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So I recently purchased a '72 with a bad wrap job and I have mostly removed the old wrapping... I talked to a few body shops and body paint places, seems like the polyester filler primer would be the best way to go. However, I don't have a paint booth and I just want it to be one color instead of multiple colors, at least while I drive and work on it for a year or two. What's the problem with putting dupli-color primer green just to make it one color? Any other options for just a garage guy? Thanks!
You don't need a paint booth to get a very nice paint job. Just spray a basecoat/clearcoat, and wetsand out any imperfections and machine polish the clear afterwards. You can get a show quality shine. My brother's painted his last several Corvettes (C1's) and mustangs outside. I've painted many vehicles outside over the years. The nice thing about a booth is you're not enslaved to 'good days' or daylight, and you have greater predictability. Of course lots can go wrong in a booth: E.g. a dufus come into the booth while yer spraying and let's the door slam(lots of dust released!). The hose comes unhooked and blows crap on the floor around. A light fixture goes out when yer spraying. That moth you didn't see dive-bombs into the reflection of the paint. I could go on and on. On a still day outside, esp a semi-cloudy day, it's great for painting.
I much prefer to paint outside anyways (when I can). The lighting is way better and no issues breathing fumes (still wear a respirator obviously). And a guy can line his garaage with plastic sheeting too and keep dust away.
Note: I would strip your car first before just spraying polyester filler on it. It's probably got several coats of paint on it. You can't just keep piling on more and more paint. Eventually it's got to be stripped down to bare fiberglass. I stripped mine in less than a day.
I paint my own cars, and it's amazing what kind of quality paintjob you can lay down for not a lot of money.
Just got done spraying my 78 Pace Car. Materials cost me $750 for quality Omni products. Wetsanded and buffed, and it's an absolute mirror. Most shops around here would charge $7500-10000 for a similar job.
if the body doesnt have any bare / raw glass areas, id leave it alone until such a time to properly glass/ seal...
You could spray it with plasti dip. My understanding is its cheap and very easy to do for a novice. Also because the car will be a 20 footer instead of its current state, a 50 footer... Lol
To repeat...Forum members say do not leave it primer-only because primer collects road film/grease/oil/armadillo innards which contaminate the base fiberglass.
You don't need a paint booth to get a very nice paint job. Just spray a basecoat/clearcoat, and wetsand out any imperfections and machine polish the clear afterwards. You can get a show quality shine. My brother's painted his last several Corvettes (C1's) and mustangs outside. I've painted many vehicles outside over the years. The nice thing about a booth is you're not enslaved to 'good days' or daylight, and you have greater predictability. Of course lots can go wrong in a booth: E.g. a dufus come into the booth while yer spraying and let's the door slam(lots of dust released!). The hose comes unhooked and blows crap on the floor around. A light fixture goes out when yer spraying. That moth you didn't see dive-bombs into the reflection of the paint. I could go on and on. On a still day outside, esp a semi-cloudy day, it's great for painting.
I much prefer to paint outside anyways (when I can). The lighting is way better and no issues breathing fumes (still wear a respirator obviously). And a guy can line his garaage with plastic sheeting too and keep dust away.
Note: I would strip your car first before just spraying polyester filler on it. It's probably got several coats of paint on it. You can't just keep piling on more and more paint. Eventually it's got to be stripped down to bare fiberglass. I stripped mine in less than a day.
Do not use poly primer and plan to leave that way, it will absorb water and fail in a hurry if you don't spray something else over top of it. Poly is great stuff for high build, so you can block the car and get it straight, but it isn't suitable for being out in the weather. Basecoat/clearcoat is easily done in a home garage. Look into PPG's Omni line
are you in a 1/4 acre residential zone? your neighbors will HATE you if you start shooting enamel. i had a zoning guy telling me 2000 bucks a day fine. roll on rustoleum if you are willing to sand and compound a lot. otherwise Maaco. really the best alternative. they shoot a lot of cars. and they know a vette at a cruise in with a Maaco job is good word of mouth advertising. prep it good and they will shoot it good. even base-clear.
Roll it on, sand, buff! I think it looks great lowbuck72.
Sure looks a lot better than cars I've seen painted with spray cans, paint brushes and vacuum cleaners.
I just painted my car in my garage. Put plastic up along the walls and shut the garage door on a couple box fans to suck air out. Taped plastic around them to keep debris out. You can use big square house filters taped to the box fans to prevent contaminants from getting out into the air. Worked well for me. Didn't get hardly any debris/dust into the paint.
You don't need a paint booth to get a very nice paint job. Just spray a basecoat/clearcoat, and wetsand out any imperfections and machine polish the clear afterwards. You can get a show quality shine. My brother's painted his last several Corvettes (C1's) and mustangs outside. I've painted many vehicles outside over the years. The nice thing about a booth is you're not enslaved to 'good days' or daylight, and you have greater predictability. Of course lots can go wrong in a booth: E.g. a dufus come into the booth while yer spraying and let's the door slam(lots of dust released!). The hose comes unhooked and blows crap on the floor around. A light fixture goes out when yer spraying. That moth you didn't see dive-bombs into the reflection of the paint. I could go on and on. On a still day outside, esp a semi-cloudy day, it's great for painting.
I much prefer to paint outside anyways (when I can). The lighting is way better and no issues breathing fumes (still wear a respirator obviously). And a guy can line his garaage with plastic sheeting too and keep dust away.
Note: I would strip your car first before just spraying polyester filler on it. It's probably got several coats of paint on it. You can't just keep piling on more and more paint. Eventually it's got to be stripped down to bare fiberglass. I stripped mine in less than a day.
I paint my own cars, and it's amazing what kind of quality paintjob you can lay down for not a lot of money.
Just got done spraying my 78 Pace Car. Materials cost me $750 for quality Omni products. Wetsanded and buffed, and it's an absolute mirror. Most shops around here would charge $7500-10000 for a similar job.
If you do ..end up attempting to paint your car, don't buy the paint until the very end until you need it. What you'll probably discover is that after **all** that prep work, the hundred or two hours spend, suddenly spending a few hundred bucks on decent paint that will last 20 years, is worth it. Prep is 80% of a quality job. Why go el-cheapo at the very end for a low-grade product after you've spend a ton of time getting it as good as you can?
In fact I have a buddy who is about as cheap as they come ...and even HE forks out money to buy Napa Crossfire/Onmi or Nason grade automotice paint when he paints one of his vehicles. Just a thought.
Edit: But do contact Maco and see what they say ..for a quickie or something better.
Roll it on, sand, buff! I think it looks great lowbuck72.
Sure looks a lot better than cars I've seen painted with spray cans, paint brushes and vacuum cleaners.
That was 17 years ago, still looks just as good, and it's not garaged either. Though the price of the paint has gone up, about $22 a quart.
Cheap paint
