lonely_driver4

i have a 97 honda civic. its the first car im repainting, long story short tons of sandpaper, bondo and primer later its ready for paint. i was going to go with a base coat clear coat but i dont think my skills will result in a decent finish so i returned the clear and the activater i think, anyway im left with a gallon of millano red base coat ( cost me $230 for a gallon from advance auto ) is there anything i can do with that? could i just spray the base and wet sand and buff everything? i do live in NYS and road salt and winters are cancer for cars but luckely i wont be driving this in the winter. so it would be exposed to water from rain and UV rays. this isnt a "show car" by any means, its just my first project car that i swapped and am repainting. just want something presentable. alittle shine would be nice. is just a base coat paint job a bad idea? if not is there anything i can add to the base coat to make it more durable against weather? i already have the gallon and they dont return custom paint. can someone that knows what there doing help out?? thanks.

-h0nda-

You will still need the clear over the base coat. The clear coat seals the paint providing UV protection etc. and is also what provides the lasting shine. If you have ever polished faded paint work where the clear has worn away you'll know what i mean. You may be able to polish it, and it may look decent for a week or 2, but it will quickly oxidise without the clear coat to protect it.

lonely_driver4

would it be somewhat easy to BC/CC my car? i dont have a paint booth or anything. its my first time paining as well.

thewrai6th

No, it is extremely difficult to spray on a good paint job. I painted my sons car a few weeks ago to test my skills (rattle can blue to Milano red), and it wasn't until I had painted the entire chassis twice (had to sand it ALL down again), all the trim, the hood and trunk that I figured out what I was doing. The bumpers look good though, they are the last thing I painted .
You can't do it right without an immaculately clean booth, build or borrow one. Make sure there are no sources of flame (water heater pilot light, etc.) My booth cost me $100 in 2x4s and $100 for a thick clear plastic roll)
You can't do it with a $20 paint gun
You can't do it with a <40gal / <4HP air compressor
You can't do it without a wall mounted in-line dryer with a capacity of at least a cup of desiccant to soak the water. An inline filter from Home Depot will do nothing at all.
Most importantly, you can't do this without the proper safety equipment. Clear coat WILL KILL YOU on the spot if you breathe it, and there is no remedy the ER can give you. Full face mask and all skin covered is a requirement.

Here are some of the things I learned:
Lighting is very important. If you can't see what your coat looks like, you have no idea if it's "wet" or "dry". Your lights have to be clean and dust free. 3 ceiling and 4 side lights would do well.
"Wet coat" means as thick as you can lay it down without running
If you didn't final sand with >300 grit, you're going to see the sanding marks
Wipe down the dry overspray with a tack towel between coats, or you will have a crunchy (think wrinkle job on a valve cover) finish
Be careful with anything and everything that could touch the wet paint, the hose and your coveralls specifically
Paint the roof first, half at a time. Don't paint one side then go back to the other half of the roof
If you use anything thin like a garbage bag to cover things, you will regret it. The 2nd time you come back over the garbage bag area, its going to shoot paint chips all over the pace and into your fresh paint.
Home depot painters tape is NOT the correct type of tape, not only will it bleed, but it will leave sticky residue that has to be cleaned off somehow
Do not use a solvent like acetone as a pre-paint prep, you can easily wipe your last coat of paint off
Don't run out of paint in the middle of a session. 1 gal of paint is enough to paint the entire car and door jambs with 2 coats. If you screw up once, you will run out of paint.
Make sure to have enough airflow in the booth, not necessarily for your sake, but to move the over spray floating around in the air out of the booth. They always told me to pull air out, not push it in.
Activator Slow/Med/Fast means don't spray if the ambient temp is not within the spec.
Feel with your hands for any imperfections. Anything your hands can feel will show up when you clear/polish.

I'm sure there are a lot more things I screwed up on, so you can get an idea of how difficult it actually is. There is no question about it, it's a form of artwork.

Free Man

-h0nda-

Well it depends on your expectations i think. I have seen cars that are painted with spray cans that have actually come out ok ( good from a distance ) but this is someone decent at using a spray can. Remember painting is a skill, so your results will vary largely based on your experience. If you don't have any experience, I wouldn't suggest painting a whole car to be your first task. I'd just take it to a shop.

If you do want to learn to DIY paint, generally its best to start practising on smaller bits. Doing stuff like wheels and smaller body panels like mirrors etc. are usually good places to start when the opportunity arises. Smaller things are easier to get a good finish on, and if you do stuff up, there's less to have to fix. With some practice you can get really good results on small bits with just spray cans.

If you do want to have a go at spraying your car yourself, it may be worth seeing if there are any DIY workshops in your area with a spray booth. But honestly, without any experience painting, i wouldn't expect amazing results. You could always just try painting one of the larger panels and see how you go. For example, the hood comes off easily, could try take it off ( so you don't need to do any masking ) and paint that and see how you go.

If you are on a budget and want to pay someone to do it then you need to take time to do some research and visit shops to see their work. Prices vary greatly between shops, and price does not always equal quality. You really need to go see their work.

DaIll1

A guy I knew in high school painted his car with a roller, it looked ok at 30 feet.
The really important part is preparation. It's gotta stick.