n2trbl

I've seen people primer their cars themselves using the stuff in a spray can. Some I've seen come out very well. And some others get really bad tiger striping. Just wondering since I have a beater car that I drive to work and back and the paint is getting destroyed, not to mention the dings all around the car. I was wondering if if it was possible to get a good even looking layer of primer out of a can. I was thinking of sanding the car section by section down to the bare metal and buying like 1,000,000 cans of primer and just doing the body work and stuff myself. I was wondering if anyone has any tips for me to get a nice thick smooth layer of primer. One last question, how long does this stuff usually last? I am not going to rush out and save up to get the car repainted, so I was wondering roughly how much time I had. Thanks.

RX7-2JOCK

Its really all in the prep work. Just make sure the surfaces are really clean, and the temps are not too cold when you start to spray. Back in high school I painted my entire crx out of spray cans. It really didn't turn out that bad, other than a few orange peel spots that I missed during the prep.

Meiogirl

iTrader: (2)

ive never done a full size car, but if you get bad results cant you just sand relatively easy even?

fcturbo2

I have a friend that primered his car using the ones from the can and it turned out good.. i agree with the other people..its all about the prep work..

n2trbl

would any of you guys reccomend sanding down to the original layer of primer (the paint on the car is original by the way) or would you just scuff the surface of the layer of paint until it is dull and tacky before you primer?

bradt

bradt

bradt

i would sand to the primer. The thicker the overall paint job the eaiser it is to chip after it has cured, the decision is yours.

tripple post, sorry my computer was freezing up.

aka_rocket

i did my hoods (two aluminum) and it came out good. lots of prep work though. took it down to the primer level. when i sprayed it, i kept the spray nozzle clean so it wouldn't drip. i learned from mistake. its kinda of painstaking though but yea, can't agree more with the prepping. im sort of a perfectionist (didn't want the stripes either) and my hood came out nice.

bradt

stripes come from too much over lap and or not wet sanding after the primer is dry. It can also come from uneven sanding(sanding one spot too much and not feathering the surronding area.)

Mazda99Nikon

Use progressive layers of sandpaper and then a final wet sand with 600 grit. It worked fine for me on my 2nd gen. You should take it down to the primer. A lot of paints are simply not compatible with a light coating of primer on top. I could send you pics of what can happen, but it would be easier to tell you to simply envision what a coat of crackle texture paint looks like on an RX-7.

aka_rocket

i'll try to post a picture of my hood later. seems i can't right now. most people who've seen it are always amazed it came out of a spray can. i didn't put any clearcoat on it so its a sort of flat but sparkly black. it looks awesome when its wet so i guess if i was to wetsand it some more (i spent MANY hours on this alone) it would probably look pretty good. i did major progessive sanding and wetsanding. it was my practice run so i spent ALOT of time on it though.