Painting

[nipper]

 The paint has failed on my 89 Justy from sitting parked for many years (previous owners). The car is solid. I am thinking of replacing the two front fenders then painting the car.

 

I have never painted a car. I have never preped a car for paint. I figure since the car is small, to quote My Clarkson "How hard can it be". I dont want a perfect paint job, I want a pretty at 10 feet paint job. 

 

Any tips or suggestions? It will be repainted in the original color so I wont have to worry about door jams 

[ihscout54]

Its been a few years but Ive painted several. Your gunna mix and spray, right? I far prefer the Hvlp gravity fed guns over the bottom feeders. An inline desiccant dryier filter is required. Obviously the car must be clean, sanded and primed if needed.

 

I always sand the entire vehicle. Not bare metal, but just to degloss and even out. Body fillers are easy too use but add another time consuming step. Youll have to make the call on that one. Hand sand. Use a quality sand paper in the 150 grit maybe 200 range. Even if you decide to wet sand put on a N95 dustmask and gloves.

 

When I mask I use the cheap thin tape med - high adheision. Forget the blue or green stuff its too thick and doesnt like the contours of a car or the sun beaming down on it. When you use the cheap stuff, though, you do have to be able to remove it in a couple days. Trust me IT MUST be removed in a day or two. I like the 2 or 3 inch tape and newspaper for big areas. Its ok if your sloppy dont bother trying to get it perfect. Instead overlap the areas to be painted a bit and come back with a hobby knife and trim the excess.

Big trash bags are nice for tires. I also cut them to make a giant sheet to tape off areas your not focusing on.

 

Right befor Spray-time I recheck and run some fingers over all the tape to make sure everything is still good. If you are spraying outside you will need a windless, warm, dry day and a dust mask (at the least). There are major benefits to doing this in the garage but Ive tried it and really prefur a shady spot in front of the garage door. Check the forecast, masking tape doesnt like rain, and once the paint is mixed it needs to go on the car or in the trash. Its not cheap.

Im not a pro, and the last couple I painted were large (suburban). I focused on one panel at a time, like just one fender or the front door. I taped and "platic bagged" the adjacent areas that way I could start and stop on masking material. This is not real efficient but it works awesome. The hood and top are a little annoying but on a tiny justy shouldnt be too bad. You might still need a step ladder fot the top.

If you have never used a sprayer, You will have to practice an a piece of plywood or cardboard, it wont take long to figure it out. Since your not going for perfection this wont take too long. Even if you end up some texture and a run or 2 its still going to look great.

Hopefully this essay of broken sentences and poor punctuation gives you a little inspiration. Good luck and take pics.

Edited May 10, 2015 by ihscout54

[bratman2]

Good tips so far. My brother owns a body shop and has been doing body work/painting over 40 years or so, he is 62 this year and I think was 19 when he started. Prep is 80%. Poor prep will lead to a very poor paint job. He uses an air sander and only hand sands into corners or tight spots that the sander will not get into. Like already mentioned you will need a little practice to get the coverage right. Your old fenders would be good for that. If done in a garage try and make sure it is bug free as spraying will stir them up and they will land on the wet paint. Sand, wipe down with enamel reducer and a final wipe with a tack cloth. He also uses large trash bags for wheels, works very good. He usually tries to spray all paint very early in the morning when it is very calm. Even though he does all painting inside except for large boats and diesel trucks such as Peterbuilts. And yes, he has painted a few of them too! Me, I suck and wouldn't even attempt painting a vehicle!

 

Forgot to add that he typically wets the floor down with water to try and keep dust to a minimum when he sprays. All I can think of now and this is based off just watching him over the years!

Edited May 10, 2015 by bratman2

[nipper]

i dont have a garage, so i am just going to do all the prep work myself. I was then going to have a shop paint it.

[bratman2]

That is what I would do too! But, my brother fired me from doing my own prep work on the Brat paint job before last!! Something about I sucked and wasted way too much sandpaper that he purchased. So I left the painting and prepping to him. I just request a family and friends discount. He added 10% to the bill for my waste of sandpaper, sorry sanding and family discount, lol!!!! If you have a particular question let me know and I will try call him.

[nipper]

Since i want to paint the same color, what do i do with the body trim, like the door guards and things. I think they are glued on. I just want the car to look decent in my driveway so it doesnt have to be a perfect paint job. 

[bratman2]

Things that are hard to remove get taped up. I have to admit he is very good at taping up door handles and any other item hard to remove. Larger items like grill and headlight combos, glass, he uses a paper roll that attaches tape to one side. Then he tapes a strip around the border of large areas and attaches the paper up pretty much like he does trim or door handles. The sander he uses takes the round stick on pads. I have never seen him hand sand a vehicle in my life except to get tight corners, edges of trim and such. I will try and call him tomorrow and message you the tape and sandpaper he uses.