Painting Body Panels

[Anonymous]

Okay, i got my el-cheapo $20 door skin in over the weekend and i gotta paint it from white to that dark green color used from 1995-1997(8?) and i dont wanna bring it to maaco and spend another $100. I have a d/a at school, but i dont know what grit to use to scuff it up. Also, what can i do to avoid maaco and other paint booths? I know that its best to get it sprayed, but yeah.. i'm cheap as hell.

[sl2fast]

ghetto look = rattle can
nice look = pro painter
nice look cheap = a buddy with a paint booth

[saturn_06]

getthe whole car repainted

[Anonymous]

i dont have that much money

I have $199 to my name until i pick up my last paycheck from Modell's.... guess i'm out of money for a while.

[DasPirate]

Dude, if that's all you've got then you should seriously hold on to it in case something goes awry like your radiator takes a shit or you spin a bearing in your new engine or something. Those things have a habit of happening right after you just spent your money on something else that you didn't need.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, i was going to get the engine running and everything before worrying about the exterior and whatever. I also gotta get a rocker panel (35 shipped from ebay) because somebody thought it would be funny to play "kick the saturn" and missed the already broken door panel. I have no idea who did it and the school can't be held responsible.

[ArghIGiveUp]

Ugh. I'd send you a rocker panel, but I have no idea how insane shipping would be.

Anyway, just hold off on the paint. The problem here is that no rattle can paint can be had in the proper colour.

Get all of your panels ready, Wet sand them with 400 grit, but be careful not to go through the original paint if you can help it. Once done, set the panels aside until you can spend $100 to have a pro shoot them. Screw MAACO unless they actually do a good job. Even a good shop should be able to shoot the rocker and door skin with base/clear for about $100 if you scuff it for them.

[SaturnKid]

That sucks. But yah hold on to your money.

[andy_wh2000]

macco shouldnt be a problem if you prep it yourself. thats the main thing that makes them suck. the skip on the prepping. just have them spray your pieces after you prep them and then you could color sand and polish them yourself later if you wanted. you just have to keep in mind that even if done professionally your panels wont match the rest of the car perfectly since you wouldnt be blending your color into your adjacent panels.

[The Shaolin]

This is only a partial hijack, because it also deals with painting body panels.

What's it going to cost me just to get my roof re-sprayed?

[saturnspeed_12]

see thats hard to say, because places charge differently and depends on color and prep work. you could be looking $300 to like $1500. and too depends on if you car how it comes out. because to make it match, they have to blend into panels, which luckily it is the roof.

[slowion2]

I wouldn't bring a fucking lawnmower to Maaco

[DefStatic]

I wouldn't bring a fucking lawnmower to Maaco

I did, and they still fucked it up [img]{SMILIES_PATH}/wink.gif[/img]

John Deer green... I WANTED LIME MOFO!!!!

[hellix2484]

I used Krylon in the spray can and it came out just fine.

Ofcouse I did like 6 coats and wet sanded inbetween each coat. But it works for me. Check out my car domain in my sig for some pics of it.

[Sprint]

The problem here is that no rattle can paint can be had in the proper colour.

http://www.paintscratch.com/ The blue for my car was perfect when laid over DupliColor MetalCast ground coat (they have thier own primer also but I didn't use it). I put my trim pieces on the hood when I was done and they almost blended in.....and they have a option to add flex agent so your panel wount spider web if flexed. Its not cheap but it matches up and is cheaper then a pro job.

And as mentioned prep work is the key. Sand it down, couple layers of priner, wet sand, couple of paint, couple of clear.

-Allan