Kiosk

So I will take the plunge and do this within the next two months....I dont have any bodywork to do and got all the painting equipment from a buddy. I figure worst can happen is I mess up royally and then have to take it to get profesionally done, which I will have to do anyways....cant take the paint chips and scratches anymore....wish me luck or call me an idiot!

I30swimmer

welll just make sure you do a PERFECT job covering everything.. tapeing it off you know. cause if you get paint inside or on some stuff well your SOL and the pros will laugh and charge you more to take that mess up off.. i figure it will prob look like crap but hey good luck take some before and after shots

slickrick

iTrader: (12)

ft.lauderdale eh? ill be coming home this weekend. i wanna see this car before you mess it up.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

You do know if the shop has to fix a screwed paint job properly, it will cost 1.5 to 2 x more.

silvermax2k2

iTrader: (1)

hmmmmm..... good luck with all that..... pics please indeed...

IgS

iTrader: (3)

good luck to you man, hope you are not attempting to do it out of a spraycan...and make sure you sand it and clearcoat it, otherwise it will look like garbage... i have seen a couple of DIY painted cars........eww

but good luck!!

Kiosk

LOL......

Yea I will take before and after pics...I do have some help from some ex-auto painters and good equipment so I am not alone. I plan at least 4 coats paint and 3 of clear coat....but to everyone point dust is the concern....if I screw it up I will have to sand it back down myself to take back to shop and not get charged too much for messing up.....i also plan using quality paint.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

So if you mess up, you are willing to sand down 4 coats of paint, 3 coats of clear and whatever costs of primer??

hasei

iTrader: (5)

I am no professional nor trying to sound like one, but recently I took some auto body repair class and painted both front and rear bumper myself (QN0-tricoat) with a lot of help from my instructor. I learned one of the important keys to have successful paint re-finish is prepping, especially the portion that has some paint damage. Wet sand, primer, wet sand until the surface is nice and smooth. I was taught that the more you take time to prep it, the better the paint result will generally be. Judging by the result of the paint finish on my bumpers, I have to agree with that. Painting a whole car takes a lot more time and effort but you have help from professionals and I think you will enjoy it in the end. Good luck.

R.I.P. Grandma

Good luck post before and after pics.

doublea

iTrader: (7)

Be shure to prep the car accordingly, once the car is prep you have to make shure there is no contaminent on the car, you may want to wash it with thinner when ready that will ensure you remove any dirts or contaminents, also make shure you dont paint in a garage that has a lot of humidity, that would make bubble on the paint and it would make a terrible job. Spray painting is almost an art, you probably want to apply many thin layer or coats, rather than thick layer which would end up in fish eye or orange skin as some call it. If you scrape the bumber to the plastic be shure to put a special bumper coating that will make the paint to stick
very well, I'm not talking about primer, I just cant remember the name of the product, ( sorry my brain is on neutral, I didn't eat since early this morning ).

One very important thing is to use the right spray gun, there is high & low velocity spray gun, it all depend on the type of paint you will use ask your local body shop supplier he will know what I'm referring you to.

Good luck

AA

BP

iTrader: (1)

good luck. as every one else has already stated, prepping is the key. repainted my own door strip and it came out very good, that's not a huge job but not one you want to **** up either. post pics so we can admire your work or laugh at you.

mdloops

BS. The worst thing they would have to do is sand it with a DA sander and they would have to do that anyways in order to paint it properly. Shops may lie and try to tell you how much more work you made them but in the end it is a load of BS. As long as you don't make a mess of the trim and use correct paint/thinner/hardner, you will be ok. Don't try to spray the inside of door moldings and such just stick to the basics. Work one panel at a time and do NOT RUSH. Read a book to learn about the proper sequence of prepping and painting. Do not go into this blind you will regret it. Also make sure you use Dupont Eurathane(spelling?) paint because if you use a laquer then you will be screwed. Also any good shop doesn't use laquer for regular paint jobs anymore. I have painted many parts of cars so pm me for any details about any step of painting. Make sure you mix the paint with the recommended thinner or there could be a chemical reaction and prep work is 85% of the job. If you screw up the prep the job will never turn out right. Also make sure you use a good organic respirator and change the filters often or you will screw up your lungs from the carcinagens (spelling?). You coats of paint is incorrect. When you sand down the clear coat you will need some extra layers of clear. I would put on at least 5 layers of clear because when you wetsand the car you are going to shave a couple off anyways. There is too much to know and my hands hurt now so read a book and good luck.

PM if you want to know anything else,

Mark

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

I'm familar with painting basics. How long would it take to sand though 4 coats of paint, 3 coat of clear?? For the whole car? And you mean you can sand every little area with a da sander? No hand sanding at all??? Let me know how much that will cost at the going rate of $60 per hour

mdloops

Who says they would completely need to strip off ALL the paint? You're trying to talk a guy out of it when he has already pretty much commited. My theory is it will never come out as well if he does it because he has no painting experience but I will stiff offer advice. A shop is going to rape him anyways because he will be in desperate need of a new paint job if he screws up. If he messes up the body shop is going to exploit the weakness. A lot of body shops are worst than the dealership when it comes to that sort of thing. I was just trying to encourage him because it seems he has already made up his mind.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Who says they won't have to? He he "messes" up, it will probably be in the prep stage. And if it's a prep problem, they will have to take off all the offending layers of paint. Or else the shop won't be able to warranty anything. It will only be as good as the last layer of paint.

I say just find a good shop and do it right from the beginning. Any savings he will get probably won't make up for the quality differences. Unless he is getting ALOT of help.

But if he wants to do it himself, fine. Just giving him all the situations.

BRAN808

iTrader: (1)

Kiosk, if your mind is made up, go for it! All I can say is take your time and do it right. As everybody has stated, the prepping stage is critical. I takes a really long time to do a "complete" paint job. I would strongly suggest removing all parts to get proper access for your base and clear. (Door handles, body mouldings, mirrors, replace emblems etc...) Mdloops, 5 coats of clear is not really necessary, but if you want it, and are willing to pay for the extra materials, than more power to you. We use Sikkens paint here at our shop, and they recommend 2 coats to get proper millage(thickness). Anything extra is just that......extra. With multiple coats of clear, you run the chance of more runs and rubbish in the clear. I understand about the color sanding, but if the vehicle is painted well enough, there would be minimal color sanding. Usually you would just de-nib a few areas here and there. Jeff92se is right also about having to get to the bottom of it....literally. If the car was prepped wrong, and not degreased before priming or even worse, before painting, if there were any contaminants below the surface, it would have to be taken ALL THE WAY down to prevent fish eyes. We just had a black WRX in our shop that had a hideous A/M paintjob on it. We were just doing a blend on the hood and changing the fender. I explained to the customer that we'd run into problems with the finish on the hood if he didn't want to pay to RE-prep the hood. He didn't want to pay any more $$$, so we shot the hood. Keep in mind, we DA'd the hood, but just the surface since we were only blending. My god, there were so many fish eyes on that hood, it was ridiculous! A DA sander is is good for flat panels, but for bodylines and grooves, you gotta hand sand it! Good Luck, hope this helps!

mdloops

It all depends on how much material you spray during each coat. I thought I specified that. HE was talking about light layers and 3 light layers of clear is nothing. Watch the professional painters and how much material they put on to get a GLASSY look. 3 Light coats of clear just is not enough considering you need to wetsand it and buff it all.

I don't want to get into the details again because my fingers can't take it:-) Good luck to you man but understand chances are against you and I don't think anybody would bet in your favor if it came down to it.

Mark

2MuchMAX4U

iTrader: (7)

I'm not saying I agree with it but, I once did the prep work on my 1st car a (78 vette). I stripped the paint to the fiberglass and a friend of mine sprayed it. All in all it was good, not great, but I choos white to help with blemishes. This project took about 4 months but I wasn't able to drive yet so I had time.

My only 2 cents are that painting properly requires a lot of time and effort. I am a perfectionist and would never take on the job of painting my maxima myself. I would have no problems doing the prep work myself to save money but never the actual spraying.

If you do good luck, remember prep, prep, prep; the better the sanding the better the paint will look; also remember light coats.

BTW do you have a place to paint the car.....SPRAY BOOTH???

Lontar1

iTrader: (5)

give me your address, I'll drive there and help you paint it and I'll paint my Stillen lip.. I have the paint already but not the equipment to do it......

jeff4725

Make sure to line up the nozzle with the red dot.

BlkShadow01

Much luck dude, you gun smoke it

sooner02r1

iTrader: (6)

BBBAAAAAAADDDDDDDD IDEA. my .02

Kiosk

wow....thanks for all the feedback people, for the good and the bad....I will definitely take my time, I am in no rush at all since I hardly drive the car at all. I talk to my buddy and we will probably pick just one part first like the front lip or the hood and see how it comes out....if its a total wreck then we can stop there and not screw up as bad. I have the $$ to get it done profesionally but I figure try DIY for about 1/3 the cost and invest the rest of the $$ on headers, stereo and maybe

scopium

hey i painted my kit my self pear white.. took me two tries.

tothamax01

good luck maybe you will find your calling in the auto body and repair buisness.
-adam

BRAN808

iTrader: (1)

I would suggest that you shoot the car 1 time and 1 time only. It's better to prep the whole car, mask the car, and shoot the car. If you mix color, don't do it more than once, because you'll run the risk of the color being off and you don't want that. Also, any time you shoot a full panel ( fender, door, quarter etc... you'd have to blend the adjacent panels....on both ends to guarantee a color match. Also, you'll spend less time and $$$ masking the car if you do it once!

TEEdotMAX

iTrader: (2)

much respect Kiosk for jumpin into a project like this. good luck, post pics, paint her good!

wild willy

iTrader: (10)

Be sure to get a high quality roller.....and i would go with a satin finish

MaximaMan77

Kiosk, how much time do you plan on putting in to this? And do you plan on keeping the car for a long time? If the answer to either of those questions is "not a that long" then you should either leave it alone or take it somewhere.

If your going to do it right like everyone else has told you prep is key. So depending on how much time you plan on putting in to it will decide on how good it will turn out. If you have another ride and plan on doing it in your spare time that would be best because if you're going to do it yourself you might as well do it right. If I were going to take this on I would strip the car down as much as possible. To me there's nothing worse than see a car that's been painted and you pop the hood or open a door and seeing the paint doesn't match. You can get away with the engine compartment but the inside of the hood & trunk along with the door jams needs to be done. With out a team of people working on it this will take quite a bit of time.

Also please keep in mind that all of the non-metal parts need to be taken off the car and painted separate, they need a different mix that has a flex agent added, otherwise those parts will be cracked and chipped inside of a year.

If you're still interested in doing this I can give you some more tips. I grew up with a friend whose father owned a body shop and did some of my own projects.