Well I decided I am going to give painting my truck myself a shot. I have no experience in this (unless you count spray cans of primer, haha) but I do have plenty of common sense and learn quick so bear with me.
This is the plan: spray it with an epoxy primer after sanding down (1. should I sand ultra smooth from the get go or leave this surface roughed?). Then I was going to wet sand the primer. (2. what grit for this layer?) I am doing a 2 tone, so my first question reguarding that is (3. should I spray it all one color then overlap the grey [bottom edge of the truck] or mask off that area first?) I am using acrylic basecoat/clearcoat. (4. how long should i wait in between coats of paint of the same color? 5. how long should I wait before I put masking tape on the new paint? 6. should I wet sand this layer?) Then the clear… I want it thick… 7. good idea/bad idea?.. Kinda unsure on how to go about the clear. I was thinking I should do multiple thin coats overtop of a slightly tacky previous coat. 8. is that right? Then let it dry and wet sand it till smooth and shiny.
What steps am I missing? What should I not do that I mentioned above? What things will make this process easier? What should I look out for to minimize fish eye and runs?
well after you primer you need to wet sand it with 400 wet grit. then properly clean off all the residue. use glass cleaner and wax and grease remover. then get a tack cloth. after that get sealer so the bodywork and primer dont bleed through.
after you sprayed the sealer then shoot the first base coat. spray about 3 coats [depending on how it covers]. then you could clear it. only do one maybe 2 coats here. or you could just stripe it off with just the base coat. but if you went with the one layer of clear i would wait a day or so for the solvants to evaporate. then i would wetsand this clear down with 1000 wet grit. then do your stripeing. after you wiped it all down with wax and grease then aersoal glass cleaner then tach cloth it. then shot your second base coat. let it setup about 3 coats. roughly 10 to 15 minutes between coats [depending on activator,reducer and air temp] now shoot the clear. i say 3 coats of it is fine. if you want more then wait a day or so then wet sand one layer down with 1000 wet grit. then shoot say 2 more tops!!!. to many and it will solvant pop all the way down to primer. now wait a few days or so to let it all evaporate then wet sand with 1200,1500, 2000, then 2500 if you want to go that far. then buff it with a wool pad and good cutting compound to get the first shine. then get a foam pad and the proper compound for the foam pad. wet the pad some as a lubicant and then go over the areas a few times. after this is done then get hand glaze and do each panel it self but hurry up and take this shit off. [its a bitch if left on] then go over car with a good wax
Quik pretty much sums it up.
for 2 tone, spray the lower color first in base, let it setup about 45 minutes to an hour touch it make sure it is dry. mask that area off then spray the rest of the base color on top half of truck. let that dry. peel tape and paper off. Always pull 90 degrees to prevent the paint from peel up. (go slow you will be fine). Then clear everything after wards.
Just take your time when you are painting. There isn’t a record for most coats put on in an hour.
now when you say stripe it off, do you mean mask it off? I’m not technically doing stripes , just a 2-tone top-bottom split along the body line. You are basically recommending I put a layer of clear over the first layer then? Is that a recommendation or a requirement? I’d rather do the entire clear in one shot. Another thing that may affect my situation is the amount of time between base/clear. I have been doing this in my free time and often that means 2 - 3 hours here and there, then maybe nothing for a day or so. Can this cause a problem if I let any coat sit for more than 24 hours? Or should I wait for a weekend and do it all at once?
How important is the buffing for the clear? Would it be alright if I only wet sand the shit out of it, then wax? I do not have access to buffing tools or compounds at the present time.
Shooting that is going to take a while. keep in mind you will be going around the truck at least 10 times, so plan all day a long day. Buffing is not necessary but will be the finishing touch to a show finish. That is what gives you the depth and shine. and gets rid of the orange peel(texture of the paint). but waxing it is out of the question will not work, you need the buffer to melt the clear to shine again.
when i said striping i ment for your masking. its the same thing just worded differently. you can spray both bases at once if you wish. we did a clear layer a few times and then we did both bases a few times. its all in how you want to do it.
yes you need tobuff the clear after wetsand it. you dont want to wait to long in between base coats. i dont know off top of my head the time frame but i wouldnt go more then 12 hours and that is the most. if you did you should wet sand some of hte base then.
if you totally want a show shine then yes wet sand the base but not needed. dont let paint get to dry before clear. but if you do wetsand the base it needs to be dry!!!.
clean water and a good soft diaper/towel to wash the car after wetsanding.
as for compound…oneslowbowtie knows the compound we use
also get yourself a good gravity fed gun. its way better then a siphon fed one. also between each color or stage throughly clean out the gun. if possible use a different gun for each step
ok, so i will wet sand the base. when I wash the car after wet sanding, does that mean to use a chemical like dish detergent or something similar? or just wipe it down with windex?
sorry for all the questions… i’m tryin to get shit straight in my head.
i wouldnt use any chemicals for washing at all. its just to get the residue off the car. and using AERSOAL CLEANER would be alot of it.
now some ppl spray a few layers of color then wetsand it with 1000. this just takes out some orange peel. then they shoot it again with the color then wet sand it again. now if you do this it will give a show finish but its not needed. this is what some of the pros do but its not needed. now after you had wet sanded the base then shot a final layer of color then do your clear. now some ppl do the same with the clear. spray 2 layers wetsand one. spray two layers wet sand one, spray 2 layers then see how it lays out. you might no need to wet sand any orange peel out. cause you just took majority of it out. but if you get dirt ot bugs in the clear you will then need to wet sand it.
but remember this is not necessary at all to do. just wet sand the final clear step for normal paint jobs. but if you do all these step. you just may get a deeper shine then others and flatter looking lay out of it
John I’ve got a book at my crib “how to paint a car” b/c I’ve been reading up on it getting ready to paint mine. I know its the same book LushDrunk used over on BL when he paitned his orange sonoma. You’re more than welcomed to borrow it if you would like.
