Is the primer surfacer, and primer steps something that can be done outside a booth, say in the driveway???
Yes
Is primer surfacer a different kind a primer, or is the primer surfacer an additional step???
You want a 2k (2 part epoxy) primer -surfacer, it will fill in some leveling concerns and surface imperfections (to a point). You'll have to scuff it before you apply paint or sealer.
Am I correct in assuming that only the final paint is done in the booth?
I've never had access to a booth, I've done it all in a garage pretty much.
What kind of surfacer/primer did you use?
On my SC, I didn't use a primer surfacer because my paint was pretty flat and clean-no scratches or delamination etc. I simply scuffed the oem paint and applied the sealer.
What kind of sealer?
Acrylic sealer, tinted to the color I sprayed.
What kind of paint did you use??? I am not after that deep a shine as yours, just whatever I would have to do to get it back to the original look...
I read that:
"Lacquer generally requires more time to apply — 8 to 24 coats — but is more forgiving in terms of application skill. It is also somewhat easier to repair runs and sags as well as spot-repair of later damage."
but also that:
"Catalyzed acrylic enamel and urethanes are extremely durable — more so than acrylic lacquer. "
How much of a difference in durability between these types, and is there much costs differences, given the additional coats that are used?
I used DuPont ChromaBase urethane enamel. Forget about lacquer, (hard to obtain anymore anyway) it is easy to spray and buff but it's true that the durability doesn't even come close to today's urethanes. Use a urethane enamel with a hardener.
First off, how much does it cost? I would probably want to get my own paint sprayer and nozzles, etc, but the compressor and paint booth are all there at the hobby shop. What would I need to spend on a good sprayer?
This is harder to answer, because you'll first have to know what cfpm (and tank size) your compressor can deliver. If it isn't a good size compressor, it won't be able to keep up with the demands of a HVLP gun. You're probably better off buying a used DeVillbis, Binks or Sharpe siphon feed gun , they're pretty cheap (pawn shops etc.) and why sink a lot of money into a HVLP gun you may use only a couple times? You will use more paint (siphon feed guns spray almost as much into the air as onto the car) but it's a fair tradeoff considering the HVLP /compressor issues and gun prices. Make sure you don't use an excessively long air hose, you'll drop a lot of pressure with one.
What would the paint and primer itself cost? And how expensive is it if I have to resand and start over if I screw up a section?
These are the $$$ risks going in, the price of doing business as it were. Expect some problems and extra cash to remedy them, it's inevitable. How much is hard to say, you may have to buy a bit more paint, that's about it. The rest is simply your time and effort. From what you told me , you got a price on the paint. Just price a 2k epoxy primer/ surfacer and acrylic sealer , they should not be very expensive.
When I tape off the weather stripping and such, how would I ensure that the paint is making it into the crevases and such?
Like I said I beleive the car was painted before, and part of the part that was flaking was right at where the top edge windshield weather striping was... I think I actually caused that problem when I repainted that strip with grill paint... I scraped off the little remaining rubberized coating on that peice and painted the strip with the grill paint...I didn't realize at the time, but I assume that the last paint job may have overlapped onto that stripping and when I removed it, there was an edge of the paint exposed.
Buy 3M fine -line professional grade masking tape, don't " cheap out" on this, you'll regret it. As long as you take your time and tape perfectly even with the edges of trim etc. you'll be fine. Not rocket science, just make sure none of the tape is on the metal-better to remove some paint from trim than have a gap where there's no paint. You will also have to retape after primer and before the paint itself, otherwise , were you to spray the color coat you would have sanding dust from the primer imbedded along/under the tape from when you sanded the primer, and the air from the spray gun will shoot the dust all over your nice fresh paint. You can try and blow it out beforehand, but I guarantee you won't get it all.
After taking it to the pressure washer, that area and a few other areas started flaking off... There was a spot in the middle of the roof where there must have been a nick that flaked off bigtime, about 3 inches accross, and I sanded it until the paint stopped flaking and filled it in with a few coats of touchup paint, but the color is not matched well at all, its a real smooth, unnoticable to the touch, transition, but the color doesn't match well at all, and I can still see the difference in either the clearcoat, or the different coats of paint....
I am generally really persistant in such endevours, for instance
I rebuilt my own transmission with a little guidance from this board, and ended up doing it twice because I broke an "overlapping tapperd" seal the first time, but once I got it done, I was truley satisfied, and actually proud of this feat Even though I did it twice, and came near to what it would've costed to have it done by a pro....
You've hit on the big question there, and answered it. It's a learning experience and you can't put a price on that. Most of the time it's a lot less headache and only a bit more money to have a pro do it, but you lose the experience and pride factor. This stuff is not for everyone though.
I would STRONGLY recommend you get a free air system when you spray. Urethane hardeners contain isocyanates which are deadly compounds. It won't hit you right away, but later your lungs will just shut down. When you do spot repair and spray outside you can actually hold your breath for the few seconds you spray, then move out of the area. For larger panels and whole cars(especially in a booth/garage), this is not an option. I used a borrowed scuba tank when I painted my SC. It looked pretty funny, but I could breath fresh air.
In answer to your email question on how much paint you'll need-if you're painting the same color (simple repaint of same color) and not changing colors, a gallon should work just fine, unless you wind up with fisheyes or other problems necessitating a repaint of a panel or two.
You want to do "prep overkill". Do every step of degreasing, scuffing, masking to perfection, it makes ALL the difference. Dawn wash the car first, then use 3M prepsol (at least 2x) or equivalent, and also use an ammonia based window cleaner afterwards. If you have ANY silicone contamination on the paint, you WILL get fisheyes. Degrease, degrease, degrease.
If you decide to take any of it down to bare metal( use a stripper if you do, not sandpaper), make sure you first apply an etching primer, then a 2k epoxy primer (tinted if you like) then simply scuff and paint, no need for a sealer.
