How To Paint A Car

Many people think that the only way to paint a car is to take it to a professional.  This is not always the case.  If you are a hard core do-it-yourselfer, you can paint your own car in the perfect color that you have always dreamed of.

Washing the car is going to be your first step.  You want to make sure all of the dirt and dust is off of the vehicle so it doesn’t get trapped under the paint, ruining the finish. After soap and water, you will want to do it again with a wax or grease remover.  This not only will remove any wax build-up, but it will also remove anything that wasn’t water soluble that got missed on the first cleaning. Make sure you dry the car thoroughly afterward to avoid any water spots on the paint or the primer.

Inspect your car for any rough areas, and use sandpaper to smooth it out. The older the car, the more rough areas you may find due to repairs or body work. Some rough spots won’t get smooth with sandpaper alone.  Using a good putty can help fill out any bad spots.  When the putty is dry, you might need to do a little more sanding to the area.

Static can also create problems when painting as any dust in the air will be automatically attracted to your newly cleaned car.  Not to worry, simply attach a wire to the chassis and attach that to a grounded object, this releasing the charge from your car.  This is more prevalent in drier desert climates rather than humid ones.

The next step is to tape and cover any parts of the car that you DO NOT want paint on.  This can include windows, bumpers, tires and door handles.  Remember that any part of the car with tape on it will not get paint, so make sure that the taping is done carefully and does not cover any area that you do want to get paint on. You can use paper with the tape to cover the larger areas like windows.

It may look like you are ready to paint your car, however, the primer must be applied first.  Make sure it goes on evenly over every area that is going to get paint. If some areas end up looking thicker than others, you can sand them down to make the entire surface uniform.

Now, finally, it’s time to get that paint on.  Make sure you choose a urethane based paint for your car, and you will need to apply it with a spray gun in order for it to look good. After the first coat, let it dry for 15 minutes and then after the second coat, let it dry for 30 – 90 minutes.

Though the color is done, it isn’t a good paint job until the clear coat is added.  You are going to need 3 coats of this allowing 15 minutes in between each coat to dry.

Now your car is the color you always wanted it to be.  Remove the paper and the tape and you are ready to go out and show off to your friends your new awesome paint job.