Anybody else out there do their own body work and paint their vehicles themselves?

[BCMoto]

Very true the prep work is the most important

 

[rho]

I strongly dislike painting... so I'm in awe for those of you who can do it well.

I'm pretty good at putting new dents and scratches in paint though!

 

[Sneaks]

I've done a few driveway jobs with a little pancake compressor and HF gun. I find it kind of fun :)

 

[OTH Overland]

I don’t know the brands off the top of my head, but when I was an auto body tech apprentice, my mentor gave me three guns. A wide nozzled Gun for primer, a medium sized gun and hopper with 4 nozzle sizes, and a tiny touch up gun that has three nozzles. I do remember that the gun set was bought at a local auto paint supply store.

After doing all the body work on my first truck, my dad sent it off to the professionals to have a show quality paint job sprayed. When I got it back I was so disappointed knowing that I could have done a better job myself with 0 experience. My dad owned and operated a mechanic shop where we took on 2 -3 restores a year and he would do the paint, I would do the body work. He thought our skills weren’t up to my expectations so sent it off.

Over the years I have painted several rigs for customers. But I always had a professional dedicated booth and proper equipment. I want to paint “The Adventure Machine” myself, but I think in the end I am going to take it to a professional that I have used in the past. She (yes she) specializes in custom paint and full restores. She is the only shop I know of that will separate the body from the frame to get the undercarriage prepped and painted correctly. I will do all the body and prep work in my driveway then trailer the Bronco up to her. While up there, I’m thinking of having the upholstery shop cover my seats and door panels for me as well.

Any ways I love this thread, keep on posting guys.

Mike, you are lucky to have someone trustworthy to do your painting, Most everyone we have talked to lately does not want to do an entire vehicle, especially a large one. Have my 1991 F250 super cab stored away until i can get it fixed up, the shops that will do it around here work on show cars and want 25k+.

 

[M Rose]

Mike, you are lucky to have someone trustworthy to do your painting, Most everyone we have talked to lately does not want to do an entire vehicle, especially a large one. Have my 1991 F250 super cab stored away until i can get it fixed up, the shops that will do it around here work on show cars and want 25k+.

This lady isn’t cheap... she painted the bumper on my 06 TrailBlazer and it ran me $3,500 (well that includes parts she had to order as well as the paint). I am hoping that by doing 90% of the prep work it will save me a few bucks.

 

[OTH Overland]

This lady isn’t cheap... she painted the bumper on my 06 TrailBlazer and it ran me $3,500 (well that includes parts she had to order as well as the paint). I am hoping that by doing 90% of the prep work it will save me a few bucks.

i am planning on stripping the truck down to the frame and send the body pieces off to the body shop for paint while i rehab the tired 450,000 mile running gear. Hoping to transplant a 12 valve cummins in place of the old 7.3, I just love the truck and they don't make them like that anymore. Michelle and i just did color matched raptor on our WJ, but want a shine on the old ford i can't get with a driveway paint job.

 

[M Rose]

i am planning on stripping the truck down to the frame and send the body pieces off to the body shop for paint while i rehab the tired 450,000 mile running gear. Hoping to transplant a 12 valve cummins in place of the old 7.3, I just love the truck and they don't make them like that anymore. Michelle and i just did color matched raptor on our WJ, but want a shine on the old ford i can't get with a driveway paint job.

I hear ya on the driveway paint job. My driveway is right under two shedding trees... which
Now makes me think of all the sap I have on my paint... looks like I’m going to need to talk to the land lord about a HF garage tent :)

 

[tony chatman]

just use marine paint with zinc any color you want made for foul weather and sun and zinc for anti rust.

 

[M Rose]

just use marine paint with zinc any color you want made for foul weather and sun and zinc for anti rust.

Marine paint doesn’t last very long on automobiles... uh less they are fiberglass or aluminum, ask me how I know, or better yet look at my boat that was painted in 2012. and it’s very expensive... Urethane is much better for automotive use (well duh it’s automotive paint after all).


the red was fire engine red with metallic flake... trying to sand it off didn’t happen, ended up having to use chemicals to get rid of it before I could repaint it.

 

[old_man]

I removed my hood and sanded down to metal because of a faulty base coat. Fighting to get the 2K epoxy primer sealer to lay down without a ton of orange peel. What do you guys thin your 2K with. I would go to my local paint supplier, but they are closed on the weekends.

Thank God for a heated garage. It is 13 degrees and a foot of snow on the ground and falling.

 

[Sgtanderson]

If you have time to do some good prep work, sanding, cleaning etc. You would be surprised how nice of a paint job that you can do with Rustoleum, mixed with Acetone and some hardener.

 

[old_man]

If you have time to do some good prep work, sanding, cleaning etc. You would be surprised how nice of a paint job that you can do with Rustoleum, mixed with Acetone and some hardener.

Prep is 90% of a good paint job. I have quit using acrylic enamel due to the limited life here in HIGH UV Colorado. I like Acrylic Urethane. I have used Paintforcars.com.

 

[Joey83]

It's a skill I'd like to learn.

 

[old_man]

Anybody have any experience with water borne? I would really like to try it out, but I have been told by people that say they know (???) that it won't work for the small guy.

 

[Autism Family Travels]

paint for cars looks like a killer setup. I am not sure if they ship to canada or not.

 

[old_man]

paint for cars looks like a killer setup. I am not sure if they ship to canada or not.

Sounds like you need to make a trip stateside. Stop in Colorado. We can kill the fatted calf and have a burnt offering. I have an extra bedroom with private bath if you need to crash and clean up.

 

[BCMoto]

Anybody have any experience with water borne? I would really like to try it out, but I have been told by people that say they know (???) that it won't work for the small guy.

I have experince with it and I happen to sell waterborne from PPG It is really different than solvent base. It is alot nicer and you can get better match paint for it.

 

[Autism Family Travels]

I have experince with it and I happen to sell waterborne from PPG It is really different than solvent base. It is alot nicer and you can get better match paint for it.

My father in law is a body man. He's said the same thing about water borune paints. So easy to work with and color match is awesome. I have seen first hand how awesome they are since he fixed a huge dent in the fender of the patriot that a rock from a lawn mower put there while da wife was driving up the road.

 

[old_man]

I have experince with it and I happen to sell waterborne from PPG It is really different than solvent base. It is alot nicer and you can get better match paint for it.

What is entailed in using it? Can I buy quarts or am I stuck with gallons?

 

[Downs]

I just tried my hand at body work and paint for the first time on this CJ. My bondo work was pretty bad. I did rattle can this project which I was quite happy with quality wise..........until I tried to fix a few minor spots and completely messed up one side. Doh!