How To Re-Paint A Car

18th February 2008

How To Re-Paint A Car - Part One - General Information

posted in Car Repainting, DIY Tutorials |

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With Mechanical Repairs off my list of things to do for a while due to ongoing problems with my back I thought I would do a tutorial on what I know about Re-Painting a car. No, I am not talking about getting a tin of Mission Brown Enamel and the widest brush you can find like old Fred did down the road!

The real key to achieving a successful repaint is in the preparation. Sure it is hard, labour-some (is that even a word?) and you will feel like just skipping this part and throwing some paint on but trust me, if you take the time to prepare the car properly you will be rewarded with a good result.

The first thing to do is to decide on which type of paint you are going to use for your re spray. The most commonly used paints today are 2 Pack and Acrylic Lacquer. Acrylic is by far the easiest and safest for the ‘car handyman’ to use however here are some pro’s and con’s of each to help you decide.

Acrylic Lacquer Pro’s

Relatively easy to apply.
Dries in minutes.
Easily sanded back and touched up when you strike trouble
Used with a clear-coat over the top and then buffed and polished can produce an awesome finish.
Lends itself well to being lightly sanded between coats.
Is not as harmful on your health, although precautions still need to be taken.
Over-spray is easily removed
Cheaper to buy, although you need more of it.

Acrylic Lacquer Con’s

Has to be ‘buffed’ and polished to achieve a good shine.
Is not as chip and scratch resistant as 2 Pack.

2 Pack Pro’s

Has a shine straight off the gun, great for areas that are hard to polish such as engine bays and door jambs.
Is very hard and scratch/chip resistant once set.

2 Pack Con’s

Can only be used in a controlled environment such as a spray booth and must be used with a fresh air breathing apparatus.
In my opinion is harder to achieve a nice flat finish with, could just be me though!
Used in ambient temperatures can take hours to dry and the car needs to be kept dust and insect-free during this time.
Over-spray is hard to remove, particularly from your garage-come-spray booth floor, not to mention the washing machine, dryer, laundry sink, you get the picture! She is still not over that one.
Is difficult to ‘touch up’ and usually requires the affected panel to be completely re sprayed.
Once set is a bi*ch to sand out any runs or blemishes.
Is more expensive as a hardner, thinner and of course the paint itself needs to be bought.

As you can see, Acrylic is really the only choice for the ‘car handyman’ however in a lot of places spray booths can be hired out for a day or more if you are set on using 2 pack. Sure saves a lot of work on setting up your own booth and breathing gear and still forgetting to cover important white goods.

For ‘How To Re-Paint A Car’ Parts Two and on we are going to re spray a VN Commodore that has been sitting around for a while. We are going to use Acrylic Lacquer with a clear coat over the top. The clear coat is necessary in this case as the colour is a metallic silver and the clear is required when painting with metallics.

In Part 2 we are going to start the preparation, taking the flaky clear coat off and straightening out any dents we find along the way. We will also be sanding between coats and generally doing anything we can to see if we can get a finish from Acrylic that comes close to the finish that can be achieved using 2 Pack, bit of a trial and error learning curve for us and hopefully some useful information for you at the same time.

I am going to put a picture up here of my Commodore that I painted in 2 pack about twelve months ago and once the VN is done I will put it’s picture up alongside to see how we went. Not that pictures do justice to what’s been done but hopefully it will give you a better idea of what can be done with each of the different types of paint. The picture of the blue VK was taken about a day after the painting was finished and the paint has not been touched at all, straight off the gun and covered in a lot of dust. This is the advantage of 2 pack and I’m sure we will have a lot of polishing to do on the VN to get it anywhere near this. It will be interesting to see though.

Part Two, albiet a bit late can be found here.

Craig

This entry was posted on Monday, February 18th, 2008 at 1:22 am and is filed under Car Repainting, DIY Tutorials. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 On February 19th, 2008, Martin said:

G’day mate

Found this really interesting. Thanks. I have a mate doing my old Mazda E2000 van for me. He’s had it 6 weeks and is doing it in Acrylic which I was a bit disappointed in as I thought 2 pack was better and easier to maintain.

Then again he’s doing me a great deal. I have paid him $2,300 approx and he promises it will be the bees knees. He’s spent alot of time on preperation.

So you think a good cut and polish in Acrylic can look just as good as 2 pack?

Should be interesting. Good luck with your car mate.

2 On February 19th, 2008, craig said:

Hi Martin,
I am glad you found the article interesting. I have had really good results with Acrylic lately and as long as there has been plenty of coats applied you can give it a light sand with 1500 wet and dry paper and then use a cutting compound with a machine buff and then hand polish it with just a polish, not a cut and polish and it will look as good as a 2 pack respray.
I think the advantage with 2 pack is that it dries harder than Acrylic and therefore is a bit more durable but achieving a nice flat finish with 2 pack is an art in itself! Have a look at a brand new car and even they have a certain amount of ‘orange peel’ in the paint surface and I think this detracts from the overall finish when compared to Acrylic.
Thank you for your encouraging words and I wish you all the best with your vehicle as well, I’m sure with a bit of elbow grease it will look great. Please let us know how the van turns out.

3 On March 22nd, 2008, Dave said:

G’day mate, Nice article!

One question I do have is I want to spray acrylic paint but not sure which size compressor to buy. Would I need 60 litre tank with 12CFM or similar? I haven’t got a spray gun either but thought I’d select that after deciding on the compressor size. Cheers.

4 On March 22nd, 2008, craig said:

Hey Dave,
I use the exact size compressor that you are talking about - 60 litre tank and 12cfm flow capacity. It does work pretty hard while spraying so I wouldn’t chance it with anything of less capacity.
If you are looking for a reasonably priced spray gun I bought a gravity feed one off ebay and from memory it cost me around $80. Obviously it doesn’t compare with a gun that costs several hundred but I found it to be good enough for what I was doing so it may be worth your while to have a look there. The VK in the article was painted with that gun and that was my first real attempt using two-pack so I guess the gun can’t be all that bad!
I’m hoping to have more of the article done soon but if there is any other info you need in the meantime don’t hesitate to shoot us an email.

5 On March 22nd, 2008, Dave said:

Hi Craig.

Thanks for the confirmation. As I am only doing this once off (but you never know) and am using a flat colour. I was going to attempt to spray a panel at a time for the one’s I can take off (doors, boot, bonnet, scuttle, air vent etc) and the rest of the body including door jams in one hit with a lot of masking! I thought a 12CFM compressor could cut doing that?!

Can you mention brand names and model of the gravity spray gun you used? I have seen Star brand mentioned as a low cost but acceptable performance gun.

All the best with your car project.

6 On March 22nd, 2008, craig said:

Dave,
I think you have the right idea with doing a panel at a time. Apart from the work taking them off and on it is heaps easier to spray a car this way, that’s what I have found anyway. A 12cfm compressor will definitely handle that.
The gun that I used has no name on it and I tossed the packaging a long time ago however I will track down my usb cable for my phone (still haven’t bought a new digital camera!) and send you a photo of it when I get five minutes. I’m pretty sure they are still on ebay, they are the ones with the pressure guage attached to the air inlet.( I don’t use that pressure gauge though as I have a water separator/pressure gauge setup that I think is more accurate). For a cheap, dodgy type gun it really surprised me.
I have also heard that Star brand guns are excellent and I have heard of them being used in panel shops so I think if you can get your hands on one it would be worth while.
Please keep us updated as you go, I would love to hear/see how you get on with it.
Good luck!

7 On April 12th, 2008, john said:

Hi Craig, I am re-spraying a holden one tonner,and wanted to know if painting acrylic over 2 pack or vice versa, would cause any problems. Years ago I remember painting a filter cover and it reacted, not sure if it was acrylic over enamel or the other way around. pleased if you could help.

8 On April 12th, 2008, craig said:

Hi John,
The problem that you talk about is when acrylic is sprayed over enamel. It goes all blistered and refuses to adhere to the surface. I have heard of a primer that you can use that allows you to paint the acrylic over enamel but I have not used it personally.
Hope this helps clear things up for you.

Craig

9 On April 14th, 2008, Reg said:

Hi Craig,

I recently tried may hand at repairing a panel and some spray painting from a can. After the usual surface preparation, I applied serveral coats of the colour, which is a pearl (metallic). The result seems a bit rough rather than smooth. Should metallics be sanded between coats?
Then I put the clear top coat on, several coats of this and it does not look glossy at all. The surface looks dull and not smooth. Does it need fine sandpaper or hand cut and polish?
By the way I am confused about my spray primer surfacer. It says it is ok for bare metal, but to use an etch primer for non-ferrous metals. What type of metal is a car body?
Best of luck with your project.

10 On April 14th, 2008, craig said:

Hi Reg,
I have found it difficult to get a nice finish using cans also. What I found gave the best results was wet sanding the final colour coat with around 1000 grade wet and dry then applying the clear coats and after giving the paint a day or two to completely cure, sand the surface once again with 1200 paper used wet and then apply a cut and polish by hand. I know this sounds like a lot of work but it is the only thing I have found to give a nice flat, glossy finish.

After a bit of a search around I came across this definition of ferrous and non-ferrous metals;

Ferrous metals contain iron while non-ferrous metals do not contain iron.

As car bodies are prone to rust this indicates that they have predominantly iron content which would class it as a Ferrous metal. Judging from that bit of information I say save your money and give the etch primer a miss!

Craig

11 On April 15th, 2008, Reg said:

Hi Craig,

Thanks for your response. You have certainly taken the confusion out of trying to do a simple spray painting/repair job that is often complicated when one reads several different ‘How to Instructions’ from the paint manufacturer and other very brief ‘how to brochures’ from auto shops.

So, just to clarify, it is perfectly ok to sand down a metallic/pearl paint before it has a clear top coat on it?

The reason I ask, is because I read somewhere that sanding metallics will cause the sanding marks to be magnified when the clear coat is applied.

It also says on the colour spray can to apply the clear coat within 30 minutes of the last colour coat. Is this due to oxidisation of the metallics?

Once again thanks for the info as you have inspired me and I hope it opens more discussions on this topic.

12 On April 15th, 2008, craig said:

Hey Reg,
I have done a few metallic re-sprays using the techniques that I spoke of in the first email with no adverse effects or noticeable sanding marks when the clear coat was applied but I can only speak from my experiences. I am not sure if this technique is ‘technically correct’, I just know that it works very well for me!
I believe you are correct regarding the possibility of oxidisation of the metallics if the clear coat is not applied within a certain time. I know that metallic paint is designed to be used with the clear coat providing the protection for the colour coats.

If sanding of the colour coats is needed before the clear coat is applied it may be a better idea to use a very fine grade of paper used dry instead of introducing moisture to the surface, I really don’t know.

Hopefully someone with more knowledge on this than myself will read these comments and help us clear that one up.

13 On April 21st, 2008, Mark said:

Hey Craig!

Nice article.

(”If sanding of the colour coats is needed before the clear coat is applied it may be a better idea to use a very fine grade of paper used dry instead of introducing moisture to the surface, I really don’t know”).

Yes you can wet rub the undercoat, colour, and the clear if your using acrylic but dont use anything coarser than 1200 on the colour.

“DONT” wet rub 2pack undercoat this absorbs moisture..its a big no no.

Another way to get around all the trouble of rubbing a clear coat when using acrylic is to spray the colour let it sit for a day (when the temp is around 25+)
Then shoot the clear in 2pack the following day.
The reason for waiting is to let the acrylic thinner evaporate fully before putting on the 2pack otherwise it will stuff up the clear. (They dont mix)
I did a Monaro 5 years ago this way and it still has a killer paint job.

As for using Acrylic clear, if you put on enough coats and wet sand with 1200 then 2000 and use a Buff and Shine compound like K&H and a Meguiars W-7000 red foam pad it will shine as good as 2pack. (Just a lot more work)

This nose cone is in Acrylic.
[IMG]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p216/conebob/nose2.jpg[/IMG]

Cheers

14 On April 27th, 2008, Bozza said:

Hey Craig,
Nice article, Got one question i hope u can help me with, Im interested in painting my cars bonnet, and this may sound newbie but I was just wondering if you think that a $140 2.5 HP, 6.2 CFM compressor from bunnings would be sufficient enough, for the bonnet or other piece? I know you guys were mentioning 12 CFM but would the cheaper bunnings one be able to do the job or is it absolutely ridiculous thinking it would? what do u think?
Thnx mate, just wanna do some research before I do something stupid, any help would be great, thnx again

15 On April 27th, 2008, craig said:

Hey Bozza,
It is recommended that you use no less than a 10 cfm compressor simply because the compressor will have trouble keeping up with the spraygun and the pressure variations affect the way the paint is applied to the surface. Basically the finish won’t be very good because it won’t be consistent, if that makes sense!
Maybe a better option would be to hire a compressor to do the job? If you shop around it may end up costing less than the Bunnings compressor. Just a thought.

Cheers,
Craig

16 On June 1st, 2008, Lisa Dean said:

Hi Craig

Just a note to thank you for your article here. I haven’t got time to finish reading it, but it looks very readable, and sensible. I’m busy painting my truck at the moment, and have been at the mercy of the person selling me the paint.

I will do well to take a better look at your notes later, and I have written down the internet link.

Bye for now,

Lisa Dean

17 On June 1st, 2008, craig said:

Hi Lisa,
I’m glad to hear you found the article useful. The article is not complete yet and will eventually include a number parts including the actual painting process, panel repairs and such but putting it together in my spare time is working out harder than I thought it would be!
If there is anything in particular that you need to know that isn’t covered in the article please send me an email and I will do my best to help you out.

18 On July 5th, 2008, dpdhunt said:

I am looking at re-spraing a car . Does it matter if I spray arclic over 2 pak do I need to seal it or anything

19 On November 24th, 2008, matty Rudd said:

Hi Craig how are you mate. i have a question. i am going to re-spray my sisters car and will it be ok if i just give to old paint a quick sand so the new paint will stick? reading your notes i think i will use an acrylic. how many coates will i need. i am going to paint it black then put a gloss over top. will two coates of each do th job. will a plain buffer work to get a better shine?