If you go to the Sew Fine website ( http://www.sewfineproducts.com/ ), on the intro page is a picture of the nose of an early Ghia. My question is, how do you get the paint to look like that? I understand that there is a lot of preperation work involved, but look at how deep the shine is, and how smooth it looks. Is this a done by waxing the paint alot? A deep/thick clear coat? Tons of prep? Any info would be very much appreciated. I am new to painting and want to learn as much as possible before I try anything. Now, I understand that this may not be a beginner paint job, but it will give me somthing to aspire to.
Ciaran...
How does one get that nice paint job that looks like a jewel
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Ciaran
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Fri Jun 27, 2003 12:33 pm
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JC-ATL
- Posts: 1559
- Joined: Thu Jul 25, 2002 12:01 am
Well, there's the easy way, which isn't all that easy, and the hard way, which isn't all that easy.
The easy way? Pay someone to do it. Find a local body shop with a good reputation. Look at their work. Get references. Plan to spend some real money.
Then, a month later, the real work begins. Sand out the orange peel. Compound out the sanding scratches. Remove the swirl marks. Polish. Glaze. Wax.
Or, the hard way is to try and do it yourself. Oh, and don't fool yourself - this way is just about as expensive as the easy way, if you're new to the whole process and will keep re-doing it until it's perfect. If you decide to do it yourself, that involves stripping the whole car to bare steel, working the panels until they're mirror straight, etching primer, sandable primer, sanding your primer coat smooth, shooting your color, sanding your color coats, and according to your paint system, shooting clearcoat and then sanding your clearcoat. Once you've done all this, see the previous paragraph starting with "a month later..."
What do you get from the first method? A killer paint job that's the envy of many around you, probably better than if you do it yourself, sooner than if you did it yourself, and with a lot less labor.
What do you get from the second method? A killer paint job that's the envy of many around you, and the satisfaction of having done it yourself.
I've gone both directions on this one. As much as it sounds above like I prefer the first method, I always do it the hard way. And enjoy it.
The easy way? Pay someone to do it. Find a local body shop with a good reputation. Look at their work. Get references. Plan to spend some real money.
Then, a month later, the real work begins. Sand out the orange peel. Compound out the sanding scratches. Remove the swirl marks. Polish. Glaze. Wax.
Or, the hard way is to try and do it yourself. Oh, and don't fool yourself - this way is just about as expensive as the easy way, if you're new to the whole process and will keep re-doing it until it's perfect. If you decide to do it yourself, that involves stripping the whole car to bare steel, working the panels until they're mirror straight, etching primer, sandable primer, sanding your primer coat smooth, shooting your color, sanding your color coats, and according to your paint system, shooting clearcoat and then sanding your clearcoat. Once you've done all this, see the previous paragraph starting with "a month later..."
What do you get from the first method? A killer paint job that's the envy of many around you, probably better than if you do it yourself, sooner than if you did it yourself, and with a lot less labor.
What do you get from the second method? A killer paint job that's the envy of many around you, and the satisfaction of having done it yourself.
I've gone both directions on this one. As much as it sounds above like I prefer the first method, I always do it the hard way. And enjoy it.
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Air-Cooled Head
- Posts: 1684
- Joined: Fri Nov 23, 2001 12:01 am
That's about as accurate a summation of painting that I've ever seen.
The "Easy" way is expensive.
The "Hard" way is expensive plus hard!
Auto painting is as much an art as it is a science. And experience is the best teacher. I'd say spraying paint on a car is no more than 15% of a good paint job. 60% of the result is done before spraying, and another 25% after. But the level of skill required increases as you get closer to the end.
Do your research, use quality products (equipment & paint) and practice, practice, and practice some more before starting on your pride & joy.
These links will get you started.
http://www.goldcar.com/cgi-local/yabbg/YaBB.pl
http://www.autorestorer.com/
http://www.autobodystore.com/Default.htm
The "Easy" way is expensive.
The "Hard" way is expensive plus hard!
Auto painting is as much an art as it is a science. And experience is the best teacher. I'd say spraying paint on a car is no more than 15% of a good paint job. 60% of the result is done before spraying, and another 25% after. But the level of skill required increases as you get closer to the end.
Do your research, use quality products (equipment & paint) and practice, practice, and practice some more before starting on your pride & joy.
These links will get you started.
http://www.goldcar.com/cgi-local/yabbg/YaBB.pl
http://www.autorestorer.com/
http://www.autobodystore.com/Default.htm