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Aaron Clinton

Car painting tutorial?

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I have a buddy here at work that wants to re-paint his wifeys car. He is wanting to know the right steps and preperation and type of paint and so on. As I am not a skilled painter, I thought I would ask the crew.

Thanks

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There are a few on line.

I've helped with automotive quality finishes before. You'll need a good quality spray gun, high grit sand paper, primer, paint and clear coat (of course), tack cloth, and some sort of jerry rigged booth ( a garadge with an air purifier and a heater with a lot of drop cloth plastic works). What primer you use will depend on what he is doing. If he is just painting over existing paint that doesnt need body work and isnt pealing then he will not need a high build primer, any good quality automotive primer will work. If he is doing body work then a high build primer may be in order. Color will depend on the final finish. You can either do a contrasting color to what you are painting to make sure you get even coating (better for everyone except skilled painters) or similar color to accent the paint that is going on. Be sure to wet sand where needed between coats and once you have uniform, full color clear can be shot. Always wipe down the surface with tack cloth before painting. When you get to clearit is vital to wet sand between coats. Bump the pressure up if it is an adjustable gun to get a finer mist. This avoids cat eyes and runs in the clear (a pain to get out without damageing the paint underneath). After you have uniform clear and the car is wet sanded where needed, a good buff with rubbing compound and a good wax and she'll shine like she just came off of the lot.

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It is a rather big undertaking for someone who hasn't done it before. Personally the only whole car I painted was my 59 beetle, but I took everything off of it and smoothed the whole car. It is pretty easy to paint then as it didn't require the taping of anything. Other than that I have just done repairs on driving boo boo's or rust spots which are a much easier undertaking.

If you think sanding a box for paint is tough, wait until you try a whole car.

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Well he has painted his boats before, so he has experience, just not on cars.

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if you can find a copy of Hot Rod's Paint and Body Special, they did a 10 part series with tons of info

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Eastwood.com has some videos available, but I can tell you from firsthand experience, it's a bitch. The first 12 years of my life were spent with my father in his body shop after school. Learned a ton, and still not enough. Prep is everything. Patience is key, and just like anything else, it is a talent.

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Ryan said it right. Prep is by FAR the most important. The most frustrating as well...along with sanding and more sanding and more sanding and more sanding and more sanding and more sanding and more sanding and more sanding and more sanding and more sanding and more sanding and more sanding and more sanding and more sanding and more sanding and more sanding.

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Heh. Primer then clear coat...that's all you need. :lol:

If he has painted boats then he should do fine. As everyone else has already said. Prep is very important and can be a bitch.

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There are a few on line.

I've helped with automotive quality finishes before. You'll need a good quality spray gun, high grit sand paper, primer, paint and clear coat (of course), tack cloth, and some sort of jerry rigged booth ( a garadge with an air purifier and a heater with a lot of drop cloth plastic works). What primer you use will depend on what he is doing. If he is just painting over existing paint that doesnt need body work and isnt pealing then he will not need a high build primer, any good quality automotive primer will work. If he is doing body work then a high build primer may be in order. Color will depend on the final finish. You can either do a contrasting color to what you are painting to make sure you get even coating (better for everyone except skilled painters) or similar color to accent the paint that is going on. Be sure to wet sand where needed between coats and once you have uniform, full color clear can be shot. Always wipe down the surface with tack cloth before painting. When you get to clearit is vital to wet sand between coats. Bump the pressure up if it is an adjustable gun to get a finer mist. This avoids cat eyes and runs in the clear (a pain to get out without damageing the paint underneath). After you have uniform clear and the car is wet sanded where needed, a good buff with rubbing compound and a good wax and she'll shine like she just came off of the lot.

what?

there is so much wrong in that post, i'm tempted to delete it. my father-in-law has been painting cars for damn near 30 years, i've done it for close to 6. and what you typed above is so full of garbage, wow, it would take me the rest of the day to type out a response to your crap.

i will echo what has been stated by others. bodywork/ prep is the foundation. either one of those are junk, the best painter in the world won't cover it. if he has done boats, he should do well on car.if he's sweating it, tell him to go white. white covers things that will be highlighted by darker colors.

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee :slayer:

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