Painting my car myself, can it be done?
 

Ok, so Im thinking about getting this built MkIII but its the color I really cant stand, burgandy, would it be realistic since I have a compressor, to go buy some spary guns for the compressor and some paint for the car and paint it myself, Im pretty experinced in painting but have never taken it to this extreme, what I want to know also is how good will it look, and what kind of paint I need, base coat, gloss etc, and the type of paint I should use, and how much does this paint run for, oh if youre curious and what color the car is going to be, Im just going to go with a simple black. If you could guide me in the right direction that be great cause I dont want to go blow a ton of money on a pro paint job.

anyone? pics of people doing it them self would be cool too

youl'l be needing tons of hardwork and patience in preping up the car for painting. the secret of a good paint job is on the preparation of the body.

here is a few pics of my effort before and after. Mine took 150 hours and as you can see the body and paint were very good before i started. I did mine in Artic pearl white, a zerallic pearl used on 2003-2006 subaru imprezas and wrx's. It's a massive job if you want to do it propperly. I did all the prep work at a mates panel shop but i left the painting to the proffesionals. You gotta know what your doing before you try the job on your own. I dont think just owning a compressor is enough

when your painting im pretty sure you have to be in a dust free environment with proper air circulation. i think it also matters how much pressure you put through the gun

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

Paint
 

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.

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

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

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.

wow you ROLLED paint on? thats crazy!

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!

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.

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