Spray painting a car

mufflets2 · 26-04-2015 10:19AM #1

Hi all

I have a Pajero Sport that I need to get sprayed. it was originally a council vehicle and is a bright yellow colour (now with a few grey patches where it needed a bit of body work and has grey primer over filler ect.) so it doesnt need to be a concourse job but has to be respectable.

The cost of a professional respray is too much and I have a bit of experience spraying my own Motorbike panels and a few small things i am also fairly handy and hope to do the respray myself.

I am leaning towards a matte black as Im told that Matte is a bit easier. first time out

any advice from someone who has done this before would be greatly appreciated

Heres the plan.

fill and fix any dents or body repair.
Wash the car.
Sand the whole thing lightly with 320 grit (not sure)
wash the car
remove any trim that can come off easily
wipe it over with some kind of paint prep/wax/oil remover stuff. (recommendations Please)
tape up everything
Erect my 20x10ft garden tent around the car.
Rub it down with tack cloth.
Spray on two coats of dark primmer
Sand with 1200 or 800 grit (not sure)
wash the car
tack cloth again probably (not sure)
spray 2 or 3 coats of matte (not sure)
remove the tape the next day

What ye reckon

also I am selling my small compressor for a bigger one what should I be looking for. what is the minimum required to do this job ???

also anywhere good for buying the materials ?? im in North Dublin

All Advice appreciated.

goz83 · 26-04-2015 03:15PM

If you're not entirely sure and you don't already have the materials, go to www.gvdautos.com

Price list is online

26-04-2015 04:26PM

Without an oven the finish will be appalling imo.... Temps are never high long enough to let a sprayjob dry thoroughly.

Hachiko · 26-04-2015 05:07PM

why are them prices so cheap.

brembo26 · 26-04-2015 05:12PM

how about getting it wrapped instead?

mufflets2 · 26-04-2015 07:49PM

There must be someone out there who has sprayed a car (without an oven)
anyone???

_Brian · 26-04-2015 10:59PM

I rember being in London, late 70's. Visiting relations.

Guy a few doors down sprayed his car in the street. Nice sunny day, no oven there.

mufflets2 · 26-04-2015 11:09PM

There are guys spray painting cars in Ireland today as well without ovens and I am hoping to hear from one.

michael999999 · 26-04-2015 11:14PM

mufflets2 wrote: »

There are guys spray painting cars in Ireland today as well without ovens and I am hoping to hear from one.

Jesus man.

If you go spraying a vehicle in a tent with no extractor the fumes will kill you.

Plus the mist from the spray will stay in the air, and gradually fall back down onto the vehicle deadening any finish you had on it.

Do you know how to keep a wet edge when spraying?

mufflets2 · 26-04-2015 11:33PM

No I don't know how to keep a wet edge while spraying

JohnBoy26 · 27-04-2015 01:30AM

Without proper equipment you won't get anywhere near a good finish and at the end of it all you will probably wish you never got rid of the yellow after seeing the results.

You would need proper breathing apparatus too if spraying with 2k paint. An ordinary mask won't do for this job.

If I was in your position I'd get the Gray areas properly repainted and just put up with the yellow colour tbh.

goz83 · 27-04-2015 01:44AM

Hachiko wrote: »

why are them prices so cheap.

To keep them busy I would imagine. I have had loads of work done there.

SuperS54 · 27-04-2015 06:02AM

I remember many moons ago an elderly neighbour decided to respray his Japanese import himself with spray cans. I seen the finished result and it was absolutely terrible, there was paint everywhere, on the wheels, tires, windows...he noticed me looking at the paint all over the side windows where he obviously hadn't bothered to mask anything and came out with the winner...."Ah sure the wind was agin me..." So don't spray outdoors with no masking in the wind!

colm_mcm · 27-04-2015 07:44AM

Even harder nowadays with paint being water based

slimjimmc · 27-04-2015 09:29AM

Your air compressor needs to be able to supply enough air without having to stop and build up pressure, and you need a matching spray gun. This guy recommends you use a low volume low pressure spray gun as it's more suited to the relatively low capacity of DIY compressors.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu3KxqH7mM0

27-04-2015 10:01AM

_Brian wrote: »

I rember being in London, late 70's. Visiting relations.

Guy a few doors down sprayed his car in the street. Nice sunny day, no oven there.

The finish was impressive no doubt

A factory 70s finish would be brutal to today's standards.

kona · 27-04-2015 12:05PM

As mentioned I'd wrap it. Or get it professionally done, no point in spending money and time of a crap spray job.

Too many variables when spraying outside.

slimjimmc · 27-04-2015 12:56PM

Also I would have thought a matte finish to be much more challenging for a novice. At least with a gloss you can rub down and polish out paint runs and other defects, not sure how that would work with matte.

You could save a lot on a pro spray job by doing much of the prep yourself, removing trim and refitting afterwards, sanding/filling, etc. Buying the correct equipment and consumables is not cheap either.

Donnelly117 · 27-04-2015 01:17PM

I'd sooner try to wrap a car myself then paint it... Definitely easier to correct any mistakes and get a better overall finish I would think.

27-04-2015 01:27PM

I've sprayed alloys, brake calipers, brake disc hubs, trim and different panels in the wind and I can tell you, it's not easy unless it's a still summer's day with no wind.

Having a heat gun is a big advantage to bake the paint but this would only be for small areas. When spraying a whole car, you can't really do a panel at a time, bake it and then move on because your technique will differ from panel to panel in that case.

mullingar · 27-04-2015 01:43PM

When it comes to spraying a car, you can never spend too much time in the prep.

When painting a car there are two main coats, the colour coat and the clear-coat. The colour coat is just mixed with thinners. The clearcoat has 2 distinct types, 1K and 2K (1k = 1 part, 2k = 2 part). The 1K has no hardener and dries slowly and a half decent 3M cartridge face mask should do the job (1K is hard got as its unpopular). The 2K stuff is VERY nasty thanks to the synthetic hardener but very quick drying. A full positive pressure head mask is required. 2K is stronger than 1K too so a lot more immune to stone chips.

All that an oven does is speed up the drying time, it will not make the finish any better.

For DIY spraying booth?, A gazebo with a shed load of sealing tape to block off all air except for a spot for 2x large extractor fans and 2x inlet vents with filters... Dust is your main enemy.

Toyotafanboi · 27-04-2015 01:45PM

you know what. it's an ex council yellow pajero, covered in dents and bodged repairs to begin with, not a classic mercedese or something. i certainly can't see giving it a lick of matte black making it notably worse. i'm not a fan of the matte black finish, but if it's nothing more than a workhorse and the yellow is a bit garish for you, then go for it. in my limited experience with matte black aerosols (mostly painting small trim pieces etc) it appears to go on easy and dries pretty much instantly which makes it easier to work with.

my only real concern in this process would be the prepwork, you'd need to make sure no yellow could be seen around the door jambs. wheel arches, bumper gaps etc or then it will look nasty, otherwise it'l be a grand job in fairness.

i don't even think i'd do half your prep work, just give it a quick scrub with a fine sandpaper, wash it and degrease it and paint away. i'd do it outdoors of a sunny, still day too, chances of grit clinging to the matte black is small enough, but spray a few cans of it in a tent and you will pass out.

if it turns out that down the line some areas are chipping etc, you can just buy another can of matte black and touch it up. that stuff blends fairly ok.

166man · 27-04-2015 02:07PM

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

you know what. it's an ex council yellow pajero, covered in dents and bodged repairs to begin with, not a classic mercedese or something. i certainly can't see giving it a lick of matte black making it notably worse. i'm not a fan of the matte black finish, but if it's nothing more than a workhorse and the yellow is a bit garish for you, then go for it. in my limited experience with matte black aerosols (mostly painting small trim pieces etc) it appears to go on easy and dries pretty much instantly which makes it easier to work with.

my only real concern in this process would be the prepwork, you'd need to make sure no yellow could be seen around the door jambs. wheel arches, bumper gaps etc or then it will look nasty, otherwise it'l be a grand job in fairness.

i don't even think i'd do half your prep work, just give it a quick scrub with a fine sandpaper, wash it and degrease it and paint away. i'd do it outdoors of a sunny, still day too, chances of grit clinging to the matte black is small enough, but spray a few cans of it in a tent and you will pass out.

if it turns out that down the line some areas are chipping etc, you can just buy another can of matte black and touch it up. that stuff blends fairly ok.

+1.

Sure give it a whirl and if it turns out rubbish just get it done properly. As TFB said its a rough Pajero lads, dropping €2k on a respray would be utterly pointless.

I mean....how hard can it be?

Toyotafanboi · 27-04-2015 02:23PM

LIGHTNING wrote: »

I did half a door on an old car and I spent ages getting it right. In the end it looked great but I spent far too much time on it. Doing an entire car would be tough to get it to look half decent. But if you dont care about the finish sure why not :pac:

he's spraying it matte, which doesn't really require any finishing, he also isn't trying to match it to an existing colour.

power pants · 27-04-2015 03:08PM

There was someone on this forum who had a navy blue alfa 156 and he decided to spray it himself outside job too.

It was beyond **** tbh, he eventually realised this too when people finally started to be honest and give their true thoughts on it

username?! · 27-04-2015 03:25PM

just wrap it. You would be mad not to, especially since you want a matt finish.

mufflets2 · 27-04-2015 04:07PM

166man wrote: »

+1.

Sure give it a whirl and if it turns out rubbish just get it done properly. As TFB said its a rough Pajero lads, dropping €2k on a respray would be utterly pointless.

I mean....how hard can it be?

Thats my thoughts. Cheers

mufflets2 · 27-04-2015 04:10PM

username?! wrote: »

just wrap it. You would be mad not to, especially since you want a matt finish.

got a quote of €2900 to wrap it , theres a lot of twists and edges on a pajero

MarkR · 27-04-2015 04:15PM

What about plastidip? Either that, or for what it is, how bad could it get? It'll probably look like something out of mad max, but it'll be better thay yellow! Any pics of that alpha?

JoeySully · 27-04-2015 04:16PM

Have you looked into using rustolum and painting it with a roller ?

*Kol* · 27-04-2015 04:24PM

If you are doing it matt I would use a foam roller to do it. It will look okay and you have less chance of getting the black lung from all the sanding and spraying you were planning on doing. It would be nearly as quick as spraying, more forgiving when applying as you don't have to worry about wet edges etc and very few consumables required and only a small bit of masking. I would try it on a panel as an experiment at least. I have seen it done on aircraft touch ups and the results are acceptable.

Spray painting a car

Comments