Calling for paint help in NJ
 

I have done the unthinkable and in about two weeks will begin the process of repainting my car...myself. Right now I have a 2hp, 8 gallon compressor, two spray guns, body puddy, and nowhere to paint. I will be ordering the paint this week, pretty sure it'll be a bright blue pearl (similar to the laguna blue).

If anyone has a larger compressor the can loan me it would speed up the process conciderably, but most importantly, can anyone get me access to a paint booth or an unused garage?

Wow man good luck with that!!

From my limited knowledge of painting, I'm told that you're better off painint out doors than in a garage without the proper venting in it. I have a compressor but it isn't too much bigger than yours.

I really don't even have a spot to paint it outdoors unfortunately...

Is there a fairly good sized military base nearby? Any friends that can get you on? They usually have facilities.

How long do you think the painting process wil take? Your more than welcome to use my driveway steve.

No unfortunately there's no military base.
Maybe I can find a deserted parking lot that still has power... :rolleyes:

The actual painting process will only take about a day. I plan on doing 3-4 coats of primer, atleast 4 basecoat, and another 4 of clear with 20 mins between each coat, and 30 mins between each stage. Since my compressor is on the smaller side I'll need to try to work in sections, so it'll probably take about 30 mins for each coat. Figure in some flex time, and I'm looking at about 8 hours for paint itself. It is probably going to take quite some time to mask the car (3+ hours).

You're about 2 hrs away right Tom? If I can't find a place closer I just might take you up on that offer, but my gf and I will definately need to crash there for atleast a night.

P.S. My gf wants to help me paint my car, how cool is that?

Thats awesome man.

There should be a few paint shops in your area that would rent out at least one of their booths for an hourly fee. I was going to go that route to paint my Citation, but ended up selling it instead.

Drive it down to the shop early, and get it masked off in the parking lot. You'll probably only want to spray primer first. I'd put down 4 or 5 coats, then take it home and sand it. You'll find more imperfections that you'll need to fix. Once you get it nice and smooth, drive it back over and hit it with another few coats of primer, then hit it with color. Drive it back home and wetsand it. Then once it looks good, give it clear.

Believe me, if you want a good paint job, don't skimp on the sanding! Your paint will only look as good as the time you take on it.

I suggest getting a few books on Amazon.com about painting before you actually go do the deed. Two books in particular that I have are: "How To Paint Your Car" by Dennis W. Parks & David H Jacobs, Jr.; and "Automotive Paint Handbook" by John Pfanstiehl. These two books compliment each other nicely, and are full of good info.

If you have any other questions, let me know and I'll try to help you the best I can. :)

Don't paint it outside either...too much dust.

Thanks for the tips! I'll look into those books. I haven't looked into paint booths much, but from compairing to online prices, I'd probably be looking at about $100 to rent the booth...if I can find one.

good luck on your paint job.

Did you work in body shop before? Are you confident? No dings/dent on your SVX body? Have you removed them?

Not just dust to worry about either, there's plent of fod out there that can really make it difficult to get a good paint job.

If you're willing to drive down to Eatontown there is Fort Monmouth which is right by me. They rent out garage bays to do work in for pretty low fees. You might want to check that out. I'm not sure if they'll let you paint though.

Answers:
1. Nope, but I've been spraying various parts of the car as the bad stuff happens to it, and have progressively gotten better at it. I've also read just about everything there is on the net about painting a car.
2. I'm confident it will be better than it is right now, and confident it will turn out better than something like a Maaco paint job and for less money.
3. No dents, but I probably have close to a dozen shopping cart dings.
4. The first step in my process is going to be filling them all.

Thanks for the wishes of luck!