How to: Spray paint repaint

[TheGeneral]

Now, before you start to massively flame away at me, let me start with, I was tired of a 3 color car. So i repainted the DD/Project with Krylon Indoor/Outdoor spray paint and Krylon Indoor/Outdoor primer.

In detail here are the items and steps you will need to take to paint your car on a shoe string budget (i spent a total of 185.00 dollars)
First, the supplies (Note: Your car may be more or less paint depending on size):
1.) For my car (1997 honda del sol) I used 8 cans of flat paint (olive green)
2.) 8 cans of primer
3.) 8 cans of Flat clear
4.) massive amounts of varying sand paper from 60 to 1000 grit. (for paint removal on small areas and later on wet sanding)
5.) Orbital sander (for the larger areas)
6.) Masking tape 2-3 rolls
7.) News print/masking paper
8.) Buffing compound and wheel

Now, as for the steps.
First, you are going to want to do a majority of the sanding first, as to not rip the tape you will hvae on the areas you dont want the color to get on. Use the orbital sander and the rougher grit sand paper here. Get rid of all of the clear, you can go to the primer if you so desired, but you are going to put a few layers down yourself.
Second, you are going to want to get this under/ in a paint booth. I made one out of a pop up canopy and some tarps. it worked well, just make sure you have ventilation and a respirator. After you get it into a clean environment, you are going to want to clean the car completely. I used de-natured alcohol. Make sure the car is dried and you have all suplies ready for the next step before proceeding.
Third, start with spraying your primer, now you are going to want to shake every can before spraying as to get an even coat of paint with every spray, you're also going to want to START spraying before you hit the car, and STOP spraying after your off the car. Do individual panels, one at a time if at all possible (i.e. fenders, hood, doors, trunk, etc..) If at all possible take off the hood, fenders, trunk and doors to do so you can get an even coat on them. You're going to want to do this until all of the primer is gone, or until you can see EVERYTHING is covered.
Fourth, you are going to want to let this dry, but after it has, you will want to wet sand the ENTIRE CAR, i cannot stress this enough. This will get rid of any rough spot, wet sand it and that hose it off, than dry the car completely before going onto the next step.
Fifth, Start with the paint. Just like primer, start before you hit the car, and stop after you're off the car. Spray enough to cover the entire car and you can see an even coat. Be sure to inspect all areas that would be difficult to spray and make sure they ar covered. be very careful on touch ups as not to get any drips.
REPEAT STEP 4
Seventh, spray your clear like you do your paint.
REPEAT STEP 4
Ninth, Buff the car after you've dried off the car from wet sanding. Ideally, do it in a shaded area, and do small areas at a time. 14x14 inch areas and be sure to clean off the buffed areas immediately after finishing each area.
After this you will want to rinse off the car and get all of the buffing compound off of your car. Here are some pics:

















And heres the finished product:







Hope this helps someone looking for a cheap way to paint there DD or project.

[The Captain]

seems like it turned out pretty well. Nice write up.

[TheGeneral]

BUMP for anyone who wants to know.

[DC2.2GSR]

not bad, if you're into that look.

for the record, the 5 qts of granada black basecoat plus a gallon of overall clear and activator that i just picked up for my friend's car cost him $180. 2 rolls of 2" tape, a box of 400grit DA paper and all the prep spray, towels, tack rag, etc. cost him an additional $50. he's on a shoestring budget as well, so i bought Sherwin's off brand for base and clear but used normal higher quality shop supplies.

it also took me about an hour to totally disassemble the car so that no overspray got on anything and so that i could actually paint the same areas that were painted from the factory. i took an hour to reassemble when it was done.

for about $50 and and 2 more hours, you could have had a flawless looking professional job, but the Krylon works too.

[Honduh]

not bad im considering doing something like this to my integra.

[DC2.2GSR]

Originally Posted by Honduh

not bad im considering doing something like this to my integra.

please don't.

[evomike]

If you take your time spray paint can come out nice. And if you don't have a booth or equipment its not terrible

[evomike]

Just one quick question, why didn't you take the lights and such out?

[upperguy]

Originally Posted by DC2.2GSR

not bad, if you're into that look.

for the record, the 5 qts of granada black basecoat plus a gallon of overall clear and activator that i just picked up for my friend's car cost him $180. 2 rolls of 2" tape, a box of 400grit DA paper and all the prep spray, towels, tack rag, etc. cost him an additional $50. he's on a shoestring budget as well, so i bought Sherwin's off brand for base and clear but used normal higher quality shop supplies.

it also took me about an hour to totally disassemble the car so that no overspray got on anything and so that i could actually paint the same areas that were painted from the factory. i took an hour to reassemble when it was done.

for about $50 and and 2 more hours, you could have had a flawless looking professional job, but the Krylon works too.

So what, are you offering to do all the labor for free or just letting people borrow the equipment because I'm pretty sure the OP doesn't have the shop access to utilize that type of gear. Especially based on the fact he used a basic canopy as his spray bay.

[DC2.2GSR]

Originally Posted by upperguy

So what, are you offering to do all the labor for free or just letting people borrow the equipment because I'm pretty sure the OP doesn't have the shop access to utilize that type of gear. Especially based on the fact he used a basic canopy as his spray bay.

what 'type of gear'? a ratchet with a 10mm to take out the headlights and tail lights? a regular screwdriver to pop off the clips for the weatherstripping along the front edge of the hood (instead of painting it green as well). my $230 6" DA sander = his orbital sander (kinda). my $400 gun could easily be replaced by a $15 harbor freight gun in a pinch. all of the other consumable supplies he used are exactly like what i use, except different brands. aside from what i mentioned, you need a compressor which i think everyone has access to a compressor of some kind if you're into cars.

as for a booth? why? sure using one for my work is great but anyone who paints can tell you that it's not necessarily the booth that keeps your job clean, it's the prep work and care taken while you're spraying. stay half a step ahead of your spray pattern with a tack rag and you'll get very few (if any) dirt nibs in your paint. i've painted outside before, and many times i've gotten cleaner results than painting in a booth. even if you get dirt in the clear... who cares? you could throw a handful of dust into the air right after i spray something and i could get it smooth as glass with a bit of effort with some 2000 grit and a buffer.

my point is that spray painting your car like what is described above is 100% pure laziness. there's no excuse to not put at least single stage paint on your car. even that's kind of pointless. actually taking the time to research something major like painting your car would do wonders... you could find out about all the different options and realize that doing it the right way isn't that tough or expensive at all. base/clear is the way to go no matter what. there's virtually no price difference between SS and BC/CC, and as we've seen now, spray paint as well. there's only a slight learning curve. anyone can learn to spray basic bc/cc with only a small test panel and a few words of advice.

this s*** bothers me so much because no matter what kind of advice you give out or how much info is out there, some people always resort to spray painting their cars. there's a right way and an easy/half-ass way for everything and no matter what i will always think less of someone who takes the easy/half-ass way out of something (notice that i didn't say inexpensive or cheap)... doesn't matter if it's a motor swap, paint work, or life in general. if you can afford $180 for spray painting supplies but can't wait until you save up another $50+ to do it right, then that's not being on a shoestring budget, that's called being impatient and wanting to take the half assed way out of it just to get it done now.

[Erik]

i gave it a try since i had most of the supplies available except for the paint its self, so i went out and grabbed some flat black rustoleum enamel and tried this out. I pretty much failed in my opinion. i wet sanded like no other and all that stuff came out well, but i couldnt lay the paint evenly, so even after i sanded, cleared, buffed, i still had lines through out. If you have a tip on how you did that, it would make things much easier. for me atleast. heres how it came out for me.

[DC2.2GSR]

wow....

i haz no words for that.

[Erik]

messing around with it man, like i said its a second hood. no need to get all worked up. its not like i pulled off my mint OEM hood and stripped down to rattle can it. ready for this? leave the thread and stay out.

[evomike]

Its ok he's a hack also don't take offence, screwdrivers for moldings wow. Don't critizise peoples work you also don't do it correctly

[Erik]

which is the hack? general or DC2? lol

[evomike]

Honestly probably all of em but that's my opinion

[Erik]

meh eitherway, it occupied me for a while haha all at a price of like 9 bucks. ive seen some decent rattle can jobs. never understood how some people can do it though. blows my mind. then there are the ones that come out like mine haha looks like ****ttt

[evomike]

I can spray paint and make it look amazing, but I also can spray with a gun so that's what I do

[Erik]

yea, idk. i just suck lol i actually took my time too haha. i was thinking about picking up one of those kind of guns, probably (i think i have it right) the gravity one? Idk if its worth it or not. or i can just get it painted haha

[DC2.2GSR]

Originally Posted by evomike

Its ok he's a hack also don't take offence, screwdrivers for moldings wow. Don't critizise peoples work you also don't do it correctly

Originally Posted by evomike

Honestly probably all of em but that's my opinion

haha. ok. i'm a hack because i suggested the OP goes to his toolbox and uses a common tool he probably has laying around to at least try to pop out the clips? okay. i'll change that up. i suggest he goes to buy the Matco clip tool that i use. there, you happy? one guy above bitched about me suggesting 'all this gear', and i explained that there's no need for specialty tools when you're just trying to get it done any way possible. the OP used a damn orbital sander instead of a DA... i doubt he has anything other than a screwdriver. using that and at least removing the molding would be better than painting it like he did.

what's interesting is that you say "all of em", but the only other painter on here besides myself is evidently you, and you can't recognize real advice when it's given. what have i said to make myself seem like a 'hack'? what exactly would you advise? why would you be any better? this kid spray painted his damn car (and the one above, his hood) and you can't see what a godawful mess it looks like? you claim to be a painter and that doesn't bother you? you're even suggesting that people can do it and make it look good. sure it will, temporarily. ever hear of the word longevity? i don't know but to me it seems like you're the god damn hack.

Originally Posted by Erik

messing around with it man, like i said its a second hood. no need to get all worked up. its not like i pulled off my mint OEM hood and stripped down to rattle can it. ready for this? leave the thread and stay out.

this is also amusing. i'll post where i like. when it comes to someone spray painting an exterior part, extra or not, with freakin rustoleum or krylon... i'll definitely post and let you know how unbelievably stupid it is.

you want to know why it came out terrible? ready for this? () because you used a f**king rattle can. that's why.

besides that, you striped it because you held the can too close and made the pattern too small. rattle cans only have a useable 3-4 inch pattern to begin with. when you hold it too close and make it 2-3" or even less, it can stripe. also, the can was probably not held level to the panel, causing heavy spots at the top or the bottom of the pattern. another possible mistake is the overlap. when you're spraying, you need to use at least a 1/2 overlap, but preferebly 3/4. basically you spray one line, look at the fan pattern, and move down only a 1/4 of the pattern to spray your next pass. you'll get better coverage and probably not stripe it, at least as bad.

one other note is that wetsanding and buffing (although pointless on spray paint) will not fix color, only the clear. if it looked messed up when you sprayed color, then you spray clear, and buff it afterwards, the only thing it's going to do is leave you with more reflective mistakes.