Loving this thread as well. I have always wanted to do this, but have been too scared, and I paint quite a bit for work also. I love that your car is Black and can potentially show everything, super brave, you're my hero.

 

Next update: Paint gun setup.

A lot of conversation is had on how to ensure clean air reaches the paint gun. I’m using a 25 year old compressor with rust in the tank. You can spend a lot of money on these accessories but I decided to keep it simple and monitor and adjust as needed. Harbor Freight is a great place for some of these accessories.
As I mentioned before I’m using a LVLP paint gun:
I used the following pressure regulator/filter from Harbor Freight 6 feet from the compressor:
https://www.harborfreight.com/12-in-...tor-58182.html



On the paint gun I used the following filter. Not sure how long they last but I used 3 for the entire project::
https://www.harborfreight.com/dispos...ter-63951.html

And finally the pressure regulator on the gun. Again from Harbor Freight, the Central Pneumatic digital air flow regulator (From Harbor Freight is you can find it):
https://www.ebay.com/itm/28511659981...UaAqjwEALw_wcB




Also get a stand for mixing paint like this one:
https://www.harborfreight.com/gravit...and-34958.html


So far I have not had any contaminants in the paint. I'm located in NorCal so humidity is low. In more humid places like Florida you may need more help to filter out the moisture, so keep that in mind.

 

The nice thing about shooting primer is that you really can’t screw it up. It is meant to be sanded so if you get runs, stripes, finger prints or drips you can just sand it out or worst case re-prime.

Reach out to your local paint store for paint. Try to stick to the same system unless they tell you it’s ok.

It is also a great opportunity to learn how to spray. You can also pick up some panels at a junk yard and paint them. I figured since I’m doing this in stages I can adapt each panel I paint and try and get better at it. I was not looking forward to leaning over the roof or hood!

I also practiced with just air the technique of doing the passes with 75% overlap. To be honest I have no idea how it was going to go until I can see paint hitting the panel but it did help me figure out the best position to stand.

Before painting anything clean the panel AT LEAST 3 times. Even though it is just primer it is a good habit to get in. Also wear rubber gloves, do not touch the panel with your hands at this point to avoid any contaminants. I used microfiber towels and the following products:

1) Stage 1: Spray Away glass cleaner. (No Ammonia).

2) Stage 2: Prep all:
3) Stage 3: 70% Isopropyl Alcohol

On this particular gun I pretty much used the same settings.

Fluid: 2 turns from closed
Air: Wide open
Fan: Wide open
Pressure: 20 PSI
Fluid tip: 1.7

I would just adjust my speed if I wanted more/less paint. This is where the practice comes in as it is very tricky and probably takes years to master. Just watch as many videos as you can, and you will see what I mean.

Also for the fenders I did not have to worry about any masking. Just make sure you take all the grommets out first and bag them.

Here is how they turned out:


Note that on the passenger side fender I masked the gravel guard as I did not want primer on it. The drivers side will be a challenge to get to look right. I'll more than likely need a new fender... We'll see.

 

Next up was to get the hood primed. Followed the same process at the fenders, and finished with 320 block sand.



Gave the hood an initial clean with water to get rid of most of the dust, then back masked the hood with 1.5 inch yellow 3M masking tape:


Then covered the car in plastic and cut out the hood:


After that taped the perimeter of the hood like this and cleaned 3 times like the fenders so that we are ready to go:





The hood is tricky to paint being hunched over. I started on the drivers side and stopped in the middle and quickly switch to the passenger side to continue. Keeping a wet edge is important. Less so with primer but really important to be able to do with base and clear coat.

Had some issues with paint dripping from the air cap. Found out later that the fluid nozzle was not tight enough. Also the seat may have needed more cleaning. Keeping the gun spotless between coats is critical. Here is the outcome:



Not too bad. Notice the stripes in paint. Need to keep the gun 90 degrees on the panel and 4-5 inches away. Still need more practice!

 

Any particular reason you opted not to remove the hood? Would seem to be easier if it was standing on an end as it would not require the masking, be easier to reach, easier maintain the same angle/coverage, and mitigate the risks of drips.

I suppose that supporting it in some fashion that didn't impede access to the 'top' or sides would become a consideration.

 

Keep up the great work! Enjoying your progress.

 

For primer I was not that concerned about removing it. I'll post shortly how I primed the doors in place. Bottom line is I'm mostly on my own so I was really concerned about lining the hood up again and decided against removing it. With the lights up there is so little clearance from what I can see it needs to be perfect. Also this gave me something else to practice on to get ready for the roof.

 

I didnt see if your doing it, but spray water on the ground before painting because it controls the dust. Really helpful when you get to the gloss part.

You can also use a tack cloth between base coats as they dry to remove dust.

Great job on body work and painting !!!!

 

Killer.

 

Next up is to prime the doors. This is where I will find out whether it is possible to paint the car in my garage (Only 10’4 in width).

My plan is to paint the door jams and possible the inside of the doors but only the exterior of the doors will be primed so they will remain in place for now. It is much easier to block sand them on the car.

Paint prep is the same. Finish at 320 and clean mask the same as the previous posts. The entire car needs to be masked off again. Soft edge tape for the texture at the bottom of the door as I don’t want to sand these areas. I only has a couple really small imperfections to use filler on. The PDR worked really paid off!




And the finished product. It was awkward but I managed so it looks like I will be able to paint everything in this small garage.




I think I got a really nice finish on these.

 

Now the main body of the car. The real test!

Again, nothing different for the prep. Just make sure everything is well blocked and no high/low spots are present. Only a few places to fill on the quarters. The Evercoat Rage is great as it goes on smooth and is very easy to sand. Supposedly does not shrink. In any case, whenever I use filler I give it a few days before final sand/priming just to be sure it has not changed and does not need any touch up. Also decided to use some newspaper for the soft edge for the gravel guard.

Same goes for primer, I’ll let it sit for a few days before sanding.

Here is how it looked masked up:

 

I ended up making a huge mistake and had to redo all this

Really stupid mistake. When pouring the primer/activator into cup, I forgot to mix it...

Ended up spraying activator first with very little paint, then mostly unactivated primer.

Going to step away from the car and pivot a bit before coming back to this part. Will need to sand all this out and start over...

 

The mistakes make you stronger! Hang in there, the results will be worth it.

 

Gah! Why do you have to make this seem so easy... Now I have to give serious consideration to doing this myself. Not the whole project right now, but I'm about to pain the vacated engine bay. And, obviously, if the car is going to end up a different color later, I'd prefer to just shoot that in the bay now.

 

Moving right along. Called a local glass guy to remove/eventually change the windshield and remove the hatch glass. The hatch glass removal was a cause for concern for the glass guy as he was worried if it cracked with no replacement available. I showed him my Harbor Freight kit I was going to use and convinced him to give it a try. I told him it is coming out one way or another and the probability of you breaking it vs me is quite low. I went inside for a minute and when I came out he was lifting the glass out (in one piece). Super easy if you know what you are doing! Now I can install my $100 molding!

They also helped me remove the hatch.





In a way it was good that I did not prime the body as I would have had to prime inside the hatch after getting rid of that surface rust. It was really nothing but formed there due to the lack of paint. I find the paint is really thin in certain areas of the car. Mazda skimped too much... The RX8 is painted much better.

 

If he broke it, you'd have your excuse to go lexan

IIRC the front glass is trickier because the plastic tabs on the top of the lip.

I took my wagon hatch to a glass guy and asked him to remove it and he straight up refused. So, it got painted with the glass on. I'm pretty sure it's a generic weatherstrip, though. Anyways....great work!

 

After some soul searching I decided to get a 99 spec replica spoiler from ZK Motoring so I had the extra holes welded shut.

Prepped and primed the hatch. Took some effort to skim coat the welded holes.





I'll drill the new holes when I get the spoiler and comment on the fitment.

 

It may look easy. Also some of Paint Society videos seem easy as well but this is the hardest automotive project I have ever attempted. Mind you I've never build an engine yet but the procedure is clear in my mind as the info on this site is awesome!

My advice is to shoot the engine bay now. If there are any faults only you will know. Just get the cheap purple Harbor Freight gun and practice on something and give it a go. You don't even need to clean the gun and just throw it out when you are done!

 

If I can ask, its somewhat overwhelming when you check out the paint society channel which videos are worth watching. Obviously they're making money with clicks, but what's difficult is there are several videos that seem to cover the same topics. Was there a few that you can link that you learned the most from? Seems you could spend hours picking only maybe one or two more tidbits of information up from each 30+ minute video. Thanks, and again I love the thread, keep us posted!

 

Not OP, but I've watched most of Paint Society's videos. This particular series is EXCELLENT as they take a car that has one of most every common paint problem and go through the whole process -


That really gives a good overview of what you need to do for each type of paint problem.

Dale

 

Awesome thread, I think you're going to end up very happy with all the time you're taking to painstakingly prep and do it right!

I thought I was putting a lot of time into learning how to paint properly and that was just for a set of new headlight covers

Interested to see what you think of the ZK 99 wing fitment, one guy I reached out to said it was about an 8/10 on fitment so I haven't bought one yet.

 

Looks like Paint Society's latest video on priming is using a black FD fender and hood. Interesting.

 

I would focus on the Playlists. The complete paint job videos I have watched over and over again.

Paint Society Playlists

In the last few months I have spent more time watching Garage Noise videos and has become my favorite channel:

Garage Noise

The main reason is I can relate to Chris more as his environment is much closer to ours for painting. Also since I am using the AeroPro LPLV paint gun I can copy his gun settings and eliminate some variables. Then just study his technique and try and get better. It really comes down to speed and distance. Then there is how to approach odd shaped parts...

It's really important to watch as much video as possible and visualize how you will paint a part (or the whole car). I probably spent about 6-9 months thinking about doing this before I started.

 

I think the fitment should be better than any other aftermarket spoiler. I'll add my comments later as I just received it and just had a quick look at it.

First impression is that it looks really good! It does seems pretty heavy. There must be a lot of putty used on top of the fiberglass mold to shape it.

 

Finally went through the process of masking the car up again for take 2 of priming the body.

Not much additional info to add. Just removed all the old primer and re-blocked and hit with the DA@320.

Here is the outcome: