I probably will be flamed for this, but hey, feedback never hurts!

STORY: I own my car for a year only and since then I was overwhelmingly unfortunate having it hit on parking lots or whereever numerous times (hit-and-run, never was in an accident myself). Having such messed up look was just killing me so one day when I got upset about it more than usual I took it to first body shop I found to have dents and scratches done and have car painted. Well, they did a really crappy job so I took car away having it halfway done (sanding and filling only). I got few quotes then from reputable body shops to paint the car and the price came out to be pretty high and alike, and way more than I can afford to spend at this time, though I suspected it's going to be a lot more than I originnaly planned to spend - I plan to go to lawschool next spring and will have to spend tonns of money now on prepcources, LSAT and other stuff. Sorry Maxi - education comes first. But then, I cannot drive dalmatines dumb looking car either. So it's either cheap questionnable quality body shop or myself. I know that if I put my mind and energy towards something, I'm sure to accomplish it, the only thing I am missing is certainly experience. In terms of equipment I won't need that much I believe, spray-gun, infra-red heat lamps for quicker drying abd I've got a garage too. Still have to research a lot more before I commit towards something. But hey, some guys paint their Stillen lips, some guys paint cars at home just as a hobby. Plus my car is old I have to admit, and I know I will switch it as soon as I am done with grad school, so ... why not...

Thank you for reading!

p.s. Yes, that bra in my sig covers some big dents and deep scratches.

hey man it's not dumb at all.. get a good compressor, dryer, fans, and spray gun and you'll be good. Start with a couple small projects like a mirror or something. Make sure you prep it good. and since you're painting it you can keep workin' on it til your happy with it.

Why don't you get a full maxima bra to cover the whole car? j/k

If you really think that you can do it, GO FOR IT. If I had the detrimination that you have i would do it too. But I'm a sissy when it comes to painting. I tried to paint my 300zx wheels and we'll just say that they weren't pretty. But I personally would leave it to the professional or just cover it up.

But if you start to feel comfortable about doing it. It's definitely worth it in the long run. If you decide to do it, good luck.

well that pearl white is a very complicated color to start out with, it may be more difficult than lets say a black maxima. from what i remember about pearl is that different layers of paint and pearl need to be applied to get that cool pearl effect. i say practice on stuff first. try to find a junk yard where you can buy cheap door pannels that you can practice prepping and painting. i wouldnt just read a few books and jump right into it. this is serious stuff cause this will result in the look of your car. i say be carefull and practice before attempting this on your car. good luck

Thanks for replies. I ordered some books already from Amazon. Yes, pearl white is triple coat color and I am sure I would have really hard time matching those paint patches to original color in home conditions. That's why I consider to repaint the entire car into some simple color.
Certainly I will practice first as much as I can, starting with wheels this week which will be in gunmetal with polished lip.

buffing the car when your done is the most difficult part.

my bro and i painted my car. i did all the wrok and he put the paint on and the clear coat. i rented a paint booth for drying though. then we wet sanded it and came out very good.

try it and you might enjoy it nut drying will take long.

ummm... i would say don't do it, just because of the lack of experience. add to that the tri-coat... if the previous shop finished the filling and sanding a maaco type paint job might hold you over. or, if you're really cool, primer it yourself and ride like that. thats what i do to all my cars. PRIMER FOR LIFE!

A friend of mine was telling me about these anit static mat things that you can hang up in your garage that will stop all the airborne particles from sticking to your ride when you paint it.

just go cheap and go through maaco for now.

The main thing is getting a completely dust free booth. I just had my front end repainted from an accident, and there are tiny specks of dust all over the hood...going to bring it back to the bastards to repaint though.

I have painted my own vehicle in the past, and it can be done in your garage, btu it takes time and patience. It took me 3 days of prep AFTER disassenbling all of the removable parts. Some little things- tape off everything, have EXHAUST fans, use good paint filters, clean the gun as directed, keep the hood popped open and the engine masked off, use good paint, and get a good gun.

You MIGHT consider asking a guy at a paint shop if he would actually shoot the car on the side if you have your own equipment and location. $100 for his time might make a big difference in the effect.

It cost me about $400 all told to do my old cherokee.

You get what you pay for! I think painting your own car is pretty expensive if you are going to do it once or twice since you have to buy all the equipment, unless you plan on painting it with a spray can.

In that case you might as well just goto the crappiest paint shop and even they will do a better job then what you will do with your paint can.

Doing pearls is very difficult. It's a 3 stage process. And you won't know how well you sprayed the basecoats until the 3rd stage. If you screwed up, you have to start all over again. Not nice or easy. I HIGHLY suggest you work a painter to share the project. You prep the car as much as possible and him finally spraying the car. But I can tell you now, he won't guarantee you anything if you do most of the prep. If he sprays it good on top of a poorly prepped surface, it will look like crap. Also if you haven't clean/degreased the surface correctly, the paint won't stick and you are REALLY up poop creek.

He already said he's not doing the three stage pearl. He wants a simpler color to work with.

Is the 98-99 White 3stage too? What about 00+? Maybe you should use those.

Either way, it's pretty hard to paint a car yourself for the first time and get good results.

There's also the matter of meeting enviromental regulations. The paint is not that hazardous. It's the reducers, hardeners and flex agents that are pretty nasty. If a neighbor decides to call the police and inform them that you are painting out of your garage, that could me some huge fines.

I'd at least rent a booth that has the fans etc... Take the liability off your hands.

Lighter metallics will hide imperfections but spray mistakes are easier to see. Darker paints aren't as senstive to spray mistakes but show shoddy bodywork alot more.

Where are you guys looking to rent booths? I have a friend that wants to try and paint his car himself and that's really what's holding him back.

I would actually like to learn to paint myself. I have a compressor and a gun of unknown quality...came from a friend...completely clogged with primer until my dad cleaned it all out. One thing to consider is that I have heard that any gun that will be any good needs a compressor that can deliver about 11cfm @ 90PSI....which is more than my current one can deliver (about 8cfm @ 90). You will need a serious compressor.

The other thing is that you need someplace that's going to be dust free. I pay god knows how much to get body work done at a place with the newest, latest, greatest spray booth and I still get dust (I would bring it back except that I decided that they will never touch my car again). You're not going to get good results if you can't find somewhere to paint where you can control the dust factor.

Wow, got back from work and really did not expect to see so many replies. You guys have been reading my mind. I was thinking about it all day: How do I get rid of all the dust in the air, cause that is more than enough to screw up the work. But I have a good knews as well. I just talked to my uncle who got back from long vocation and he reminded me about a friend of his who has his small dealership and a bodyshop. So I will see him probably this Friday and will try to cut the deal with him, like I strip and prep the car, and he does the painting. Color I thing to go with would be light metallic.

ALso I see from responses that I would need a real decent compressor. So some $200 compressosrs on sale in Home Depot most likely won't do.

Vlad

mist the entire area with water right before you move the car in and paint, and have good filters on your fans

its not that its white that makes it three stage its the pearl that makes it that way....


it needs:
3 coats base (white)
2-3 coats pearl
2-3 coats clear

i think it would be better to use laquer thinner to clean it off right before painting(or at least thats what i use).

You can only wait like 15-20 minutes between coats?

not the car, the booth/garage/area your painting in to keep the dust down.

id like to see someone try to clean the car with water then paint over that.

I have read that if you use 2 or more coats of clear, it can crack.

All I know is prep is everything.
I had my hood repainted, and they didn't prep it right, and now, I am getting all these little demples in it like a golf ball. It sucks, but it has been too long since they painted it to take it back to them and prove that they are responsible. I mean, the stuff just started showing up, but they sucked anyway.

Paint is just such a scary thing.

I kind of wish we all just had primered cars. ha ha. I mean, they would be ugly as can be, but we would not worry ourselves to death. I know that paint is the cause for worry and most of my concern.

Good luck to ya.

You did say LSAT, didn't you? So that implies that you have a logical mind if you expect to get a good enough score to get into Duke, Harvard, Stanford, PENN, etc. I would say there are things that we do ourselves, even though it's not cost or time effective. Oil changes are one big example--the guy inspecting my car offered to do it for $9.95--it costs me more to DIY but I still declined.

I'm gonna say that common sense says painting the vehicle yourself is going to most likely lead to disappointing results. Not to mention your local code most likely does not allow for it. Someone suggested Maaco, maybe Scheib if he's still around. Why reinvent the wheel?

That's why I research first and try to find the best solution possible to this challenge. I wish I did not follow my mood when I got upset about the dents and gave away the car to the first shop I saw. But unfortunately I can't change things back, so let that be a good and hopefully last lesson to me (yes, I did burn my fingers before). I am glad I posted my issue here, that reinforced my doubts that without right equipment and proper expirience I won't get far. However, consequently it boosted my belief that I can get out of this dead end without spending my leg and arm. Such things as stripping the car, sanding where needed and preparing for painting I can do. If I pay the guy to paint it only and provide my paint (IF that is cheaper than his sources are), all I have to pay are the hours he spends on painting it, isn't it so.
Now I am not sure when I am gonna do it because I'm very busy lately and I cannot be without the car, will have to take some time off from work...

Thank you guys for feedback.

You should bring it back to them! An adhesion problem like that is *clearly* due to problems in the prep work. Nothing is going to really cause that other than their ****ty *** job.

One thing to do is if you spot anybody with customized paint jobs riding around your town, stop them and ask them where they got it done. Most guys are happy that you are giving their ride a compliment and will gladly share the info.

I painted my front fenders and front bumper and hood myself.
1 quart of paint was sufficient for two base coats on each of the parts I mentioned and at the end I still had some paint left over.
I see that you're in Stamford, CT. I dont know if you already got prices for paint but you can try the place where I got my paint in Norwalk, its called FinishMasters look it up in the phone book.
They match the paint perfectly just with the paint code. Total cost for the quart of paint, quart of clear coat, activators for both the paint and clear coat came out to almost $110.(not bad)
Oh yeah! DUST is the most important thing you have to worry about.( I have to redo my hood because of it)
Good luck.
If you do it yourself and need more tips let me know.

Small Update:

Car is in the shop and I should pick it up by Saturday. Color I went with - Sheer Silver. Meanwhile I am in the process of stripping paint of my rims in order to repaint them in gunmetal. Hell, I am so glad I let the shop take care of my car.

P.S. I am still a little high from that aircraft paint stripper...