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  July 5, 2008 8:56 p.m. mad_machine SuperDork

  My saab was involved with a small (ver small) incident with a semi before I bought it. Only a couple of small dents.. but after a life in Washington DC.. it is filled with door dings, scratches, and scrapes.

  I recently popped out and filled a medium/small dent in the hood, but could not get an exact match to the black, so I started sanding.. got the whole hood down to factory primer and things got out of hand as I started filling pinprick dents and deep stone chips that made it through to the metal beneath.

  I still have the problem of matching the paint.. and I am too cheap to pay somebody to paint the whole car.. so I thought of doing it myself. I can borrow a decent 20 gallon compressor and harborfreight sells a decent looking gun for $40. I have a garage. I have primered a car in the past using a gun, but that was as far as I got. When I was at Advanced Auto earlier today, I noticed they sell pint cans of premixed paint just for spraying. Stir and add to the gun and go to town.

  Any helpful hints?

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  July 5, 2008 9:23 p.m. Dr. Hess SuperDork

  If it's just the hood, take it off, prop it up against the wall of the garage. Get the HF HVLP gun. I got it for $10 on sale at Christmas. Cover the rest of your garage with Wally World drop cloths. Go to the paint store and get the right paint for your vehicle. They can match what you have if you go to a really good paint store. The computer matchers are not near as good as a human matcher. Get the stuff you need at the paint store: Primer, color, clear as necessary. Shoot it in your garage. Sounds like you already have the hard part down.

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  July 6, 2008 7:48 a.m. ddavidv SuperDork

  Funny...the pic of your car was the featured ride while viewing this thread. Is the black metallic? If not, should just be straight black, though there are some tinted blacks out there. Regular black is just black, should match other than the patina the rest of the car will have from car washes and living in the elements. Spraying a car at home is a big mess. The materials aren't cheap, either. This is one job I prefer to farm out, even though it costs $$.

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  July 6, 2008 10:14 a.m. Helterskelter Reader

  Funny you should post this, because I'm gearing up to paint a car with my father. He painted the family VW Bus and his MGBGT when I was too young to help. How messy and expensive could it be if you build your own pvc booth? I think we will do a much better job than a cheap shop.

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  July 6, 2008 2:28 p.m. mad_machine SuperDork

  I don't see it being too messy either. I can hang plastic in my garage to keep the dust and dirt out of the spray area and the overspray off of everything else.

  Honestly, it cost me almost $200 to have a bumper cover done for my Bimmer.. I shudder to think what a full car will cost me.. though I might just sand the whole thing down to factory primer, get the dents, dings, and pricks out of it, and then hand it off to real painter.. if I do most of the prep work, it might be a lot cheaper

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  July 6, 2008 9:39 p.m. ddavidv SuperDork

  Single stage Maaco will run you about $600. Base/clear is about twice that. Painting it yourself with factory color will run you about $300 in materials, I'd wager. Building a booth helps, but overspray still manages to find it's way out. Painting is kinda fun, but the cleanup sucks.

  Having roller painted my race car, I'm sold on that method provided you have the time to put into it. An entire car, painted two tone, cost me around $150. It took about two weeks of evenings and weekends to get it done because of the sanding and drying time involved, but I'd do it again with no hesitation. Can't do factory metallics though, nor clear coats (well, maybe clear...that's still being debated).

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  July 6, 2008 10:07 p.m. mad_machine SuperDork

  $300 does not sound too bad. As far as overspray is concerned, the only thing in my garage (besides tools) is a 67 caddy I am slowly parting and my fiat wich is going to need paint soon anyway.

  I think I am going to go for it. Anybody recommend me a website?

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  July 7, 2008 6:35 a.m. ddavidv SuperDork

  Auto Body 101

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  July 7, 2008 9:12 a.m. Volksroddin New Reader

  Are you just paiting the hood? you might want to "blend" in to the fenders.(painting the upper edge that rolls into the hood) I f you dont blend it could look a little tacky. dont forget to spray the rest of the fender with clear coat Scuff the fender with 1000 grit as well. good luck

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  July 7, 2008 12:14 p.m. mad_machine SuperDork

  actually, I decided to do the entire car. The rear passengerside fender is a mess with a large dent, a quarter sized rust bubble, and a lot of small dings and nicks..

  I also decided to do the rustoleum thing. I always hated black, so I am also going to change the colour of the car. Probably to silver

  so what is the consensous on airless sprayers like the Wagner and such?

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  July 7, 2008 4:11 p.m. ddavidv SuperDork

  Airless are generally junk. The roller guys have tried them with very little success. I used one to paint a porch and I wouldn't use it on a car. Even a cheapie HVLP gun will do a million times nicer job (and not use near as much paint, either).

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  July 7, 2008 4:28 p.m. mad_machine SuperDork

  that is what I needed to hear. I can get a decent HVLP gun for cheaper than an airless anyway. Still need to borrow a compressor though.

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  July 7, 2008 9:31 p.m. Keith SuperDork

  Check your local pawn shops for compressors.

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  July 8, 2008 5:36 a.m. ddavidv SuperDork

  You'll need a compressor with a pretty good air supply too. Those itty-bitty job site ones for air nailers won't cut it. Nothing sucks more than standing in a Tyvek suit, sweating your nads off, waiting for air to build up so you can keep spraying.

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  July 8, 2008 7:04 a.m. mad_machine SuperDork

  nah, the compressor I am going to borrow is a big upright standing one. I forget how many gallons, but probably enough to do a car in one or two tanks

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  July 8, 2008 9:32 a.m. Jack SuperDork

  Remember that HVLP stands for High Volume, Low pressure. It's a different duty cycle than most compressors were conceived to support. check it out before you buy materials.

  Jack

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  July 8, 2008 2:24 p.m. mad_machine SuperDork

  I have to say I have forgotten how tedious bodywork can be. I think I have finally beaten the dent on the rear fender.. but I may be wrong.

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  July 9, 2008 9:19 a.m. carzan New Reader

  ddavidv wrote: Auto Body 101

  Seems like a great site. However, I tried to download the "Basics of Basics" ebook and after a screen came up saying the code to download had been sent to my email address...nothing. That was yesterday early afternoon. Am I missing something (yes, I checked my spam folder). Anyone else have this problem?

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  July 9, 2008 1:59 p.m. mad_machine SuperDork

  ran into a small snag. Went to work on sanding down the roof to a smooth, yet matt finish, and tried to remove the small panels that fit between the roof and the rear side windows.

  I know they are held in by two screws, one at either end, but what holds them in after that?

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