I was just wondering how hard it was to learn to paint a car body well. If it's like a lot of things, it's not hard, but unless you do it all the time, it's hard to do it well. Is that the case?

Also, what does one need in order to paint cars? Is the equipment expensive? Is a clean, well-ventilated garage enough, or do you need more in terms of a facility?

There is a forum out there for this subject, I used to have it in my favs.

I'm in the same boat.. I'd like to learn so I can repaint my car as well.

I thought it would be easy when I first tried to paint a car. I didn't get a very good result until the about the third car I painted. They all looked OK, but had runs and fisheyes. This was after I had painted several motorcycles too. There's a lot more to a paint job than a paint gun and a garage.:D I ended up finding a seasoned old-timer that was willing to share his knowledge with me. It is MUCH easier when you have someone "showing" you what needs to be done.

Proper paint mixing, clean and dry compressor air, dust free paint environment, proper humidity (or adjustment in your flash times for it) and of course the prep work that is being painted over all have significant effects on the end result. (along with other factors):rolleyes:

EDIT: I did most of my paint jobs in my dad's two car garage. I would make a painting booth out of plastic sheets that come on rolls. Then I'd mist the floor with a garden hose and push the car in for spraying. I had a fan on low, taped into a hole in the plastic walls to vent the "booth". This worked well for me, but a down-draft booth would be the best.

It's not hard ONCE you learn the ropes. You need space and good lighting and the right equipment which includes a respirator.
90% is in the prep work.

I had a friend that owned a MAACO franchise he allowed me to work on Saturdays for a couple months to get some hands on. The pay was lousy but the experience was valuable. I would believe any larger body shop would look for some Saturday min wage prep people. Be upfront tell them why you want to do it.

.02

Here's a tip:

Vaseline keeps paint off any exposed skin:) ... plus makes a better seal between your face and your respirator.

Great suggestions! Thanks a lot. I know that preparation is always the most important part of any paint job. I've done enough spray painting to know that you CAN screw that up if you're not careful.

Urethane auto paints have isocynates in them usually in the hardners and respirators don't work, you need supplied air. It causes cancer and can kill you. This stuff can enter your system through your eyes also. Do some research, reading and ask the person who is supplying the paints, they may know.

This sounds about like what I was expecting. As much as I would like to be able to do my own painting, it doesn't sound practical. My interest wasn't to save money. It was more in having more control over what was done, going a step or two farther than what a body shop might do, etc.

Thanks for your comment, though.

Easier to just skip all the ureo, polyies, and VOC and use a non toxic automotive paint.

Maybe once I get to that point, I'll rethink this. The idea of working in a body shop for a while to gain some experience sounds good. If I could just find the time to do it, I'd be right on it.

Sometimes learning what you CAN'T do is almost as valuable as learning what you CAN do.

Easier to just skip all the ureo, polyies, and VOC and use a non toxic automotive paint.
which is what I'm thinking, who cares if it doesn't last long, I can respray again. The more I read about Isocynates the more it scares me. It most likely in the Epoxy primer, looks like its in many two part paints.

It's easy to do a crappy job, and almost impossible to do a perfect job. The amount of money, equipment, and shop environment goes up exponentially to get the best results. Preparation and body work is 90% of the battle - and paint mixing/chemistry, experience, and technique is the other 90%!

With lacquer paint in the 70's, I will SWEAR that my friends and I got very good results painting outside (seriously!), with orange peel up the yin-yang, and we just sanded it down and buffed it. We probably used 3x the amount of paint that we should have used (you could afford it then) and cheap high-school labor was used to 800 sand and buff.

These new paints require a real spray booth, I would not dare paint without a full suit and separate air source for it. Take a look at www.autobody101.com and its forums. From what I've seen it's almost impossible to get a modern metallic paint to lay down truly even flakes, even with an HVLP gun, with anything less than a high-3 figure/low four figure compressor and 220 volts. A solid color might be possible to do with less.

I got pretty good 30 years ago, and started painting my 85 SL last year after spending about 1K and a lot of time on equipment and a spray booth but then it got too cold and someone else finished it. I'm glad they did!

But I did save a lot of money doing the body work and prep myself. Some shops hate to paint old cars because of the trim, chrome bumpers, etc. All they want to do is mask. Taking this off and putting it on yourself (giving you the opportunity to refurbish/upgrade a lot of it) will save a lot on labor.

Thanks for the link, Strife. I'll check it out more carefully when I have time.

Here is a good short read on non-tox auto paints from HOT ROD (http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/113_0507_auto_air_colors_water_based_automotive_paint/index.html) magazine. These paints have come a long way in the past few years.

That's sounding a lot better. Thanks, TX.

Here is a good short read on non-tox auto paints from HOT ROD (http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/113_0507_auto_air_colors_water_based_automotive_paint/index.html) magazine. These paints have come a long way in the past few years.

Very interesting. I'm going to look into it for painting my shorty school bus. Would make me feel really comfortable spray that stuff outside. Thanks!

Has anyone used it here?

Dave

check this

affordable HVLP guns by Matco

http://www.matcotools.com/Catalog/toolcatalog.jsp?cattype=T&cat=2429

Thanks for all the input. I'm thinking that the spray gun is probably the least of my concerns at this point.