My roller paint job so far....

[JasonC]

they make specific paper for that

Wait, I'm lost are we talking about the paper for the da or just plain wetsand paper?

[ldsbeaker]

What do you guys think of black bumper moldings (Keep the sides white bc i shaved the moldings) Door handles black...

My "is" lip spoiler. i will paint white also... as well as my textured rear... I have zender sides which i will paint white

I think that it will look hot as hell.

[trent]

Wait, I'm lost are we talking about the paper for the da or just plain wetsand paper?

There are some DA's that you can hook water straight up to them and goto town!

both!

[JasonC]

There are some DA's that you can hook water straight up to them and goto town!

both!

That would be sweet! Give your hands a break.

[REVHARD05]

Yes, I appreciate it much more. And if i get a scratch or dent on a panel, Yes, i'll be pissed but I know I can fix it myself. So far, i have invested around $150 total and 15 hours of wetsanding/painting/bodywork. I have already spraypainted the doorjambs. I taped everything off really good and i've put about 3 coats on so far. I am not going to be too crazy about the jambs, but i want it to look nice still.
When I wetsand, i use a solution of water and a tiny bit of dishsoap (it's the grease-fighting soap, which is great because it also cleans the paint of any oil residue/grease AND lubricates when I wetsand). I wetsand with my right hand and have the spray bottle in my left hand keeping it constantly lubricated.

I've also been thinking of incorporating either the ///M or the german flag stripes that hit the corner of my hood and run down to my fender. Any thoughts?

i have been thinking of putting the german coat of arms on the backside of my hood

[Burnsey]

I'm using a rustoleum acrylic enamel. It's called "gloss white", which needs to be changed to a better color name. .. lol. but i just mix with mineral spirits and apply with a roller. simple as that.

I've been doin this on my extra bimmer door... was wondering some things about your's.

1. Do you have a specific mix percentage or do you just spot it by eye? - about how much would you say mineral spirits vs. paint.

2. Are you using just mineral spirits or 100% mineral spirits?

3. Are you using just Rustoleum or the Rustoleum Professional?

it looks great the way your doin it and I hope I can get mine to come out looking nice.

[featuring france]

yo m3fan4eva, wassup dood. everytime u post a pic, it makes me wanna go out and wetsand my trunk. I've already started, but its damn coooold, so it takes it a long ass time to dry. where did u paint urs, and how much mineral spirits did u mix with the paint? i'm so excited...i want my car to be prestine!

[vectorsc]

I started on mine tonight. Safety Red, here I come!

My Brillantrot paint was 3/4 of the way to white when I started....Lord knows it can't be worse when I'm done.

[whakiewes]

Maybe I have missed something, but why the roller? As a very amateur painter/professional detailer, I will make a few observations. First, contamination. A roller gets filled with dirt and dust which is transfered to your paint. This eventually will always lead to cracking and pitting. Are you cleaning your piece after every roll (no pun intended)? Second, what are you using for hardeners and elasticisors (sp?)? Bumpers are painted completely different than say a door because of the stresses it endures - your paint will be much more elastic on a bumper so it can withstand the abuse it sees, as well as being able to flex without cracking. Hardeners are used to allow the paint to withstand all the outside elements. Indoor/outdoor paint from Home Depot and such are not optimized for this, they are optimized for rust protection, paint versatility to bond with many different bases, etc... What did you use for a primer, or are you anticipating the versatile indoor/outdoor paint to withstand the bond straight to metal? Is the paint going to withstand temperatures ranging from 150 degrees farenheit down to 10 degrees farenheit? What about your painting temperatures - 45-55 degrees? The paint may dry, but it will never harden. Optimal painting needs to be done between 70 and 80 degree's to get the paint to harden. Drying and hardening are completely different and getting them confused can be very costly.

I guess the point of what I posted is that automotive paint is completely different than standard acrylic paint. Stop at a Sherwin Williams and ask them, they sell both under one roof. They are different for a reason; they have completely different purposes. One has to endure occasional rain, snow, salt, etc...the other has to endure all that, at 100+mph as well as rocks, debris, etc... Automotive painting is a very precise operation, otherwise it will fail very shortly. No white respray will cost $4000, at most $2500. Metallics get up to $4000 and more because of the complexity.

Whats a spray gun cost; $150 for a nice gun, $60 for a decent gone, $40 for a basic gun? I just have a feeling your going to spend all your time sanding to get it right when you could have forked out another benjamin and done it right. Unless you sand every layer I doubt you will get all the orange peel out, and the fact that a roller bubbles kills the durability. Whats more valuable on resale - a $2000 turbo kit or a $2000 paint job? Considering turbo E30's don't demand much more than NA versions, I think you can get the picture.

Wes

[featuring france]

well whakiewes, to me, its just another cheap alternative. Since i've already started on my trunk, i have some input. hahah. but yeah, the rollers dont get filled with dirt and dust if youre careful. if you paint outside, dust is bound to land on ur paint..but i bet you already knew that. I've read up on "50 dollar" paint jobs for a long while...to see if there's any fallbacks. I guess the only shitty thing is that it takes forever to do this. You really gotta be patient. But other than that, every write up i've read had postive comments and results. yes, it may not lasts as long as a legit 2000 dollar paint job, but common, it doesnt hurt just try it out for a hundred bucks. if one does the project properly, and treat the car with a little tlc...i believe the paint will hold. 6 coats of enamel oil based paint sounds pretty tough doesnt it? it better be, this project is tedious! and if the results are kick ass...then you definitely have bragging rights. i guess my point is that it's cheaper. and personally.. i think its kinda fun..lol almost stress relieving.

tell me this is not impressive.

-france

check out the pictures of the hachi. its decent right?

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=78465

[featuring france]

hahah, oh yeah, i returned my rustoleum paints at home depot...hoping to exchange it for a darker color i wanted. They didnt have it, so i just had them mix some black in the paint. LOL. so basically...theres a bigger color variety for this project! hah.

[turbo_negro69]

Whats a spray gun cost; $150 for a nice gun, $60 for a decent gone, $40 for a basic gun?
Wes

try these numbers
$450-575 for a nice gun
$150-250 for a decent gun
and $60 for a turd that spits crap and has an uneven spray pattern.
but since these spray guns won't be paying your bills the $60 gun would do. BUT all that is beside the point of this thread.

[whakiewes]

Featuring France,

I understand the point of a budget paint job, no doubt. What I talking about though is the durability. I know people who have spray'ed and entire car for <$200 borrowing a gun from someone. The point I was making was the oil based enamel and acrylic paints won't hold up the way automotive paints will. I guess you guys can find out first hand, its just a shame to watch someone go through the strenous labor to paint a car for it to all fall apart within the first year.

I am not trying to say what you are doing is wrong. Its fine if its what floats your boat, but I see cars all the time with 'budget' paint jobs and have yet to see one work. They all have a life span of about 1 year unless the car is never driven. Goes back to the first lesson in AutoTech, use the right tools for the job, half assing it is going to cost you more in the end when you have to drill and extract the bolt that was just stripped. I mean I guess if you don't mind doing this on a yearly basis.

As to spray guns, I only know of two manufactures that make guns over the $300 mark. They are used for very exclusive finish work and not typically for 90&#37; of the automotive market. I know of no painters in my area, some of which charge $5000 up for a respray that use a gun of that nature. The spray pattern is typically bad on cheaper guns because amateur users buy them, don't know how to adjust the air pressure, adjusted the nozzle, don't know how to clean the gun, prep the gun, properly mix paint, etc. http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...ice&N=104+6643 has a listing of spray guns and the availability. I am the kind of person where getting it done right the first time is worth not having to ever do it again.

This is how clean my car looks after a $1000 paint job by an amateur. Currently its cracking, bubbling, and overall failing. All the flaws are in this picture, but because of picture magic you can't see it. This was done in a shop, with a paint booth, but with someone who isn't quite sure how to paint yet. 9 months later (today) I am spending $2000 or so to get it right so I can sell the car. Had the PO spend $2000 or $2500 the first time, I would not have to go through this...now im out the change. Also you won't notice the orange peel



Wes

[Majikal]

your problem is in your statement... an amateur painter. Its a lot easier to get it wrong with a spray gun than it is to get it wrong with a roller. The only thing about the roller is it takes a lot longer to get it right. Done well, a roller paint job WILL hold up, as I've known people who have done it and the car still looks the way it did when they first painted, even up here in the CT weather.

also, if you haven't seen more than 2 comps. with spray guns over 300 bucks, I dont think you've looked very hard. I know for a fact that a certain SATA gun, I think the Satajet 3000 lists at over 800 bucks

[StereoInstaller1]

I think if you are having flaking, peeling, bubbles or ANY other adhesion issues it is NOT the pricetag of the fucking spray gun!

What the hell...shitty prep work (which is the #1 cause of adhesion issues) will not be fixed by shooting paint through a million-dollar sprayer.

Lets try a bit of common sense here and not be impressed by a pricetag.

Careful prep is 96&#37; of a decent finish. 3% is paint.

No paint job is ever better than 99%.

Luke