Painting Car

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ronw

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I need to know the best or easiest way to paint my dart. With the doors ,fenders, hood and trunk off or on the car. If on the car, how do you keep them from touching the body. The color I'm thinking of is a new silver for either a new Challenger or charger. Please relay the process or steps. Thanks Ron
 
Hi,

Easy and best are relative terms. A decent paint job is time consuming and not all that easy. Silver metallics are difficult to work with and color matching is not all that easy especially for a first time painter. You can get slightly different shades with them even out of the same paint in the same gun just by how you are laying it on.You can paint individual pieces separately and that is the preferred method for many restorers. I would suggest you do some research on auto painting, the forum at Southern Polyurethanes Inc. is an excellent site for learning about automotive painting and materials. The nature of your question suggests you need to do some studying up on the subject.
 
Ron, im in agreement with pete, I'm not trying to discourage you but by your post this is possibly your first paint job. if not them my apologies sir. painting is not easy as thought, if you work for a living then there are weeks and weeks (afterwork and weekends) of preparation just to get ready for the big day, then the painting process takes time as well. you need a good gun (hvlp), compressor, lighting, clean dry warm shop. I have painted several cars "at home" with no real paint booth its tough but im generally happy with the outcome most of all the fact that I done it myself. I did try my hand at silver and it turned out terrible. solid colors are much easier than any metallics especially silver. I have painted metallics that turned out but silver is probably the hardest, again im not trying to discourage you at all, by all means go for it, I did. I just wanted you to to be aware of all that's involved. and it costs a lot more money than just the paint itself, you need lots of materials. I suggest google the subject several different ways and read all you can. I also suggest IMHO use white for your first paint job (be it on yours or a buddy's beater). also I've done it in pieces and as a whole, if you don't have any help putting it back together afterwards youll scratch the paint. doors, decklids and hoods are heavy and awkward to install. leave it together. as long as you don't close the doors etc all the way during painting they wont touch.
 
I am also in agreement with Pete.
A few helpful hints:
My biggest concern with painting doors and fenders off the car is scratching the new paint when putting them back on. You can put masking tape on the corners to help protect them.Also, painting in sections may help. The biggest section would be roof, quarter panels, rear and rocker panels together with door jambs. Hood an trunk off and separate. Another day might be fenders, front(removed) and doors. Doors, trunk, and hood have to be painted on both sides so that is 2 days unless you have a way to hang them.
Masking properly is very important. You don't need want any overspray leaking inside especially when spraying door kambs.
Many hours of block sanding are usually required to get the panels straight first.
use a good sealer, too.
When spraying metalic colors like silver, after you get the color on right stand back a couple of feet and just mist a little more color over the whole panel to get the metalic dispersity even (no zebra stripes).
Mainly with your clear wait long enough between coats : when your masking tape is just a little tacky. Each coat takes a little longer than the previous one. You don't want any solvent pops.
Be sure to use the right reducer for your tempreture conditions.
And then be prepared to spend many more hours wet sanding out the orange peel and more eith the buffer.
 
I agree. No one is trying to tell you not to paint it the metallic. It's just that todays paints are not cheap; there is a huge chunk of change involved with the coatings. Lose that cash and we can quickly lose interest in our cars. One thing not mentioned, or at least I didn't see it. Pick a color, Buy a small sample, 1 pint! That's to take it home, and spray it on something and see what it will look like on your car, in direct sunlight, plus the practice in spraying. Some stuff is a 1:1 mix ratio, so the final amount is a quart size to spray. At least what I'm used to. But there is time. SO STUDY,STUDY, STUDY!!! Make this as painless as possible.
 
unless you have perfect sheetmetal, ( highly unlikely), you will find it is pretty darn hard to work the metal, ( rust repair, grinding, sanding, blocking, working filler etc), with the doors and fenders on the car, e
ven if you can jack it up pretty well/
then again, the problem of putting it all back together with out scratching something! LOL but, where there is a will there is a way!
yes silver metallic requires good equipment and most of all experience.
like everything in life, there is a learning curve. but learning is fun for me and lots of people. the painting tutorial in the paint threads is great read. good luck..
 
I forgot to mention that if you paint the door jambs with the doors on it is difficult to get the hinge area since the interior will probably be completely masked off. The door will be wide open but it is still a little tight to get the spray gun the right distance away when spraying the door side of the hinge area.
Practice on a junk panel is a very good idea.
 
because I do things myself instead of forking out a ton of cash and waiting 2 years to get a car back from any body shop, I like to tear the car apart, shoot the engine bay , inside the trunk , all the door jams and everything inside that needs painted including underneath the hood/trunk and hood/ door hinges. then I assemble the panels , get them all lined up, back mask and do my final block sanding and then shoot the outside of the car. people here know I preach TCP global because I can get great paint kits for pretty damn cheap for great results. its cheap enough that you can make a few mistakes along the way and afford fix them. my best advice is make sure you have a good adequate compressor, a moisture trap and filter, a good regulator and a couple flat panels to practice on. there are a ton of videos on youtube. getting your pressure correct and technic down will produce good results. its not all that difficult to paint a car. its all in the prep and practice.
 
I also agree painting in pieces gives a much better job,( I have done it together and apart) you have no tape lines, and you can cover tight areas much easier. just be sure when you put it back together that you use plenty of tape to protect the paint and have a dependable helper to help with the reassembly.
 
find a nearby community collage with a auto painting class and take it!
get some good paint too. in the classes i was in we were using limco (cheep low quality paint) it was really hard to get the metallic right so it made for good practice paint. ive been using house of kolor and it is soooooo much easier to do metallics but it dosn't cover very well. http://www.houseofkolor.com/Shimrin2/Shimrin2series.jsp
no factory colors but beautiful paint. also the price ranges drastically from 65 - 200$ a quart
 
gilberttitan08 said:
Just pay someone one to do it right.
Click to expand...

this subject has been argued on here plenty.

I agree with the comment of taking class at community college. you learn a skill you will use over and over if you stay in the car hobby. maybe make some money on the side to help pay for your " car addiction"???.

my goal is "decent" driver quality work. can I make it perfect. yes but I don't care to go that far, unless it is a car of real value, or a pretty dent car to begin with, just me... like the other guy, I prefer to paint under hood, jambs, trunk. interior , to go back in after all paint work. If much work to be done to doors and fenders, maybe hood.. pull them so you can lay them on sawhorses and work flat. I prefer to bolt back on then apply top coat.

like the guy says, a good compressor is so important. you can rig up lights, ventilator that will work. but for sure use a good water separator, and disposable one at the gun also. hope these pointers help.
 
I've painted two cars in the past, and I was very happy with the results. But prior to buying any equipment or tools, I bought a handbook (distributed by DuPont) on paint and bodywork. That was money well spent, there is a lot of tips and tricks to achieving great results.

That being said, my current car needs paint, and even though Ive had experience in the past, I'm just not in a position to take the time to do it myself this time. I have the equipment and the space, just no time to do it. I really wish I did, because it is very satisfying to look back at your car and see how far it has come.

So I'm sending it in to body and paint this time.
 
A metallic shouldn't be done by a first time painter. With metallics you need correct and consistent gun control. Beginner painters do not have this control and will heel and/or toe the gun leaving stripes. You also should not do a metallic paint job with the car apart because more than likely every panel will end up looking slightly different. Gun speed, distance and air pressure can all move the color around when shooting a metallic.
 
Thank you to all for the insight. I know I have much work to do before painting. I'll report back in a few months on how it all turned out.Thanks Ron
 
Ron,

I hope all the posts above have not discouraged you from what you had been planning for your car. Automotive paint technology has become quite complex compared to what it was when our cars were built in the late 60's and 70's so its easy to get overwhelmed by it. Keep in mind that no one was born knowing how to paint a car and everyone had to learn and you can too. We learn by studying information available and asking questions so, as you do your research feel free to stop by and ask questions. I'm sure there are many here who would be willing to help you.
 
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