If you're gonna be one of those "don't paint your car yourself, take it to a shop cause you'll screw it up" please don't bother saying anything.
For those actually willing to help here's the question:
Does anyone know of a good guide online to painting your own car? My dads going to be painting my car in July, he's painted vehicles before and did a great job.. But i just want a rough idea on what's gonna be done and how long it's going to take, my dad said 2-3 days or 3-4 days depending on the circumstances. But yeah, the car can't look any worse than it does now..
Couple more questions, do those "rust-proof" primers actually work? Worth the extra money? and does anyone know where the paint code is on an '02 cavalier?
Thanks!
"what's gonna be done and how long it's going to take"
To answer that, he will have to remove the headlights, remove the taillights, if it has a spoiler that will be removed, then he'll wetsand the entire car including the door jambs, under hood and under trunk, spray it two or 3 times, add the clearcoat then THE BIG STEP OF ALL- wetsand and buff the entire car. That is a good paint job. Trust me, I graduated for automotive collision repair. The whole thing will take anywhere from 2 to 5 days depending how long he works. Rustproof primers arent really that good. If you have rust it'll be best to fill it in and paint over it. Theres threads on this site where people have done it. Not sure where the paint code can be found on your car. I have a 1997 so it may be different. Hope this has helped!
Well, I cant help with the painting, but the paint code for a 02 is located on your spare tire cover on the sticker on the bottom side, usually has a U**** number with it.
FireRedCav wrote:"what's gonna be done and how long it's going to take"
To answer that, he will have to remove the headlights, remove the taillights, if it has a spoiler that will be removed, then he'll wetsand the entire car including the door jambs, under hood and under trunk, spray it two or 3 times, add the clearcoat then THE BIG STEP OF ALL- wetsand and buff the entire car. That is a good paint job. Trust me, I graduated for automotive collision repair. The whole thing will take anywhere from 2 to 5 days depending how long he works. Rustproof primers arent really that good. If you have rust it'll be best to fill it in and paint over it. Theres threads on this site where people have done it. Not sure where the paint code can be found on your car. I have a 1997 so it may be different. Hope this has helped!
there is no reason to wet sand prior to paint, just make a mess. And never paint over rust, that's just dumb, if its there it will be back no mater what crap u put over it...it must be removed.
Im no autobody tech but all the painting ive done, PREP is the BIGGEST MOST IMPORTANT STEP OF ALL.
You can have glass like paint, but if you paint over rust, rough primer, whatever, its gonna show through and start peeling, flaking, whatever....
FireRedCav wrote:"what's gonna be done and how long it's going to take"
To answer that, he will have to remove the headlights, remove the taillights, if it has a spoiler that will be removed, then he'll wetsand the entire car including the door jambs, under hood and under trunk, spray it two or 3 times, add the clearcoat then THE BIG STEP OF ALL- wetsand and buff the entire car. That is a good paint job. Trust me, I graduated for automotive collision repair. The whole thing will take anywhere from 2 to 5 days depending how long he works. Rustproof primers arent really that good. If you have rust it'll be best to fill it in and paint over it. Theres threads on this site where people have done it. Not sure where the paint code can be found on your car. I have a 1997 so it may be different. Hope this has helped!
LINCOLN TECH?
wet sanding isn't needed. And only really needs to be done on the clear coat. That is if you want. As for buffing also not the greatest idea.
if he can lay down good coats of paint without any dirt, you won't ever need to buff or wetsand the car.
The whole car usually takes about 2 to 8 days, depending on the type of paint and the kind of booth that your gonna spray in.
Most of all, Just takes time.
Prep is the best. if your going over a rust free car.
Always remember, never jump more than 100 grits while sanding.
Chris Harris wrote:FireRedCav wrote:"what's gonna be done and how long it's going to take"
To answer that, he will have to remove the headlights, remove the taillights, if it has a spoiler that will be removed, then he'll wetsand the entire car including the door jambs, under hood and under trunk, spray it two or 3 times, add the clearcoat then THE BIG STEP OF ALL- wetsand and buff the entire car. That is a good paint job. Trust me, I graduated for automotive collision repair. The whole thing will take anywhere from 2 to 5 days depending how long he works. Rustproof primers arent really that good. If you have rust it'll be best to fill it in and paint over it. Theres threads on this site where people have done it. Not sure where the paint code can be found on your car. I have a 1997 so it may be different. Hope this has helped!
LINCOLN TECH?
wet sanding isn't needed. And only really needs to be done on the clear coat. That is if you want. As for buffing also not the greatest idea.
if he can lay down good coats of paint without any dirt, you won't ever need to buff or wetsand the car.
The whole car usually takes about 2 to 8 days, depending on the type of paint and the kind of booth that your gonna spray in.
Most of all, Just takes time.
Prep is the best. if your going over a rust free car.
Always remember, never jump more than 100 grits while sanding.
Chris, you need to sand/scuff a car before painting to allow proper paint adhesion. Buffing is not necessary if you dont want show and shine quality. A car doesnt need dirt in the paint for it to be buffed. Buffing is what brings out the gloss a lot more for the clear coat. In my opinion its worth it to buff the car cause the paint appearance is beautiful and clean afterwards. There in no "kind of booth" either. All booths for the most part are created equal. Also to clarify what I said earlier about rust, there are steps to take to properly fill in rusted spots. Not sure where Gary got the idea of painting directly over rust. Also gary stated "it will make a mess"....duh its cars we're talking about! To fix up cars there will be a mess at times so its not really a big deal. If you want to stay clean dont work on cars. Not saying that directly towards Gary, just a fact.
These photos below show the result of my paint job after the buffing. Tell me if its not worth it.
Hood
Roof
Clean reflection on the trunk
Ok Crystal, I think Im done stating facts and backing up what Ive said against these people stating things that arent true. Now its time for you to decide what advice to take. I hope this doesnt turn into another pointless flame war. Also do you have any pics of your car?
true, where did you go to school at, just curious?
Just a local technical college in southwest georgia. Not a big school though.
I don't think u under stand what kind mess I was talking about. I own a body shop, im not an idiot. You don't wet sand other than buffing.
You said yourself "fill over the rust and paint". My point is you put nothing over rust... Nothing end of story, u remove the rust
Gary Frank wrote:I don't think u under stand what kind mess I was talking about. I own a body shop, im not an idiot. You don't wet sand other than buffing.
You said yourself "fill over the rust and paint". My point is you put nothing over rust... Nothing end of story, u remove the rust
Eeeeasy Gary, no need to start foaming from the mouth. Lol Yes you need to remove the rust. I just didnt get into detail on the whole proccess. I didnt mean to literally fill it in then paint it. I worded it wrong so thats my fault. See Gary, we can agree on this.
O I agree with 90% of what u said aside from the wet sanding which I see people saying lots. And u have to get into detail here because there's lots of dumb people lol
id like to kno if you would need to sand the primer before spraying on the paint?
yes, always sand before spaying pretty much anything
Gary Frank wrote:yes, always sand before spaying pretty much anything
Truth. 120, 240 and so on will be best until it is completely smooth.
FireRedCav wrote:Also do you have any pics of your car?
yeah i have pics ill post some tonight/ tomorrow of whats happening to the paint. its peeling and rusting, i think the owners before tried to fix the rust themselves and didnt do a very good job.
and yes i know the rust ALWAYS needs to be sanded completely.
whered you get your tailights? lol the paint job does look great.
im keeping it the color it is, but since it was an alberta car there's stone chips everywhere. its horrible. and its hard to sell a car thats painted a different color. people around here like the stock look lol
the rust dosent need to be sanded you need to get rid of it
Ditoo on the taillights fireredcav
Modding my j since I found the org
I got the tail lights off of ebay. Type in Cavalier LED tail lights. The were sold shortly after I painted my car red. Only pic I could find of them turned on at night is the one below when my car was blue.
As someone thats been doing bodywork and refinishing for ten years now, a few of the comments on here are just funny
So someone with experience would you recommend sanding the primer in between each coat or just the final coat before you lay down the paint?
and what grit would you sand the primer with.
Definitely need to sand the primer, the smoother it is the smoother the paint will come out.
I was told to use 600 after primer, fine enough not to leave big scratches but rough enough for the paint to have something to adhere to.
"Oil Leak ? What oil Leak ? Oh, Thats Just The Sweat From All The HorsePower!!"
Fire Red were did you get those fender flares for your cav I would love to put something like that on the rear of my cav I have the toyota cavalier fenders on front so already flared enough lol
