Painting

[Nateh]

I need to give my city a complete respray sometime in the next few weeks once I have sorted out the damaged panels etc, ive already replaced the front guards dur to rust and dents, changed bonnet for a t2 bonnet to give me pod filter and intercooler room, drivers door has rust holes in bottom usual place and a snapped connection inside means the whole door could be ripped apart if somebody wanted to get in, so im replacing the whole door.
Rear door is straight but has rust at bottom of screen on both sides and really bad on the insides, so im going to replace that for sure. Once this has been done il definitly need to re-paint.

Has anybody done this themselves?  I have done the new bonnet and panels in spraypaint but that turns to crap after a few months so im going to use my sisters boyfriend's air compressor when he pays it off instead.

How much paint will I need, can I use a electric sander to make it easier, does the paint need to go back to bare metal (would be difficult), do I use spray primer or airbrush primer (spraypaint would be easier as I could prep it for when he gets the compresser.

Im going to go with black as it is the original color and I like it, I will remove all seats and carpet and door linings and mask off the dash with plastic and everything, just need some pointers on how to get a decent looking finish on it.

[James]

I am currently about 3/4 of the way through painting my car, firstly do not underestimate how much work this will be, its been like 100 hours ofr me so far but I have done quite a few mods.

Firstly, what type of paint you use depends on how good you want the finish to be.

There are two mains types of paint, one is acrylic, or the one you get in the can, the other is epoxy, this is two parts you mix together and it goes real hard.

Acrylic absorbs water, which is a recipie for disaster if you paint it on bare metal. Water in the paint is also bad when you put the top coat on and can lead to humidity blisters. However this can be avoided if you are pretty quick with the paint between coats and stuff.

I would recommend:

Rubbing the whole thing down by hand with a block, start with 180 or 220 open cut paper, feather out any chips in the paint to make it feel smooth. Any stone chips that have gone through to metal sand the paint away from around it and spray a rust killing paint on it, make sure its one that contains phosphoric acid. If you accidentaly sand through to any metal then spray some rust kill on that pretty much immediately, if you leave it overnight it will go rusty.

If you have any dings you should fill them with epoxy bog, polyester body filler is a waste of time, then fair the bog with a rough grade of paper on a block like 80 gritthen get it fair and smooth it with 220 on your block. Once you have the entire car smooth with your 220 and al masked off you can spray your undercoat on, you could probably get away with an acrylic if you are gonna get your next coat on reasonably quick but epoxy is better (and dearer). Once you have your undercoat on rub this back with 400 dray, once you have done this you are ready for a couple of coats black paint, then a few coats of clear.

[Nateh]

I do have a garage to keep it in while im painting, I think I should probs do it sooner rather than later as dad is getting a 2000+ bmw so wont want it left outside overnight too often and I dont want to paint that too.

Is spraypaint primer alright to use as I would like to get this started asap.

Is epoxy paint 2pac paint?

Any idea on the number of litres and rough cost per litre?

[James]

You dont want to really do spot priming, if you go through to bare metal use rust killer and just leave it like that. Sand it all back, spotting with rust kill ont he bare metal, then use a spray gun to prime the entire car, then rub that back then paint it with your top coat.

Yeah epoxy paint is 2 pac paint, and no sorry i dont know how much it is

[Nateh]

Cheers for that, i will look into it over the next 2 weeks or so and will post pricing up for everyone. Are you using arcrylic paint off the shelf on your civic?

[James]

nah I am using top shelf 2 pac primer and top coat with 3 coats of clear on top.

I work at a superyacht factory, we paint big boats, theres always a few litres left

Im also getting an ex-carpainter at work to do the top coat for me so it should turn out pretty well.

I have used all epoxy bog on the car and got all the rust fixed with welded patches, NO filling holes with bog. I have also filled in the gutters that run along the roof to get it looking smooth, have removed the side black rubbing strips and have debadged it. Its getting blasted with the 2 pac mettallic blue hopfully next weekend so Ill get some photos then.

Im feeling a bit gutted at the moment tho cause I just broke my rear window trying to get it out of the frame

[Nateh]

I will definitly try my hardest to find you a screen. Il do my homework with the paint costs before I start stripping as I want to be able to fund it so it doesnt drag out. All work on my car exterior so far has been done by me so il keep it that way .

[James]

Yeah it has dragged out majory for me, my car has been off the road for nearly 2 months now  :-[ :-[ :-[

[robg]

i think the 2k for one of the cars i painted was about 200 for 2 litres including hardener and a liter of primer.i think the enamel i painted my city was about 250 for a litre of base colour, a litre of top colour with a pearl in it and 2 litres of clear ,then i put prismatec over the rop of that which only cost me about 120 all up including clear. Mite be cheaper /more expensive at different shops ,but i get a pretty good discount on all my paint cos i do quiet a lot of cars.

[QikLude]

Have a look see in my gallery pictures and you will see some major rust/alterations/repaint piccys....

few simple things i would reccomend.

DONT use any "crap in a can"
More for compateability issues than anything...

GO seek out ya local painting supplies store and talk to them about it, set your budget and tell them what you want and what sorta money your will to spend.
Get all ya stuff from the one place and it will make it a lot simpler, you will be able to get a lot of free advice from them and they shouldnt sell you things that dont work together or beyond your ability.

Just remember that any 2 component car paint cantains Isocinates which are very bad for you, good ventilation and breating mask are a must!

Same with sanding, wear a mask.

Electric sanders make life quicker, but sanding boards can do just as well if not better...
Just make sure you dont sand just with the palm of your hand, bad idea!!!!

The rust in the rear hatch is REALLY common, I wouldnt look for too long to find a good one, because there a bit rear (around here anyway)
I had to make 1 out of 2 myself.

You only really need to knock the clear coat off the factory paint (ifs it still ok paint) and them get all the dings out with some surface filler fine sand it and get a good coat of etch-primer on it.
Some places might pay to go bear metal (anyplace rust MIGHT be there)

Oh, also rust killers...
If your using them your not doing it right!
sand/chop/remove any rust.
If the vehicle is going rusty overnight then is must be far to humid/wet and i wouldnt paint there anyway!
I would avoid them like the plague, again compatability issues later on in the process.
Squirt SEALANT into guards and such is a good idea so they can stop rust forming NOT once its there.

Oh, also make sure you buy lots of cleaning solution or 'prepsol' when your in the shop so you can give the car the big wipedown and clean it before its painted...

Ive seen crap go striaght through a primer/color and destroy clearcoats just through lack of cleaning the panel first several times  >:(

Anyway, just some tips...

Cheers

Jw