To paint it myself or to get it painted??

[thestu]

Hey guys,

I'm tied between two worlds...

I'm in the midst of painting my WHOLE CAR! (except door jambs and engine bay)

Do I buy acrylic and do it in the garage?

Do I pay someone to do it in a booth with 2 pack?

I am confident in spraying but there is a lot of work to buff it all after its done and i have heard that after a while acrylic shrinks into repairs.

2 Pack is more expensive and needs to be painted in a booth to be done right.

I would get a lot of satisfaction from doing it myself but i'm unsure if its the right thing to do?

Some input would be great guys and girls

Stu

[The_Hawk]

What part exactly do you want to paint? (or is it the whole car?)

I know I suck at painting (although I want to give it another bash) and the results on my front textured strip are ordinary at best... although I can see that another sand, paint and clear might just make it passable.

Depending on what exactly it is your painting it could be worth a try, after all if it sucks you just sand it off and give it to the experts.

[thestu]

Yes sorry the whole car!

Well i have painted some stuff before and the guard, bonnet and grill i did turned out awesome after i buffed it all up...so maybe i should...but 2 pack is stronger and more chip resistant! AHHH! I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!!!

[Jace]

At least get quote for a 2-pack, in booth job.

If you're really keen, you could always try and borrow a booth. If you know someone at a small panelshop, they might charge you something like $200 a day for use of the booth.
Then you'd have all the lighting and drying facilities you'd need, as well as somewhere clean to mix the paint etc.

[thestu]

Well i rang a bloke around the corner and I told him my situation.

Car is dent free, all in primmer and masked up and i also have purchased all paint and thinners. So I rub the primmer down and basically roll it the booth he paints it and i get it back and i have to buff it. Hardly even worth it really...

He said $500 to get her all painted.

Maybe i should just give it a go!

[WABIT]

save the cash and get it done properly, sure its good to paint it yourself, but if your not 100% confident in the way itll turn out, get someone who knows to paint it.....

dom

[Tim]

how durable is acrylic compared to 2 pack? I guess it comes down to if you want to do it to learn or if the end result is more important.

I think what woody did was the wisest move. Do all the grunt work yourself but let a pro weild the spraygun. His car turned out awesome.

[thestu]

The thing is I have spoken to a lot of people that have painted acrylic and even pros won't get it nice n shiney off the gun...it always needs to be buffed...so thats why i'm leaning towards doing it myself...

Stu

[thestu]

how durable is acrylic compared to 2 pack? I guess it comes down to if you want to do it to learn or if the end result is more important.

I think what woody did was the wisest move. Do all the grunt work yourself but let a pro weild the spraygun. His car turned out awesome.

Your right that did turn out bloody awesome!

hmmmmm

the other part of me wants to learn though and i get a lot of satisfaction out of doing it myself!

[Jace]

Acrylic's harder than two-pack and consequently will chip easier and crack easier with flex (IIRC) (correct me if i'm wrong!)
You want to do DG, same colour yourself, just set up your workspace as well as you can!
I'm yet to paint a car but it's not rocket science; blow out all dust, wet the floor, new plastic sheeting everywhere including ceiling, rig up some kind of exhaust fan and hope for the best!

It's then though, that the lighting will suffer. And by the time you set it all up properly, it would've been easier to pay a pro with a properly ventilated and well lit booth to do it for you. $500 sounds pretty reasonable.