rolling paint jobs?

[ldsbeaker]

Back from the dead, huh?

p.s. there's an article in July's Hot Rod about this... Pretty good to see how they did it. (so you don't have to read the moparts thread or try and decipher the threads here)

I'm soooo doing it.

[peller]

yea man I'm rocking a bronzit car who's paint is shot. the PO put a coat on directly over rust and it's started to peal off all over the place, plus the clear coat is coming off everywhere. I just dropped a bunch of cash into the suspension so when I discovered this thread I got pretty excited and researched the hell out of it last night. Seems damn feasible if not a fucking a bitch load of work.

I understand the painting process, but what's the deal with all the prep work? Do I just sand down to the bare metal and pull out all the little dents? What do I fill them with? I got the impression from some otehr threads that Bondo is not the way to go.

I'm gonna try doing the inside of my trunk white to see how it comes out, and if it looks good enough I'll do the entire car this summer. Otherwise if the funds present themselves I may get it sprayed. But if I put the time in and could pull off a brand new looking paint job for under 200 that'd be fucking sick.

Is it only the blacks where fuck ups broadcast themselves or can you get away with most non super dark colors? I'm not a big fan of colors you see every day on the road so I may just have to try some of that gloss orange... I'd rock the dark purple or navy too but I assume they're too close to black and would look liek shit?

[golde30]

dont sand down to bare metal unless you have serious rust issues. just get a block and some various grit sanpapers, and get the work. or get a DS sander and make quick work. the paint that is already on the car will make a good base, just take off the crappy stuff that was sprayed on top of the factory paint. for small dents, bondo is cool for evening out the surface.

[euroshark]

Werd, the Canadian dude says to sand the paint to about 300 grit before you begin rolling I think.

[Fanzotti]

From what I've read these paint jobs seem to be a pain in the ass. First off you have to do all of the prep work that you would have to do with a normal paint job. then you have to sand in between six coats! Sure you'll save a couple hundred but your gonna have to sand your ass off. A regular paint job is a ton of work, sanding 6 more times to save say 500 bucks seems like way too much for me.

[ldsbeaker]

It's worth it to me. I guess that's all that matters.
p.s. no problems trying to match it either...

[Garageaholic]

It's worth it to me. I guess that's all that matters.
p.s. no problems trying to match it either...

I second that dude. I said it before and i'll say it again. I tell people that I rolled that paint myself and they can't believe it. I love the reaction I get from all these people that can't tell the difference between roller and professional paint jobs.

Yes, the paintshop guys can tell because it's not as shiny, but it still shines and to the untrained eye, it's virtually undetectable.

That's why i did it, Saving money was a definite plus and I dont know where this $500 difference came from. I got estimated to do a complete paint job (same color) for $3000, or change color for $4000. I paid $150 in materials for mine.


E30's are specifically tough to roller because of all of the pieces that need to be done. Many more modern cars can be done as 1 simple body. E30's you have the.....

mirrors, bumpers, bumper trim, valence, lip, spoiler, window trim removal, any extra aftermarket trim..

It certainly is a pain in the ass, but IMHO, completely worth it when I go to shows... or even fuckin park my car in the parking lot at autozone!!

[Fanzotti]

The $500 comes from me painting my car. I spent more on the sand paper, evercoat and stuff prepping the car for paint but when it came to actually painting it it was $600 or About $500 more than rollering it and It could have been cheaper.

I was lucky, I met a guy who owned a custom chopper shop, he had his kid, a genius painter shoot my car, it's the titties. I probably got the shop discount but I ended up paying $300 for the Primer, paint, and clear coat. Although this was not the most expensive material I could have bought, the chopper guy said it was very good product, much better than what they use at most body shops, I then tipped the cat $300 for his gun work. Before I met this guy I was having it shot at a local auto body shop, 214 for the materials and 225 for the spray. Plus I have enough material left over to spray another car.

The 3-4000 paint job, most of that is the prep, which you're already doing yourself to roll it on. I did this prep and it then cost me about 600 to spray . The prep was a shitload of work, a couple months when you figure out body work, guide coat sanding, etc. you wouldn't think it would take that long but it did. After all that work the thought of sanding 6 coats of hard roller paint makes me wanna puke.

I thought it was great that you accomplished that and your car looked great but for $500 bucks I wouldn't want to do that work. What's up with fixing your rear quarter?

[Garageaholic]

Hey, the quarter is almost done. I'm putting on 2 more coats tonight and by friday, it should be complete... with all polishing/waxing/ and stripes finished. I'll post a new thread highlighting the process. Thanks

[ldsbeaker]

Hey, the quarter is almost done. I'm putting on 2 more coats tonight and by friday, it should be complete... with all polishing/waxing/ and stripes finished. I'll post a new thread highlighting the process. Thanks

Hey wait a minute, you didn't have to take it to a shop to match the paint?
How convenient...
/sarcasm :D

[Fanzotti]

Hey wait a minute, you didn't have to take it to a shop to match the paint?
How convenient...
/sarcasm :D

I have enough matching paint left over for my whole car. Over time I'm sure rollers dis-color just like a spray. Sanding six times...how inconvenient. I applaud his efforts, it was quite a task and he did an excellent job but, come on, it's WAY more convenient to drive to a shop and have it sprayed than spending DAYS sanding thru six coats of hard as shit roller paint.

M3 fan glad to see you re-built the rear quarter. You had way too much invested in that ride. I WANT PICS NOW!!! NOW!!! NOW!!!

[Garageaholic]

haha, go to my other threads started! back in january through april, I have plenty of pictures up

Sarcasm noted Turtl3..... :)

[northmiler89]

I absolutely love this! The more I read, the more I liked it and then I saw the car and it is fricken amazing. Did you do a clear afterwards or is that just solid prep and 6 coats on each? And you used the mineral spirits to thin out the paint so it is thicker than water.

This is great. How long did it take to do everything? Like XX weeks?

..Wow. Love the car too. The rims are aight but everytihng else is awsome.

edit: Oh and what did you use to hold the sand paper? Did you use a machine or just one of the hand held pieces with the sticky sided sand paper?

What did you do for your lights? Are those Projector driving lights with the angel eyes for trim and no lights on the inside bulbs and just the rings? Got a writeup anywhere..? :D

edit2: WOWOW!..

last ediT: which way did you roll? Say you are looking at the front of the hood did you roll from where the window would be down to the grill or across from one side of the car to the other.

on the pannels, did you go up and down or side to side?

Thanks

[Garageaholic]

That's alot of edits.....

I had a flexible sanding pad to hold the paper. I did everything by hand, no machines

took me 2 months from start to finish.

I used mineral spirits to THIN the paint just ABOVE the viscosity of water

They are Depo lights I bought on ebay, you can look up the details there. I have 8000k xenon lights

I rolled up/down/diagonal/side to side/ which ever way i felt like rolling. It didn't matter.

[northmiler89]

Awsome. Thanks. The whole headlight setup was Depo or just the rings?

Loving the car.