What do you folks w/diy car painting experience – using a spray gun and compressor – recommend for a safe paint to use for the amateur who doesn’t have the self contained breathing apparatus? And which kind of spray gun, the older type or the newer low pressure high volume type?
$299 Maaco specials. Just saw commercial.
But if you use Maaco-like place, there’s no way to get the sanding between coats that you could do at home, right? And isn’t that sanding between coats, especially after the primer, pretty important for a smooth finish?
The Maaco specials that I’ve seen in my area are actually pretty good. Excellent for the price.
But they’re just “oversprays”, with basic prep (cleaning) of whatever surface is there and masking of the surface details (door handles, windows, model badges, etc.). They don’t do the door jams (NOBODY would for the price they charge) so you want to NOT change the color, they don’t do a primer coat, they don’t remove the trim, or any of the things that you’d get in a paint job costing thousands… but IMHO they’re excellent. Nobody inspects anybody’s car anyway unless it goes to a show. And nobody wanting to show their car should be getting a Maaco overspray anyway.
More important than between-coat sanding is sanding of the primer. The better the primer surface is, the better the top spray will come out. Understand that the assumption here is that the OP wants to paint his daily driver, not a show car.
I could be mistaken, but I believe only aqueous-based paints (acrylic) are allowed now. Lacquers were banned decades ago. But they cracked anyway.
If you lack a mask, you should get one. It’s worth the few extra bucks to protect your lungs.
A talented auto body man can mix enamel to suit the ambient temperature and apply the paint in 3 passes without sanding with excellent results. Long ago I painted a few refrigerater trucks for a dairy following the directions of the shop manager and the results were acceptable with an acceptably smooth gloss. My work was comparable to other trucks that had been repainted there. The paint stayed put without orange peel, alligatoring or blistering. Transitioning from a horizontal to a vertical surface was the worst problem I recall having. And even the most basic spray guns can deliver a smooth, quality finish when operated by a good painter. The worst problems with spray guns is the lack of thorough cleaning, moisture in the air lines and poor pressure control… Assuming the paint is correct.
But then today we are dealing with clear coat. And it is my understanding that for a truly smooth finish by DIYer the final color coat must be wet sanded after fully drying before applying the clear. I have attempted to apply a base/clearcoat finish and never been happy with the result and threw up my hands and dropped back to punt by masking off the body section needing paint and applying enamel there. On a pickup bed panel I wet sanded a large area and feathered the enamel into the sanded clear coat around it resulting in “good enough from 30 feet” finish.
Let me be perfectly clear though. If someone wants a factory original quality paint job on their car they need to find a very good professional. I wouldn’t recommend MAACO or Earl Scheib. And I certainly wouldn’t recommend they try it themselves. Like I said earlier I have bought several cars and trucks at scrap yard prices after someone botched up their effort to paint it with paint from McParts. A door with a scrape look better than a door with the wrong color paint on it.
I have done very nice repairs with rattle cans and they are available custom mixed to your paint code in urethanes with urethane clearcoat and lacquer clearcoat from internet sources. If you are just shooting a bumper cover you CAN get a decent result using rattle cans. The urethane flexes like the cover so use urethane clear, too. Some car paint stores can do this, too, but THEY can color-match for a perfect match to faded paint.
Prep is 90% of the job. Sand smooth 'cause paint won’t cover any nastiness you leave behind. Prime with a primer-sealer at the auto parts store. Duplicolor makes virtually all that stuff in rattle cans. If you did a good job you can shoot over the primer after scuffing the surface lightly so you don’t break thru.
Practice on a hard, curved surface to get the feel of it. Coffee cans used to make great practice surfaces but you don’t see them much anymore.
Shoot the basecoat in light coats with lots of overlap. 2-3 should cover well enough. Let dry an hour or so and most basecoat-clearcoat paints you can clear in about an hour. Shoot about 3-5 coats depending on how smooth you can get it. Use GOOD light! Un-tape it when its dry to the touch, that will mostly eliminate ridges or peels. Let dry overnight.
Depending on how good you sprayed the last coat, you may say OK and un-tape or re-install it. If it is fuzzy or has orange peel and you can stand that. Wet-sand it with 1000 grit and then 1500 or 2000 grit. Rubbing compound (the orange junk) by hand then finer and finer polish until you are happy.
If you can do a decent job with rattle cans, you can do a decent job with a compressor and spray gun. I have a cheap touch up gun and a 25 year old 1 quart gun from Craftsman. With the right protective gear, have no fear. Screw it up? Sand and spray again.
I think if you stick with an acrylic enamel like centari and not urethane you can get by with a mask. The DuPont clear coats that I’ve done though, the clear is sprayed over the color coat with absolutely no sanding and needs to be done within a specific time span. Sanding the color will ruin the final color. Don,'t know about the other brands though so read the directions and product lit. There also is non shading primer but usually want to sand to build and fill the surface, then sealer color coat and clear. Then color sand and polish. Lot of work.
I had an acceptable job done by MAACO a 1988 Chevy Caprice. It stood up well, and pricing in all the supplies and rentals, I would have only been able to do an inferior job myself.
Get MAACO or other shop that does basic work. The car does not have to look like new!
I’e never painted anything except a redwood fence with a compressor & spray gun, but I think I could do it and get a pretty decent looking result. But not if I just started spraying the car right out of the box. I’d get some metal panels and practice on those lots of times first until I was satisfied I was getting the result I wanted. True, it might take me 25 attempts and cost me thousands of dollars in practice paint, I’ll grant you that … lol …
This reminds me when I decided to apply drywall texture. Pretty much everybody I asked said I shouldn’t even try, it was too difficult. It is difficult, but it isn’t impossible. I bought a 4 x 8 foot drywall panel and practices on that, tried maybe 20 different ways, and finally I was getting very good results, even bettering those I’ve seen on new houses.
Stuff like this may be difficult, possibly impractical for all but those with a lot of time on their hands, like retired folks, but almost never impossible to learn.
There was an article in (I think) Popular Mechanics recently, a guy painted his car, first with rustoleum metal primer, then with (I think) rustoleum glossy white. He used foam rollers and brushes, and claims it came out good.
Back in the 50’s, my brother had a 1947 Ford, one of those that swept back all the way. It was white, and he wanted it red. He brush painted it.
It came out perfect. Translated: You could tell from a quarter mile away it was brush painted!
He didn’t care.
@irlandes
"You could tell from a quarter mile away it was brush painted!"
I refer to the results of a poorly executed DIY (spray or brush) paint jobs as,
“Painted With A Broom And Slap-Dried With A Burlap Bag” 
.
CSA
There are plenty of youtube videos on how to paint with Rostuleum and foam roll. Some are decent.
I still think if you add the time needed to learn, the cost of equipment/etc the Maaco price is very reasonable, unless you are going to do this more often.
Sounds like it might be a nice “father and son” project . . . or maybe for a trail rig
@BillRussell writes
an article in (I think) Popular Mechanics ... rustoleum ... He used foam rollers and brushes,
There’s a similar article here on the Car Talk website blog section, I posted a link to it a few pages above in this thread. The photographic results look pretty good, but it is hard to tell from photos what the paint surface looks like up close.
“Painted With A Broom And Slap-Dried With A Burlap Bag” .
CSA
lol … I wonder if you can spray that rustoleum if you thin it out a little? I wonder how that would compare to the roller brush paint method, appearance wise.
Yeah when I was a kid a neighbor a block away was out there painting his 51 Hudson black, with a brush. He didn’t even have the decency to run the brush strokes in one direction. Just all over the place but he got it done in a couple hours. I suppose I was about 10 at the time but even then I thought he was committing a crime. I painted my trailer with Rust Oleum but I sprayed it at least. Um, contrary to youtube, its not the greatest paint in the world but I use it on outdoor furniture.
What can I say? I just can’t continue this discussion talking about rolling on Rust Oleum on a car.
“Yeah when I was a kid a neighbor a block away was out there painting his 51 Hudson black, with a brush. He didn’t even have the decency to run the brush strokes in one direction. Just all over the place but he got it done in a couple hours.”
I remember seeing a (58 Ford?) that had a similar paint touch-up job around the headlights on the front fenders. However, the fenders were first “bondoed,” not with Bondo, but with Redi-Mix!
Was it done successfully? Yes, if you consider the paint job a success. :neutral:
CSA
I think it just depends on skill level though and crappy equipment can return good results.
I couldn’t agree more on this. A good painter can make do with almost anything. I knew this guy that could have carved a straw out of a twig and blown the paint on the way cavemen traced their hands. Same as the guy that beat all comers at pool with a stick that was nearly broken in two and bent at a 60 degree angle. OTOH, cheap painting tools in the hands of an amateur/newbie is a recipe for lifelong discouragement… My other bit of advice is to, whenever possible, practice on someone else’s stuff first (not limited to painting) 