DIY Paint job or Leave it to the Pros?

[UNmolestedTA]

I have been contemplating this for some time. First, I know nothing about painting a car but I am willing to do some research and practice on some extra panels. Second, do you really need a paint booth to have a decent paint job or will a large shop suffice. Third, will tap water interfere with block sanding? BTW I have 67 camaro, 73 camaro, and 93 chevrolet truck that are in need of paint jobs, needless to say if I learned how to do this it could save me a lot of money. Thanks.

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

if you got money to burn.. pay someone GOOD.

if you got time to burn.. but no money.. study REAL good.

i say DIY..

[Bow Tie 67]

I have painted two cars and had no training or exposure to that aspect of the hobby. Both cars turned out very nice, in fact nicer than most " professional " jobs. As Amir said if you have the time, do it. I met a painter through my local supplier and went to his home and watched him do a side job. It is easier than it looks, the prep work is the time consuming part. As an example I spent 5 hours + just taping off my car for primer this spring.

[Yoda4561]

I'd say if you just want to get something on the car to keep the rust off while you save up for decent bodywork, then do it yourself. If you want it done right, then either do the homework and get set up properly for painting, or pay someone else to do it right.

Whatever you do don't rush, either yourself or the guy doing the work, and make sure they're good, as in they do solid work, not just some full of bondo slap job with cheap paints. That can be made to look really good, just not for very long. Nothing sucks worse than a 6000 dollar paint job with peeling clearcoat after 2 years, and that's personal experience.

If you decide to go the DIY route then definately practice on spare panels, or better yet a panel on the vehicle that REALLY needs paint. Stuff like airflow in your paint booth and humidity can make or break a paint job. Remember that when spraying your paint mixing must be exact, guesswork is just gonna waste paint. Prep is the hardest part, and probably the most important. If the surface isn't prepped properly the paint won't stick, you may not even notice when the clearcoat is dry, but sometime down the road it will bite you.

[UNmolestedTA]

Thanks for replies. This is definitely something I don't want to rush but at the same time I think it would be an awesome skill to learn. Thanks.

[Happyfunballs]

It will also help if you paint it a solid color rather than a metallic.

[opnwide]

Maybe just do the body work. That's where most of the money is in a professional paint job. Primer is a lot easier to spray, and you sand most of it off anyway. That's how I'm doing mine. When the body is perfect, I'll tow the car into town and have it sprayed in a controlled environment (not a garage with a couple of fans).

Also, breathing some of those fumes can kill you, really. Maybe its better to pay someone else for the final spray.

[BA.]

I'm sure you will be happy with the results if you do this yourself. Like they said, it's a LOT of time in priming/sanding/priming/sanding.

I've done some panels and a couple of friends have done their cars together. Painting is the easy part. lol. Prep kills.

[venturabeachpup]

It sounds like it's something you want to learn how to do. A good paint job is all about the prep. If you're good at the prep, do it yourself and then shop around for a paint booth. Some shops will rent their booth out for a day and you'll end up with a much "cleaner" paint job.

I have no idea what your set up is at home but just as a safety reminder, if you decide to do it at home....TURN OFF YOUR WATER HEATER PILOT if this applies to you. Have fun.

[Phishfud]

I did my 78 TA by myself, and in my garage. I practiced alot on old panels, and invested alot in a good compressor, hard air lines, driers, paint/primer guns, etc. I also have several cars all needing paint, and knew I'd get my money's worth. I had never painted a car before, so practice, talking to a buddy who is a body guy, and internet forums really helped alot. You will get a ton of different advice as to what brands to use, epoxy or etch primer, and overall procedures. All I can say is I am not a pro, but took my time and made mistakes causing me to repaint several panels. Dirt or small bugs in the clear can be wetsanded/buffed out, but in your base is another story. I used PPG Omni only because of the cost, and I knew I'd make errors. Take your time and be patient. It's a ton of work. The color you pick has alot to do with it. Dark solids and light solids can be done a panel at a time without worrying. Reds/oranges/metallics should be jammed then paint the car all together (so I've been told). I vote for doing it yourself, as the feeling of accomplishment is great, and the savings is even better. Here's the TA I just finished, all done by me at home:

[shizzy]

go for it. do all the research you can and ask anyone who will listen for advice.

pick the one vehicle out of the three that is least important to you and do that one first.

[JRouche]

Alot of great advice given here. The body work is a major cost, even if its a pretty straight body. I also didnt know anything about painting a car. I dont have the skills. But I figured I could do the prep work.

Mainly I just wanted to get the car out of the rattle can primer it was in, was starting to show some bleed through of rust, the rattle can primer is terrible for protecting a body, and I wasnt even driving it yet, it was getting sick (rust) just sitting in my garage. And no, not my rattle can job, that was how I bought her.

I knew I was far from doing the final paint, still alot of fab work to do. So my intentions were to just take it slow and do a panel at a time, strip then prime. I started off at the rear where it was starting to show some bleed through of minor rust. Got to town with the DA sander and it was like when you start peeling a sticker, just cant stop till all the sticker is gone LOL So one panel led to another. And before I knew it I had stripped the whole car down to bare metal.

I originally thought I wanted to use a self etching primer. But after alot of reading I went with an epoxy primer. You wont be taking your car down that far but I just wanted to show how a guy in his garage can get it done. I tend to stray from the original post a lil..

So I did alot of reading, trying to get some ideas of the pluses and hazards of painting.

Some of the pluses of epoxy are that its pretty much inert. The chemicals while spraying for one (no extreme hazards) and the reaction to the metal and other subsequent coatings. I liked that.

I layed down some epoxy on the bare metal after doing some metal work. And some serious cleaning. I wanted this bottom coat to be as tight to the metal as possible. If my paint job failed I didnt want it due to my prep work.

Now... The high build primer. Nuther story. That stuff is really bad. Its an ISO paint. Alot of old time painters that have been using an assortment of paints over the years will say ISO paints are no diff. Maybe for them. ISO paint wont affect all people the same way. But if you happen to be sensitive to it you can be seriously injured with the stuff.

I bought a fresh air breathing hood and air pump just to shoot the high build primer. And a couple tyvek suits (cheap) to keep the stuff off of me. I made a huge plastic container around the car with plastic sheeting and a fan with a particulate filter to suck out all the floating paint solids. The filter just trapped all the solids so my neighbors wouldnt freak out with paint particles shooting out of my garage.

I went a lil extreame. I wouldnt open the paint or mix it unless I was in my hazmat suit with hood and all. Pretty much a pain, but I have 75ft of hose so I could still get around. But painting was even worse, now I had the air hose involved. Hard to keep from tripping myself. What really killed me was the fast set time of the HB primer, it has a pot life of I think 40 minutes. Well you have to take in the mixing time, shooting time AND gun cleaning time. I felt like I was running a marathon. And the clean up of the gun was done while in the tyvek suit and fresh air hood too. I was soooo ready to rip that thing off me after just one coat of HB primer, it gets hot and sweaty and just a pain. I shot three coats of HB primer over two days. I wont do that again. In a proper booth, yeah, no problems. But in my really small garage converted into a booth, tangled lines, stuff in the way. Not fun.

So then after some work on the cured HB primer, two weeks of block sanding, I cleaned everything up again and shot a couple final coats of epoxy primer to seal it up. It will be ok till I ship it off to a professional painter for more body work that I missed and color/clear coat.

I cant do the final coats, I dont have the skills. Or endurance. Painters must have wrists and forearms made of steel. My forearms and wrists were screaming after priming the car. The hood was the worst, cranking yer wrist over to get the gun tip flat to the surface. I wont ever arm wrestle a painter LOL

Ok, in closing, I do think you can paint your car, no doubt. Its a car, not doing brain surgery on yer wife.

Will it be difficult, well yeah. But any job done right should tax you a lil, thats where the ahhh, glad thats done and sit back with yer favorite beverage looking at your work feel good stuff comes from. Some sweat and time will make you proud to say I did it.

Im a big time proponent of guys doing it for themselves. Whether its painting yer own car, making yer own cheese, making yer own beer, building a house to live in, growing a garden (chili peppers and tomatoes is almost salsa), doing yer own suspension alignment. Just making things that we normally shift off to the other guy.

And yeah, you want the best beer, the best cheese, the perfect house, the perfect paint job you look to the pros. But if yer like me, limited funds and the need to do it for myself, then yes, you can paint a car.

Will it be the best, well prolly not. Will it be usable and consumable (beer LOL), I say YES!!!!

Ok, some good research options for you. My favs.. Read all you can here and it will help. I site the SPI forum cause I used their products, but there are some pros posting there, good info.

http://www.autobody101.com/forums/
http://spi.forumup.org/index.php?mforum=spi

Couple of in progress pics to enjoy, we all like pics right??? Ive posted these before, but its all I have. Oh, and the fenders and doors arent aligned yet, they are just hanging there.

Stripped




High build primer



Some guide coat before block sanding.



Some major block sanding. Takes a long time.


And the final epoxy primer. She can sit in this for a lil bit..

[BWV]

I have been in the paint & body bussiness 22 years, all spraying & repairing cars . It is true you can do it yourself if you dont get in a hurry. Take some advice 1 Make very sure when it comes time to apply something over bare metal it is Epoxy primer PPG shopline is affordable. 2 When all filler work is complete make sure you use a Quality 2K Urathane primer surfacer PPG also makes on in shopline brand called JP 202 get very slow reducer & slow hardener . Even if you are painting in a garage. It will go on better and will not flash over to fast and cause soaking issues later . 3 Spend money on quailty base coat Not Omni it will not cover as well or lay nearly as flat as Global line. It is cheaper but you will use twice as much paint. Save your money by using Shopline as your undercoats , not as your topcoats. 4 Make sure you dont go cheap on the clear , once again I like DCU 2021 because it is very easy to spray sets up good but not to fast for someone that doesnt paint alot. Once again use slow reducers & hardner even if your not in a booth. put on three coats I dont care what the paint jobber says. You may need the extra material if you have to sand & buff any texture or trash out. If you dont leave enough material on the car it will delaminate and you will have a paint failure. Mix it right and ask people who spray for a living for help . 5 and most important make sure you have very clean air, NO WATER AT ALL IN YOUR LINE , REMEMBER IF YOUR METAL PRIMER HAS WATER IN IT YOU ARE DONE BEFORE YOU START. There are many other good paint jobbers out ther other than PPG that work well. Just dont use there cheapest line middle of the road for undercoats. Top end for base & clear . Ihave done many restoration jobs like this. ANy Questions please ask . GOOD LUCK , TAKE YOUR TIME .

[70TWO NOVA]

Im 23 years old and have painted about 8 vehicles in the past 3 years of doing this. I obviously have more time than money so I just doe into it head first. Im very glad I did and learning as you go is a fun thing. Ive painted in a booth and in a shop, I think great work is possible either way. Even if it doesnt come out that great you get a better knowledge of what is involved in case you do go to a pro. Heres a recent project of mine;https://www.pro-touring.com/forum/sh...ighlight=hatch

[wcardoc]

As the owner of two fairly large collision shops and someone with 35 years experience I will tell you you can do a nice job youself.
I agree with some of the already posted advice. Buy quality materials. Take your time. Try to have someone that does bodywork give you advice. I don't mind going to someones house or taking them to my shop and taking some time to "coach" them.
Also, you can get very nice paint jobs in a garage. I have painted literally thousands of cars with no paint booth in my earlier days. One trick here is to wet down the floor of the garage right before painting. Of course you need to clean the garage as best you can also.
Research in our industry shows that over 90% of dirt in a paint job comes in on the car. We start every job by washing the car complete including engine compartment, door and trunk jambs.
Here's another trick a very good older bodyman taught me a long time ago. When repairing dents or blocking take a clean cotton cloth and put that on your hand and use it to "Feel" your body work with your palm flat on the repaired panel. As you move this somewhat slowly over your repairs it will really highlight any high or low spots. even on repairs that look good in primer.
Good luck and have fun.

[JRouche]

Here's another trick a very good older bodyman taught me a long time ago. When repairing dents or blocking take a clean cotton cloth and put that on your hand and use it to "Feel" your body work with your palm flat on the repaired panel. As you move this somewhat slowly over your repairs it will really highlight any high or low spots. even on repairs that look good in primer.

For me I gotta say thanks!! Im always looking for the tips from the pros. Sometimes they are held tight to the chest and not given freely. Or maybe they just see it as a simple method thats not worth talking about. So far from the truth. All the guys doing body work for a living have some lil tid-bits of info that make their day go by a lil smoother. I enjoy all they have to share. They can help us hobbyists tremendously!!!!

Thanks for the tip. JR