Hey guys im about to start on a painting adventure. I dont have any experiance in this field but a friend does.

If any one has any hits, tips, or sugestions please let me know. Im thinking of goin matte black or a really deep dark blue, Also matte finish. If anyone can throw me there .02 at me that would be sweet. Ill also start posting up some progress pics and before and after here in a few days once i really decide to do this.

Thanks guys

 

I'm considering painting my FC as well..

i have a question

all my local paint places here refuse to sand the old paint off..

they all insist that it's fine to just sand off the clear coat, smooth the surface.. reprimer and paint on top.. I thought this was only the ghetto places that did it

but I went to the mazda dealership and they told me the same thing as well :S
(and he quoted me a price 2x the usual paint job price)


as far as I know.. in the states, u sand the paint off, to the bare metal.. and then reprimer and repaint the car...


am I mistaken? or all the ppl i've spoken to lazy bastards?

 

What nobody does that as far as I know havent you ever watched pimp my ride, overhaulin or any of those shows no one sands down to bare metal.

 

From what I have been told, from a very reputable body shop, is that you only strip off all the paint when you have had three or more paint jobs.

 

I thought u strip of the paint and prepare it to get the paint to stick better. This should be done everytime. Im pretty sure Im right. Places like Maaco paint over.

 

Firstly:

Stripping to bare metal is only necessary when the film build is too thick to allow proper adhesion/flexibility. Most paint companies settle on around 9 to 13 mils maximum. Roughly - this is equivalent to three or more COMPLETE coatings (primer, and top coat)

The only other reason would be a combination of:
a) Having crap material on the car. Ie. Lacquer, acrylic, enamel.
b) Rust repairs requiring an area to be stripped. At that point, may as well strip the panel to find any other hidden germlins.

Painting over an existing finish thats in good shape, and not built up too thick, is PERFECTLY acceptable. Anyone who says differently is not well informed.

What do you think a collision shop does with a scratch on a '09 merceds hood?? Strip the entire panel just to fix it?? No. Repair the mark, blend out the colour, and clear the entire panel. Works fine.


As for tips - there's plenty of them, but it could be a long post if I just start rambling about this and that. Post any concerns you have and we'll se if we can address them.

 

Well would it be better to take everything off the car, like all the weather stripping and the doors and hatch other than the lights and badges. Or would masking off what i dont want to paint be eaiser. Good thing is that this is the orignal paint and needs no body work. Dosent really have to be the best looking paint job but trying to make it look good.

 

alright.. that solves one problem


What should I do with my FC?

it's a 91 with the waterbased paint.. which is all chipping off..
hell sometimes a pressure washer breaks and chips the paint off...

what's left underneath is grey.. i think it's the primer but i'm not sure it doesn't rust when exposed to air.. so that's why i think it's primer




i'm guessing this car has to be sanded down to the steel?

 

Removing everything is best.

Glass - you're lucky on an FD. None of it has to come out to get a flawless finish. The mouldings are very pliable and can be masked underneath using tape, then pulled back. This allows you to sand and paint right up under neath the moulding and when you're done, it looks like it was OEM.

The only tough thing to pull off without breaking is the belt mouldings. These are the pieces at the bottom of the side windows. You can "get away" with masking them off, but there will be a slight edge left after wards. If you pull them off though, you do risk breaking them/having to glue them on so the don't rattle. I've gone both ways before while painting FD's. I generally make the risk known to the owner and let them decide. Typically - unless its getting a colour change, you're OK to leave them on if you can live with a tape edge in this area.

As I mentioned earlier, the only time its acceptable to spray over existing paint is when the film build is low, and the paint is fine. If its flaking off - you'll definetley want to get all of it out of the way so there's no adhesion problems down the road.

I wouldn't even leave the primer. That being a European car may even have waterbased primer, they've used it for a LONG time. (waterbased products) but only in the last 4-5 years has quality/durability really come up to par with their solvent based counterparts.

Strip it, use new material, and you should be fine

 

Any preferance on paint brand whats good whats bad?

 

Anything thats a "household" name really.....some people will tell you X is better then Y but really, they all work well. I use BASF's RM line. Also a big fan of their Glasurit.

- BASF
- Dupont
- Sherwin williams
- Akzo Nobel

Those are the big four. Everyone of them is used by OEM's, with BASF having the largest portion of OEM usage out of all of them. Everything from GM to Rolls Royce (which goes to show, its not about the paint, its about who does it!! GM's come with extra factory orange peel! )

 

Ok so when painting with a flat color and no clear, i herd the the last coat should have some clear mixed in to help protect the paint? I would guess the ideal painting temp should be above 60 degress ya? or any temp ok just takes more time to dry only cause its around 40 here still.

 

60F would be a minimum.

The catalyst won't work below a certain temp....it will *work* at 60, but it should be higher ideally. However, check the specific product you're using. Everything has variations. But most will have a variety of hardeners and reducers for use at specific temperatures, all they do is trick the paint into thinking its being sprayed at 80F, when in reality its 60F due to the speed of the additives.

As for flattened colours, your best bet is base clear. ESPECIALLY if you're considering a metallic. The thing to keep in mind with flat/matte finishes is that you cannot buff or wetsand after its done. If you do, it'll be shiney. So any specs, any marks, any sags or dry spots will be left in the paint because there's no way around it - whenever I do a flat colour, I'm ******* SCARED to paint it because it takes me easily 3-4 times the amount of prep in order for it to come out well - and my paint jobs do come out well without that extra prep (but I also get to buff )

The only flat colours I would do single stage on would be solids (black white red..anything without metallic) and in those cases, there's no need to add any clear to the mix. It'll stand up fine as it is.

I've heard of people adding clear into those mixes, or doing a single stage urethane job and mixing the last coat 50/50 with clear............but the problem is most painters/body men like to be chemists. I personally DO NOT. I pay a heafty price to the paint company to get their product in a can, with a datasheet and directions and warranty and follow those to a tee. If you get way off in your own experimentation you might run into problems and be left hanging becuase you didn't use it as it was intended, so keep that in mind.

 

Well i went and painted the front bumper first (as it was already messed up) and went with a gloss black. Put on 3 coats and so far looks pretty good if you ask me. Of corse i have never painted before. I gonna let it sit for a few days and give it a good wetsand and see how it looks. Then i guess i can deside to go with a clear coat. Ill see if i can get up some pics.

 

ive been thinking of a paintjob muself (not the FD) if i use a non clear gloss black
then it doesent matter that much if im not that good a painter?
cause i can just wetsand everything an buff it?

 

ya i used a single stage paint and when i wet sanded it, it actually came out preaty good. I was impressed anyways. Single stage has a clear mixed in it thats why its glossie

 

Yes and no.

If it turns out like ****, and you can't sand everything out, or sand through while trying to, then you're back to square one.

So, yes, as long as its not a disaster you can wetsand and buff your heart out. No person, or spray facility in the world will ever make a *perfect* paint job without wetsanding and polishing. You can only get close.