Anyone ever spraypainted their car?

[ollieboy]

I have this Starlet that i am trying to sell but it doesn't look like it will and was looking at redoing the paint on it. Anyone ever spraypainted their entire car, if so:

How many cans of paint did you use?

Did you paint the panels seperately or while they were still on the car?

How would you go about preparing the surface?

How many coats would you do?

What colour do you think is best so you can't see imperfections?

Any reccommendation on paint brand?

How would I finish off the surface?

Would you paint it inside or outside? Like in a garage or something?

How long do you reckon it would take?

[Alex B]

Oh god

Not reccomended man, spray cans will fade and look arse plus good luck getting a nice finish with out decking out your work shop something cronic.

[ollieboy]

Oh god

Not reccomended man, spray cans will fade and look arse plus good luck getting a nice finish with out decking out your work shop something cronic.

Yeah I wasn't expecting it to look real good but I thought it might look alright. Whaddya reckon of Primer colour LOL. If it fades does it fade evenly because that might look normal if it fades evenly. J/K.

Yeah I was just thinking about spraypainting it really because the paint already on their is real wasted, it got smashed in a Hail storm a few months back and its never been the same since.

Would you know how much it costs to get it done by professionals, I'm guessing quite a bit thats why I chose the budget option Lol.

[Alex B]

Not a clue man, will be cheeper if you do all the prep work your self tho. Have a drive around ya local car painters.

[Emperor]

Hire a compressor and all the guns, buy some paint, and DIY.

[Alex B]

a DECENT compressor as the cheep ones cant keep a good enough pressure leading to an un even job.

[ollieboy]

a DECENT compressor as the cheep ones cant keep a good enough pressure leading to an un even job.

I know one I can borrow. I am not sure about the pressure though. We used it to fire a 600mL bottle rocket about 70 metres in a Physics class, does that sound powerful enough?

[Alex B]

I wouldnt have a clue man, its more to do with supplying a constant amount of pressure, when as that experment (which i won in 4th form all those years ago ) doesnt accualy require that much air.

[ollieboy]

I wouldnt have a clue man, its more to do with supplying a constant amount of pressure, when as that experment (which i won in 4th form all those years ago ) doesnt accualy require that much air.

That experiment is awesome aye? When we did it we got a bung that was about 3 times the size of the lid and we had to bend it and stuff to jam it in. We managed to get it in after about half an hour and then when we put the compressor on it just sat there for ages and filled up with air until it was rock hard, the after a while it eventually took off, it was quite spectacular.

Yeah, thanks for your help, i will look into it.

[Ae92typeX]

Have a look through search as spraying cars has been covered afew times before pretty well, but, heres afew of my short answers:

How many cans of paint did you use?

No-one is going to reccomend cans (as above) to do a car. you can do it, but it will take a shit load especially to get a good even coat. It can be done with 'ok' results, but expect to spend a lot more time colour sanding in the final process.

Did you paint the panels seperately or while they were still on the car?

Can be done either way. Three cars I have painted were on the car, the Mini and the Aw both have been off the car- mainly so I can change the colour throughout the whole vehicle. However- Im painting straight colours- for metalic you have to do on the car really.

How would you go about preparing the surface?

Prepping is the most important- you could have a whole discussion just on that easy. In summary, if you dont sand & prep correctly you have a shit show in getting even an ok finish really. the final spray is only 5% of the job imo.

How many coats would you do?

depends on the paint 2k or acrylic enamel two coats can be adequate. Laquer about 4-5 coats is better. Then there is clear coat if you use that also.

What colour do you think is best so you can't see imperfections?

White hides imperfections alright, but any gloss paint will show them anyway really. Matt and primer probably does the best job, but then its not going to look quite the same is it.

How would I finish off the surface?

Depending on the paint used you may not have to do anything. With spray cans and often with laquer you need to colour sand. This is when you wet sand the surface with 1200+ grit paper to a dull finish then buff to a high gloss.

Would you paint it inside or outside? Like in a garage or something?

Inside is beter as you dont have random particles flying all over, BUT you have to make sure it is washed down and dusted otherwise it is not much better. Ive had good success both ways, but if spraying outside you need to choose the area and conditions carefully.

How long do you reckon it would take?

Prepping takes the longest and totally depends on how good you want the finish. Could be anywhere from afew days to afew months. Spraying , again depending on method, I'd give a day to prime, then next day sand, then next day spray and depending on paint wait afew days to a week to colour sand if required. Could do most of that in a day if there was a big hurry I guess.

[pervert]

If you really want to spray it with a can, use matt black, it looks the same no matter how you apply it, I did my RWD 323 thrash wagon, and it took about 5-6 cans...

I didn't even tape the windows/lights or anything, just used a bit of cardboard preventing overspray as I went around the car...

It didn't come out too bad at all (no prep-work either, I didn't even wash the car... ), when it was dirty you could hardly tell it was a spray-can job...

Matt black is the way to go...

I even sold it as well, and the guy that bought it thought it looked fine...

[Muzzie]

10 cans of blue - 2 coats of blue.

4 cans of clear - 3 coats of clear.

[Caveman]

10 cans of blue - 2 coats of blue.

4 cans of clear - 3 coats of clear.

Care to elaborate on that? How big were the cans?

I used one 400g can of black to do the colour on my bonnet three times, then one 400g of clear to do the bonnet twice. The brand was 'ColourPack' and was $12 a can.

You could use a matt black primer, but remember some primers are porous and will panels will rust easier.

[RS13]

I've painted cars with cans, I even got a professional painter mate of mine to help me, no matter what you do, how you apply it, it ends up looking shit.

I agree with pervert, if you're wanting an even paintjob, matt black looks awesome.. even grab a hammer, knock some dents into it, REAL white trash stylz brah!

It'd be easier to hire/borrow a compressor. Although, if you want any decent results, preperation is the key.. my friend just painted her wagon, she spent HOURS in the garage sanding, filling, sanding, filling, sanding, and it looks mirror smooth.. you'd never know she backed into a rubbish truck!

[CozmoNz]

a DECENT compressor as the cheep ones cant keep a good enough pressure leading to an un even job.

to expensive, just borrow all your mates spare tires, fill them all to 50psi, and use them . haha, works!... sort of... lol

[RomanV]

You could use a matt black primer, but remember some primers are porous and will panels will rust easier.

This only applies if you are applying it to bare metal, in which case you would want to use an etch primer. Unless you want your paint to fall off.

If you are just painting over the top of existing paint, primer is fine. Rangy, but fine.

P.S. I repainted my MR2 with no previous painting experience, and it came up alright. It took ages though.

[vhpacer]

Are we talking a shut door and shut bonnet paint job or a full paint? Cos prepping and painting under the bonnet and the door jams easily takes just as much time as painting all the out side panels I personally think that it looks stupid and tacky when the door jams and under the bonnet are a different colour to the rest of the car.

But what we did to save a bit of time when painting my val was painting under the bonnet semi-matt black, because if you got a bit of overspray on the motor or something it doesnt matter to much. All the holdens back in the day came out of the factory like that.

If you want it to look real mongrel paint it matt black

[ollieboy]

Cool, thanks for all the info guys, still trying to decide whether or not I want to do it and if the car will sell or not also depends on if I will do it. I just wanted a background first from you people so I could see your opinions etc.

Thanks

[Muzzie]

10 cans of blue - 2 coats of blue.

4 cans of clear - 3 coats of clear.

Care to elaborate on that? How big were the cans?

I used one 400g can of black to do the colour on my bonnet three times, then one 400g of clear to do the bonnet twice. The brand was 'ColourPack' and was $12 a can.

Large Colour Pack Cans - can't remember what the size is off hand.

Tinted paint (to match original) was $30.00 a can, and the clear coat was $20 a can.