Hey guys I'm looking to learn how to paint cars. Really want to paint my own cars. I've been doing some googling, but there's so many articles out there that it confuses me. Anybody have any good links to some good reads on how to paint and what's all needed like air compressor, spray gun, etc,. Don't really want to spend money on books, but if there's a book out there you think I really need to read then so be it. Thanks!

 

Check out autobody101.com. You'll have to do a lot of reading, but in the end it all comes down to getting the stuff you need and spraying it yourself. Trying it is the only REAL way to learn to paint. Reading will tell you what you need to buy and give you some dos/donts. Find some junk yards that may give you an old fender or hood to practice on, or if someone on craigslist is giving away some old panels.

 

Thanks for that website. Anyone know of any good automotive painting forums?

 

There is a forum in that website. Search before you post questions though.

 

doesn't matter how many videos u watch,when it comes to painting a car,you just have to follow autobody 101.lol....its give u a short run down,but not everything you need to know.you have to have to find that groove,and stay in it.the more you do it,the better you become,just like sex.do everyday,you will become a pro(PORNSTAR)lol...but you understand what im trying to say.send me kite,and whatever I can do I will try to help.i have been doing this for 22yrs.lmk...

 

YouTube has tons of videos on painting, I only watch the ones that look like pros and avoid what looks like a back yard amiture (tons of those on YouTube). There's a lot of Eastwood videos that covers equipment, body work, products and spraying

 

You can get by with a 20 gallon 110V compressor if you understand it's limitations. I repainted my entire car with one of those compressors, I just did everything in batches. The hood in one session, doors in another session, front fenders and ground effects another, rear quarters and the rest of the car in another session. It takes much longer but it can save you several hundred dollars over buying a compressor with a large enough air tank and powerful enough motor that you may never need again. Units for painting cars are usually 30+ gallons and 220V.

As far as guns, Stick with one of the HVLP low CFM models. Eastwood and DeVilbiss both have good "lower priced" guns. I believe I have the Eastwood Concours Pro that takes a lower CFM. Lower CFM will also help you get by with the smaller compressor.

Buy some cheap plastic saw horses and a bunch of 2x2 to make the stands you will need to stand pieces up for painting.

For practice I would head over to Harbor freight and buy one of their HVLP guns and then go to a big box store and buy a gallon of rust o leum. You can thin it with Acetone and it makes great cheap practice. Plus the stuff with a little hardener really is decent stuff for suspension and underbody components.

For Paint suggestions I stick with DuPont but I have friends that say PPG is just as good. Also, stay with the base coat/clear coat 2 part system. The single stage stuff should be relinquished to suspension or underbody stuff if you need that much attention to detail. They each have individual lines within them. For instance, Dupont has Nason which is lower end and typically used on daily driver stuff or they have ChromaPremier which is their high end and typically used on show cars. Their ChromaClear is arguably one of the best you can buy. I use that clear and it is good stuff, good, good stuff. There are lots of differences between those two lines but that's the easiest way to break it down.

 

YouTube searches: diyautoschool, The Gunman, The Garage Butler, Keven Tetz, Refinish Network, Dipyourcar.com(Plasti-Dip)

I have learned tons from all these guys. Practice will be your best tool for successful paint job.

30 gallon compressor is pushing it. It will be working overtime. Find a 60 gal 5hp for best results. Build a "cooling" section of tubing from compressor for water.

Don't forget you need a booth. What's your budget and goals? Need cleanliness and ventilation, large fans, etc. You're at least $1000 into this project on a budget.(compressor, guns, booth) 10k if you want a real booth

I had good results with Eastwood paint. Only issue, you are stuck with predetermined colors. No customs. I second tibo's reply, and practice, practice, practice!

 

Eastwood has some good forums if you want to read up and ask questions.

I want to chime in about compressors, you need to look at their capacity (ie 30gal etc) and their cfm output at specific PSI. Look at the gun you want and how much car you need to spray ask around and get a compressor 10-15% larger than what the math says. You definitely want a good water separation and filter system or else all the tips/tricks and experience in the world will not help you from getting trash in what could have been a beautiful paint job.

Also painting one panel at a time can help if you can't afford a big compressor but this only works on certain paints and paint types. If you have any flake, metallic or pearl in your paint you have to paint the car in one shot or else the panels may not look correctly. If your doing a single stage solid color as long as your painting with the same mixture and gun setup the paint should match but there is no guarantee's. Sometimes painting a panel on a different day (temp/humidity) or using different spray patterns can affect how the paint looks.

Any painter will also tell you prep work is 90% of the job, doing the sanding in the correct stages, keep the area your painting super clean. Read the data sheets for the products you are using from your base layers to the top layer and make sure you follow their instructions! Since your a new painter you are going to get some trash in the paint it happens even with pro painters in a pro booth, there are ways to fix this.

I'm not a fan of Kevin Tetz personally but he is actually a good teacher for a novice, watch his youtube videos or buy his dvd's you can learn alot and build a good foundation of knowledge to work from.

 

http://www.spiuserforum.com/index.php

SPI paints has a good forum with a lot of unbiased info. Check out the manual & perfect paint writeup under products on homepage. Products priced good next to others that they compare to, but are limited on their own color choices.
Different products can have different intended uses & their use & temperature range can be specific. Different brands have differences in use. There are cheap , better & best ways to do things. Their will be many different opinions on how to do things, but on some procedures that are consistant common knowledge ,beware about straying from them.
Much better to stick with sold colors, rather than metallic , or especially pearl & tri-color finishes. Though black takes better bodywork, the color itself is more forgiving as far as matching, being sprayed evenly, etc. Red, even solid is a little more difficult & pigments more costly.

If you get the proper bodywork, primer & thick enough paint layed down properly, even though a little rough on finish, color sanding & buffing skills can make up for it. Most all the best jobs get sanded down & buffed for a flat finish.
Even a newbie can be capable of a great first paint job studying up for a while & listening to good advise, But at some point you need to narrow down what you read, particularly on products & who you talk to to in order to have your own method & not be so confused.

At the end of the day, just remember it's just paint.

One more thing, there are good single stage paints for solid colors & can be hard to detect from bc/cc, even next to each other when all clean, though the single stage will take a little more maintenance. Cheaper paint , like nason, can look nearly as good after finishing, but will not last near as long in the elements.
This is an older pic of mine with the main body done in DuPont chroma bc/cc, the bedlid in nason ss, & the front nose, fenders, & hood in nason ss, covered with cheap nason clear, See any difference in a pic?
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/132029468@N08/, on Flickr

 

Thanks for all the help guys been doing a lot of reading. Looking into spray guns for begginers as well and how set them up with a compressor. Some need certain filters and fitting for moisture for the compressor so im trying to figure all that out. From what I read painting is the easiest part it's the prep that's hard. Also this is just for me to paint my own cars and maybe buy cars with like faded hoods and fenders touch them and sell them for profit. I'll be doing this from my garage not planning on opening a shop. I'm going to use my 30 gallons compressor for now if I get good at it then I'll look into a bigger compressor. Thanks for the help guys

 

If you're near a community college see if they have an autobody 101 class or similar. For the price it would probably help a lot being able to get the hands on aspect with the help of a pro. I found taking vocational classes at night, you usually got better teachers too. The ones who taught at night did it all day as a living, the ones who taught during the day couldn't hack it in the real world so now they teach...

 

"Hey guys I'm looking to learn how to paint cars."
best bet is find someone to teach you to prep. once you master that hire a painter as a side job to hose it down for you.
secondary to prepping is the edging of the parts. there is where you learn to mix paint and clear and spray. body shops discard parts all teh time
if you want to score a hood to mess with. get one that has been hailed on and either do nothing with the dents, or pave them over with mud and keep learning.
your local community college may have some refinishing courses to get you up to speed faster.

 

To me, if you don't even want to spend $ on a book to learn, you can't be too serious. Honestly, painting a car is the easy part. The hard part is body work. Its REALLY hard to read a book and be able to do body work. Its something you need to be taught. If you don't want to put in the time, effort and $, just pay someone.