DIY paint job. Done right. Hopefully

[e304me]

today I block sanded the original paint on the unibody, and painted some trim pieces. I hope to shoot the primer on thursday. Still have a lot to do before then

[e304me]

I was at a car show for most of the day but I used glazing putty and resanded the dents I have fixed thus far and picked up some parts that were all over the garage

[e304me]

So yesterday I sanded the bumper, removed the rest of the trim, and sanded it to get it ready for SEM trim paint.

I will probably take it easy with the sanding today, my back was killing me yesterday! Probably start removing the windows and such, and getting the doors ready. Well I still want to find a door an fender that are dent free.

I was going to replace all of the window trim, seals, ect but that stuff is SOOO expensive. It would be well over 500 for all of it, maybe even over 1000

[e304me]

you can see more details of my car at http://tenhulzenautomotive.com

ok so besides getting frustrated with the fender I filled the antenna hole today.





Yeah, I had to much wire speed going on the welder. You have to do it tack by tack to make sure not to warp the metal. I cooled it down with a damp paper towel every couple tacks

[FredK]

Sweet work man!

I'm sorta working up the courage to try something like this myself!

[Kershaw]

Have you read the e30 M3 minor rust repair thread? There is a pretty good DIY in it about prepping a car for paint.

[e304me]

fuck fuck fuck. I had one of the fenders off to fix some dents on it and i just ended up making it worse, and then slightly better. And then the bondo dried instantly. FFFFFFFUUUUUUU fender!!!

[sonnyqm3]

primer

I'm liking the large pics - I think seening the detail (even if you have to right-chick, view image to see the whole thing) is great.

Ok - so here's a silly question.

So...say a panel like what you just worked on, or just a simple door ding. You've work it with filler and got that smooth to where you like it - it feels good with your hands. Then maybe you hit it with some primer and a glide coat - and you block sand it - maybe that take a couple passes. Now, you *THINK* you've got it smooth - but how do you really know until you shoot it? Can you spray some glossy paint the area to see the reflection and then sand it back down, just to be sure?

when you primer a car then you sand/block to make sure everything is straight.. We at the shop also do wet sand on the primer to give it that perfect feel and no waves etc etc.. its a process but at the end it comes out real nice.. But prepping is the key to a good paint job..

[Wiglaf]

a technique i've read is when you think you're done with an area, spray a thin coat of matte primer on there and get some bright light on it for a good look, maybe block it lightly to make sure it comes off evenly. especially if you're trying to take care of dings/low spots it's obvious when blocking when a spot of paint stays on there.

[Adrian_Visser]

Have you read the e30 M3 minor rust repair thread? There is a pretty good DIY in it about prepping a car for paint.

[e304me]

That would be a mistake to think that. I'm speaking from experience on that one - if you can see it with the guide coat, you'll see it with paint.

Well yeah, my point was that if you can't see it with the guidecoat, you will most likely not be able to see it in the paint. When used with a decent sized block Guide coat can show very minor changes in the levelness of the surface that you would probably never see with your eye. I like to guide coat twice just to be safe though

[s_ribs]

The guide coat is most likely going to show way more than you would ever be able to see with your eye once its painted.

That would be a mistake to think that. I'm speaking from experience on that one - if you can see it with the guide coat, you'll see it with paint.

[e304me]

The guide coat is most likely going to show way more than you would ever be able to see with your eye once its painted. You could spray paint it and look, but I dont think thats necessary. It is still going to be primed and then block sanded again.

[george graves]

I'm liking the large pics - I think seening the detail (even if you have to right-chick, view image to see the whole thing) is great.

Ok - so here's a silly question.

So...say a panel like what you just worked on, or just a simple door ding. You've work it with filler and got that smooth to where you like it - it feels good with your hands. Then maybe you hit it with some primer and a glide coat - and you block sand it - maybe that take a couple passes. Now, you *THINK* you've got it smooth - but how do you really know until you shoot it? Can you spray some glossy paint the area to see the reflection and then sand it back down, just to be sure?

[e304me]

hey, thanks for the paint info, do you have a daytime pic?

I was away friday through monday so i havent gotten too much done. I worked on the f'ed up rocker panel and the fenders are %99 removed. I also picked up a trunk with no spoiler holes.

sanding the paint off


Now it's ready for filler



Application of body filler before sanding


Here is is ready for paint. There is some exposed metal but
the entire surface is level and smooth


I should not have chosen that dent as my first experience with body filler