Painting my car myself, can it be done?

[supradrift]

when you are painting you have to be in a climate controlled room with little humidity. you need to buy paint the right hardner for the kind of paint and the right thinner. everything needs to be mixed right with the right air pressure and the right motions to paint. if you mix it wrong you will have orange peel and wont look good.you have to spray evenly or youll have runs. if you do enough layers it doesnt matter how good you paint it if you have enough patience to wetsand it which is a pain in the ass then buff it

[Pretaco]

Haven't tried this yet but interesting:

moparts: paint job on a budget!?

another thread about it:

Sweet $50 paint job - Pirate4x4.Com Bulletin Board

I want to try it one day on my beater truck.

[twerb089]

yea, i used behr house paint and rolled it on... i did that like 8 months ago and im still not done sanding, although im procrastinating most of it.. but it got the job done and it was only like 50 bucks

[chucks]

The DIY Paint job > they have a nice layout of how to do it.

[shiftysupra]

If your experienced in painting and prepping should come out pretty well. My dad and I used to paint many cars as he was a body man at Thoroughbred Nissan here in Tucson. Prepping is honestly about 90% of the work.

[abhicary]

What is the result? Are you done with your painting? Post some pics of it.

[mnewxv]

Originally Posted by twerb089

yea, i used behr house paint and rolled it on... i did that like 8 months ago and im still not done sanding, although im procrastinating most of it.. but it got the job done and it was only like 50 bucks

wow you ROLLED paint on? thats crazy!

[mastergrader007]

I bought an 88 gte last year, it was painted by a dude that did horrible body work and painted just as bad. I have now painted 3 cars and they have all turned out well. go to your local autoparts store and they will sell you the proper hardner and reducer. Too many people are scared to paint their own vehicles and really its kinda easy. I painted my supra in the side yard last year and it turned out great. no runs, no orange peel and i did it all with an 8gal compressor and a gravity feed gun. I recommed a larger compresser tho, like a 20 gal or bigger. Like everyone said, the prep work is what counts. if you can feel it with your finger, you will see it once its painted. of course when i did the supra, the bugs decided it would be a great spot to hang out, but hey... if you want a professional job, the pay the money for a pro. I was nervous for my first paint job, but after you get started, you will wonder why you were so nervous. just take your time prepping, Use high build primer if you have a lot of small pinholes in the surface. you can put the high build on thick and let it run, then sand it when its dry. then TAKE YOUR TIME when painting. lay it on light and work your way around the car. fan the gun in then fan it out with long 1 way strokes. if you can paint with spraypaint, you can paint with car paint. OH and buy a good quality resparator because if you dont, your body will ache for a while and you will have your finger in your nose picking out (insert the color of your paint) boogers for a week. if you have any other questons feel free to ask. if not, good luck and take your time and you will be good-2-go!

[BrianFS]

It could be done, but you got to be careful...its not like painting a concrete wall. It takes time, a lot of patience and attention to details. Once you get the hang of it you'll notice it's fun.

I used to paint at my school bodyshop and it was fun, i even got certified in automotive paint.