DIY Paintjob

[colt325e]

Has anyone on here done their own paintjob? How much is a good sprayer, or can you rent one? How much did it cost you and how much do you think a shop wouldve charged you if they did it?
thanks

[bwanac]

I have been contemplating this for a while.

I dont know if you can rent them, I have not looked into it because there are so many things I could use the air compressor for.

A rough breakdown of what you need:
-air compressor($300-$500) depending on size, quietness, brand
-spray gun(free w/ compressor -$100) for a decent one
-paint and primer
-lots of prep supplies(tape, chemical stripper, etc.)
-TIME. Doing it yourself for the first timer I assume is a long painstaking journey.

At the moment I still dont know if I want to paint my own car, or whether I will do the prepwork and have Maaco or a local painter spray it for me. Hope any of that helps!

[onenicebimmer]

If you have never painted with car paints, don't do it. You should buy like a quart of cheap car paint (that's color, basemaker, clear, clear activator) and practice on little things (doesn't have to be related to cars). You will probably find the clear coat being the hardest thing to master, but if you practice enough you will master it. Also, you don't have to buy the gun/air-compressor right away, you can practice with cartridges (sp?). A cartridge is a small jar (at the bottom, it holds the paint), and on the top you screw-on a pressurized sprayer, for about $10 (that's the jar and two sprayers) you can spray about a quart of paint, in all. You also need a dust free environment for painting a car.
I hope that helps.

[onenicebimmer]

Also, don't use the big cheap painting companies (maco, peach, etc.), look around for smaller companies. They might cost a little more, but they actually know what they are doing (most of them, that is).

[bimmerphile]

wrong forum...and put on your flame suit.

A few people have done it, Fuddy did with pretty good success I'd say, but many have walked away due to sheer difficulty in removing airborne particulate from the paint area, among many other factors.

Aside from the fact that, as previously stated, auto paint is much different to use than your rattle-can.

[bwanac]

Lots of plastic and a big fan. Construct a little makeshift paintbooth with some 2x4's, wrap it with plastic(make sure to leave some kind of door), and attach a big fan to suck the air out of it. Make a giant vacuum to work in!

Or something like that! ;)

[JRowe]

go to www.autobodystore.com They have a great forum with lots of professional painers who can answer diy questions about everything from equipment to cutting and polishing. It's a great resource. To buy the right equipment. 400 for compressor; campbell hausfeld 60 gallon at home depot, 130 for a decent gun; devilbiss finishline 3. 130 for a good DA sander, airvantage. Air lines and filters, 100. Paint and materials 500 (dupont bc/cc) to however much you want to spend. The prices mentioned are for entry level high quality items for a base coat clear coat job and are on the low side. If applied, cut and polished correctly, it will look great and the same job would cost 3500 plus at a good body shop. Also, generally, the only equipment you can rent is a spray booth.

[808BMW]

If you've never done it before, then I wouldn't recommend it.

At the very least, find a friend who has sprayed a couple cars before, and let him do it.

bmwanac: More than 1 fan. If you have more air coming in (with a properly filtered fan) then you have positive pressure inside the booth. If it is a big vacuum, any tiny little holes will suck dust in. You still need to make sure you seal everything up good, but if you keep more air coming in vs. air going out, you'll have less dust.

[colt325e]

im pretty sure i want to do it, because my dad already has a nice compressor. and 100$ is pretty cheap. I have my eta to practice on anyway. I asked my dad a minute ago and he actually knows what hes doing anyways, i.e. proper environment, setup stuff.

so it sounds cool, time consuming, but cool

[Tara 318is]

im pretty sure i want to do it, because my dad already has a nice compressor. and 100$ is pretty cheap. I have my eta to practice on anyway. I asked my dad a minute ago and he actually knows what hes doing anyways, i.e. proper environment, setup stuff.

so it sounds cool, time consuming, but cool

well then, balls out!