Jump to content
Ultimate Subaru Message Board

best way to paint a car on the cheap?


Recommended Posts

Hey all-

 

I was batting around the idea of repainting my wagon OD green, What are your favorite ways to do this? Should I go the old rattle can route? advice? ideas? talk me out of it?

 

(paint dosent need to be that spectacular, since it will probably be scratched up on the trail anyway)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey Nicky

 

 

You’ll be buying a LOT of spray cans, for the same or less money I bet you could buy a cheap HVLP gun (harbor freight or the like), 2 quarts of acrylic enamel and rent/borrow a compressor, and you’d end up with a much better job. Plus you’d have the gun for other projects or to sell. OD green wouldn’t be my choice but if you’re into that, cool, and it would work pretty well for an off road rig. BTW, real army OD green is a “self etching” paint designed to go over bare metal and I’m sure a bit more expensive than an AE in a similar color.

 

Gary

P.S. To bad your not a bit closer to me I’d make ya a great deal on renting my paint booth and gear.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Grrrr the board ate me post!!

 

Anyway I say saying I would go with the OD green rattle can route.

 

Just get 10 or so cans from Andy and Bax on Grand Ave. That should give you enough leftovers to fix battle scars. The stuff blends VERY well and its hard to see where you touched up (I painted my brat over afew days and it all looks uniform)

 

If you want to see how my brat came out and the texture of the paint just ask, or drop by Milwaukee Dominos (off of HWY 224) and see it for yourself :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Flowmaster:

thats funny I was in Andy & Bax the other day checking out there camo spray paint and thats what inspired the idea. I might swing by to see how it came out.

 

All_talk:

how much do you think the gun would cost (ballpark)

so I would just need that, the paint and an air compressor? I wouldnt need a booth?

 

 

thanks for the tips guys

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a gun and a compressor. Bring it down to Albany and I'll shoot it in my driveway. Yeah it might get some crap in the paint, but it's an offroader not a show car. Make me a reasonable offer on labor, keep in mind I'm not a shop so I won't want $200 to paint your car.. I think 50-100 bucks is prolly fair, that's cheaper than what you would pay to rent/buy a gun and/or a compressor. I'm only 60 miles away :-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Might I suggest............:confused:

 

 

Rhino Lining?:brow:

 

It ain't gonna scratch:grin:

Keeps the rust at bay...

You could do it yourself :D

I saw it for $40/gal at checker

 

Just a thought:rolleyes:

Glenn

82 SubaruHummer

01 Forester

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cheap paint guns:

 

 

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Category.taf?CategoryID=324&pricetype=

 

Like Hondasucks said, you can do it in the drivway, I’ve seen some outside jobs that looked pretty good.

 

Sweet82, I’ve seen a baja bug done in splatery trunk type paint (white, gray and black speckle), looked good, the texture covers a lot and touch ups blend right in.

Gary

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hondasucks:

I might take you up on that, let me think about it. Right now I am in the "hmmmm maybe I could do this" stage. I will let you know, thanks for the offer btw

 

Sweet82:

I dont know about the whole car, that might get spendy, but maybe the bottom half outback style, hmmmmmm.....

 

All_talk:

thanks for the link, now lets see who I know with a compressor....

 

Also I have a bunch of decals running down the side from front to back, any way to preserve those? I can't think of one that woulden't be extremely tedious :(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

well the decals can be saved in one of two ways.. One is I, or whoever paints it, can cover the decal with masking tape, and then cut it out around the decals. Or, two, you could paint over teh decals, and then block sand the paint off the decals. I'd prefer the first method..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm glad someone brought this up, cause I'm in the midst of an "Alley" paint job for my 89 AWD Turbo wagon.

 

 

I decided to go with the paint line paint sold at TSC (Tractor Supply Co). It is manufactured by Valspar and is called "Truck and Trailer" paint, or some such sh*t. It is an oil based enamel, so it has all the +'s and -'s of that particular coating system. It is available in all the basic non-metallic colors. One of the cool things about this line is that it is available in spray cans, quarts and gallons in both primer and top coats. You could easily do a respectable paint job in an alley - or garage without wasting a lot of extra $$!!

 

On mine, I stripped the car down to the unibody, so the painting process is a series of smaller panels. You can go as far as you want with prepping the panels. In many instances, a wet sanding between coats will smooth things out considerably.

 

A "mask and shoot job" will look alright, but doing the panels seperately, and bolting them on, will give you a little better look, and that's important when you are cutting corners.

 

It's not completely done, so the jury is still out. But I feel confident that I'll be able to paint this thing for well under $100, and it will look pretty damn good, and be easy to touch up, as needed (including panel replacement).

 

email me if you want to discuss further.

 

john

thealleyboy@yahoo.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey all-ha

 

I was batting around the idea of repainting my wagon OD green, What are your favorite ways to do this? Should I go the old rattle can route? advice? ideas? talk me out of it?

 

(paint dosent need to be that spectacular, since it will probably be scratched up on the trail anyway)

NICKY..THIS IS SPARKSTER IN WEST SEATTLE...

I RATTLE-CANNED MY 87 Dl LAST SUMMER FOR ABOUT 40$......

I HIT IT WITH "KRYLON" CAMOFLAGE....."OLIVE DRAB"......IT HOLDS GREAT...IT'S A FLAT BASE....NO SHINE....IT'S YOUR CHOICE....CK OUT THE "GREENHORNET IN NEVADA LAST JULY 03'.......LATER.

SPARKSTER

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just painted my 82 Brat. I used rhinoliner for the bed and the body below the trim. I bought some paint online for $62.50 delivered. (the paint kit came with 1 gallon of paint, 2 quarts of reducer, 1 pint of hardener, a paint suit, a paint sock, masking tape, a bunch of paint mixers and about a dozen filters......this was a great deal). I used a friends garage, compressor and paint gun. The brat looks great. If you are interested I can take pictures and find the link for the paint. Let me know.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

for an off-road rig i'd just go with the rattle can route. i painted my '65 el-camino for under $10 and it looked good. i use the "color place" stuff from wally world, works pretty well, and is less than a buck a can.

 

-mike

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Like I said, I can shoot it for cheap in my driveway, and although it wont be a show job, it will look better than a rattle can... And if there is any paint left over, I can like, buy it offa ya and use it to paint MY 4X4 :-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

spraypaint will look good if you know how to use it. let off the nezzle between passes.

 

you paint will only look as good as the primer coat..

 

might i suggest dollar can clear coat.

 

stay away from walmart brand as it will fade and oxidize within months.

 

krylon all the way!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1. Drive to Compton

2. Pull the wheels

3. Pull the motor

4. Gut the interior

5. Leave it on the streets overnight

6. Come back the next day to a new coat of paint:lol:

 

LOL

 

 

hey hondasucks, I am seriously considering your offer, i I wanted to do it, it would be in 3-4 weeks. I will keep in touch, I am seill debating whether just to spraypaint it or have you spray it. right now i am leaning towards having you do it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Spent some more time on my experimental paint job last nite. I think I've got the winning formula for using the farm and fleet paint.

 

2 coats primer (sand between coats with #400)

2 coats base (sand between coats with #600)

1 top coat (no sanding)

 

Looks very nice, and should look even better when it cures and can accept wax (approx 30 days).

 

I agree that you can do a decent job with rattle cans - as long as the paint is hi quality. Krylon is a good one. Rustoleum isn't bad either, and it's also available in quarts if you want to shoot it thru a gun.

 

But even good paint will look crappy if you don't prep the metal properly. That's the step that most people cut corners on - and it'll show. At the very least, scrub the body down with a scotch brite pad and detergent to get the existing paint as clean as possible. At least one sanding (ideally after primer) will make a HUGE difference.

 

I'm not knocking the cheap spray can jobs, cause I've done them myself. IMO, the extra prep work is definitely worth it, if your Sube is a "keeper" type vehicle.

 

good luck, John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 coats primer (sand between coats with #400)

2 coats base (sand between coats with #600)

1 top coat (no sanding)

 

But even good paint will look crappy if you don't prep the metal properly. That's the step that most people cut corners on - and it'll show. At the very least, scrub the body down with a scotch brite pad and detergent to get the existing paint as clean as possible. At least one sanding (ideally after primer) will make a HUGE difference.

 

good luck, John

good advice here, thanks John!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Okay, well I will try to keep weekends free dont think I am doing much in 3-4 weeks, me being unemployed and having gas prices through the roof makes it hard to go do stuff. I'll drag out my gun and some cheap paint I have lying around and get it all tuned up and ready to shoot some paint. If you want I'll send you some pics of my dad's Mustang I painted (well, prepped and primed anyway.. The person who painted it was a frickin moron and didn't sand the primer well enough and the paint flakes off it spots :-( ) and the toyota pickup I painted... :-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...