Winter Project "Maybe" Paint the stealth

[Boomer3000]

So my $600 TT isn't the best looking. I have been taking autobody classes but it would take another year and a half or so till I get to the paint part.(bunch of non structure shop stuff they teach us that has nothing to do with actual body work)

I am a fast learner and have been doing research on it. I am thinking about making this my winter project seeing as I am only doing school till I leave for the Marines in Jan-Fed time period.

My biggest issue is color. My car is Firestorm red/with custom fade mod. I would love to paint it black but I realize a complete color change would be uh a little more difficult.

So color options

Black
Same paint code Red
Darker Red
Candy apple red

So yea.. Like I said this is all a big maybe going off money and such for the situation just really gauging interest in it.

*also on a side note. If your going to come in my thread and troll just don't post alright. I am open to everyones opinions but thats where I draw the line.

[IPD]

if you want black & you're willing to be a guinea-pig...why not rattle-can it?

[futurevr4man]

rattlecan satin black!!

[BigTyla]

Color changes can be a huge pain. You'll save yourself a lot of time painting it the original color, plus your VIN will still match! A proper color change would require engine/trans removal and complete interior gutting. That's a lot of extra work, especially if this is your first time painting a car.

[vroom4]

if you want black & you're willing to be a guinea-pig...why not rattle-can it?

Because he doesnt want to drive a piece of shit around?

[IPD]

Because he doesnt want to drive a piece of shit around?

it's fairly clear he doesn't want to spend more on a paint-job than he spent on the car. maaco or DIY. rattle-can is easiest DIY.

[vroom4]

Eh, Id rather drive around rocking a completely faded paint job than waste my time spray painting my car.

[Boomer3000]

I will not rattle can my car!!!! Seriously I am not painting my car because it is cheaper. I am doing it for the experience and the fact that I want it to be something that I can hold a ton of pride in. Also the cost of materials alone will be more than the car its self. I don't care how much it cost me I wanna do it my self!!!!

[IPD]

I will not rattle can my car!!!! Seriously I am not painting my car because it is cheaper. I am doing it for the experience and the fact that I want it to be something that I can hold a ton of pride in. Also the cost of materials alone will be more than the car its self. I don't care how much it cost me I wanna do it my self!!!!

one does not practice on an automobile. one practices on waste metal, bicycles, motorcycles, and other assorted "oddball" parts.

[Boomer3000]

I pratice at the shop, I gain EXPERIENCE by doing it my self. Anyways back on track. So If I don't color change I would at least like to do a darker red.

[BigTyla]

If it's not too much darker you could easily get away without spraying the entire car.

Painting is not hard. In fact it's quite easy. It's the prep work you need to worry about.

[Boomer3000]

Right, every person that I have talked to has told me prep is 90% of the work.

[sketch]

I actually was just in a similar scenario - I went from beat up red to a satin black (I wish I had gone flat(ter), but that's for another thread).

I did it all on my own with no other previous experience painting a car. I took a full week off from work to do it, and let me tell you, it's all in the prep. I took my time and didn't even finish in the whole week. I didn't want to rush anything, and for the most part it paid off.

At least 98% of my time was spent doing prep work. I basically stripped the car down to do it, took off both the front and rear bumpers, both doors, side skirts, A-pillars, sail panels, hood, trunk, fenders, etc. I didn't want any jams or any other visible parts to still show as red (not counting what's under the hood, as that's now the only part of the car that isn't black)

I've already got a couple decent air compressors at home so I grabbed one of those, bought a paint gun on Amazon and researched paint for a bit before I settled on what I ended up with. Did a bit of reading re: HVLP spray guns and watched a couple videos on youtube before I got to work (it's definitely a bit of an art and science, I was by no means amazing with it but with the proper patience good results can be achieved.)

You can find a few pictures of what I started with and what I ended with on my sail conversion thread here http://www.3sgto.org/f20/3000gt-stealth-rt-tt-sail-panel-conversion-6422.html (only small glimpses of what I started out with, the major extent of the body work was on the passenger side)

I've actually been meaning to start a thread documenting my whole process, maybe it's a good time to get on that...

But like Tyla says, it's all prep prep prep prep prep. It pays off in the end, big time. If you cut corners, it shows. There are a few blemishes on mine that I need to redo because of lacking prep