Tips For Painting Your Car Yourself

Maybe it’s just a small detail, or maybe you’re looking to get a completely new color, but odds are that getting a paint job done by yourself will save you a lot of time.

The issue is that painting your car won’t be as easy as just spraying some paint and calling it a day, you need to do some prep work, and take care every step of the way. Here are some important pointers to have you ready for your new fresh coat of paint.

Supplies

First off, you’ll need to get a lot of sandpaper, 1200 and 2000 grit, an electric or air powered sander, a buffer, a clear-coat lacquer, topcoat acrylic or enamel paint, an undercoat, safety glasses, face masks, paint thinners, a spray gun (you can find paint sprayer reviews here), an air compressor, masking tape, and some newspaper. A dust extractor is not necessary but will help clean the area.

The amount of paint or primer you’ll get depends largely on the size of your car. If you have a large car you’ll need around 3-4 gallons of clear-coat lacquer, 4 gallons of topcoat, and 1 and a half gallons of base coat. For a medium sized car (or a small one) you’ll need 2-3 gallons of clear coat, 3 gallons of topcoat, and 1 gallon of base coat primer.

There is one thing we haven’t listed, which is probably the most important thing. You’ll need a lot of time to paint your car. Set up some days, or maybe even a couple of weekends aside. We also recommend doing it in a dry, clean, temperature-controlled environment.

Getting Ready

You need to clean the area where you’ll be working, no matter if it’s inside our outside. Make sure to wash down the car as well.

You should also decide whether you’ll paint details, like the trunk, inner doorsills and the engine bay. This will change how much you have to stip down and remove. If you’re not going to do any extra work, just mask those areas you don’t want to paint.

Stripping

Use circular motions to sand. Ideally, you’ll sand the car back to metal and get a smooth finish. At the very least, you need to get a smooth surface at the end, you’ll have to finish with fine-grade sandpaper. Don’t forget to remove dust and residue.

Priming

Mask the areas you won’t be cleaning. Mix the primer with the thinners, you can find the recommended ratios on the can, it will change depending on the kind of paint you’ve bought.

If it’s your first time painting, you should practice a bit. Look for a used car panel, any piece of scrap steel will also work. Just begin practicing the motion, standing 6 inches away from the panel. Remember to only hold the trigger when you’re moving, if you hold it in the same place too much you’ll cause runs.

Work from the roof down when you’re applying the primer. Use even coats to cover the surface completely. Dry time will vary depending on the primer you use, but it’s usually around 20-60 minutes.

After you’re done you’ll need to clean up a bit, you’ll have to use some sandpaper to get a smooth finish on the surface. Clean up your spray gun, and use a rag with a bit of thinner.

Paint

Again, mix the paint with the thinners at the recommended ratios. You’ll be using the same spraying technique, so don’t worry about practicing again. You should apply around 3-4 coats, waiting between each coat. Before the last coat, you should remove powdery residue with sandpaper, and clean it out. Do these steps again with a clear-coat lacquer.

At this point you just have to wait for the paint to dry, removing any masking tape placed around. Go over the finished job and make sure there aren’t any important imperfections that you need to take care of.

Projects Best Suited For Paint Sprayers And Why

It can seem like having a paint sprayer would help solve a lot of the issues you commonly deal with while painting. If you’re using a brush, you’ll have a great finish and won’t miss areas, but you’ll spend too much time actually painting. If you’re using a roller you’ll lay a coat in a jiffy, but odds are the coat won’t be even and you’ll have to spend some time to clean up.

In theory, paint sprayers have none of those issues. All you have to do is aim at the surface, pull the trigger, and let the sprayer do everything else. Still, there are some facts that might make you reconsider whether you should get a paint sprayer or not, as not all projects really require them. Let’s start off with the main reasons why you should get a paint sprayer.

The Good

If you’re working on a rough texture, something filled with imperfections like cracks or bumps, paint sprayers will take care of the details. Paint rollers and brushes would have a lot more issues with these. Another advantage is that covering large spaces is very easy with a spray, you just need to aim and pull the trigger, requiring a lot less effort than what you’d need with a paint roller or a brush.

This is one of the things that make it perfect for outdoor use, as you don’t need to worry about cracks that naturally occur. In general, sprayers are pretty good for outdoor use, as you don’t have to worry about things like overspray, and you don’t need to worry about imperfections.

By using a paint sprayer you’ll get a much evener coat in comparison to using another tool. It’s not completely perfect, you still need to be careful and avoid overlapping, same with a paint roller, but it is not something you need to worry about so much.

The Bad

As great as paint sprayers can be, they’re definitely not perfect for all projects. When you’re thinking whether a paint sprayer will be worth it or not, take these details into account so that you don’t make a mistake.

When you think about the time cost of a project, at least with painting, you shouldn’t focus only on how much time it can take to paint. There are other variables in hand, and in the case of paint sprayers, these will make the difference between being a huge time save or not.

Cleaning up a paint sprayer is not an easy task, and you can’t put it off for another time. If you do so, you risk getting your sprayer clogged up and getting it damaged. You also can’t do some quick cheat to quickly clean up, you need to be thorough. Prep work for paint sprayers is also horrible. Think of it like this: if you’re not going to paint it, you need to cover it up. There’s no lax choices, as you’ll be dealing with a potent spray whenever you’re trying to paint up.

The Conclusion

What all of this means, is that paint sprayers are great for larger projects, especially if they’re outdoors. If you’re going for a much smaller job, like painting just one wall, odds are it’s not worth it. At the end of the day, be sure to take all of this into consideration when you decide whether to use a paint spray or not.

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