I had my paint job done at maaco about 2 years ago and it looks great.... UNTILL NOW.... anyway i am really into building my car and like to do things myself, so i was wondering...

1) what tools do i need?

2) where do i do it, and is there anyway to rent a booth.

3) if you do it in a garage or where ever what do to do to set up shop. like protection for your self, and for your garage.

4) I have never done anything like this, i prepped my truck myself before bringing it into maaco, cuz i knew they would do a half as job if any on it. So what are some hints or tips to help guide me?

5) im a very poor kid (im in college) so what is cheap but looks good.

6) also i keep reading about wet sanding and stuff to bring out gloss?? Can you guys tell me what this is, how to do it, and what the purpose is behind this?

Sorry for all the stupid questions but i always figured the stupid people are those who dont ask the questions... Or get their truck painted at maaco.....

 

1. At it's core you need a 1 good spray gun, a compressor that can meet your guns air demands, sandpaper, 1 sanding block(I have about 12 for different things), 1 sanding pad. Depending on dents and dings you made need things like body hammers, dents pullers, plastic spreaders etc..,

2. You need to do it in an enclosed space, I did if for a long time in my garage with nothing but the door closed and the floors wetted and had no problems. Finding places that rent spray booths are pretty rare. A local hot rod shop near me does. Another good place is if there is a military base close and no someone who is in the nilitary many of them have garages and even spray booths that they can use.

3. Protection for yaself is something where like in welding some guys swear you have to wear a sheild while some guys will line it up and just turn there head, you get what I'm saying? I would at the least by yourself a high quality mask one like 3M's cause you want something that you can breathe easily in and have no desire to take off. That is adequate for the occasional painter in my opinion. As far as your garage..... it really depends where it is located in relation to your house. Also anything you don't want to get paint on in the garage cover it!!! cause the paint atomizes and will be in the air floating everywhere.

4. Buy the books, ask advice do all those things and they will help. But the bottom line is painting is a skill and just like any other it takes practice. You will mess up it's not a maybe it's a fact. You need to do it, mess up, learn from it, fix it and move on. But take heart with practice painting is not something you can either do or you can't. Anyone can do it with the time and effort put into it. Best advice make very good friends with your local autobody supplier.

5. Single-stage paint jobs are the cheaper one and if don't right can look very good. But the problem is single-stage paint jobs are the least flexible to errors. So it's a tough choice for the beginner.

6. Wet-sanding is your best friend in painting learn to love it! LoL Wet-sanding can be done at different stages of your paint job. The first place wet-sanding is usually done is on your primer. You wetsand the primer with 400-600grit to help remove any imperfections and to level out the primer surface which will improve the rest of your paint job.

The next place wet-sanding can occur is on your basecoat(color), this is often skipped and not needed unless you are going for absolute perfection or fixing an error. Two things here is you can't color sand you last color coat if it's metallic. Second you do not have the option of color-sanding if it's a one-stage paint.

The final place wetsanding is talked about and what you were referring to was wet-sanding the clearcoat. After spraying your clearcoat/one-stage paint and letting it dry. You can use 1500-2000grit to essentially pilsh the clearcoat to remove imperfections, orangepeel, and level it out. Then you can either use that as a base for flo-coats fo clear or now buff the clearcoat out to a marvelous looking shine.

Final Notes: If you go through this whole list and start doing the math, factor in mistakes so added material, all the things you forget like tape, prep paper, sand paper. You'll find that it is about the same money to go have a quality body shop lay down a sweet paintjob. So if this is a one time thing for you just have a bodyshop do it, it will the same money and a lot less time on your part. If you want to learn this skill and have the tools for doing for the rest of your life. Have at it and have fun!

 

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GTStang hit the high points. The questions you asked have filled books. He certainly hit the nail on the head though when he said, if you are planning on a one-time job, have someone else do it.

The first car I painted, I painted twice by the time I was done. Some areas were painted 3 times. I would put it on and sand it off. That was the learning process. By the time I was done, I was a fair painter.

I'm not saying, don't do it. I'm just saying take a look at your long term plans before you invest a $1000 in tools (spray gun, compressor, airlines, fittings, sanding equipment, safety equipment, and a variety if things I have forgotten) and hours of work.

 

I really like having skill in things, but you are right, if im going to do it only one time there is no point. I did get my job done at maaco and it looked great, except for now i can see rust bubling the paint. And my friend scratched the crap out of my paint when we were putting the hood on... is there a way to fix these errors? if not i guess i have to save my money and practice or make the decision oh having it nicely done.

 

Just another thought on having a paint job done for you - Try to find a local trade school or college that has a Body program. They will usually do the job at quite a savings if you are able to give up the vehicle for a while!

 

ya, i was thinking about actually taking a class at the community college or even going and talking to them about it. with class cost and whatever im sure it will be teacher, plus i will have an instructor that knows his stuff and i can learn hands on.