Intro to body paint

[laffycaffi]

Hey there. I have never done any auto painting before and thought it would be fun to take off my hood and see what kind of pro job I could do to it.

Any expert painters out there who could offer some tips or a basic checklist of steps and/or tools needed would be great. Thanks

[Gunnibronco]

I do paint & body for a living. I can help. Paint & body is a complex process, and have too many variables to address in one post. Everything depends on the results you want.

I'd plan to strip the hood completely (paint stripper, or sandpaper- don't over heat it and warp it). Etch prime or epoxy prime. Then high build, sandable primer. Then paint. Base color & clear will give the best results, but single stage is ok too. I wouldn't do a metallic color in single stage, though.

You are going to need a DA sander 6", probably. A variety of blocks, if there is body work to be done. Decent paint gun. There are sets for under $100 that will produce decent results. Again, it all depends on the condition of the hood & your expected results.

Keep posting up as you go, and I'll try to help as much as possible.

[laffycaffi]

Thanks so much for the tips. I'm not expecting the kind of results I'd ever get from a private but if what I can pull off with the hood is satisfactory considering I have hardly any budget, then maybe I can move on. Someday I want to drop $12K on a pro paint job. Thanks for being available!

[Jason_Marshall1]

I have painted a few cars in my garage with varied results. I used to buy materials at Heckindorfs off of Santa Fe and Hampden, but found a place - Auto & Industrial Coatings at 323 Airport Blvd #110, Aurora, CO 80011 (303) 856-7651. The owner here is fantastic, he helps with which chemicals pair together and he sells materials at a good price. he also sells paint is any quantity, so you're not stuck with a pint or quart left over. The advice from Gunnibronco is spot on; remember cleanliness is key. I use some dawn dish soap in the water when I wetsand, that seems to help with my poor working conditions in the garage. Practice, practice before you spray color, don't think color sprays the same as primer and I would suggest to spend the money on a primer gun with at least a 1.7 tip (some like 2.0 or more). The flash time is dependent upon air temp, take your time.

1) Once you have a flat surface (body work etc.) sand to 320/400 before primer.
2) Spray etch or epoxy primer
3) Sand to 600/800
4) Respray if you sand through or spray a sealer coat
5) I re-sand, but people say you don't have to
6) Spray base coat/color (2 coats)
7) Spray clear (4+ coats) Expect orange peel and the extra clear allows you to color sand it
8) Sand clear with 1500/2000
9) Polish with polisher and correct foam pad. Take your time here.
10) Polish again with swirl remover

In the pic of the windshield, I used a house of Kolor red sealer coat to get a deeper red color (the base/primer color does change the resulting color).

You'll see my setup in a pic below, I used 3/4 conduit with foam pads covered in duct tape.
I just finished this 69 a couple of weeks ago and am still putting it together. I even tried to add ghost flames in between one of the top coats, I'll leave you to judge the quality. I used a two-part metallic paint on this project and added the white pearl flames between the two top coats. I'm also available to help if you want guidance for a do it yourself garage job. There are tons of little tricks like air treatment before it gets to your gun, toilet paper filters, water containment and oil from your compressor etc.

[laffycaffi]

Awesome. More great stuff. Nice job, by the way