? Maybe Eric"dreamer" could come over and give me some guidance at every step? :D

I also have a guy at work with a camaro that may help me a bit. I have the space, I could block off my shop area with plastic pretty easily.

What do you guys think?

is it going to be black? I think you should try it! Just spend a lot of time on prep. You have done everything else yourself! I want to paint my brothers 57 when it comes time if he will let me!

prep it yourself and have Maaco paint it.

prep it yourself and have Maaco paint it.

:yes:

This wasn't an option on your poll or i would have selected it.

Painting the car yourself, No. But doing all the prep work- yes.

There is a Maaco in shoreline that has done a lot of muscle cars in our area, You should go talk to them, then start doing your body work.

BTW- if the whole roof on that car was POR 15'd i hope you are planning to put another vinyl top on it, cause that stuff is gonna be hard to sand & finish!

prep it yourself and have Maaco paint it.

That was my original plan.. :yes: Car is very straight already.

one little bit of advice...the Maaco near me if offering a half price sale...not sure if that deal is going on by you as each one is individually owned...tell them you'll pay full price,but you want 4 coats of paint instead of the usual 2..that way,it will come out really nice and the paint will have some depth.With a metallic color,I can spot the 2 coat jobbers a mile away :D

Why not do it yourself? There would be no experts if they never tried it the first time.

Why not do it yourself? There would be no experts if they never tried it the first time.

Not enough people to come over and show me the ropes. Someone has to pass on the knowledge other than just online. otherwise I will get frustrated and crush the car. ;)

Ben, vinyl top will be going back on. :yes:

Ok, I'll prep it myself and then take it to maaco.

Maaco in shoreline did mine if I were to do it again I would have blocked my car myself. They just use a DA over the whole thing which made my car look really wavy

I think you already know my vote....

If you do paint it yourself, one of the most important things is to make sure you have a dessicant air dryer hooked up to your gun or the air line to dry the air before it gets to the paint in conjunction with an air separator....two different pieces of equipment.

I have no experience with Maaco, and I'm sure they do OK as far as spraying the paint, but I've heard the prep. they do leaves something to be desired.

Painting the car yourself WILL be an experience.

I'll bring my own brush and help...:D...:beers:..:thumbsup:.

Do it yourself with this lacquer from Duplicolor, this stuff is cool!
http://www.duplicolor.com/products/paintshop.html

Do it yourself with this lacquer from Duplicolor, this stuff is cool!
http://www.duplicolor.com/products/paintshop.html

That as well as summits inexpensive line of paints made me consider it. Plus now I have the space. Still I think I'm going to just do all the prep myself and have someone else shoot the color in a good booth.

Be careful Brett, this is almost a advertisement to paint your car. You're walking a thin line and may get Super modded!

Be careful Brett, this is almost a advertisement to paint your car. You're walking a thin line and may get Super modded!

:D Feeling frisky tonight arent you...?

Ew, that came out wrong. :sad::o But I'll post it anyway. :D

Be careful Brett, this is almost a advertisement to paint your car. You're walking a thin line and may get Super modded!

LOLl:)

:D Feeling frisky tonight arent you...?

Ew, that came out wrong. :sad::o But I'll post it anyway. :D

What gave you that idea!!!! Ok, I'm a bit grumpy right now.

I wouldn't let Maaco or the like touch my car. Hopefully you know someone that's affiliated with a body shop in some way. Maybe they know a qualified painter that is willing to spray your car on the side. I've done this and paid as little as 200 or as much as 600 plus materials. Be sure to talk to the painter and find out which paint line they are used to and prefer. Maaco uses inferior products, not something I'd be proud of.

Jerry

Go ahead and paint it yourself,............ if you want it to look like your exhaust.;)

If you want, I have an old Wagner airless you can borrow.. Just hog it on like you are doing trim and let it flow out.

I better keep my mouth shut, I've already gotten in trouble the last 2 times I commented on paint application choices....

I would set up your shop as best you can for a paint booth and post around / ask around about side job painting and see if there is a guy locally that can come to your place and spray while you supervise and pay him under the table. In the meantime do all the prep you can and if no painter pans out then go the Maaco route. JMO

I had a guy come to my shop who does the mobile dent repair. While he was working on one of our trucks I asked him about Maaco and he said the same thing that has already been posted. Do all the prep yourself (and be super anal about it), then take it to them. They actually shoot decent paint (and you can bring your own if you want) but they skimp on the prep to keep man hrs. and cost low.

Ok just to show you guys, this car is pretty straight. May just be the yellow but I have spent ALOT of time looking at this car and it hopefully wont take much blocking.

Sorry the pics dont show it very well.
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g34/Brettd85/DSCN1556.jpg
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g34/Brettd85/DSCN1557.jpg
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g34/Brettd85/DSCN1558.jpg
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g34/Brettd85/DSCN1559.jpg
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g34/Brettd85/DSCN1560.jpg

Ahh, those pics dont show $hit... :sad: Anyway, I would consider paying someone else to paint it. :yes: I would like to use decent products. I dont want show quality paint, just nice driver quality.

I know you haven't seen my paint in person Brett, but that was a garage job after having to go over the body shop's initial blue/clear that was thin and we burned through it like it wasn't even there. I wasn't impressed with the lack of clear coat thickness in the least. George can attest to the quality(other than the bottom part of the car I still have to sand and polish). Garage painting can be done, and done to a good standard....it's all about the prep and keeping the garage floor wet and limit the dust in the air. Unless it's done in a state of the art flow-through air filtering paint booth, there's always going to be some dust.

I realize that is possible Mike. But there is a learning curve and I dont really feel like learning on this one. Havent I learned enough!? :D

I realize that is possible Mike. But there is a learning curve and I dont really feel like learning on this one. I've learned enough! :D


:confused::sad:

Dave, I dont think you can really comment on painting a car... :noway: This isnt a how to pull my engine thread. ;)

I just have a feeling its something I'm not going to be happy with and I'm going to have to redo. Plus there are more tools to buy, lots of work to get the garage ready, etc etc. Next project, dont worry.

I dunno, I may change my mind after primer.

I realize that is possible Mike. But there is a learning curve and I dont really feel like learning on this one. Havent I learned enough!? :D

You have learned tons....but never enough. I learned TONS when I had the body shop kid help me do mine, and it gave me the confidence to fix any paint issues I have on my car. When you know how to paint your own car, you don't worry so much about a scratch/ding/repainting something that got messed up. Believe me, I've messed some stuff up(like when I tried putting the rear seats back in the first time).

I agree with Cobalt. But there is a small problem with this being the first car he is going to try to paint. He wants to paint it BLACK! Brett just pick another color and paint it yourself :thumbsup:.

I agree with Cobalt. But there is a small problem with this being the first car he is going to try to paint. He wants to paint it BLACK! Brett just pick another color and paint it yourself :thumbsup:.

I think Brett needs to get some guide coat black and take a week of nights/weekend and a long board and softblock sanding pad to his car....then we will all know it's straight. 90% prep, 10% paint, no matter who is doing the spraying....

I agree with Cobalt. But there is a small problem with this being the first car he is going to try to paint. He wants to paint it BLACK! Brett just pick another color and paint it yourself :thumbsup:.

What color would you recommend? UPS Brown? l:)

Like I said, the car is pretty straight and I dont need show paint. Ugh, just lots of work but I'm getting used to that.

UPS Brown? No and he77 no. Its just that I have owned black cars they show every flaw and every bit of dirt :yes:.

No and he77 no. Its just that I have owned black cars they show every flaw and every bit of dirt :yes:.

I agree with that, a medium blue is bad enough let alone black for water spots, dust, dirt, and light scratches.

whatcha got against Yaller paint Brett?

I wouldn't let Maaco or the like touch my car. Hopefully you know someone that's affiliated with a body shop in some way. Maybe they know a qualified painter that is willing to spray your car on the side. I've done this and paid as little as 200 or as much as 600 plus materials. Be sure to talk to the painter and find out which paint line they are used to and prefer. Maaco uses inferior products, not something I'd be proud of.

Jerry

I didn't realize that PPG,Dupont and Sherwin Williams are "inferior" products,because thats what Maaco uses.
Define "qualified painter" as thats what the painter at Maaco or any other bodyshop does all day.
The painter doesn't prep the car...

Yellow just isnt for me. I can deal with the maintenance of a black car, they just look tooo sweet!

Are the people that are saying yes just wanting to see my try to paint my car or would they do the same if in my situation? Maybe you guys think that I am soo smart and capable of anything! :noway: I have a feeling you guys just want entertainment.. ;)

I didn't realize that PPG,Dupont and Sherwin Williams are "inferior" products,because thats what Maaco uses.
Define "qualified painter" as thats what the painter at Maaco or any other bodyshop does all day.
The painter doesn't prep the car...

I would have to agree with these comments. Maaco does not use the highest grade of paint, but their brands have good names. Maaco gets in trouble for prep, I'll take care of that for them.

BTW, my camino was painted by the previous owner at maaco. They did body work and all. There are bubbles, but that is because rust was not repaired. The paint itself is very nice and has been on the car for over 5 years now.

Brett;

I am thinking prep work yourself and then take it to a painter is the way to go. It doesn't have to be Maaco, Maaco is just less expensive, but if you are doing all the prep and you do a good job, it wouldn't be that expensive to take it to a better shop.

As far as painting it yourself, it isn't really all that hard. I think you could do it and be pretty pleased with the results. I have painted 4 cars myself. The most important things are #1: washing down the shop, ceiling to floor and keeping the dust out! #2: understanding how to get a good spray pattern out of the gun, #3: having a good air-supply with a good water separation system.

Unless you want to do it, I would say take it to a shop for the painting.

Brett,

Do all the prep work yourself and paint it. I know down here on the south end you can rent a paint booth for around $150 for the day. You can't do any of the prep in there, but it is a nice clean place with lights to spray it.

Are the people that are saying yes just wanting to see my try to paint my car or would they do the same if in my situation?


Both. I know I will not be even close to perfect, but sanding is (almost) free!

I didn't realize that PPG,Dupont and Sherwin Williams are "inferior" products,because thats what Maaco uses.
Define "qualified painter" as thats what the painter at Maaco or any other bodyshop does all day.
The painter doesn't prep the car...

PPG, Dupont, Sherwin Williams all sell a "production" or "economy" paint line and having talked to many folks in the industry this is exactly what Maaco uses. I've sprayed PPG's production lines and they can't hold a candle to DBC or DBU which is going to run 2 to 3 times the price. You get exactly what you pay for where paints are concerned exept for maybe SPI. Unfortunately they're not producing any basecoats any more, but their epoxy, and clears are of great quality at a very reasonable price.

Jerry

If it doesn't come out right, you will still learn two VERY important things..

1. The panels are straight or not
2. You learn if you can or can not paint.

I say go for it, worse that could happen is you have to strip it down and send it off to get sprayed!

actually the maaco in shoreline uses ppg paint!they just started painting with ppg when I brought my car in. as I said before and you all probably know... maaco are individually owned and operated.

The body shop that originally sprayed my car(Sabin Restoration), the leftover paint from them and more clear I bought were all the same high quality foreign brand(Russian I think). There is a local distributor that drives around you can buy the paint from and it is fairly reasonable with great quality....that's why the body shop used it. I believe the name is Klarlack, but you could call Sabin and ask them the # for the distributor....or PM me and I can get Sabin's # for you.

As for the subject about you painting your car, I don't want to see you fail but at the same time I think you would like doing it and gain a lot of confidence and experience. Painting is waaayyyy more fun than body work....

Do it your self. It's a great learning experience. :thumbsup:

You can do it, but it will involve a lot of learning and some money. You need to at least learn to primer. You can buy some some sanding blocks and some SlickSand or other type primer/sealer and start getting the car straight and ready for paint. By the time you get done with that, you will probably feel like you can paint it yourself.

You need a good base under the paint and Slicksand is really good for minor filling and a consistent surface for topcoats. I would block the car as it sets with 180 or other rough paper, then several coats of Slicksand then block with finer paper. When you think it is straight, then another top coat of SS. Then some 320/400 dry paper with a small block. I think that is agood basis for the topcoats. Lots of guys want a coat of epoxy here, but I have never used it.

Single stage black urethane is a good choice, in my opinion. It's not hard to spray and not as complicated as some other base/clear colors. The best part is you can paint the hood/trunk, front fenders, all separate and it will color match. Painting a smaller panel sure makes it easy to eliminate overspray and to see how good your coverage is and how smooth it is going on.

I have done lots of painting, but no urethane till last year. I did the above procedure for my 65, in a carport, with plastic covering the sides. I have no dedicated place to paint, but had no trouble at all. I got dirt in the paint, but it all color sanded out and buffed perfectly.

The other option I see is to prep it yourself and talk to some local bodyshops about just spraying the car for you. You can see the work they do and judge if it suits you. They may even let you tape the car and get it ready so all they do is spray.

I used Dupont top grade ss black on my car. I believe you are better off to buy the top line paint and not budget paint.

You can see pics of my painting with the link below.

Matt, I commend you on the 65. You've made some good suggestions for a DIYer. I also like the slicksand or featherfill, it's inexpensive and goes a long way, just be sure to clean your gun with acetone, not thinner. I don't agree, however, in using it for a seal coat.Polyester is porous and will leach moisture. An epoxy etch coat is recommended and also an epoxy seal coat. A seal coat is the key to preventing any interaction of your substrait and the topcoat. I also agree with the choice of SS black. Base/clear with a dark solid color turns a little hazy after years because the clear shows white when scratched. The SS will take less upkeep.

Jerry

Jerry, I first used Featherfill on some Vettes back in the 70's. I topcoated them with lacquer. They held up great as far as I know. We had one car for 5 years, the other sold after 2 years. A lot of my street rodder budies use it with no kind of sealer and we are all having good luck. No one has experienced any problems.

I just haven't used epoxy, since so many guys do, it does probably help paint life.

People are still posting..? Its been painted for about 5 months now. See sig.