I want to get my car painted but I also want to do alot myself. Im only 16 but very interested in restoring my own car. I dont want to paint it but I want to do alot of the work. Is it possible to sand, wetsand, prime, tape my car in my garage. Is there any prep in the garage i have to dolike When your putting primer on the car do you have to get rid of all the dust. Is it possible to do this and than have a local body shop shoot it? If it is than thats why i want to know how to prep my car perfect so i dont waste $800 on paint.

Try signing up for a local autobody class at a high school or community college. You'll learn how to do the work correctly, access to tools and paint booth, and get discounts on materials.

Read this http://www.chevelles.com/forum/Forum3/HTML/004355.html

Yes you can do most of what you asked in your garage.. Get it taped and primed then block it out to get rid of dust and boogers in the primer.. However, I'd spend the extra couple hundred bucks too have the car primed and blocked one last time before the shop paints it.. Thats if you had alot of stuff in your primer coat. Good Luck

i was in your position about 6 months ago, age and all. i did all the work on my car in our barn. not the most dust free environment. what helps though is if you can sweep it out really good and set up a makeshift spray tent with plastic sheeting.

i also gotta tell you that if you are going to go thru the trouble of spraying the primer and doing all the prep work then go ahead and spray it. spraying the primer is really good practice.

another thing is you don't need to wetsand the primer. just sand off the old stuff where it is bad, bondo, and put the primer down. also i found it is only nessesary to use about a 240 grit(as your finest paper) on the primer.

at 16 i think its best to do all the work yourself because you will do another car. i already have my next two projects lined up.


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Derek Ohlgren

68 El Camino w/ 307
Hugger Orange, beautiful color.

You can primer the car yourself in your garage without too many problems. Primer will dry very quickly so the amount of time that dust will be a problem is minimal.
A good thing to do before you start spraying is to mist the interior of your garage with a water hose. Dont soak it just spray a fine mist over everything.this will settle any dust that is in the air and most surface dust. Do this about 45 minutes before you start to spray the primer.
Disconnect your negative battery cable and run a chain around your frame and put the remainder of the chain in a metal bucket with water in it under the car. This will help with the static electricity that gathers dust to your car.
Use a water filter on your gun, you can get these at most auto supply stores, it screws on right before the gun.
I would wet sand with 400 grit sand paper between coats. then dry it off, clean it and then rub it down with a tack cloth (you can get these at most auto supply places also)and do it all over again. Apply 3 or 4 coats and then guide coat it if you are not going to paint it right away.
To guide coat it is easy. You can use almost any paint you want. I usually use a flat black spraypaint like krylon or something. It really doesnt matter. Hold the can about 12 inches away and moving fairly fast, what you want to do is just fog the car. You should have little black dots all over the paint. Dont paint it just pepper it.
With the guide coat on when you take it to a body shop they will final sand it and then paint it.
Hope this helps.

I don't really know how much body work experience you have, but if you don't have a lot, I did suggest trying to find a class or atleast someone who has more experience.

you need to consider what type and brand of paint your car will have. I'd stick with only one brand of paint. don't mix and match different paint companies because you may run into compatability problems.

Remember, saftey is an issue!
Have proper ventialation and chemical mask. Also, some of the paints can be very flammable. Use caution! Make sure there are no open flame in the room (i.e. pilot light, gas heater, etc)

Primering your car in the garage will be just fine. Just keep a clean work area, sweep the floor everytime before you leave, remove any un need items from the garage as they collect dust. Blow out the car every time before you prime the car, keeps dirt out of the car and primer and the finsih coat of paint. Block sanding is what makes or breaks the straightness of the car VERY IMPORTANT to do right. Follow the body lines and curves, match the sanding blocks to the curves of the body. Ive used everything from 3ft long boards to radiators hoses. I sand the first coat of primer with 80 grit paper and reprime. Then sand again with 180 grit and keep sanding with 180 girt until no bare metal spots show. Then I start with a color matched primer. Say if your car is going to be red add some red to the primer. This is done to keep the number of coats of red in the finish coat to a min. And helps rock chips from being noticed. Always let the primer set up and cure fully before you start to sand it. Primer likes to shrink and sanding it the next day wont allow the primer to fully shrink so wait about four days to sand it. Always wet sand the last coats of primer helps prevent sand scratches from showing up later down the road. What ever you do dont apply bondo over primer asking for problems there. Also before you reapply primer blow it off and wipe it clean with a wax and grease remover. Removes the dirt and grease that a blow gun wont, and if you think that oil is not on your car you are so wrong cause the oils on your hands can ruin a paint job. The end result of any paint job is about 90% percent prep work so take your time. One of the best things you can do as a beginner is read, buy books like HOW TO PAINT YOUR CAR. Many paint suppliers have free pamphlets that will be a great help to you and lastly go to a body shop and ask questions, most are willing to direct you in the right path.
Good luck with your painting experience...Eric