DIY paint job

[Hannibal]

I would like to sand My 1977 F150 down (again) and shoot a coat of paint. I want to go with the factory colors, med blue, light blue.

My question is, is there a web resource that I can use that can guide methrough the basics, like surface prep, paint selection , paint handling, what guns to use etc.? I have a good air compressor and a big yard, It would be painted outside. I am not looking for a showroom finish, just somehting better than the factory paint. I had the dents pulled and reust fixed a while back, buck never had it painted. well I need to reprep the paint as it has developed some more rust etc. I really want to seal it up good. I will be using a 7" electric variable speed polisher for a sander, and the rest by hand I guess. I really need a basic painters handbook for beginners too.

Any thoughts or resources??
Thanks!!!!

[Shiny Lil Detlr]

Do you have an orbital or DA sander available to you? If so I'd go with that over the (I presume rotary) polisher you're considering.... it will give you much better (uniform) results.

Here are a couple good resource sites I found that can answer alot of your possible questions:

http://members.tripod.com/~bobstory/faq.html

http://www.autobodystore.com/outline.htm

There are also print books from HPBooks and Haynes covering automotive paint. More sites like the above are also available from a google search.

Depending on your budget, and what you have available locally, you can pick up some inexpensive paint guns from Harbor Freight, and I've always liked paintscratch.com for buying paint (you can get larger quantities as well as the rattle cans and touch-up bottles).

Hopefully this gets you started; I have a little bit of experience with painting, but not nearly as much as I would like. I'm sure some other folks on the site work (or have worked) in body shop environments and could give you some more hints. You may also want to consider (as I've considered, and probably will follow through on this summer) taking a class at a community college on paintwork. Aside from learning alot and getting some hands-on experience, you also may be able to get access to the college's paint booth. The community college I attend here just built a new facility with state-of-the-art paint booths and body shop equipment; I'm excited to get out there and play with the toys!

[Buellwinkle]

There's resources on the web but consider that auto paint is fairly expensive and it's easy to make runs and sags. Also the equipment needed to spary the newer water based paints is not cheap, it's not like the good old days of laquer. My suggestion is to do all the prep work yourself, remove all trim pieces, interior panels, lights and such, mask what you can't remove very carefully, do any rust and ding/chip repair, sanding (don't sand to bare metal if you can avoid it, filler, blocking and primer. Then find a shop that will tack down any dust from the trip from your car house to the shop and spray the car. It may only cost you a few hundred bucks, cheaper than a proper HVLP sprayer. Also consider that a gallon of automotive paint can easily run $200+

[SiriusRIMZ]

I take body shop class at school, and it can be a long ordeal to re-paint a car. For a quality paint job, the paint alone will run you about $350+, for good paint. I'm talking Two or more coats, two coats of clear.

It took me about three weeks to sand down, dis-assamble, prep, prime, wetsand, and paint a car I was working on. Granted, it might take you less, I only have 2 hours a day to work on it.

expect to spend some time sanding afterwards. You'll get small areas of bumps and orange peel.

Do you know where you plan to paint it? Its going to be difficult unless you have a very clean place to not have any contaminats. If you need any help send me a PM, I'd be glad to assist.

[Hannibal]

I was planning on constructing a temporary paint booth in the backyard. It would consist of of some large tarps suspend by rigid conduit. I am an electrician and I can bend conduit in any shape. I was going to construct a frame, the cover the top with canvas and maybe the sides with some cheap sheets or something. I would ventilate the booth with some small openings at top and at bottom.

I do have a DA sander. I liked that for wood working as it leaves no marring. I was thinking of doing it in stages. I could spend a week in may or june to remove seats, carpet, trim etc. Then work on sanding on my free time. The thing is I have to seal the parts I sand immediately. SO I would probably use rattle cans at this stage. Then when I am ready I would sand over entire truck and shoot a rust preventer or sealer whichever. Then prime, then paint. These are my thoughts so far. Its just the paint gun I need help with selecting. And I need help as to what is a good sealer or rust preventer I can lay down so as to create as good a finish as possible for my final stages.

[Shiny Lil Detlr]

Originally posted by Hannibal
Its just the paint gun I need help with selecting. And I need help as to what is a good sealer or rust preventer I can lay down so as to create as good a finish as possible for my final stages.

Check out that tripod link, he's got Q&A on both of those topics....

As far as rust sealer/preventer, I've always been partial to POR-15's system.

EDIT: I also have to note that from reading his stuff; he uses Meguiar's stuff (er.... I'm sorry.... I didn't ever realize it's actually McGuiars... lol) but he's a bit eletist about DIY painting. Still good info though.

[SiriusRIMZ]

I've been partial to SATA guns, they are expenisve, but I've gotten good results with them, and they last forever if properly maintained. I used a two-year-old gun this morning on some fender flares, and there was not a single grainy or run in the finish.

I think you outdoor plan should be fine, just proper airflow is needed while not letting in too much outside particles.

[Hannibal]

What do you all think of my plan to sand in stages? WOuld using a rattle can primer to seal off areas that I already sanded down be ok? I need to do this because I dont have time to completely sand the entire truck and then seal it.
Before I lay down a good sealer primer via spray gun, I would sand down the entire truck again before shooting with hotrod grey primer.

Any good rattle can primers that you reccomend?

[Shiny Lil Detlr]

Originally posted by Hannibal
What do you all think of my plan to sand in stages? WOuld using a rattle can primer to seal off areas that I already sanded down be ok? I need to do this because I dont have time to completely sand the entire truck and then seal it.
Before I lay down a good sealer primer via spray gun, I would sand down the entire truck again before shooting with hotrod grey primer.

Any good rattle can primers that you reccomend?

I think your plan sounds good, especially since you're still going to go over the whole truck again after the fact.

I am fond of DupliColor's Sandable Primer; I've always gotten nice, even coats from it, and it does wet/dry sand well. It is available in several colors, too.

[Hannibal]

Great! I will look into some spray guns after christmas. Thanks!!!