Well after completing my engine swap, decided to paint my car. My uncle was visiting from Mexico where he paints just about ANYTHING!



He is staying over for a while and he told me we he can teach me how to paint. Now painting the car was easy but the body work was the real Pain in the Buttocks haha. So I said yes and after 2 weeks, $400 dollars later, here is the finished product....


The car has alot more shine to it than what is shown in the last picture. It was just an overcast day...

Not too shaby if I may so so my self....

 

Lucky bastard you, why don't I have uncles who can paint cars! lol
Looks very clean, post more pics though. Mine is the same color.

 

Why go with black mirrors and a black grille? Body colored would've been so much cleaner.

 

I actually like the contrast better than the ho hum homogeneity of the contrary.
To each his own.

 

I will post more eventually I still have to wet sand it and buff it.


I was thinking of leaving it body colored but when I added black, I think it gave it a more aggressive look plus I wanted to mix it up a bit....

 

My thoughts exactly, you are correct.
The uni-color uniformity would've just made it look its age.

 

I did my grill black as well. Even though my car is green, I too like the contrast and the more agressive look.

 

Which would be perfect since there's a VQ35 under the hood..

 

Looks good! Good job

 

Take an in-the-sun-after-wash picture

 

i actually like it too.

 

It makes the car look unfinished to me As if he forgot to paint those parts but to each his own.

As long as the OP's happy.

 

I think a set of Retroed R34s or AE'd lights and smoked bumper lights would help the black pieces flow better.

 

That or a black lip kit, wheels etc.

 

HMMMM... future mods? I think so.... haha

 

ROAD TRIP!! LOL sure if I could make the trip haha

 

Looks good, lucky son of a gun a uncle who can paint now thats whats up....

 

WIN!

 

Nice job. Looks decent actually. If I were you though, I would've taken a little more time to strip the moldings, lights, and door handles though. The edges would've been lots cleaner that way. I would've also body colored the grille, so that it looks like a stock SE. IMO, the black grill just looks like you bought a new one, but didn't do anything with it before slapping it on.

 

Agreed... I have to go back and touch up some areas. We were rushed because my uncle was about to start his graveyard shift that night... I only managed to take out the tail lights and some accessories.

 

Very nicee. I saw a zx yesterday this color.

 

I like it a lot and I'd keep the black on those parts. Sometimes painting everything makes the car look like it went to a MAACO.

 

Not bad for a tape up job!

 

if it was your first paintjob i imagine it was either sprayed a tad dry or you got a run or two. id def take the time to wetsand and buff too.

 

more pics. looks good from the few pics.

 

Lol was gonna say the same. Not sure how long it will hold up, especially around the signal lights and such. Should have taken the bumper off and the lights out.

 

Looks good man. Wish I knew how to paint, I already know getting a pearl white paint job is gonna be $$$

 

So far it seems to be holding up. What really upset me was about 5 days after, my sister backed her car right into mine... It seemed to have hit a tough spot just above the rear passenger wheel. Well, I got away with a tiny dent and a scratch while my sisters left taillight broke and her bumper fell off...


I am touching that up as well. As for my sister....

Well Il let you guys guess...

 

Probably. It definitely is my first! Should be wetsanding sometime next week. We also realized that paint gun sucked B@lls. Now I am just going to use it for primer and really invest in a paint gun worth investing in...

 

i have a sata4000. i would definitely recommend it. but whether you get HVLP or RP is up to your preference.

 

Il keep that in mind. I was looking at a Tekna Copper that caught my interest. How do you think this compares to it? From what I read the Sata seems like the better choice IMO. I would probably stick to HVLP.

 

those guns are pretty good but i like the new iwata supernova that im trying out at work, btw what clear did u spray, looks pretty cheap, but then again u said u had 400 dollars in it, so not much to be expected......looks good though ......deff in for some buffed up pics

 

Nice paint job man. It's a great 1st attempt. More pics as you go.

 

Yeah. Uncle mentioned the clear was very very cheap. I stuck to the lower end of the materials. I bought the paint at Space Age. Other places I checked the clear was about $200 the very least! (Im guessing its the good stuff) The one I used is U-PUL Universal Clear which came out to $65 for the gallon + hardener.

Definitely will take my time buffing it. I heard Iwata's are good too. How much do the supernovas run for? I am guessing in the 700-800 range?

 

Yeah that upul stuff is garbage.......if ur on a budget try some of acme finish one clear. Pretty good stuff for only 100 bucks a gallon......yeah the supernova are a bit expensive but I'm just demoing it for right now, might buy it when my bills are cought up. But I gotta say for 400 bucks it looks pretty good, don't expect it to last long at all...

 

you can never go wrong with a sata imo. i like hvlp for spraying both base and clear and only needing one gun. but honestly an RP for clear is awesome. i love spraying clear with an RP.

 

Can you list the steps? I'm a 17 year old who can't afford a 1k paint job so it would be much appreciated! Thanks!

 

HA I wont. Hopefully by the time I need paint it again. I will have a nice set of tools, spend the extra mullah on nicer paint (and clear), and MORE PRACTICE LOLOLOL

 

Well there is ALOT :eek3:I will try to cover some of the basics. The most important thing to do and I am sure many would agree is prepping the car. This is the stage you want to take your time and make sure all the little dings (and big ones as well) are taken care of and any other body work the car needs.




This will vary on the condition of your car. Mine wasnt too bad. The only thing that really got us was all the small dings that happened over time. Here is a really good video I found on YouTube. I know its old but it shows the identical steps my unlce used to help me prep my car (he is old school). Most of the beginning is just how to remove things but the good stuff starts around 6 minutes into it... The series has 3 videos in it and they are all quite straight forward.

On video 2 of 3 looks about 90 percent identical to what we did !! The third kinda just sums it up afterwards.

This is just something for you to chew on and get an idea. I will try to make a nice little writeup tomorrow or Wednesday when I am not too busy AND lazy lol.

Anyone with experience please feel free to chime in!


Also, search my friend. Got the World Wide Web in your hands
GOOD LUCK!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwA2C...feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AJcb...feature=relmfu

 

Thanks bro, I appreciate it!