But I have painted all or parts of every car I’ve ever owned, as well as plenty for friends and relatives, since my early teens. I’m sure I haven’t discovered all mistakes yet, but I’ve made—and figured out how to correct—plenty. I have done paint jobs that have won awards and made magazine covers—all from my garage at home. That’s how I learned. And that’s what I am passing along in this book. Best of luck to you.
In the first chapter I ask why you want to paint your own car, and point out that it’s a lot of hard work, which I think this photo exemplifies. I have just sprayed the final clear coat on some front-end sheetmetal, and I look a little tired. But the real point of this photo—and this whole introduction—is to show that I painted this car, and the others shown here, by myself, in my garage (or driveway), with regular home equipment and no training. You can do the same. Reading this book gives you many pointers. Doing it—trying it—teaches you how.
If you have a choice, find a good car to fix up that mainly needs a new paint job. This ’55 Chevy 2-door has been sitting in my SoCal neighborhood more than a decade. It even used to be shiny. But there are no rust bubbles showing anywhere on it, it’s straight, it’s complete, and the fact it’s a Bel Air makes it even more desirable. You could strip it to bare metal to satisfy your curiosity, but all this car probably needs is a good sanding and new paint—besides other usual restoration. But, of course, the owner plans to do that “soon” and won’t sell.
Why Do YOU Want to Paint this Car?
A car body is very much like a human body. In the first place, unless it’s new or near new, it’s probably not going to be perfect any more. Secondly, it’s inevitably going to further deteriorate with age. But there’s bad news and good news.
First the good; relatively speaking, it’s easier to keep your body in good shape than it is to get it back into that shape once you’ve let it go for a while. Like your own body, your car’s body can be kept in pretty good shape fairly easily if you care for it. If you house it properly, keep it out of bad elements as much as possible, and treat it kindly, it will stay in good condition for a long time. The problem is, unlike our bodies, our cars often come to us from other owners who have not treated them well over the years. Such cars might have suffered anything from chafed, spotted, or wrinkled skin, to scrapes, bruises, and scars, or much worse maladies such as sick internal organs or the dreaded cancer (rust that’s more than skin-deep). In this book we won’t treat any mechanical problems whatsoever, or matters of couture (interior/upholstery). We discuss minor to even moderate bodywork, because that’s integral to any good paint job. But we won’t get into the serious cut-it-out-and-replace-it type of metal transplant that serious rust requires, or body realignment that necessitates frame-pullers or Porta-Powers.
The simple and obvious point is that if you protect your car as much as possible (not just from dents and scrapes, but especially from the sun), and take good care of it (wash and wax it regularly), its paint job will look good and can continue looking that way for years. If it was a good paint job to begin with, it will look even better; but with some work and upkeep, you can revive an ailing paint job or make a poor one look better than it was. We cover that fully later.
That advice is useful to know, but since you’ve bought this book, you’ve likely concluded that your car’s finish is beyond reviving. So on to our main point: Why do you want to paint this car? If you just want to change the color, or put a higher-quality paint job on it than the one it has now, that’s fine. It is a lot of work, but hopefully you have the right intentions. On the other hand, if it needs a new paint job, how did it get that way? Assuming that you got this car in this condition (probably for a good price because of it), and now, being a do-it-yourself type person, you want to fix it up to enjoy for yourself or to eventually sell it for more than you paid for it. Two things here, second one first—don’t even think about counting your time and labor as part of the profit made from selling a car you painted yourself. Painting a car is a big job. It’s very labor-intensive. It is not a good way to make money. The point of this book is to teach you how to do a job well; to get the quality of paint job you want and might not be able to get readily elsewhere; to save a considerable amount of money doing so (particularly if you count your time doing this as hobby time); and to have the satisfaction of knowing and being able to say, “I did this myself.”
You’re not supposed to teach with bad examples, but this is classic. I came across this little dented sedan (I can’t even tell what it is) in northern British Columbia, Canada. Even though it’s been recently sprayed with silver spray-can paint, rust is popping out all over it. The owner said he was a certified welder and he was going to fix it. Why? The rust on this car is growing from the inside out. A paint job won’t fix it. Some major metal surgery could—but this car just isn’t worth it.
Now, let’s get back to that question: “How did this car get this way?” If you let your own car fade, craze, crack, peel—or worse—I think you’re deluding yourself if you really think you’re going to immerse yourself in a repaint project, and then keep the car nice and shiny afterward. I’ve seen a whole lot of at-home paint projects that got as far as some chrome stripped off, some filler applied, the body sanded, and maybe even a whole coat of primer applied before the project stalled and surface rust started showing through. Most of the owners of such projects really had no idea how much work the whole job would be. On the other hand, I’ve seen a lot of hobby cars make it to shiny paint and fresh chrome, only to naturally revert to their former state within a few years. I’m saying this partly to forewarn you, and partly to (hopefully) shame you into full follow-through. If you do it right and maintain it well, you have accomplished something you can take justifiable pride and satisfaction in.
However, I mentioned “two things.” In addition to dismissing the notion that this is a big money maker for you, the other point to consider is that maybe you really shouldn’t paint this car yourself. If all you really want is to make a faded and fatigued car look better (and probably didn’t realize how much work a full-on paint job is), we give you several alternatives in this book. The days of the “Any Car, Any Color—$19.95” paint job are long gone. But you can get a decent “one-day” paint job, and we show you how here. We also show how to spiff up an otherwise ho-hum factory paint job, or re-coat a faded or spotted car in its original color, easily and inexpensively. There are several stages of home paint jobs, between a quick “scuff and squirt” and the full-on show-winning deal that we cover here. Take your pick. Choose your personal level of involvement and intensity.
In fact, your faded car might not need painting at all. You might be surprised how even long-neglected paint can be brought back to life, and how some touch-up or spotting-in can save a paint job you thought needed complete refinishing. That later, but first…
Why Do You Want to Paint THIS Car?
If you’re going to spend some major time and effort painting a car at
