How to Paint a Car
To paint your car and to paint a wall in your house is far from the same thing. Another needs several paint rollers, and a painted bowl, while the other includes a litany of materials, clear coats, primers, and sprayers.
This is why good auto paint jobs can not get too expensive. The method is complicated and needs some expertise, but that doesn’t mean you can’t just give your car a new look.
Follow our guide below for a quick primer on how to paint your car yourself:
What You’ll Need
You will need more than pure painting. Essential equipment includes 1200-and 2000-grit wet-and-dry sandpaper, electric sander, masking tape, air compressor or spray gun, masking newspapers, face masks, safety glasses, and paint thinners.
And if you can afford an extractor of dust, just get one. It’s not necessary but it will help keep the air clear of pollution.
Preparation
You will move on to the planning of your workstation once you have your supplies. First of all, clean your area of work. When you work inside a shed or workshop, clean the floors and make sure you’ve got plenty of workspace. Obstacles in the way only make the job more difficult.
Hose the area with water to clear the dust if you are working outdoors, and do not paint under a tree or anything else for that matter. Contaminants will fall on the wet paint and ruin the finish. Then wash the car and remove any pollutants on the surface such as dirt, grease, and grime on the ground.
Stripping
Now you are able to get to work with your work area clean and a shelf full of paint products. In circular motions, you will begin by sanding, removing the clear coat, topcoat and base coat. This can be done with a sander, even if by hand you’ll like to sand the corners and crevices.
After stripping the car to your desired color, scrub the outside with a clean rag and paint thinners. This will help remove any dust, and then wait until any finer residue evaporates before continuing.
Priming
It’s best to practice before you start painting. When lugging a door home isn’t your cup of tea, the best way to practice is to get a cheap used car panel from a junkyard or piece of steel. Keep the spare gun from the panel about six inches and spray it in a sweeping motion side by side. You’ll only want to push the trigger when the spray gun is moving. When you keep the button down continuously, you’ll get a continuous paint blast. This will result in some spots having a thicker paint that could cause the paint to run.
Mastering the painting technique helps you to begin applying the primer to the car. You are going to want to work down from the roof, applying it in thin, even coats. A surface usually needs two or three coats. It will take approximately 10 minutes for each coat to be applied per vehicle surface, and another 20 minutes-to-an-hour for the primary to cure between coats.
The primer will have a powdery finish when you’re finished, which you’ll need to smooth with 2000-grit wet-and-dry sandpaper. You will also want to clean the spray gun and rub the surface with a rag that is slightly dampened with thinners down. Can strip the primer using too much thinner, so be careful.
Painting
Now, you’re painting a set. Using the correct ratios on the paint instructions blend the paint with the thinners. You will use the same spraying technique that you used to use to topcoat the primer. Like the primer, applying the paint will take about 10 minutes per plate, and another 20 minutes to an hour for the paint to cure between paint applications.
Use the recommended drying time listed on the paint can add three to four coats. Remove any powdery residue with 2000-grit wet-and-dry sandpaper before applying your last coat of paint, and scrub it with a clean rag. Repeat with clear-coat lacquer on the previous two stages.
Remove the masking tape used to mask off the places you didn’t want paint added before the clear coat dries, but be careful not to put any tape or paper on the wet paint. Then you can let the recommended time clear coat cure. Once the clear coat is dried, test for runs or other imperfections on the finished job. If you find some, you can use 2000 grit wet-and-dry sandpaper and respray to sand back the affected area. Buff paint with a buffer, in circular motions. Be careful not to burn the paint too long by keeping the buffer at one spot.
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