My Camaro's paint needs some love.

OK, more than a little. I got a chunk of paint that peeled off my hood. My sail panel is bubbled (surprisingly not horrible given the car is pushing 27 years old and has lived outside the last few years). The rear bumper has a crack and missing paint from a previous owner mishap 15 (?) years ago and the front bumper cover is peeling too because old car reasons, then just spots of bubbled/lifting paint in various places. Basically the 90s GM paint has been outdoors for too long without proper care, and is just done.

I have a new sail panel sitting in the basement for the last decade (6LE before he went down in flames), a new gel-coated spoiler, and a used fiberglass hood that has a black base coat and a crappy peeling white paint job on top of that that needs sanded/stripped/whatever. Also have a broken (thanks to Fedex folding the box in half, WTH guys) fiberglass 6LE DE exhaust valence I have no idea how to fix or attach to the urethane bumper cover, but I'd like to do that.

Anyway!

I have not taken the car to a shop to get a quote as I expect it would easily cost $5k+ anymore and I (still) don't have the money to dedicate to it (other things tend to be more important, just what happens when you got a family/kids/house/etc). I got the crazy idea a few times about DIY painting it, but I shy away every time because it seems daunting and I don't want to spend the money in the tools/material just to totally bomb it and waste money and time on it. But then I read some, watch some videos on it, and think just maybe I could DIY this. I'm not looking for show car (I want to feel like I can drive the thing after all), but I want it to look decent and last a good while. I wouldn't want a single stage job.

So - has anyone here set up a DIY paint booth in their garage and totally repainted their car "on the cheap" so to speak? How hard was it, really? All these darn youtube people are like "oh it easy see" and they leave out the gotchas or whatever. Am I insane for even considering this?

 

Look up Chris Sullivan on YouTube. He's pretty good, and he literally just posted a video on painting his TA in his garage.

 

Going through the process now on a 76 camaro. Still sanding and fixing bits but it will be getting Eastwood single stage when it's time. Plan to frame up temp walls with 2x2 lumber and staple plastic to it.

 

I haven’t painted before, but I have done a lot of body work and welding. I have shot primer. I would like to learn how to paint next. Body work is tricky, but it’s a lot of feel, blocking, and leveling. I would start with a junk yard piece and work on that first with the bodywork. My first car was a 93 Fox GT it was super low milage 36k, but it was parked after a hydroplane and the college girl got scared of it back in 96. It sat in a college parking lot getting tagged like a two dollar ***** all down the side of it. It was red as well so the bumpers pinked. I believe it had 32 door dents in it. It turned out great. Photo technology of the early 00s was oh so great so the picture sucks lol.

 

Depending what is going in your life I can offer this.
I retired about 7 years ago and was in the middle of a frame off 68 C10 build.
So I went down to a local body shop that has body worked and painted a few of my hot rods and asked if I could do the body work under their supervision? The owner said yes. He said there isn't anyone in the shop standing in line to block sand filler or primer.
So as I removed body panels and stripped them to bare metal in my shop and I then took them to the body shop and they 2K primed them. Then filler with a ton of block sanding. Then two rounds with 2K sanding primer. Then I stored them until all painted parts could be sprayed at the same time in the body shop booth. I did the color sanding with the shop guys looking over my shoulder. The shop did the cut and buff.
Before and after pics

 

Sure have... You just have to be committed and take your time. Here is my hotrod that I did all the bodywork including chopping the top and all of the paint. Just takes time is all

 

Of course Im the kinda guy that has to do ALL of his own stuff. So I built the frame, motor, transmission, did the interior. You name it. 95% by me.

 

I'm interested in this as well, as I've been quoted $6500-$10,000 to paint my Firebird and it's just not nice enough to do that. I would like to have a uniform color over the whole car and fix all of the little issues it has.

 

Ouch...
That's the kind of quote I'm afraid of getting. I don't know if I could stomach doing that even if I had the money to do it, and I extremely doubt my wife being on board with sinking close to 5 digits into a paint job on a nearly 27 year old car. Even between buying the car, the mods done, and the parts bought and still not yet installed, I'm still well below $10k all in after 13 years.

 

Yeah, it's expensive as hell to do paint. My quotes are also "good guy" prices, meaning I know the people doing it, so they're cutting me a deal. Which makes the idea of doing it myself all the more appealing.

 

Heck straight car with maybe a couple dings really shouldn't cost that much.... but I only do my own cars. I hate doing anyone else's cars. Because then it becomes work. I would probably do one for 2-3k if I did anyone else's But really dont want to. I will be repainting my SS hood, my wifes '57 cushman scooter and my 1989 chevy extended cab this summer at some point.
I used to do all of the custom paint for the local Harley shops but like I said then it was WORK and the enjoyment wasn't there.

 

You guys could definitely do your own. Just takes time and mostly prep. Im not a pro at any of these Kinda things.... Engineer by trade. But my fabrication and paint work wins every show I take stuff to.

 

Given my results (or lack thereof) with drywalling, trim, or any other finish work, I have very deep doubts about my ability to do nice finish work

Functional? Sure. I'm an engineer. But to a fault, sometimes.

 

Thought about this more, watched more videos... I think I'm going to attempt to DIY this, including ripping the sail panel off and replacing it with my new one.

For those of you who have repainted an fbody - is 1 gallon of base and 1 gallon of clear an appropriate amount? Not changing the color so I don't need to redo jams etc. I do want to spray both top and bottom of the hood (though not looking for a perfect underside finish).

Is Eastwood paint and 2K clear any good, or should I go with something better? The car is outside most of the time so I want a durable finish.

If I go Eastwood 1 gallon of paint, 1 gallon clear, 1 gallon urethane primer, some guide coat, prep spray, etc, I'm looking around $1200 in those materials. Not bad.
Then I'll need sandpaper, filler (and maybe some glaze?), spray guns, urethane bumper repair/filler, paint suit, some stands for parts, etc...

I think I might be able to do this all-in materials/tools for around $2k? Just lots of labor time.

Of course I'll need something to paint the car in. Hm, that's going to cost some more to build a temporary paint booth I guess. Still saving thousands over having someone else do it. Hopefully it comes out OK!

I'll probably just do prep of some of the parts that are off the car now this year (hood/spoiler/roof pane/etc). I have other more important projects to work on this summer. But maybe next year I can do this...

 

That sounds like a good plan. 1 gallon should be plenty for an F-body. Remember to account for the added catalyst and/reducer. Most paints or basecoats are 2:1, so you'll wind up with 1.5 gallons. Clearcoats are usually 2:1 or 4:1.

I've only painted a hood or fender here and there. Last Fall I repainted the roof of a GMT800 suburban I'm working on. Pretty huge job, actually.

Check out Garage noise on YT. The concensus is the Drizzle D1 is a really GOOD budget gun you can't beat it in value. The Eastwood Concours LT100 is the same gun, just branded differently. The R500/A610 are also clones (of the LPH400 Iwata IIRC), but not as nice as the first 2 I mentioned. You can get the kits that have 1.3, 1.5 and 1.8(?) and that should cover everything.

Really, 1.3 mm works for sealer (if you use it), base and clear. 1.8 mm is for primer. But if you don't have to do heavy body work and primer, 1.3 mm is all you really need. There's SO many good guns out there for relatively good prices these days though.

I would say get yourself a fender with door dings from the wrecking yards and try it. Do sanding, body filler, prime, block sand, base and clear. Learn and make adjustments, and once you feel confident, tackle your car. There is a learning curve. Read your TDS, and wear appropriate PPE, be safe and have fun. 👍

 

I've been watching a lot of Paint Society recently, and saw his review of the Drizzle D1 (horrible name for a paint gun lol) and yeah I've got that in my Amazon cart. He recommends having a couple guns - one for base/clear and one for primer, so I was thinking use the A610 with the 1.7/1.8 for primer and the D1 with the 1.3 for the base/clear.

I can get a gallon of paint in a "ready to spray" format, or get the individual components. Not sure which is best. I've got some time to read up more.

Good idea on the junkyard part for a trial run.

 

Do you have a local automotive paint store near you? I've got a local supply store that color matches paint. Just take your gas tank lid, and your RPO code. The folks will "tweak" the paint to match. This is more if you are only painting a fender. Probably not needed if you buy a whole gallon to paint car overall.

But even then, metallics are difficult to get exact if you are not painting everything at the same time. So if you are painting parts separately, make note of gun pressure, fluid/fan control settings, and anything else like ambient temperature.

What is your vehicle color BTW?

I don't think you really "need" to have dedicated guns to start TBH. I've acquired a few guns myself... SMH. Buy the gun, then do the job and get your money's worth out of it, then you can upgrade or get another gun as a dedicated gun.

But those guns you list are awesome guns and will only set you back about $200 altogether, so I'd say go for it!

Do you have a decent compressor? That's the other thing most folks don't talk about. I would say at least a 240V compressor is needed for a bit of extra reserve if doing a complete overall paint job, even those lvlp guns...8-10 CFM would be on the lower end of the spectrum, in my opinion.

 

My car is Mystic Teal Metallic. A pain in the butt to color match, but I was planning to redo it top to bottom. There are enough issues with the paint in enough places I'd create more headache trying to blend into what's still good.

I was planning on setting up where everything is right there and I can literally just paint everything in one go. Might pre-spray the hood edges so I can then set it on the car and do the hood and fenders together so it all gets hit at the same time, same angles, etc.

Compressor is a concern. I have an old 20 gallon (I think?) craftsman oil-free of some sort. I honestly don't even know if it works, it has been sitting for years. I got it for free years ago but the drain valve was shot so it couldn't be used. I replaced the valve a year or so ago, but I haven't had need of it. I've been using my little 2.5 gallon compressor for tires, blowing stuff off, etc. I was hoping the LVLP would allow me to use the 20 gallon compressor if it works.

*EDIT*
I went out to the garage, dug it out, and here's the label. Campbell Hausfeld WL651500AJ 26 gallon (bigger than I thought). The CFM rating doesn't look too bad. Comparing it to the D1 gun specs, it should do just fine as long as the compressor is functional.

 

I have a 40 gallon oil less compressor same brand as yours. I’ve sprayed trailers with it but no way would I do a car. It can’t keep up.

 

When you start to work a low end air compressor it creates heat which means moisture in the tank. Unless you have a top of the line water traps and dirt traps that stuff is going directly the paint gun.
Also they make "bulb" type water traps that attach directly to the input of your spray gun.