cheap paint jobs - READ ONLY

18 messages, Last post on Sep 28, 2004 at 11:00 PM

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#9 of 18 Paint by brush by jlflemmons Mar 29, 2004 (7:16 pm)
Had a friend in highschool with a '67 Beetle. Needed paint bad, had little money. Paid an auto paint supplier to mix him a gallon of this awful green and got a good paint brush and went to town. Definitely not a pro job, but it did give the car an attitude. And it stood up for years. Good paint, applied HEAVY.
#10 of 18 I had a friend do that to a wooden pumpkinseed boat by swschrad Mar 29, 2004 (10:54 pm)
man, was that a dripping, peeling mess!
#11 of 18 Old Ford Torino by sequoiasoon Mar 30, 2004 (7:02 pm)
My friend and I used Rust-Oleum Gloss black 1/2 gallon cans with a "smooth" roller when his paint was totally peeled. I don't think we even prepped anything. Car never peeled and was still shiny when he sold it 3 years later. Painted it on a calm sunny day in his driveway.
#12 of 18 LOL sequoia, that's going to be fun when scheib gets hold of it ;) by swschrad Apr 02, 2004 (9:43 pm)
had a 64 dodge with a nasty looking battery rack way back when, universal racks wouldn't fit, so I got out the rust-oleum dichromate primer, and really soaked the doggone thing down with it. two thick wet coats. went inside for a snack, came out with a putty knife, and scraped all the corrosion off very easily. a few brush strokes, and left it for the rest of the weekend. sunday night I sprayed it with car-tone R-M lacquer (now PPG), and that stuff did peel. couldn't get enough slippery off the rust-oleum to make the car paint stick. just like the trailer frame, though, the stuff stayed on forever. it chips big time if hit with rocks at highway speed, though. note, this was the early 70s, when rust-oleum was still a fish-oil vehicle paint (menhaden) and penetrated through rust like X-ray vision. nowadays, you'll have to use a gob of Wil-Bond additive to get the same results, and probably pour a little Wil-Bond on the metal directly to cut the water out of the rust and provide something for paint to grip. danger, warning, eek department: Wil-Bond is a powerful solvent, paint blisterer, and the fumes are big-time liver killers. open air, no sniffing, and so on. you aren't going to find it at the hardware store, a sherwin-williams professional counter is a good bet. use it on car paint, and you'll see the metal underneath real fast.
#13 of 18 My 2 cents, Maaco by 69mach1 Jul 02, 2004 (10:54 am)
I've found that shops vary from one to another, some better than others, all are privately owned, so check around your area. Do a lot of the prep yourself before taking it to Maaco, that includes taking off all the chrome pieces that you can and sanding down the surface with 1000 grit paper. Then tape inside the joor jambs and fender areas where you don't want paint overspray. Also, put in your paint contract that you want the entire car skirted around the bottom with paper and that you want the engine compartment sealed with tape and paper. As said above have them paint the car the same color (good painters can blend to match). Maaco uses enamel, the reason it's so cheap is because they buy the stuff in bulk. Once you get the car back, let it cure for about a month, then wet sand the entire car with 1500 - 2400 grit paper, then buff it out. You'd be amazed, I've done it on two cars to date. Another alternative is a paint and body vocational school, they'll do all the labor for free, you provide the materials.
#14 of 18 if you go the vo-tech route, see if they'll buy the material by swschrad Jul 28, 2004 (8:53 pm)
then you know it was the right mix and the cost will probably be less. the post above might suggest to some they go down to the sikkens or duPont dealer in the yellow pages and ask for a couple gallons of paint and a roller. it doesn't work like that, not nearly, and "similar" primers and stuff can fail to adhere to either existing work or the new paint. that means big peeling problems. you want everything from the same shelf you can get to cut down on chemistry problems, and you want somebody who knows what type of paint should stick best to your existing car. besides, if you don't have a tax permit and proof of training, those guys are not likely to sell you anything, even pop out of the machine. lots of insurance liability for the chemicals and solvents, not to mention possible loss of business if the guy who orders ten times a day comes in and sees joe average at the will-call counter. vo-techs don't have the issue, they love to see well-trained guys applying their products. fewer gripes and make-goods.
#15 of 18 by 0patience Aug 29, 2004 (8:32 pm)
One thing you should note...... Most vehicles come out with a clear coat and painting acrylic enamel over clear coat makes a big mess. Going over the clear coat will cause the clear coat to "lift" and it gets nasty real fast. The best thing to do is sand it down, apply a quality primer/sealer and then go with your paint job after the primer/sealer coats have been successfully applied. It ain't as easy as you think.
#16 of 18 Re: cheap paint jobs [carlisimo] by rebaza Aug 30, 2004 (1:05 pm)
Replying to: carlisimo (Mar 18, 2004 12:12 pm) Carlisimo, if you are a member of edmunds, you must like cars. If you like cars, you are a bit of an explorer, techie, and wild. With this said, you are better off, trying it yourself. It will definitely cost you a quarter of the price and you will get the experience for future projects. I recently painted my car for the first time, for me and for the car, and while I had no experience, I was damn proud. To answer your question, YES! Bumpers can be painted. In the past, Bumpers needed to be prepped with special chemicals to be ready for paint. Nowadays, the paint is more sophiscated, so you need nothing but the regular sanding and dusting off all the grease and dust. What you need is the following: Primer 2 Gal Sealer 1 Qt Base 1.5 Gal (Get the color code of your gas door) Activator 3Qts Clear Coat 1.5 Gal Activator for Clear Coat .5 Gal. Totaling maybe $200 Tools (Husky) Compressor and Spray Gun and DA($300) For $500. You can have a damn good job and keep all the tools. So, if you decide to do it on your second car, it would be $200. AND the compressor is good for all your other activities in your garage. On the other hand if you do not like the idea, a paint job will cost you $1500-$2500, if less, it won't last.
#17 of 18 by 0patience Aug 31, 2004 (4:15 pm)
For the price of the clear coat and activator (reducer), you can purchase a high glosser to add to the paint and the job will end up a whole lot nicer. Plus, if you ever have to paint over it, you won't have to strip the garbage clear coat off. I don't know why anyone puts that stuff on their car, but if they ever had to strip the stuff off, they would NEVER put it on another car again. Oh, by the way, the bumper....If it is chrome, don't even attempt to paint it, the paint will come off
#18 of 18 by carlisimo Sep 28, 2004 (11:00 pm)
Thanks for the advice. Haven't had time to do anything yet though, especially without a garage here in college. I do want to try the bumpers, and I could probably borrow a garage long enough to do that. Trouble is, time is more difficult to come across than money these days. Haven't been able to go out in a while, maybe I don't need a nice looking car anyway.