DIY: Respray

[s0sage]

No home respray has to look like you parked your car at Redfern station overnight. If you take the time in the preperation, and are prepared to do the hard yards. you can have a quality paint job for a third of the cost.

Materials: Tools:
- Basic toolkit comprising of screwdrives and 1/4 drive socket set.
- 15cfm or greater capacity aircompressor
- Air Spraygun (gravity feed or pot, your choice, just NOT supatool or whatever supercheap auto sells.. it will ruin your paintjob)
- Air Sander (whizzer) 6" disc
- Air Blower
- Applicator card (old licence or atm card can stand in, as long as its flexible)
- Razor blades

Materials: Supplies:
- 2000grit wet/dry sandpaper - 2 sheets.
- 400grit whizzer discs - 20 sheets DONT SKIMP ON THIS. EXPLAINED FURTHER DOWN.
- 240grit whizzer discs - 10 sheets.
- whizzer velcro sponge
- Sanding block
- 2pak putty and hardener. medium sized tub is fine, unless you DID park your car at redfern then get the big one.
- Scourers (scotchbrite) - shitloads. you can do the dishes with what you dont use up
- 3 rolls of masking tape.
- LOTS of rags. not mums placemats . RAGS

Materials: Paints: 4 Door Sedan.
This all really depends on your choice of colour. Pearlescents and metallics require clear after colour, solid colours do not.
Amount of colour required = size of car vs choice of colour. For this DIY we'll go with my cars custom colour. Ford XR6-t Vibe, its a 30% pearl colour so can be quite tricky to cover.

- 2L Vibe colour. Good to have extra paint in the tin so when you ding it, you've got YOUR paint ready to go. no matching required.
- 2L Crap black colour. cheaper the better.
- 1-2L spray putty primer depending on how much repairing your car needs.
- 4L thinners.
- 2L Prepsol. VERY IMPORTANT. get quality prepsol
- Tackrags

PREPARATION

WASH IT THE DAY BEFORE. makes your whizzer discs last longer.
Strip your car down. All the moulds, all the badges, side indicators, undo the headlights (dont need to remove them, just loosen them so you can mask).
Use your common sense about this. if you think it MIGHT have to come off... TAKE IT OFF. this includes door trims.

if you have dints you want repaired, repair them (i wont discuss this here, ill make another post regarding that, this is already a 200 page novel)

-scour all the panel edges well.. paint flakes from panel edges, not panel centres. scour your edges properly.for broad panel surfaces, like bonnets quarterpanels and roofs you can whizz.
- 240grit on the whizzer and sand all the large surface areas. if you have repaired dints, DONT SAND THEM YET, scour around them carefully.
- your car should look like shit right now. good! lol
- get your blower and blow all the dust off the car. INSPECT IT for any bits you've missed. work on ONE panel at a time and FINISH that panel before moving to the next.
- get a rag and soak it with thinners and wash down and dry off each panel one at a time. wax on wax off. you should now be able to see any bits of panel that require further sanding/scouring. do this now if there is, washing thinners afterwards.
- now you do all the little stone chips. again this will be discussed in another thread with dint repairs.
- its now time for the 400grit whizzing. This is so important, because the 240grit is too coarse for painting over. USE FRESH DISCS OFTEN. 400grit whizzing removes all the marks and and gives the final touches to your stone chips to make them perfectly smooth with the rest of the car. dont skimp on the 400.. and USE THE SPONGE, this will soften the whizzer over angles and corners. remember guys, this is your FINAL PREP before you paint.. the 400grit whizzing is your base for painting. . screw this up, your paint you'l lkick yourself when its painted ..
- start masking up. IMPORTANT: the older the car, the less 'airtight' the doors are. DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE IMPORTANCE OF MASKING UP DOOR JAMBS CORRECTLY. again, use common sense here, i cant explain how to mask tradesman quality, but do your best and cover EVERYTHING, a roll of masking tape costs $2.. it aint gold bricks mate, go through 10 rolls if need be.
- if you have any areas on the carbody where you've rubbed through to the metal. corners are the worst.. and its ok, i still do it fairly often lol. spray your primer on them.
- if you have any primed areas from dint repairs or rubthroughs. give them a scour now. scouring will smooth them down better than sandpaper.
- blow the car off and get rid of as much dust as you can.
- Prepsol is fun. it makes your car the cleanest and prettiest you've ever seen it. until you dry it! wash it properly. nothing half assed, get every millimieter of eveyr panel dripping wet and use a clean fresh rag for every panel to dry it. you'll get rid of 95% of your dust this way.

PAINTING

for you DIYers and novices out there, i dont recommend thinning paints and primers and all that.. all your paint, pay the extra little bit, and buy it ready to go from paint suppliers. you'l lbe glad you did rather than ruin $200 worth of paint. so i wont even post how to do it to stop the temptation to save $50. its worth the money.

DOUBLE CHECK YOUR MASKING NOW

PAINT ON A SUNNY SUNNY SUNNY DAY. leave your car out in the sun for at least an hour to bake the panels and get them hot.
- paint the whole car black .. dont worry about even coats, JUST DONT GET RUNS.
- 20cms from the car, even side to side strokes. if you have a long panel like a quarter, spray out the whole length by walking down the side of the panel as you spray to avoid building paint in one area where your strokes join.
- stand in front of the car to paint the bonnet. dont stand to the side and put side to side strokes on the bonnet, it'll look ridiculous.
- be carefule aobut the boot lid if you havent removed it for painting, runs are easy to get spraying upwards under a boot lid. use fine coats and just mist the black on.

-Give the car one coat of matt black all over. dont be House of Kolor about it .just get the paint on fairly even. If you use a dark/medium metallic or pearlescent paint and you car was a silver, or a light plain colour. spraying the car with cheapo black paint will mean you will use FAR LESS PAINT when you spray your proper colour. dark pearlescents do not cover very well at all over silvers and solids. spraying black will allow the most paint coverage for the least amount of paint. this will save you at least $250.
-allow it to dry for say 15minutes before attempting to move it. WHILE YOUR WAITING - clean your spray gun. . pull it to bits and get an old toothbrush (or ill favoured siblings toothbrush) and drown the thing in thinners. scrub it everywhere and all over.
-put it bcak out in the sun for about half an hour to dry further. then bring it back in the garage and go over all of it with 400grit whizzer again like you did previously.
- blow it off and send it back out to bake the panels in the sun for another 45minutes or so before bringing it in for the paint.
- prepsol it well like before.
- use a tackrag and wipe over the entire car. this actually removes EVEN MORE dust that the prepsol doesnt pick up.
- apply the paint in generous, even coats. the majority of good paint application is a steady hand, 20cm away from the panel spraying side to side and moving with the spray if its a longer panel. hold the trigger about 80% engaged, and RELEASE the trigger fully at the end of each spray.
- allow 10-15mins for the first coat to get stuck, then get a FRESH tackrag and wipe the car down.
- spray another coat.
- wait 15mins and wipe with another tackrag.
- for your last coat... mist the paint on about 50% trigger, as your first two coats have built up enough now to provide the colour. the final 3rd misted coat will "in fill" around the 2nd coat and create a fractionally smoother and less textured finish.. bit more like glass.

- wait 15 minutes and send your car out to bake for half an hour.
- bring it in and tackrag it and then spray your clear coat on. just like your final coat of paint. 50% trigger, even and steady is the key.
- Built up clearcoat over an area is horrible.

now leave it for the rest of the day out in the sun. and take lots of photos ..

dont try and re-assemble it the same day.. leave it as long as possible but AT MINIMUM 24 hours.

dont forget your cut and polish either ... nothing too abrasive, just a hand cut will be fine.
please remember this is NO SUBSTITUTE for a tradesmans job, and most certainly no substitute for a clean oven.

:end notes:
not everybody is capable of painting. get lots of practice with the crappy old black paint before you try spraying out your colour on a car. its harder than you think to avoid runs, fish eyes, cissing etc.
as for paint choices.. TALK to your local auto paint supplier about brands, qualities and clearcoats. everything is different. i use and recommend standox over lesonal for example. costs a little bit more, but is worth it for the final result.

as for costings - if your inexperienced, you'll use a fair bit more in materials. thats only natural. expect to pay around $500 - 600 all up for your paintjob. that includes EVERYHTING. less if you know what your doing.


if i have missed anything, or you feel like you can add something to this i didnt. PLEASE POST IT! everybody's input helps!

if only one person benefits from this post, then it was worth it aye?

EDIT: DO NOT EVER EVER WASH YOUR CAR WITH A WAX ADDITIVE OR TYRE SHINE IF YOU ARE PAINTING THE CAR THE DAY AFTER !!! NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER .. GET IT?

[HoZy]

I highly agree with the buying pre-thinned paint for the novices. Remember when i started my apprenticeship, and learning proper mixing/tinting ratios making paint myself, not just thinning pre-tinted paint. Bit of a mind play.

Good tutorial man, I might add on later, but for now. Still early for me.

Cheers
MaT

Positive rep for you....

[minux]

Excellent post there.

[Troy711]

good work, positive rep points for you

[SweetWagon]

Good stuff, should be moved to the how-to section. It would be more convenient there i think.

[Troy711]

ill leave it here for a few days for people to see and then move it (if s0s doesnt mind)

[s0sage]

dont mind what you do with it mate. just dont delete it! haha took me about half an hour to write these things up!

didnt know where else to put them, but move them around where the most people will see them i guess if you want. thats the point.. get people inspired into fixing up their golf balls on wheels.

[Wombat]

What's wrong with a cheapo airless spray gun and house paint? Full gloss enamel of course...

...and I know for a fact that it takes 10 spray cans of black Dulux spray enamel to adequately paint a 1963 AP-5 Valiant Regal with a several good coats, plus four tins of white enamel for a white roof...don't ask me how I know, I just do, OK...

[s0sage]

thats a fair effort mate! lol! your finger must've been kiling you by the end of it

[semi]

whats a tackrag??

[vt1538]

Great post sOsage. Alot of handy tips there. I would add that if doing metallics to vary the direction that the coats are sprayed on. This will help stop the lines apparent in the metallic flakes.
Also that the finished job can only be as good as the prep work. Spend all the time it takes to get the car looking right with the black base coat. It is easier & cheaper to have a few goes sanding the black than trying to fill imperfections with the color.

[s0sage]

very very true mate.. good points there. ive just finished spraying my mx6 tonight .. and i had a hell of a time fixing a couple of chips i missed during the black coat lol.

a good idea i use is to purposely drop a run down over the chip you forgot with your colour, flow it out a little bit in the second coat and before you third coat, give your intentional little run a rub with 2000 and your chip is filled with paint!

just dont try it with acyrilics!!! and DONT do it if your a novice! lol!


P.S. a tackrag is a sticky mesh cloth you use to wipe over prepsoled panels before painting, and in between colour coats to remove specks of dust that even prepsol wont remove. you can get them at any autopaints store.

cheers guys
s0sage

i'll post up pics of my freshly painted mx6 early next week. she's in the oven at work right now. love that ford xr6 phantom mica. 30% pearl! shit what a colour

[Wombat]

Can't wait to see the pictures.

MX6 Turbo hey?....I won't flame you, they're a quick car alright...however, a suggestion: use the time you have it off the road to do some weight work on your arm muscles...the only real fault with those things is that they redifined the term "torque steer monster"...


edit: whoops...I'm thinking of the MX5 Turbo, not the MX6....of well...I might be still close to right...

[s0sage]

hahaha you've hit the nail on the head mate. tram tracks x10

the steer is nothing huge under stock conditions, but im running 12psi and a few other under the bonnet goodies, so that makes for an intersting 1/4mile through 1st and 2nd gear lol!

[Hairy Eater]

with spray guns.... can you set the trigger to 50% or 80%.... or does one have to guess these trigger settings ?

[s0sage]

its in the touch of your finger ..

you can get the feel of it by spraying the el cheapo shit out into the air at full blast, barely on, in the middle .. etc

its all practice

[Hairy Eater]

what's a few good brands and models of sprayguns that you can suggest ?....

[s0sage]

well its all personal preference .. i use a SATA Jet model spraygun for my basecoats with a 1.3 nozzle. (far too expensive for anything other than trade use)

when choosing a gun for your own tastes heres the way to pick them.

- solidly built from quality parts
- lightweight. (ever tried spraying out a 20ft CATAMARAN??) you'll be thankful for a gun that weighs 500g
- must be adjustable by at least FLUID, PATTERN, AIR CONTROL. how much paint comes out, in what particular shape with exactly how much air is all important when you want an even coat, with optimum atomisation of the paint.
- must be able to COMPLETELY dissasemble for cleaning. none of this sealed for life shit.
ideally have seperate guns for primers and paints .. but if your at home, big deal. just make sure you clean your gun THOROUGHLY no shortcuts. and get a gun with an interchangeable nozzle.
PRIMER SHOULD BE SPRAYED THROUGH AT LEAST 1.8MM
PAINT SHOULD BE SPRAYED THROUGH AT MOST 1.5MM


choose something thats comfortable. spray guns come in different sizes and weights and shapes to suit different peples hands/strength/endurance.

heavier guns offer more stability in the hand. but you cant hold them for very long at all painting a car can you?

some respectable brands i've used:
iwata - sata - jaguar
sata have some good beginner spray guns ..

[matty88]

Just a quick question, what's better at cleaning parts getting them ready for primer, metholated spirits or thinners? Is Prepsol good and what is it?

[s0sage]

always use thinners to clean your gun, use an old toothbrush to really scrub the lock ring, seals and nozzles clean of paint.

using metho is like cleaning your car with water and a sponge. it'll get the job done, but you'll have to scrub a lot harder and longer without the soap.


prepsol is a much refined thinners. its not as harsh and smells nicer

you must NEVER wipe thinners on primed surfaces. it will dissolve it.

when you clean primed surfaces for paint, use prepsol it isnt harsh enough to dissolve it.

[s0sage]

okay, i've finished spraying my car purple .. i'll post up the pics when i can find a camera..

this job was completed for $390 AND i used a more expensive sort of clearcoat. was well worth the exra $$$

brb .. finding a camera

[s0sage]

sosage's new paint job! pics inside!


theres the end result of following my DIY

now i need a cut and polish ..

total cost - $390

[Snotty]

looks awesome...

Just wondering if you had any orange peal when you were painting.

[matty88]

How long would you wait until you drive the car/cut and polish/wax it?

[s0sage]

snotty - nope .. because i varied the application of paint ..

as for time before driving ... without baking it in an oven, id say best to leave it overnight and do it next day

if you have access to an oven, you can do it straight away.