Ok I want to paint my car myself because I don't want to waste $$$ on maaco when I could do it myself.. my idea is that I could use the money I spend at maaco and get a gun and compressor + anything else I need to paint it.. that way if I want to ever touch anything else up I can rather then having to take it to a shop.. plus I plan on selling off this thirdgen (its a v6) for another one later.. so i'll probably want to paint that in the future.. in which case I would already have a compressor and paint gun + exp from this job.. anyway.. looking around i'm not sure what compressor to get.. what paint gun to get.. etc.. etc.. I don't want to go off the deep end and pay $500+ for a compressor.. or $100+ for a gun (well... maybe a gravity gun if there is nothing better)... but can someone throw out some options for me here?

 

Eehh beter get macco.... Unless you plan on getting a job as a painter. Let me tell you its not that easy. Unless you have some kind of nature talent. Painters can make a load of cash I'm talking 25 buck a hour.

 

This is exactly what I did and I admire your philosophy.I advise you get as much advise from bodyshops,books as you can.It's much too big a subject to reply to on a post but these are a few things I did.
Baremetal it-if theres any rust lurking it might not appear until a few months into your new paint job,besides I think you'll get a superior finish.
remove any rust with either a rust eating acid(phosphoric acid) or locallised shot blasting(Don't use products like por15 or corroless on exterior panelwork as they're really designed for chassis,underbody parts).Just read the website tech articles for these products and you'll see words like "battery tray" " farm machinery" "iron gates" etc.Great products,but for the right application.
Take your time-Doing this at home can take forever to do properly,especially getting the surfacer/primer absolutely flat enough for the basecoat.
As it's your first attempt I would recommend using a non-metallic as it's easier to get the colour even.ie.you could probably get away with spraying the components seperately which is a lot easier(with metallics it's recommended all the panels are on the car).
Invest in the right gear for the job like a DA sander, sanding blocks,tack rags etc(go to a pro auto paint shop and while your there get mucho advise).
Don't leave the car in primer for too long in wet weather,it's ok getting it wet for sanding etc,but prolonged soaking will eventually get to the metal(I've seen this on a £4500 job and it's not funny)
I take it you'll be using 2pack paint,primer etch primer etc.
The rest is up to you.

 

Paint Your Own Third Gen and Survive..... still in progress.

 

Don't want to be a pain here but theres no way you can coloursand a job the day after unless it's been ovened,it didn't say so.Also was the paint used 2 pack as those guys spraying didn't appear to be using air fed masks(it's there lungs I suppose).The job appeared to be a quick repair/blowover job without baremetalling it.Having said that most of the tips were very relevant and much is to be learned from them.

 

Its not that hard "IF" you take your time & spend hours & hours in your preperation. If using 2pack be very carefull I don't know if you guys have isocyonate 2packs but if you do DON'T use an ordinary cartridge mask you MUST use an air mask or you will die.
Read a lot & ask a lot of questions and be prepared to make mistakes & don't be in a hurry.
GO FOR IT! you can always fix what you f... up

 

Of course I am a bystander taking photos and doing the article in a bodyshop I work "out" of not "in" so I will check on these things because I want the article to be correct. However on the particular PPG and DuPont paints we are using it is a MUST to color sand and buff the next day as the clear will lock up and be equivalent to sanding granite.

No oven is being used but we do have very high temps and short cure times here. I have seen it possible to actually colorsand and buff on the same day. Understand with the volume of work these guys do all different time ranges have been tried and this is what was found to be the case. This was also with the guidance of the PPG and DuPont reps.

As to the mask we are recovering from the theft of a $900.00 fresh air supply so it will be a short while.

Being an insurance type bodyshop and not really a restoration type shop very rarely is a car taken to bare metal except in the areas of damage. Being "like" paints and providing your car has not been repainted before, it's pretty cost prohibitive to sand the entire car to bare metal only to build it back up in the body prep. This is the type of job most of the third genners here would encounter if they took their car for a repaint unless of course they were trying to upgrade and go into a $5 to 10K show job.

This particular car had "dings" only and had no dents and had the original paint.

I am going to change a couple of things due to what you pointed out.... hate to have someone croak in their garage.

Thanks for taking the time to read the article and point stuff out to me.

 

It is actually a very good informative article and after re-reading what I wrote I probably came over as a bit of a menace,sorry about that.As for the baremetalling I live in the UK where rust is a problem.My own car had a cheap cellulose blowover over the original when I bought it.The paint is bubbling up in many spots and the only way to ensure perfection is to see what lies underneath and deal with it.I suppose it depends on which part of the world you live in,on how much you have to do.

 

Hey Eric,

I sure didn't take any offense so I wouldn't worry about it. The minute I saw where you lived I figured we were dealing with two totally different environments. You are right..... rust is a whole new ball game... can't hide that with paint.