Ok i have looked and i couldnt find any straight tips or instructions on how to paint? what do i need and how do i even start i no i need to prime paint and clear coat but what are the steps?

make sure u sand down your kit when it comes straight outta the box they always have mess ups on them




13.1 @ 115

Sorry man but no one is gonna answear that question. There are so many steps and things that you need to just know after years of experiance to do a quality job that it just can not be explained. Your best bet if you really wanna do it and learn is to read on the internet all the info you can on painting. Go on Google and search it. I don't know if the body shop faq at the top says anything on it. But I really doubt that somone is gonna take all day to tell you how to do it because you can't tell someone how to do it. They have to really lern it from first hand experiance and guidance. So many things happen durring the process that if at that moment you don't know what to do and you need to look it up, then the paint job could be ruined and you would need to start over.
Your best bet is to save the money you would have used on supplys to pain the car and just get it painted somewhere. Will be cheaper in the long run. Depending on your paint color and what all you are gonna do then the paint might just be more than you think.

this is not for you. i dont mean to sound like a dick but if you never painted anything, dont start on this

Read my "How much will my bodywork cost" sticky at the top... it will give you an IDEA of how much goes into painting a car and body work, etc. (don't take any offense as to what I'm about to say... it's not meant that way)

The reasons why no one will answer your question are in there basically. There's entirely too much that goes into doing something like that, which requires hands on training with a professional. No one can teach you how to do body work or paint in words over the internet. Even if someone tried to explain it to you (it would literally take hours and hours if not days to type up specifics) ... even if someone explained it to you and took the time to do so... you still wouldn't know what to look for visually if you were getting any imperfections, etc.

Honestly, it's best to let a shop do it. If you still want to learn, either take some classes, or have someone that's trained show you some stuff and practice on something you don't care about to get the hang of it.

^^^^ thats what i was gonna say

Hey Nicholas check your email out bud.. i'll help you out.

Hey there, it's completely possible to learn how to paint by just reading.
We (my b/f &I) have learned everything we know by reading &then just practicing (everything done to my car was done completely by us)
It's not brain surgery... lol... it's just painting. It is possible to learn on your own.
The only thing u need to have experience with is the way it looks/is supposed to look--- & u can develop an eye for it after a few trial/error test paints (or some can).
I will make a write up for u later, then send it your way.
Maybe you'll learn from it (as some do learn that way)... maybe you won't.
Either way-- it won't hurt anything for you to attempt painting (if u already have the equipment necessary to do so).
If you have any specific questions, just pm me &I'll be glad to answer anything you have to ask.

Trial and error; just start paintting little things for practice; thats what i did with interior pieces, bug deflectors, vent visors, hub caps; headlights; its all practice and you will eventually learn some skills and be good enough to pull off some good quality paint jobs... i mean i am not the great; i can spray small things that come out looking pretty good; of course i am talking about spray bombs here; i suppose painttinga kit you should be useing a paint gun and air; totally different; but yeah i say give er man and do your best; there is always sand paper if ya mess up,lol.......





98 j-body sedan

well iam glass to see everyone thinks painting is so easy, i guess all 15 yrs or combo work is easy huh??
if you are unsure take it to a shop, if ya know a painter let him teach ya ,try on some old metal buy a cheap gun to get the hang of how the gun feels when it is full of material, i don`t care what any one of ya say painting is not easy at all!!!
ya need to know mixing ratios, air pressure, have to adjust for humidity, fish eyes, solvent pop, runs in the clear, dry time between coats, so many factors weigh in when painting, very hard to learn "online" or from a book



can i haz bondo

I will try to teach you to paint with an automotive spray gun. Please
forgive me if my typing sucks I have one finger all wrapped up in tape. (
long story, bad day at work). So painting is a finesse deal. too much paint
and you will have runs. Too little and it wont cover. So you need to find
that perfect medium. The best way is to test your spray pattern by turning
the fan tip 90 degrees. So the wings are at 12 oclock and 6 oclock and
spraying your paint on a piece of masking paper taped to a wall. You want to
spray a heavy spot. the paint will run that is ok. You want that run. Your
paint spot should be Football shaped and the runs should all run equal
length. If all the runs are equal length and you have good coverage. (no
figue 8 shapes or heavy paint on one side) you should be ready to go wild.
You will have to set up your gun to your compressor. Spray guns have 2
positions on the trigger you can feel this when you pull the trigger. Step
one just releases air. Step 2 releases air and paint. Hook the gun up to the
compressor and pull the trigger a few times to get the feel for it. there
are 2 adjustment screws on the gun one on the bottom that regulates air flow
and one on the back that regulates fluid flow. As far as air goes you want a
good stedy stream. Not just all out as much as you can blast throught he
gun, but like around 90 psi. ( dont quote me, you might want a little less).
As for paint it shold flow smoothly. spray a couple of spots on masking
paper to check fluid flow out of the gun.. When paint a vehicle or any thing
for that matter you want the fan tips at the 3 oclock and 9 oclock positions
this will give you an oval spray pattern. Like a foot ball points up and
down. Start by pulling the trigger to release air and swing the gun across
youre panel. When the tip of the gun is abuot to cross over the panel pull
the trigger all the way to release paint. at the end of the panel release
the trigger to the air only position. you are pretty much blowing air all
the time. on your next pass, ( swinging right to left this time) you want to
over lap your spray pattern by 50%. that is why paint flow is so important.
Paint should lay down as a medium coat, not dry or wet. If it looks really
glossy. stop. Too much paint. remember color should only cover primer. gloss
comes from the clear coat. Practice makes perfect. And it takes a lot of
practice. Just remember you can always let it dry, sand out any
imperfections, ands re spray. I hope this helps. I will try to right
cleaning instructions soon. print this off so you have it to refrence.


there you go, send props and love to my brother for the write up

Oh come on Big Daddy, painting is easy...... well, it is once you get past that first ten thousand dollars...lol. Painting is not easy. It is an art and a science. More of a science and there is alot of it. I recommend getting a professional to do it..... period. You can not learn to paint over the internet.... period. Painting takes alot of bookwork and then alot of practice. Yes, anyone can paint. It's just getting to that point is what's hard. There are far too many variables in painting to give you a step by step... it's just impossible. Ask yourself one question... " Is this a one-time deal or will I do this again?" If your doing it to save money your S.O.L. It will take you five times the amount learning to paint than having someone do it. If you are serious about it.... then get educated. Books, DVD's, tech schools, and painter apprenticeships.... learn before you touch anything. This is not a cheap hobby nor is it something you would want to just throw together. You can half ass a speaker box together, cover it up and get away with it. You will NOT get away with a bad paint job. It will stick out like a sore thumb and ruin your project. I will be happy to help you in any way I can, but it's not a distant learning type thing. Lots of studying and practice is your only way to achieve your goal. Get ready to shell out some major cash too. I am not trying to scare anyone away from learning to paint, because it is fun. I love it. That's why I take great pride in whatever I paint. Cars are MAJOR investments. You would not want a first-day-on-the-job doctor doing open-heart surgery on you. Paint jobs are expensive for one reason... ..... they are worth it. It can make or break your project..... don't go cheap. Piddle and play.... learn the paints and equipment... practice and mess up alot of stuff (preferrbly your own and nothing expensive) then jump out there and take a shot at it... it will look terrible.... trust me... things will go wrong and you will want to quit. IF you have the patients to learn from it and carry on, than you can do it. If your the type of person who losses 100 bucks and throws a fit over it, than don't get started. Your gonna spend ALOT of time and money just getting fair. But it's worth it. People will bring you things and say they want YOU to paint it... and you can make a helluva living at it. All that time and money you spent will be recovered over time. The equipment is expensive. The paint is expensive. Your time is expensive. You can do it if you apply yourself. It just takes time. Do yourself a favor and learn all you can. And anyone who tells you painting is easy has never done it. It's not just paint.....



The world is a beautiful place.... but I wouldn't want to paint it.

I'm in the same position. Eventually I will try to paint my car also, though I never have done it before. My dad does his own vehicles and he was self taught. Granted it is not show quality as he does not do it that often, but not horrible either. Better than I have seen some cars on used car lots that have had touch ups done. I'm deffinately doing research though and when I feel I've learned all I can from reading I'm going to get the cheapest paint and practice on junk parts taken off my car. After I get it down on them I'll move on to my car (with better paint of course). Yes it will be expensive, but I will be able to do it and it will pay off over time. I once saw a sig on here that said "Cavaliers are like masterbation, practice for the real thing..." Just my thoughts.

Any monkey can learn how to paint, but it takes a trained professional/artist to do great work on a consistant basis. Yeah you may be able to learn how to spray a car or part of one with some reading, but it takes tons of training by a professional to know what to do and what to look for when the paint job isn't turning out as good as you'd like it or get imperfections.

Painting is not "so easy a monkey can do it" when it comes to a good job.