paint

cool!!

Hey if your doing the work yourself is there any chance you would document your project? Im not sure ill get to the bodywork on my car this year but it would be great to have someone elses experience painting an sc to learn from.

Either way good luck!
 
Im no bodyman but from what i have done and learned in the past it should look good, painted the hood last weekend seperately to see if i can do a professionable job. made a few mistakes but you cant see my body work under the paint:)
 
here is the hood all painted
 

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Nice. Looks good!! I'm trying to get the courage up myself. I'm picking up pieces as I go and will probably do exactly what you did, try shooting the hood or a bumper cover first.
I need a bigger compressor before any work can begin.
What kind of gun are you using and where did you source your paint?
 
I wouldn't "start" with a bumper cover. It is one of the more complicated pieces to paint even off of the car. The transition from the sides to the front make it hard to keep from running or dry spraying (not enough paint) on the corner. It's best to practice getting the coat wetness correct on flat or straight areas. Just remember to sand until nothing shines so your paint sticks :)
 
Check out Jacob Royer's thread starting on page 5.
Start on this page of this link: http://www.sccoa.com/forums/showthread.php?134858-93-SC-Build-Thread/page5

Those are amazing results on jacobs car, and nh89's car looks like its well on its way to similar results. The only thing that really worries me about doing it at home, or out of a booth, is airborne debris or bugs getting in the paint which is why I think its smart that nh is doing it now after the pollen and before the bugs ramp up. Probably good that its been damp for airborne debris but killer for flash time between coats. I think the thing thats a plus about paint is that if you screw it up you just do it again. I know paint and a good compressor and gun is expensive but with what a body shop wants to do it you can afford to purchase everything, screw up here and there , and still save a chunk of coin while learning in the process. I think thats a win win and watching others success makes it that much more intriguing.
Those pics of jacobs job were awesome and very inpiring. I couldn't help but thinking though that that nice yellow siding on the house looked like it was in danger of turning pink from over spray by the looks of how red that exhaust fan turned, lol.
Theres a few cool diy paint booths builds on youtube that look pretty straight forward but for one car sounds like overkill unless you could put it together in a fashion that would allow it to be broken down and then stored for use in the future without having to repurchase the bones of it. It seems like you guys did okay without one unless you neglected to mention that eveything in the garage now has a nice protective coat of clear on it.

Wish you put up some sort of booth?
 
If all you have is your garage, plastic drop clothes are cheap...be sure to wet the floor and switch on any exhaust fans, keeping in mind that proper booths are either positive/negatively pressurized. Depends on if vapor capture or dust control is the goal.
 
Also, one more thing to remember - start at the BACK, work towards the FRONT.

That way, any boo boos are not visible until the stunningly perfect after practice front end of the car goes by *grins*

RwP
 
Those are amazing results on jacobs car, and nh89's car looks like its well on its way to similar results. The only thing that really worries me about doing it at home, or out of a booth, is airborne debris or bugs getting in the paint which is why I think its smart that nh is doing it now after the pollen and before the bugs ramp up. Probably good that its been damp for airborne debris but killer for flash time between coats. I think the thing thats a plus about paint is that if you screw it up you just do it again. I know paint and a good compressor and gun is expensive but with what a body shop wants to do it you can afford to purchase everything, screw up here and there , and still save a chunk of coin while learning in the process. I think thats a win win and watching others success makes it that much more intriguing.
Those pics of jacobs job were awesome and very inpiring. I couldn't help but thinking though that that nice yellow siding on the house looked like it was in danger of turning pink from over spray by the looks of how red that exhaust fan turned, lol.
Theres a few cool diy paint booths builds on youtube that look pretty straight forward but for one car sounds like overkill unless you could put it together in a fashion that would allow it to be broken down and then stored for use in the future without having to repurchase the bones of it. It seems like you guys did okay without one unless you neglected to mention that eveything in the garage now has a nice protective coat of clear on it.

Wish you put up some sort of booth?

When I painted my SC I built a home made paint booth that turned out very cheap and worked very well. I have a 2 car driveway which allowed me to open up the doors all the way to get to the door jams very well. I bought enough PVC tubing and connectors that allowed me to build a kind of green house over the entire driveway in a rounded fashion on the top so there was no sag in the middle of the "green house". Long enough and wide enough to house the entire car with room to walk around it easily and as mentioned open the doors all the way with out it touching the sides.

I bought 4 20" simple box fans from Wal-mart with matching decent filters. Purchased some clear plastic wrap from Lowers in I think a 20" X 150 foot roll, but don't quote me. Ran it over the top of the PVC tubing and gorilla taped it to the tubing and to the other pieces of plastic. put 2 more pieces of plastic over the ends and taped all seems except one so I could get in and out easily. I cut out the squares in the plastic on the ends so I could place 2 fans to draw air in and 2 fans to suck the air back out with filters on the inlet and outlet sides to prevent bugs and dirt from getting in and to prevent paint and clear mist from getting out. I may get an extra fan for the input to draw in more air than letting out so it will slightly "pressurize" the paint booth.

Tips: if you do it in the summer start as early in the morning (sunrise) as you can depending on where you live it will turn into an oven in the "paint booth" which will require a high temp reducer and activator for the paint and clear respectively. With the proper prep on the body/ primer and technique using the paint guns your results should be very nice with very little to no trash or dirt or bugs in the paint or clear. If you get some in the paint, no big deal, just lightly sand and reshoot that spot. The clear is a little more of a pain, since you will have to wait until it dries enough to wet sand the imperfection out and either buff or re-spray some more clear on it.

I did not wet the driveway down as some have suggested it just gets way to humid inside and is not good for painting. I did pressure wash it the day before and swept it and let it settle before I drove the car into the booth before actually starting the painting process. if you have any questions just ask. Oh I purchase my paint from a dealer in NY and got the paint, clear, primer and all required reducers and activators for $533 shipped to my door in a week!

Smitty

Here are my result using this method:

2010 Shootout 1.jpg2010 Shootout 2.jpg2013 Shootout 15.jpg

Soon to be doing this car the exact same way.

Camille 4.jpgCamille 2.jpg
 
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Some tips and process steps
  1. If it can come off the car, take it off. Weather strip, emblems, window tracks, all of it
  2. Wipe the entire car with wax and grease remover
  3. If a DA (dual action) sander and decent compressor available, sand everything with 150 grit
  4. Wipe with W&G remover
  5. Spray 2 coats of high build primer, mist a tracer coat of contrasting color over primer let dry overnight
  6. Wet sand with 240-280 or dry sand with 150 on a Durablock till half the tracer is off. Note any holes, dents, nicks etc that need filled
  7. For stone chips and small dents, use glazing putty. For big dents use 'regular' filler. If over rusted areas or welded in repairs that were sand blasted, use short strand fiberglass filler because it's waterproof. Preferably put epoxy primer over rusted areas before high build
  8. Sand any filler areas, reprime with 2-3 coats of high build
  9. Repeat wet sanding with 400 or 500 or dry sanding with 320 as final step and tracer almost all sanded off.
  10. Repeat filler, high build, sanding on Durablock until everything is smooth and straight.
  11. Wash car, blow all water out with air and let sit for 2 days while masking it off (to let all water evap)
  12. Wipe with W&G remover and tack off with tack rag
  13. Mix epoxy or high build primer as a sealer (normally 1:1:1/2 for epoxy or 4:1:2 for high build urethane primer) spray 2 coats
  14. Spray 2 coats base color, let sit overnight (trust me... it lays down a TON letting it sit overnight)
  15. Lightly wet sand any dirt nips or mistakes with 800-1000 grit, tack off
  16. Spray 2 more coats of color let sit overnight
  17. Tack off masking paper and spray 2-3 coats of clear, 30min between coats
  18. After 24 hrs, wet sand clear with 2000 then Trizact 3000 sanding pad. These things are unbelievable and worth the $3 ea.
  19. Buff as needed. Rotary buffer preferred, not a $50 harbor freight piece.
 
Excellent... excellent gun for a good price. I have 2 of the 1.4s. One for sealer and base the other for clear

http://www.toolfetch.com/iwata-9274-1-4-air-gunsa-impact-spray-gunaz3-hvlp-s.html

I had found 7% off coupon codes that make it cheaper than Amazon

http://www.tcpglobal.com/UPO2251.html#.VzJFC2P90nM

My current primer of choice. Buy only as much primer and clear as you need. It doesn't last forever and will go bad in the can by 2 years or so. Best to use it within a year

http://www.autobodytoolmart.com/u-pol-2k-hs-production-clear-coat-21-up2812-p-15135.aspx

Current clearcoat of choice. I actually chose the uPol primer because it uses the same hardener as the clear. 1 less can to keep, but a 2.5 liter tin and use it in both. The hardener actually seems to go bad faster than the base product. So I've bought 1 liter cans of the hardener before to keep them fresh after opening.

http://www.autobodytoolmart.com/transtar-finish-tec-urethane-grade-reducer-slow-speed-6721-p-15185.aspx

Urethane reducer. ALWAYS ALWAYS use slow reducer in the sealer and base coat no matter the temp. Slow reducer will let the material lay down smoother when letting it sit overnight. Fast reducer is only for production shops looking to shoot a door and fender then deliver it the same day. Never ever ever use urethane accelerator to make something flash faster (primer, clear etc)

http://www.autobodytoolmart.com/kirker-enduro-prime-epoxy-primer-p-12620.aspx

This is actually a really nice epoxy primer that is reasonably priced. PPG epoxy is the gold standard but cost a frickin' fortune. None of us can paint to the price of PPG. Valspar makes good epoxy and a DTM primer too. Summit Racing's epoxy is actually Kirker btw.
 
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20160422_122634-1_zps3gkqqaos.jpg
[/URL]nce the cobra is done I have to start one this...
 
Awesome tips and info blackbird and quick. This thread will be an awesome resource thanks to nh89 and everyones input. Jacob mustang looks awesome.
 
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