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what i'm going to do with mine is sand it all down myself and all the other prep work and take it to maaco for $300. If you do nice prep work yourself you can get a NICE lookin paint job. thats what a friend of mine did here in wichita and it looks great.

Maaco, and Earl Sheib are franchises. You could go to 1 and get a great job, and go to the next closest and get ripped off. Personally, everyone who I know that has gone to either said it wasn't worth even $200. Most of their paint jobs are Single stage Enamel, just like... Rustoleum. Often, they do a worse shooting job on cars that are prepped, because the prepping is where they make their money. Guess which auto manufacturer did roll on paint jobs.

Rolls-Royce.



I know it's natural for people to say it's a bad idea until they see results. I was very happy with my van done this way.

wytbishop wrote: Hey Mooneggs, have you ever posted a write up on the process you use to paint your cars? I'd be interested in the details of how you do that thing you do....with the primer I mean.

I'm sure I have somewhere in these forums archives lol It's very very simple though. I never used any machines to sand I did all mine by hand.

Take off all the headlights, markers, taillights, etc. I also took off my rear spoiler and mudguards. It's up to you how much detail you want to give it.

400 grit by hand wetsand paper. It's important to make sure you keep the area you are sanding constantly wet (helps if you have a friend to help you). make sure you sand everything that you want to prime. Make sure you give attention to trouble areas (small rust spots, paint chips).

Next I went over everything again with 1000 grit wetsand (same process) to get it really smooth...

After that I give the car a good rinsing/wash to make sure I've gotten all of the excess dust... sometimes I will dry it with an 'absorber' chamois to get all the water/dirt off...

Next let it dry before trying to tape it off or your tape will not stick! Once it is dry, tape it off (windows and anything you don't want primered )

I recommend getting a trigger attachment for your spray cans... it will save your fingers! Spray the first coat on and let it dry. Once it is dry, I lightly sanded with 2000 grit wiping it with a moist cloth for the wetsand affect. once again I used the absorber to get all the dust off...

spray a second coat - let the car air dry if you have taken your time and evenly applied the primer you should have a very very smooth (literally) primer job

see now I have a huge problem. I have the black 94 GS in storage and the new 93. there's no way I can talk the wife into letting me keep both...and I don't want to screw with the SE cuz it's so nice...but I really want a car to play around with. The 94GS is the perfect project car but I have to get rid of it.

DAMN!!!

Mooneggs wrote:lol I guess it's my turn to post here

my primer jobs are usually around $50 including all supplies. I am thinking this time around I am going to use flat black instead of primer. It looks like it will not fade as quickly and repel moisture better... I'm just wondering if I should through one coat of clear on it or if that will make it look too shiny?

my roommate thinks I am an idiot for having my cars primered but I don't really care what anyone thinks lol - it's cheap for me right now and I don't have to worry about maintenance and they look the same all the time lol

Bro, honestly... A friend of mine painted his car flat black. He then spray'd the car with an automotive clear coat. If you use rattle can clear, it will look like s---. I think the flat black and a clear looks good. and no it wont look real glossy like a regular black paint job.

Okay so i started my transformation. Phase 1 black primer!!!! (still in phase 1)
Progress so far:












I still need to wet sand it and probably another coat of primer( I asked my friend to get sandpaper and he got 80 grit so i got some deep scratches). If you dry sand it you should really use 180.

Don't forget to fix that Bondo'd dent in the right rear, and any other issues. If you can see it in primer, it will look like $#!T in gloss! Keep the progress posted!

from those pics you are definately not sanding it with a fine enough grit and maybe you aren't spraying evenly... do you have the trigger top thing to help turn the spray can into an even sprayer??

Mooneggs wrote:from those pics you are definately not sanding it with a fine enough grit and maybe you aren't spraying evenly... do you have the trigger top thing to help turn the spray can into an even sprayer??

Yeah u bought one of the cheap ones and it broke right away. I already started sanding with 180 grit, works so much better. Ill post pics later!!!!

For best results, wet sand with 220 for final sanding before primer. Read up, and do a careful job, so people can't say the paint is bad. PM me if you have any questions.

what a f---, my car right now is just prime. i'm thinking about used that method on my car.

my car is painted with rustolium pro gloss white. And i used rollers and spray cans in some areas. It holds up really nice and does have a shine to it when its clean.... the key to it just like and other paint is wet sanding. i used 500, 1000, 2000 grit on everything and man is it smooth!!! but not bad compaired to what it used to look like, it looks like i brought it back from the dead!




BEFORE------



AFTER------







PLZ SOMEONE LOWER MY CAR!

Mazdamx3freak,
are those 14s or 15s?
and thats almost same as how i want to go, but im going to paint mirrors and spoiler, and i have black rims...

JoshVK wrote:Mazdamx3freak,
are those 14s or 15s?
and thats almost same as how i want to go, but im going to paint mirrors and spoiler, and i have black rims...

they are 15" Maxiumm assults that weight 11lbs each /w 205/50/15 ziex 915's

Also thats only with 3 coats im going to be adding a few more soon and it will start to look more and more glossy.

how long did it take to have it paint?