My Crazy attempt to paint my car.. DIY

here are some pics of my crazy attempt to paint my car.. (first time painter and body work..)

all i have to say is.. big ups!! to all you guys that do body work..  this ain't no walk in the park.. doing body work is big time donkey work.. soooooooo much labor involved.. sanding sucks!! its an art form tooooo.. to get everything guided coated, leveled, etc...

anyways..

i sanded my hood 220
sanded deeper on the dings and covered them with bondo 
leveled the bondo
shot high build lacquer primer (fast drying thinner)
guide coated/ sand (again)
shot primer
DA sanded 320
wet sand 400
prepall solvent
tack
base
clear

in the second pic i shot the black base (3 coats HOK)
in the third pic i shot the clear (3 coats HOK urethane clear)

(man, canned paint is trash compared to real automotive paint that you shoot.. )

after 24 hours it cured.. but had crazy crazy orange peal!! i'll have to color sand it.. more sanding.. sucks!!

i still have the rest of my car to do.. so if any of you experienced painters out there have any tips of the trade, hook a bro'ham up.. i could really use some tips of the trade.. 

i'll post more pics as i go along.. 

did youuse a paint gun or airesol?

I used an air spray paint gun to shoot house of kolor paint..

many people like to paint in their garages huh? ;D

kouse of kolor huh.....ballin. that paint is expensive. what kind of gun are you using? are you using the same gun for primer, base and clear?

actually, house of kolor was a lot cheaper than ppg or dupont. 35 bucks for a quart of black.

I use the same gun for prime, base and clear... I just clean it out with lacquer thinner between different paints. I also leave lacquer thinner in the gun after cleaning it from shooting clear just to make sure no left over clear cures in the gun.  

I use a cheapy ebay $20 HVLP. I figure that I'm going to color sand later so a fine gun doesn't matter tooooo much. 

you will have alot of work getting bad oange peel out. to color sand you will have to sand off all of the clear to the base....i would just use 1500-2000 grit paper and wet sand until you dont see the orange peel anymore (how many coats of clear did you use?). the gun makes a huge difference tho....to bad you didnt live in seattle i would let you use my guns. did you get them to color match the black with your cars current color?

yeah   >:( i got some really bad orange peal... i figured this would happen since it was my first time.. so i made sure i had a good layer of clear to sand.. I had to sand with 150 to smooth it out. it was that bad.. Then sand with 220, 400, 600, 1000, 1500, 2000, then buff and polish.. lots and lots of sanding.. i might sand it again with 1000 and shoot another clear on top of that.. not sure yet tho.. i'm get'n sick of sanding.. this was a lot more work then i thought.. they make it look so easy on overhaul'n.. half hour show and they are done..  i spent about 16 hours on just the hood...

HOK only makes only one black base so its not a color match.. i'm changing my color.. i'll be doing the door jams later..

what you need to do is get a gun with a smalled tip or you will get orange peel every time you shoot clear. if you get rreal bad orange peel make sure you build the clear (4 coats or so) and wet sand with 1500 until you dont see orange peel (you need a good amount of clear to cut off) then cut and buff with a aggressive poishing compound then the same with a not so aggressive polishing compound then buff and wax.... 

what size tip would you recommend to shoot clear?

1.3 would be perfect......

I think you should wet sand between the first two coats of base, then after the first and last coat of clear...that's what I'd do anyways.

Wow I didnt know we have so many painters here. 

I've done painting before, actually got "ok" with it. Right now I don't have the time and patience to do an "ok" job, so I would rather have someone paint it for me. 

I know there's that satisfaction in doing it yourself, but if I know that my car will turn out better if someone else paints, then so be it. Painting is not only a skill you just learn, it's actually a talent.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. Light colored metalic and pearls can sometimes be a little tricky to lay down even.

yeah....your right v8. i started because i used to do graffiti and thought painting cars would be similar (which it is). so i went to school or it and find it fun...

yea painting parts are hard...
i did my front under spoiler last year
it was not easy 

With the internet, there's plenty of online resources to learn more about stuff like this before you dive in, too... have you checked out some of the bodywork and painting forums? There's usually lots of professionals and industry guys on there. If you really want to advance your skills in something like this, it's also a good idea to find a body shop that's willing to let you intern/apprentice there for a while... you'll learn A LOT.

just gotta cool tip the other day...for sanding curves..

i was told to try using sand paper wrapped around a paint roller tube (just the roller tube with out the handle device) 

this tip worked great...

it doesn't replace a long board but helps out a lot on curves that the long can't get...

for just solid black or any solid color. I shoot a single stage, wet sand the orange peal out. Then shoot clear over the top. wet sand to perfection. I use PPG products, DBC2002 is the best clear, take a long time to cure an dry but... lays out like sex. But yes a 1.3 tiip works very well. big tips are made for high solids or flake. 

Take it as a learning experiance, and you did good at it.

I've been take'en ya'lls advice and sanding in between coats.. 

seems like the best route to take without a paint booth..

1. Guide coat
2. Base coat
3. Clear

got a new gun today.. sharpe fx300.. 

wow, what a dif a real gun makes on the finish..

(still a budget gun, but was recommended by an autobody supply place)

[img]http://members.aol.com:/tabatb3/finexfx300[/img]

lookin better man...slowly but surely, and just remember, practice makes perfect, just take your time and HAVE PATIENCE (something i lack in extremely bad) ;)

Yes! looking good man. :D I think the best result of all, is that you did it your self. I cant believe what shops charge to do this crap. I have done it for ever for professional shops. Thanks to the shop I worked at, i painted my S14 for 130 bucks. any where else it would have been 5 to 6gs for a full repaint. I use a satajet HVLP gun. they are pricey but look on ebay if you are gettin serious. ALSO PLEASE make sure that the compressor you are working with can support the air. you dont want uneven lines due to lack of pressure. and water seperator is a must!