How to paint a car yourself step by step

Having your car painted costs several thousands of shillings. Depending on which car has to be painted and how much time it can take, you might consider doing this yourself.

Know the limits

Before you start painting, you need to know what results you can expect. Painting a new car or professional repair painting is only possible with the right material. It is an illusion to believe you can attain the same result as in a professional garage with a few household products in your home.

Preparation is 90% of the work

When you paint a car yourself, preparation is more important than all the rest. Little negligences leads to very ugly results which can very difficult to reverse. With that in mind 90% of the time reserved for the paintwork should be dedicated to preparation. Basically, painting a normal family car is two days’ work.

Step 1: Wash the car

The car should not be just clean, but sparkling clean in order to be painted. Manual washing or a visit to the car wash are preferred.

Step 2: Detach all removable parts

You save yourself a lot of time if you remove all removable components: lights, blinkers, decorative strips, hubcaps and windshield wipers. So everything removed won’t be accidentally painted. This is a good occasion for identifying damaged components and possibly replacing them. Removing the windows is not necessary.

Step 3: Tape necessary parts with a masking tape as thoroughly as possible

Now the car is taped over. High-grade masking tape is most suitable to do this, as it can easily be removed. Tape over the windows including the window rubbers. If the headlights and rear lights have been removed as well, tape over the hollow spaces on the inside. This saves paint. A roof bar which couldn’t be removed, deserves extra attention.

Step 4: Repair all dents and filling

Paintwork amplifies dents. Investing sufficient time and effort to remove all dents or fill them, you ultimately have a much better result. Be sure to beat out the dents and do as little filling as possible. This always provides the best results.

Step 5: Sanding

In order to allow the new paint to firmly adhere to the old layer, it should be roughened. Use 400- or 600-grit sandpaper and a sanding block. Only work by hand. At corners and edges, the paintwork has been applied thinner, and therefore at these spots you reach the plating sooner. digging into plating should be avoided at all cost.

Step 6: Remove fat with silicon cleaner

With silicon cleaner you not only remove the dust from sanding and filling. It also reliably degreases the car. A car must be completely grease-free to be painted. So be generous with the silicon cleaner.

The car is now prepared for painting. With the car taped over, filled, sanded and cleaned, you can count on saving 50 to 70 %.

Step 7: Prepare the working space

For painting a car yourself you need at least some sort of roof over your head. A closed space is ideal, but there are adequate alternatives. During this period, no insects, foliage or dust should come into contact with the car. Spray painting produces plenty of spray mist settling everywhere. If you are not working outside, tape the entire space with construction foil.

Step 8: Spray-painting a car

If this concerns only touching up smaller damage spots, you can always use spray cans. It important to always paint the entire bodywork part. Work from joint to joint and carefully tape off the rest. Keep about 30 cm distance to avoid dripping.
For completely spray-painting a car you need a compressor, a spray-paint gun and a mixing bucket for mixing the paint with thinner and hardener. Wear protective clothing over your entire body and use a mouth cap. Work from the top downwards and apply crosswise.

Step 9. Finishing the car

With very fine-grained sandpaper and an adequate polisher, you can always upgrade DIY paintwork. In case of matte paint this is not possible. Actually, matte paint is more something for the last owner of the car.

Source: Auto Parts