not a collector car even with the interceptor package.

Also, is your daughter a car enthusiast or does she just want something that looks clean and she's not embarrased to be seen in.

If it isn't a car she's in love with and going to keep forever, I wouldn't spend a ton of money on paint and body work for something that is just basic transportation.

JMHO

 

[m1gunner]

The better the prep work, the better the final results.

Fresh paint always looks better than weather beaten, faded paint.

Acrylic enamel with hardener and the proper speed reducer, and it should look OK. Try painting a trash can or something of size first to get the feel of the spray gun. There are some low cost HVLP gravity spray guns that work fine for what you want to do.

Anything you do should last at least 2 years, so go for it if you want.

As to cost: quality materials can easily hit $500 for what you want to do.

 

[venomballistics]

I'll still maintain my stance ...
we are collecting quite a few nay sayers in this thread ... their council has been adhered to quite long enough ... now, everything is made in China.
Do the footwork into the process.
you may opt out of a DIY at any time, but finish that footwork ... cause that knowledge WILL eliminate MAACO as an option, as well as weed out the rest of the hacks.
and dont opt out just because they, I or anyone else said so ... proceed, outsource, or abandon this one based on your own assessment of your own skills and willingness.
it is NOT impossible to roll out a work of art on the first try, but man you have to want it.
body prep is 70% of the battle ... and it can be akin to honing cylinders with your tongue depending on the tools on hand.

 

[medxam]

YES!, My friends and I painted several Ford Model A's back in the early 1950's. Just used paint brushes and some black gloss or what ever color we wanted. They looked pretty good!

 

[DeathGrip]

To even think of doing a good job is going to take you a lot of time.You are also gonna need some tools you don't mention.The cost of sand paper alone is through the roof and your gonna need a lot of it.I'm not going to give you a complete tutorial here,There's so much more.
I've painted auto collision and custom but every day was to much for me.But if you really want to do it it is rewarding as all heck when you roll out a fresh paint job.
If you don't have the time for all of this and decide to go the local Shake n Bake USA you can get a better job by doing some of the prep work your self.
Also the cheepo places use cheepo paint that they buy a bunch of.That's why you only have a choice of so many colors.they may or may not match your door jams and I personally think thats a really bad look.

 

[DeathGrip]

I do need to ask,What color is it now?And where is the damage?
You might get away with a partial paint job.

Now I'm gonna go and miss my painting days.

 

[writerinmo]

I worked for many years in other people's body shops, then finally opened my own. Frankly, it's a lot easier to paint a car than most people want you to realize. Todays basecoat/clearcoat systems are much more forgiving than the old days when all you had to choose from was enamel and lacquer.

HOWEVER...

Preparing a car to BE painted is yet another story. I will personally vouch for the fact that for every dent, however small that you can see, there will be another one that you don't. Finding and fixing ALL of these is the difference between a 55 paint job (looks great when you drive by at 55) or a great one. I did mostly insurance repairs and classic cars in my shop. I prefer the classic cars, that had metal that you could work with in them. I think you could melt down a 1/4 panel off a 57 Belair and make an entire body for a Toyota nowadays...

This said, I never used stripper on any car other than a total restoration. It is nasty, messy, stinks to high heaven and if you leave ANY residue in any of the little nooks and crannies then your bright shiny new paint will lift right off and look like hell.

Bodywork takes years to learn to do well. If you are just going to do one car than it would behoove you to farm it out. If you have any local technical colleges that teach autobody then it might pay to check it out, they usually only charge for materials.

I have used Earl Schiebs and the like cheapy paint jobs in the past. If you do your own bodywork and just have them spray it and DON'T buy the ultra-cheapy paint, you can still get a good job done reasonably... depending on the shop.

It isn't something that you just jump into. You are dealing with hazardous, dangerous chemicals, some of which can send you to the hospital with serious and potentially deadly respiratory problems. If you really want to learn, then I would suggest picking up a few books on the subject (recently published as the industry has changed immensely in just a few years.) and studying, maybe painting a few scrap hoods or fenders to practice. When you know what HVLP and activators and catalysts are and do, then you are closer to doing a good job yourself!