Calling All Paint Experts! Has anyone painted their car with spray paint?

[SalahHH83]

Before anyone jumps on me, this is for my E36 track car. The clear coat is totally gone and it has a primer patch on the rear corner from where it was rear ended before I turned it into a track car.

I want to paint the car but I also don't want to spend an arm and a leg. The thought has occurred to me to do a very simple 2 tone paint job (black on the bumpers and bottom below the plastic strip molding and white on top with black in the center of the hood)

I have used Rustoleum Professional Enamel paint in the past on on the subframes and even on the front bumper of my tundra and it seems to work well. I'm not expert on paints and I'm not looking for a show room finish, but I also don't want the thing to look like junk. Are there any big problems that would come of this? I figured I would sand it down to get it down to bare metal (for the most part), give it a several thing costs of primer (sanding in between) and then the top coats. Is there anything about the enamel that would be bad? The car lives in the garage when not on the track so it's not gonna get abused by the elements sitting outside all year.

I also know paint can add significant weight which is one of the reasons I will sand down the car other than obvious adhesion issues. Any other tips? Maybe on brands of primer or brands of rattle can other than rustoleum professional? I'm trying to keep the total cost below $350 or so. I don't have a spray gun although i know it's cheaper to use paint and a gun than rattle cans. I figured I can buy a lot of cans for 350 and it has gotta beat Maaco...

Thanks in advance!

[bluptgm3]

I think with proper home prep (sanding, priming, and block sanding), Maaco would be a good choice for top/color coat.

[Spyke]

I was thinking of doing my whole car with the Techno Violet touch up spray cans too lol

- - - Updated - - -

And once dried, paint only weighs a 4-5 pounds tops for your car. The weight thing is a weird myth. Only weighs more when it's wet and in a can.

[SalahHH83]

I was thinking of doing my whole car with the Techno Violet touch up spray cans too lol - - - Updated - - - And once dried, paint only weighs a 4-5 pounds tops for your car. The weight thing is a weird myth. Only weighs more when it's wet and in a can.

That's a good point. I didn't really think of all the solvents etc that will evaporate after it dries and cures. I just I've just become so anal about saving weight! I'm planning on testing things on the trunk lid and seeing how it turns out

[BimmerBreaker]

With how much you'd be spending on cans you may as well just buy a small air compressor and paint gun and do it somewhat properly. You don't need to sand to the bare metal for something like this - just sand through the clear and once you are moving past the color you can prime and spray from there.

[SalahHH83]

With how much you'd be spending on cans you may as well just buy a small air compressor and paint gun and do it somewhat properly. You don't need to sand to the bare metal for something like this - just sand through the clear and once you are moving past the color you can prime and spray from there.

Well this is the thing - I have a compressor, but I don't have a system for cleaning/drying the air to use it with a gun. I don't claim to know anything about painting cars, but I've always seen the pros have set ups with driers etc. to ensure the air for the gun is clean and moisture free (I live by the coast so 100% humidity all summer).

If I don't need that, would a cheap gun do the job or is it going to look like garbage using a cheap spray gun? I've seen guns go from $10 for a super cheap HF model, to several hundred for the pro level stuff. That's been one of the reasons causing me to shy away from going the gun route.

[montaillou]

If you haven't already, you might try cross-posting this and/or search in the track forum as I've read posts about this very subject.

I knew a guy who painted his car with latex paint once...it was very easy to clean after that.

[BimmerBreaker]

Well this is the thing - I have a compressor, but I don't have a system for cleaning/drying the air to use it with a gun. I don't claim to know anything about painting cars, but I've always seen the pros have set ups with driers etc. to ensure the air for the gun is clean and moisture free (I live by the coast so 100% humidity all summer).

If I don't need that, would a cheap gun do the job or is it going to look like garbage using a cheap spray gun? I've seen guns go from $10 for a super cheap HF model, to several hundred for the pro level stuff. That's been one of the reasons causing me to shy away from going the gun route.

You'd ideally want a drier but even without one, it's going to look better with a paint gun if you are using car paint

If you use something like rustoleum you can get away with it to an extent but even the best effort won't look "good." A big benefit of using a paint gun is that when you're done, you'll have a paint gun you can use for future projects, instead of just having a bunch of empty spray cans. If you use the rustoleum or similar, sand to the primer/through the color coat, spray on a couple coats of primer then spray on MANY color coats. Sand it down smooth then spray another couple layers of color and buff it before clearcoating. I can't even imagine how many cans this will take to do decently though.

[Migou]

You can do it with rattle cans. Be prepared to do some color sanding. I have seen a car done with rattle cans. The guy said it was a lot of sanding

You probably would be money ahead by doing some prep and taking in for a $100 paint job

[kane]

I actually had a $300 Maaco job come out pretty good. Spent some time on the prep, look decent from 15'

[Critter7r]

it's a track car. paint it with a roller and own that sh!t!!

[SalahHH83]

Thanks for the input guys! I think I've decided to do it with spray cans but wet sand and polish the paint afterwards. Hopefully I get a good result. It doesn't have to be show quality but I also want it to look respectable. I'll report back on results as I start the process.

[bluptgm3]

Will you be spraying Krylon enamel or another band lacquer?

[SalahHH83]

Will you be spraying Krylon enamel or another band lacquer?

I was planning on using Rustoleum Professional High Performance Enamel. I've used it in the past on smaller items (subframes, bumpers etc) and it has worked nicely. It's a little more expensive and I could always go the roll on route using the same Rustoleum just not in a spray can. I figured I'd still wet sand the spray can paint to get a smooth finish. I know using cans will be a little more expensive than rolling on Rustoleum (or thinning it and spraying it), but the convenience factor is probably worth it for me.

[PeterHall]

Google $50 paint job.

Sand, primer, bondo all dents etc. I would buy rustoleum by the gallon as it is cheaper. Thin it and roll it on. Let it harden. Then color sand and buff. I couldn't imagine using spray cans on large flat surfaces like the hood.

Just remember if you use rustoleum now you'll have to strip it all off if you ever want a normal paint job as it'll cause adhesion issues. But touching up single stage paint should be super easy if it scratches.

[SalahHH83]

Google $50 paint job.

Sand, primer, bondo all dents etc. I would buy rustoleum by the gallon as it is cheaper. Thin it and roll it on. Let it harden. Then color sand and buff. I couldn't imagine using spray cans on large flat surfaces like the hood.

Just remember if you use rustoleum now you'll have to strip it all off if you ever want a normal paint job as it'll cause adhesion issues. But touching up single stage paint should be super easy if it scratches.

Thanks! I've read all about the $50 roll on paint jobs - that's actually where I first got the inspiration. I guess I'm just hesitant to roll it on bc I know there are areas where I will have to spray it on (like the bumpers). My plan is to do the bottom half black (front and rear bumpers and below the trim) with the rest of the car white, except the center raised portion of the hood, which I will also do black. I guess I could spray on black for the bumpers only and do the rest of the car in white via the roll on method.

Since it's a track car, I don't intend on doing a professional paint job on it in the future so any sort of future adhesion issues is not an issue.

One last question, what primer would you recommend? I guess just roll on the primer as well since I'm obviously going to be sanding it before painting?

Thanks again!

[PeterHall]

For the bumpers you could use a brush and brush it on. If it's thinned a bit it should flatten out. Or buy a cheap spray gun. Your thumbs will thank you.

Rustoleum has its own primer you could hit everything with. But I think if you scuffed everything well enough the pro paint should stick fine.

[SalahHH83]

For the bumpers you could use a brush and brush it on. If it's thinned a bit it should flatten out. Or buy a cheap spray gun. Your thumbs will thank you.

Rustoleum has its own primer you could hit everything with. But I think if you scuffed everything well enough the pro paint should stick fine.

Thanks! I'm kind of conflicted on the primer. I've used rustoleum's primer before and it seems to be a little more "paint like" than most primers (it doesn't have that dull matte finish that quickly turns to powder when sanded). I'd like to do some level of priming just to give the paint a smooth level surface to sit on. I just didn't want to mix and match primers and paints and run into issues there.

Also, does anyone have any recommendation for a clear coat or should I just polish the paint itself?

[BimmerBreaker]

Use a clear coat. Use rustoleum primer and sand it smooth (but don't sand through the primer) before painting. Paint it, then buff the top color coat before clearcoating and then buffing the clear. Should turn out decent but it's going to be a lot of work. The more time you spend on it the better it will look.

[SalahHH83]

Use a clear coat. Use rustoleum primer and sand it smooth (but don't sand through the primer) before painting. Paint it, then buff the top color coat before clearcoating and then buffing the clear. Should turn out decent but it's going to be a lot of work. The more time you spend on it the better it will look.

Thanks all! That's exactly what I'm going to do. I'll spend plenty of time on it over the summer since it'll be the off season for track events. I'll update you guys as it progresses!

[Thaniel]

I did a hood with spray cans. To make it look nice clear coat it. Then wet sand it and then polish. Can make it shinny