anybody try to put clearcoat on by themselves? If so, how did you do it?

 

I work at a Body Shop. First off, do NOT take it to either Maaco or Earl Sheib. I agree with everybody else, if you can, do ALL the prep work yourself. It isn't that bad. That's pretty much all I do, prep work. Just take some 320 grit on a DA Sander (which you can probably get pretty cheap from a Paint Shop) and sand down the car. You DON'T have to go ALL the way down to the bare Paint OR metal. A lot of people think you HAVE to go down to bare metal...you don't. If you're going to buy your own paint...and are planning on going with the same Milano Red, be prepared to spend some big bucks on the paint. Any red is going to run you about $100-200 more than any other paint per Gallon. Also..masking a car isn't that bad either. Take some 3/4" tape and outline ALL your mouldings, weatherstriping and odds & ends that you don't want painted. It might be frustrating, but it's worth it. If you're going to spray it yourself, be sure to take your time. On each coat, keep the spray gun 4-6 inches away from the car and spray evenly. Don't try to cover the whole car in 1 coat. It takes several coats for the color to cover. Spraying clear is a lot different b/c of the texture. It's a lot easier to run. So be patient...and Good Luck. Show pics when you get it finished.

 

But what if you don't know anyone to do the prep work or you can't do it yourself. Who would you recommend to do it?

 

dude i tried painting it myself, but the only thing is, i cant find any clear coat paint, i asked at pep boys and all those places, and they said they didnt have anything like that, and it doesnt look all that great, so i think i need to get it done from a body shop.

 

Clear Coat isn't a paint. It's exactly what it is, clear coating. It's like the gel coating on a Fiberglass hood or something. Don't go to Pep Boys for something like that. Try to find an Auto Body Paint Store. If you find a PPG place...buy some 2002 Clear and hardener. That's your best bet. Give about 15 minutes between coats.

 

man i got my car painted at Earl Scheib like last month. I got the Pro 3 package. I got it painted gloss black. I did all the prep work myself. Turn out that I suk at it. I used bondo to fix the dents and when it got painted over, there were tiny hole on it that you see through the paint. man was i piss. it was the first i ever prep a car. I had my car for a about a month now and finally wash it this weekend. let me say for the price of $411 (manager special, pro 3 package) it came out ok, not good or great. it was better then it was when i bought the car. let me say, it all depends on the Earl Schieb you bring it too. my place (Fontana, CA) suk while some other place is better. it all depends on the guy who paint your car and his skill level. I even slip the painter a $20 to be extra careful and dont mess any spot. turn out that i wasted my $20 buck. I got overspray on my window shield. man can i say more. the worst part is that they have hardcore paint contamintion on my paint. there dirt all over the paint and in the paint too. all i hope that when i get my car bluff, most of the dirt will go away. oh yea, i also have to bring my car back so that they can repaint my trunk b/c those idiots touch the car before it was dry. it all a headace. it turn out that im the idiot myself for bringing it to them. to make matter even worst, the package i got was pro 3 with a Euro 2 stage clear coat on top of my suppose to be 3 basecoat. To be honest to god, it look like the place only added only a basecoat (gloss black).

my advice to you is save up ur money and go to a better place. Like the old sayign goes, "you get what you pay for"

 

To get any overspray off your car, take a little bit of Paint Thinner and a rag and wipe it off. Be sure to not let the Thinner touch the paint. Buffing will get most (if not all) of the dirt out of your paint, it all just depends on who sands it first. If they take a lot of time and get ALL of the dirt out, then it will look nice. For the whole car to look good, they need to wet sand the whole car down with like 1500 or 2000 grit sand paper then buff. And as far as your Euro 2 Stage Clear Coat...that's just fancy talk to make themselves sound nice. 2 Stages of Clear Coat is normal..in fact, at my work, we spray 3 coats of Clear. Also, when they added a basecoat "gloss black"...that's not a basecoat. If you ever watch a guy/girl spray paint, it's flat. The clear coat is what makes it gloss or stay flat. (Yes, you can make clear coats stay flat and not glossy).

 

You get what you pay for, remember that. If you pay for a $500 paintjob, you will get a $500 paintjob. If you pay for a $4000 paintjob, you will get a paintjob that looks like it's worth $4000.

There really is a difference.

If you insist on going with a budget paintjob, make sure you do the sanding and prepwork yourself; I've heard far too many horror stories about places like Maaco doing terrible sanding and prepwork and causing the car to come out looking terrible.

 

i will keep all of this in mind thanks.

 

I went through the same thing you did (not rust though) and ended up going with a $4000 job, and to be honest - I could have done better.