Spray Painting a Whole Car

In reply to M030: TSC has white and IH red might be a little darker than Massey Ferguson red.

I find the brush/roll on paints adhere and hold up better than the spray bomb counterpart.

As someone who grew up with a father that was an automotive painter and also worked as a painters helper in a body shop, the idea of rolling or spray painting an entire car makes me nauseous. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right. Pony up and get a compressor (really what kinda garage doesn't have one?) and a Harbor Frieght gun. They can be made to spray pretty decent and the results will be 10x better than a spray can.

The Wheeler Dealers BMW I painted was shot with single stage urethane and a Harbor Frieght gun. It came out great and is only about $100 for the gallon kit with hardener from TPC Global.

From this.

To this.

Interesting, I was looking at harbor freight guns yesterday.

Stupid noob question : is hardener needed? I don't even really know the best paint to buy lol

t25torx wrote: As someone who grew up with a father that was an automotive painter and also worked as a painters helper in a body shop, the idea of rolling or spray painting an entire car makes me nauseous. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right. Pony up and get a compressor (really what kinda garage doesn't have one?) and a Harbor Frieght gun. They can be made to spray pretty decent and the results will be 10x better than a spray can. The Wheeler Dealers BMW I painted was shot with single stage urethane and a Harbor Frieght gun. It came out great and is only about $100 for the gallon kit with hardener from TPC Global.

Can't say I disagree with this. Why spend a lot of time* to do a half-assed job, when you can spend only slightly more to do an all-assed job?

*I've spray bombed a car. It took a long berkeleying time. It took about 20 cans of paint. I had tired hands. It looked like ass.

Repaint it whatever colour it originally is, that way you don't have to deal with painting the door jambs and trunk and whatnot.

This was rolled, unthinned, with Tremclad. Enough orange peel to give you canker sores. The Tremclad was tinted by getting Home Depot to try and colour match the original paint without the computer knowing it was trying to tint Tremclad.

If it is already rusting, it will be rusty within a year. Mine was. And is.

SkinnyG wrote: Repaint it whatever colour it originally is, that way you don't have to deal with painting the door jambs and trunk and whatnot. This was rolled, unthinned, with Tremclad. Enough orange peel to give you canker sores. The Tremclad was tinted by getting Home Depot to try and colour match the original paint without the computer knowing it was trying to tint Tremclad. If it is already rusting, it will be rusty within a year. Mine was. And is.

For what it's worth I'd be proud to drive that. I love the short wide's.

Antihero wrote: Stupid noob question : is hardener needed?

Yes.

So thanks to some overspray and oversight, my (white)hood is now covered in splattery black. I think I remember hearing in my younger days that I should mark a hood and need special tools before taking it off, but I think that's crap. Something about keeping it aligned when it closes.

I'm going to rattle can it, but would it be better to take the hood off and hang it up, or could it safely be done on the car, making sure to cover the windshield?

93 Answer, for those curious.

Depending on how much over spray you have I'd try hitting it with a clay bar first.

All kinds of wrong opinions in this thread grrrr! Some of yous guys need to bone up on auto paint facts before giving advise.

To take off that rattle can paint get some 220 grit wet sand paper and a $10 drywall palm sander and go to town. Work it in the direction of the cars longest lines. Wear a real respirator too, not those stupid dust masks.

revrico wrote: So thanks to some overspray and oversight, my (white)hood is now covered in splattery black. I think I remember hearing in my younger days that I should mark a hood and need special tools before taking it off, but I think that's crap. Something about keeping it aligned when it closes. I'm going to rattle can it, but would it be better to take the hood off and hang it up, or could it safely be done on the car, making sure to cover the windshield? 93 Answer, for those curious.

The Miata hood is easy to remove and replace. You can mark a line on the underside along the hinge or around the nuts to help align it when it goes back on but it is pretty easy to do even if you don't.

In reply to t25torx:

Thanks, now I know what I want to end up being used on a certain Mazda after rust encapsulation