# can anyone recommend books on painting cars and doing body work?



## callMeYourKiller (Jul 19, 2005)

i think im going to attempt to paint my car myself. i dont need a perfect paint job, i just dont like the color my car is now and it has some rust. can anyone recomend any books on doing this kind of stuff? ive used fiberglass before and i was just going to use a angle grinder to get the rust off and fiberglass over the hole (doesnt need to look perfect, its just inside the doors where sentras always get rust) and i was going to pound out the dings on the doors from the inside. i mostly just need some information on painting.
thanks


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## T200Sx (Jan 17, 2005)

its called...apprentice...not a book but a thing. talk to someone thatknows what theyre doing its the best


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## jlee1469 (Dec 4, 2003)

Yeah you cant just read a book and expect to know how to do all of it. Much if is hands of stuff and experiencing it. It is a lot of work involved depending on how much you want to do.

I never buy books... I've learned how to do a lot of things through google and just searching the web.

Oh and dont take shortcuts and make sure you have the right equipment for the job. It might end up costing you more that a cheap paintjob.

Don't need a perfect paint job? Try maaco and save yourself the trouble... good luck!


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## callMeYourKiller (Jul 19, 2005)

i just need to know what i need.
i dont even know if i need to primer or not. im not going down to bare metal.
are there 2 seperate stores for sherwin williams and the sherwin williams with automotive paint?
i might just go there and ask someone for advice.


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## Dustin (Dec 14, 2003)

honestly, just buy a lot of spray paint, some of the color you want, and clear, then get some 1k, 2k, and 3k sand paper, lots and lots, any bondo you need, anything like that, there is a huge write up about painting a computer case, same thing applies to cars.


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## callMeYourKiller (Jul 19, 2005)

what kind of spray paint should i use?
the only kind i know of is duplicolor. is there anything better?
and how many cans should i buy?
do i have to primer it everywhere or should i just primer the parts with surface rust that i sand to bare metal?

is there a website or writeup on doing this. http://www.halfords.com/268.asp is all i could find. but it doesnt answer all of my questions becuase its just for doing small parts.

and i think im going to fiberglass everything. every time ive bondoed anything it cracked.


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## callMeYourKiller (Jul 19, 2005)

can i really do this or were you joking?
ive painted a computer case before. a few years ago, before i was old enough to have a car and i modded my computers instead.


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## Smodster3o3 (Mar 21, 2005)

Don't use spray cans, the colors are not going to be the exact in all cans giving you diff colors.
Painting a car is very easy, the hard part is the prep work.
I did my first paint job last year on my explorer a big body, and it is not that hard to do.
First of all you want to make sure you have everything you need to paint.
Sand paper lots of it, Primer, Your color paint, some clear coat, lots of masking tape, newspaper, and the hardest part the tools.
You are going to need a air compressor, paint gun, D.A. sander if you want the job to go faster. This is just the basic you will need to paint your car the right way.
You first want to sand the whole car, mask off all the window trim or anything you don't want to scratch while sanding.
Then after that is done you want to mask anything you don't want the paint to get into. Ex. windows, wheel wells, mirrors, just anything you don't want over spray getting on.
Now you can spray on your primer, Don't worry if it doesn't come out right, you will wet sand it.
Now wetsand the whole car using a water and soap mix to clean the primer as well.
After that you are ready for paint, like the primer wet sand after maybe 3 coats, or however many you want.
After your done wet sanding its time to lay some clear coat, use as many coats as your want leaving some flash time inbetween.
Now you will have to let the layers of paint and clear dry, so for a month don't do anything to the paint.
After a month wet sand the whole car and buff it out, it should look like new.
There is some more lil aspects to painting that i forgot, but if you have any questions ask.


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## Smodster3o3 (Mar 21, 2005)

Here's a great write up, its not mine, but I used it when I painted my truck.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=100110&highlight=painting


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## callMeYourKiller (Jul 19, 2005)

thank you.
i already have a air compressor and a D.A. sander. i just need to buy the gun and the primer, paint, and clearcoat. i just wasnt sure what all that hardener and stuff was for and if i needed to primer if i was just going over the old paint.
do you think if i just used some cheap ebay paint it would come out ok if i preped it good?
otherwise im just getting sherwin williams paint i think because i just want black. or i might do gunmetal gray. one of my friends said i should do a weird color like lime green, but i dont plan on getting a body kit or spoiler or anything so i dont think it would look good.
after this i just want to put money into making it faster. i dont want to end up with an "all show no go" car.
thanks for your help.


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## callMeYourKiller (Jul 19, 2005)

if i paint it black do you think i should put flake in the clearcoat?
i dont really know what it looks like or what colors would look good.


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## Smodster3o3 (Mar 21, 2005)

I used the ebay paint, you get what you pay for, so if you got the money to spend then get good paint.
Yes you should use primer to get the paint to stick, you don't want it to start flaking
As for the hardener and stuff, its very easy to do. When you buy the paint it tells you how much hardener to use.
As for the flake, its' all up to you, me I wouldn't use any flake, also I think the gunmetal gray would be a lot easier to paint.
I heard black was one of the harder colors to paint.
I also went with a grey color.
Before.








After
















Thats using ebay paint, but now it's starting to fade after one year, but thats only the clear coat, I could spray another coat still.


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## Dustin (Dec 14, 2003)

Smodster3o3 said:


> Don't use spray cans, the colors are not going to be the exact in all cans giving you diff colors.


you do know that a lot of automotive paints are the same exact way right? most pros know to mix a ratio of each can together to get an even looking color. i just prefer rattle cans because its the easiest way.


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## Smodster3o3 (Mar 21, 2005)

Dustin said:


> you do know that a lot of automotive paints are the same exact way right? most pros know to mix a ratio of each can together to get an even looking color. i just prefer rattle cans because its the easiest way.


They are not the same, they will be off by a few shades, maybe nothing you can see, but trust me they will look diff.
As for painting a car with spray cans, it will look very bad, I'm not sure if you painted your car, but if you did post some pics so we can see.


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## I'm tired of my usernamee (Feb 16, 2004)

you will also need that hardener or else wait a month for your paint to dry.. and the reducer and everything else. Dont paint over spraycan primer, unless its good like SEM etching primer. you will need a hand block for sanding and tape, and paint paper, dont use newspaper cause it can possibly leak through. painting is an involved process and takes time to learn properly.


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## Smodster3o3 (Mar 21, 2005)

I'm tired of my username said:


> you will also need that hardener or else wait a month for your paint to dry.. and the reducer and everything else. Dont paint over spraycan primer, unless its good like SEM etching primer. you will need a hand block for sanding and tape, and paint paper, dont use newspaper cause it can possibly leak through. painting is an involved process and takes time to learn properly.


I agree, the first time may not come out to great, but with everytime you paint, you will get better.
I used hardener, I just waiting a month because I wanted to make sure the paint was dry. You got to get the mixing right, my first batch turned into a gel like thing.
I have since painted my cousins car it came out way better than mine.


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## himilefrontier (Jan 21, 2003)

I have done alot of paint and bodywork and there is very little you will learn from a book other than what tools to start with. Block sanding is the real art to learn if you want a good job, and fiberglassing rust is a no no as it will recurr a short time later. When I do a car, it usually gets blocked out once for a quickie job and 2-5 times for a good one. If you have rust issues, you need a MIG welder, an angle grinder, tinner's snips and a jig saw at minimum if you expect to do a lasting repair. Trust me, it's alot of work. A freind and I are doing a very rusty 68 Mustang right now and had to replace the floors, quarters, some of the framerails, windshield post, etc and it wasn't easy! My own Olds Cutlass required no less than 15 patch panels to fix it right, and I won't even get into the 65 VW Bug resto I worked on a few years ago! However, as long as both sides of the repair are treated right and sealed from moisture, it will be a good, long lasting repair if you do it right.


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