$50 paintjob underway (practice run)

[deevergote]

Ok, I'm giving it a shot. I have 3 hoods... one painted to match my car. One carbon fiber. And one cheap replacement hood in it's original black primer... decent condition.

So, I'll never actually use this hood on my car... therefore, it's a great test dummy for the $50 paintjob!


Here are the necessary supplies:
http://www.cb7tuner.com/50dollarpaintjob/supplies.jpg
A bottle of mineral spirits
An 8oz can of Rustoleum (Gloss Hunter Green in this case)
A dense foam roller (this one is Rubbermaid)
A small foam touch-up brush (probably won't need this for the hood)
A paint tray
A container for the mixed paint
Some stirrers to mix the paint (not shown... I used some straws)
And some 800 and 1000 grit sandpaper (I couldn't find 600 grit, so I'll have to start with 800! Might go 1500 later on as well)

I carefully measured out 8oz of mineral spirits, as I have read that a 50/50 mixture works well. I actually dumped a little of this out, since I knew I wasn't going to get the full 8oz of paint out of the can!
http://www.cb7tuner.com/50dollarpaintjob/measured.jpg

I mixed in the entire can of paint in the container. Sorry, no pic. It's a bowl of green stuff. You can picture it.

Then it was down to the basement to work!

I sanded the hood down to get any junk off of it (it was previously washed off in my bathtub as well). Then I blew it clean and rubbed it down with mineral spirits, to ensure there was no residue left on it.

Then I put some color to it :D
Here's the hood with some of the original primer and most of one coat.
http://www.cb7tuner.com/50dollarpaintjob/halfcoat.jpg


And now I've completed one coat
http://www.cb7tuner.com/50dollarpaintjob/onecoat.jpg



I'm not too worried about the uneven appearance of it. We'll see if that goes away. If it doesn't, I still have plenty of mineral spirits left, and a can of paint is like $3! :lol:

The sandpaper was the most expensive part so far!


Total cost at this point, about $25.

[ghettogeddy]

thats actually a cool look almost custom if u dident know who it was applied lol
is it really that glossy in person

[Civic Accord Honda]

nice i wanted to do this but too time consuming

[race12001]

that looks good is it realy that glossy or did the camera make it look like that

[88Accord-DX]

Looks pretty damn good. Sure any imperfection could be taken out with fine wet sand paper & some buffing with orbital DA buffer/sander.

[itzdave]

nice i wanted to do this but too time consuming

yea, if ya want it done right, it takes time tho. one of the most important things about a paint job is the pre-stuff(before u acually paint), gotta make everything perfect. i wanna do it to but ill prolly have to do the hood one day, a fender a fews later, etc. cuz i have to drive my car everyday.

[2ndGenGuy]

The un-evenness should go away from what I've read about it... I've been a huge skeptic of it, but I'm trying to be open minded. I'm excited to see how it's turns out, but you gotta do a few more coats, and sand between each coat I think. Good luck! :)

[stat1K]

looks good i wanna see more!

[GraniteLXI]

Nice look for such cheap paint, good job :)

[Ichiban]

This is how cars were painted back in the 30's and 40's.

[deevergote]

Those pictures were taken when it was still wet, so it's very shiny. It's been about 7 hours now, and it's drying... and not as glossy. I don't really expect the first coat to be very glossy. This will probably take about 6 coats, so this first coat isn't supposed to look great.

I'm going to do a second coat, then sand with 800 (should be 600, but I couldn't find it at the store I was at... 800 should work). 2 more coats, 800 again. 2 more coats, 1000, and then polish.

This is just a test run. The hood is a cheapo replacement hood for a 4th gen that I got in a trade. Not useful, since I have one colormatched hood, and one carbon fiber hood for my 4th gen. So, it's getting some use as a test dummy! Once I perfect it, I'll give it a shot on the 3G. The car is blue, with a blue interior... so that kinda limits my color choices to blue, black, gray, and white. Anything else would look kinda dumb, IMO.


In looking at the nearly dry paint, I'm impressed. It's much better looking than I expected. After another coat, it might be better than the average rattlecan job. After a good sanding, 2 more coats, another sanding, and a polishing... I can see it turning out just as expected!

[deevergote]

http://www.cb7tuner.com/50dollarpaintjob/twocoats.jpg

That's the second coat. Still wet, but MUCH better coverage. The hood is starting to look the proper color now! When this dries, sanding session #1 begins!

I'm not sure what those spots are. They're only in the picture. No spots on the hood (like that, anyway... still some air bubble spots that I'm trying to figure out how to eliminate in future coats)


When I do this for real, I'll probably shave my head. I keep getting hair on the damn thing! :lol:

[A18A]

thats pretty good :D i would of practiced on a pop-up light cover, much smaller, and easier, and if you fuck it up, its no big deal lol, but its looking good anyway :) :)

[deevergote]

That's true. I had the hood sitting in my yard though... and it gives me a chance to test it on a large area. A popup cover might be too small to really see how it goes on! It'd suck to do one of those, have it come out fantastic, and then realize that on a larger area, it's going to look like doo-doo!

I think I may have to do this a second time, maybe with less mineral spirits... but maybe not. I'm going to take this one to the end and see how it comes out. If it's no good, I'll sand it down and do it again! Maybe red next time :lol: (the actual car will probably be a two-tone... I'm thinking blue and black, or silver and black)

[Cheeseburger]

looks great!

[bullard123]

Looks good! What are those white spots? Is it just a dirty camera lense?

[deevergote]

Yeah, either the camera or reflections... they're not on the hood for sure!

[stat1K]

those are reflections off of dust from the flash... i saw this thing on the discovery channel one time where people claimed that those were spirits and their special camera could detect them lol. but it looks pretty good after 2 coats keep it up!

[Ichiban]

If you are getting bubbles with the roller you might be going a bit too fast. Oh and watch that camera flash, those spirits have been known to fuck up paintjobs...

[deevergote]

OMG ORBS!!! :lol:


Well, here's the second coat. Dry, with a very slight tackiness to it (not sandable yet, but dry enough to touch). It's shinier than I expected!
http://www.cb7tuner.com/50dollarpaintjob/coat2dry.jpg

Here's a closeup. You can see the bubbles, dust, and maybe a stray doghair or two on there. We'll see how that all sands out, if it does.
http://www.cb7tuner.com/50dollarpaintjob/close3coat2.jpg


And yeah, the bubbles are probably from going too fast. I usually do what the "original" guy (the one with the orange Charger) recommended, and just let the roller go over the bubbles without putting any pressure on it. It fixes most of it. I have a feeling that once I have 5-6 coats on there, the bubbles won't be a problem. After sanding and buffing, it'll look quite even. At least that's what I'm hoping!

[Lil Mike]

Looks good, nice job. I was thinking of doing this on my car but i didnt know what it would come out like. I cant wait to see the hood finished

[Hazwan]

Looks great!

[Civic Accord Honda]

Sex

[A18A]

cool

[lostforawhile]

i would almost bet CAh bought a paint roller on black friday. and a can of 20 year house paint. :rofl:

[stat1K]

lol... matte finish latex too boot.

[deevergote]

here's the result of my wetsanding and coat #3!

http://www.cb7tuner.com/50dollarpaintjob/halfwetsand1.jpg
Here's half of coat #3, showing the wetsanding job of the first two coats. The far right part, now covered, was a victim of my noob-ness to wetsanding. I did a little too much over there! Can't tell through the paint now, though. We'll see if you can tell when it dries. 3 more coats to go, so it shouldn't be an issue!


http://www.cb7tuner.com/50dollarpaintjob/coat3.jpg
Looking better with each coat!

http://www.cb7tuner.com/50dollarpaintjob/coat3close.jpg
You can see some dust and fuzzies in the paint... no big deal. This is just practice, afterall!

[AccordEpicenter]

not bad at all. I prefer rattlecans but nice work

[2oodoor]

good trial project

some tips if you dont mind...
#become very aware of every tiny speck of hair, dust, or foam from the brush.. head it off before starting
#You can try to hang up a large flat piece of bisquine, plastic sheeting... that stuff gets a static charge on it and will help keep airbornes away from your work.
#Rustoleum drys relatively fast but the actual coating takes a while to get hard enough to sand without rolling up on your sandpaper.
#When you do wet sand that kind of enamel, use a tiny bit of ivory soap so the sandpaper does not tend to grab the pant (lubricates)
#I would not us a machine sander on this at all, after any paint is on it
#when you sand, do not go in circles, try to keep the sand marks all in one direction
#The more solvent you use in the mixture, the more chance you get for it to get a haze on it
#Keep the paper clean, do not let any little rolled up bits of paint , sand or whatever get under the paper on a stroke

[deevergote]

Cool, thanks!

I had heard the opposite about going in circles vs. going in one direction. I suppose when I'm slathering on more coats, it doesn't matter all that much anyway!

I'll definitely have to try the plastic sheeting. I never thought of that!

[2oodoor]

I like to have a hose on with just a bare trickle and keep it above the work so that the sandpaper stays clean. If you use a bucket, then keep dipping in to get water on the work and rinse the paper at the same time.
I would do circles if I were glazing, polishing or waxing. Even then on a black or dark color car I would be very carefull at that.
Color sanding is sort of the term of what your are doing, if you can find something on the web, for another point of view.

[deevergote]

I had a few guys on cb7tuner tell me the same thing.

I'm doing it in my basement, so I can't do a constant flow of water. I've been using a bowl of lukewarm water (no soap or anything as lubricant, due to the fact that I can't properly wash it). I dip the paper regularly, and I get the hood pretty wet beforehand as well. Whenever I dip the paper again, or whenever I get to a patch that seems dry, I always throw a handful of water on there. I cut through too much paint at first, but I learned how much pressure, and how long I can stay in one spot... the next sanding will probably go even better. I seem to be learning pretty quickly (thanks to my own observations, and the great help advice I've been getting here and on other boards!)

I might end up sanding this down and redoing it a different color when I'm done. I know this won't come out perfect, and I'm curious to see if I could do it better the second time around! I won't be doing it to the car until the spring at least, as it's getting WAY too cold now!

[Catalyst]

Wow that looks great! Looks much better than my first attempt at painting a hood!

[deevergote]

The third coat is totally dry now... and looks very glossy. I don't expect any problems with keeping a shine after a 1500 grit wetsand and a good buffing! Still 3 coats to go before I expect it to be totally done!

[lostforawhile]

i tried to use that type of paint on things before,and after a while the uv radiation causes it to chalk and oxidize, best of luck maby they have changed it.

[deevergote]

I read that certain colors react differently. I never saw anyone do green, so who knows... not that the hatchback will be green anyway!

[lostforawhile]

I read that certain colors react differently. I never saw anyone do green, so who knows... not that the hatchback will be green anyway!yea the cheap paints just don't have as stable of pigments or the good UV inhibitors as good paint does. good project though and a chance to practice on it.

[2oodoor]

some good cheap paint that really looks good even brushed or rolled on... tractor paint. I got some from tractor supply ( for a 69 Ford 3000 tractor) that really laid out slick with a brush, and shines even after being outside ALL the time. Limited colors though .. lol
john deere green
catapillar yellow
MasseyFergy red
bobcat orange- white
intenational black
etc etc..

It would be cool if you could find a urethane harder compatable the the Rustoleum or straight enamel paint.

[deevergote]

A marine lacquer would probably work fine. People have used that as well.

This picture is after a year's time, and the car lives in the street, right where the pic was taken. I'm following the method laid out by this guy.
http://www.rickwrench.com/images-sounds/3dCorvair/3Dcorvair3.jpg


Of course, I'm using green now... and I plan on using black and blue on the Accord, I think. The white on the Corvair was Rustoleum, same as I'm using, and the blue is a rattlecan job. That shows that the white holds up, at least for a year's time in the elements... but I still have to wonder about the colors I'll be using! I haven't seen anything definitive about those yet!

[BITESIZE]

looks good

[2oodoor]

that corvair is amazing
the marine laquer I could see doing a good job because laquer is made to color sand between coats until you have a lusterous shine. I am not real convinced that rustoleum enamel with no urethane hardner would produce that good of results with the color sanding, but I follow your lead with the project and watch it work.
Normally an enamel like that would be a work free coating you use over a well prepared primered and blocked panel,
2-3 coats sprayed. but brush or roll would be one coat .

[lostforawhile]

they make a duplicolor laquer they sell at advance in quart cans,it's not as good as two part,but it is made for automotive use, it probably still has better UV inhibitors, i would try that before i would use rustoleum. if you think of how many cans of spray you would use for the car,vs. 20 for a quart,they also have it in primer.

[deevergote]

that corvair is amazing
the marine laquer I could see doing a good job because laquer is made to color sand between coats until you have a lusterous shine. I am not real convinced that rustoleum enamel with no urethane hardner would produce that good of results with the color sanding, but I follow your lead with the project and watch it work.
Normally an enamel like that would be a work free coating you use over a well prepared primered and blocked panel,
2-3 coats sprayed. but brush or roll would be one coat .

The Corvair is done with Rustoleum... same technique that I'm using.



I'll have to look into the lacquer at Advance... that might be useful as well (I plan on going two-tone on the hatch, so maybe one color lacquer, one color rustoleum)

[Civic Accord Honda]

damn i wish my car was not a DD i saw the paint at walmart today and almost bought it lol

[A18A]

paint each panel at a time lol :P

[2oodoor]

you are not supposed to be able to put laquer over enamel, it has to be really hard and well cured enamel even if you could. The laquer solvents are strong and will soften up the enamel , usually lifts and wrinkles. I have done it and seen it done before though, but very carefull not to get the laquer too wet.
Back when I was painting cars on the job I always used laquer to do spot repairs even on enamel cars , we used a special clear sealer sometimes as a barrier. That was before the BC CC systems got real popular.

[deevergote]

you are not supposed to be able to put laquer over enamel, it has to be really hard and well cured enamel even if you could. The laquer solvents are strong and will soften up the enamel , usually lifts and wrinkles. I have done it and seen it done before though, but very carefull not to get the laquer too wet.
Back when I was painting cars on the job I always used laquer to do spot repairs even on enamel cars , we used a special clear sealer sometimes as a barrier. That was before the BC CC systems got real popular.

Oh yeah, if I did the half and half job, I wouldn't mix. Blue enamel up top, black lacquer on the bottom (just the thought I had). I'll probably just stick to the enamel though, just since I know how to do it.



Also, I haven't touched it since I rolled on the 3rd coat. It's smoother than the 2nd coat was before sanding, the color is VERY green (hasn't dulled at all since the wet pics above), and it's still really really shiny! This isn't going to come out as great as the Corvair in the pictures, mostly due to the dust and stuff... but it's definitely going to come out better than I planned for my first go at it!

[brownj218]

Hey man, looks great. I actually had a thread on this as well. I did an entire hood in white. It turned out so well, but it took a long time. Basically just take your time. I fucked up at first because i put way too much on the first coat, so i had to scrape it all off and do it again. After 6 coats though, it looks amazing. If you are getting lots of bubble, you gotta just blow air on them when you're painting. I know it sounds stupid. but seriously just blow on them and they go away. If they still arent going away, then you probably have to thin your paint some more with the spirits. When i did it, my mixture actually had more spirits in it than paint. Something like 60/40. And last thing, I sanded my 6th coat with 2000 grit, and that was a mistake. As soon as you sand it...even with 2000 grit...it completely takes away all the gloss. I would use a very thinned out coat for the last coat, and then just leave it after. Otherwise you have to wax it like every week. But good job, and keep us posted with pics throughout. Cheers

[deevergote]

Thanks Justin! Glad to hear I'm not the first one on here :D

The DIYs by the most famous guys (the Charger and the Corvair) both say to sand with 1000 or 1500 on the last coat, and then use an orbital buffer (which I don't have... but I have a friend that does) with polish. I'll give that a shot. If it doesn't work, I'll just put on another coat or two and do it the way you said! Do you have any pics of your hood? How has it held up?

[desired_speeds]

I heard you're not supposed to use odorless mineral spirits. I saw pics of this other guy's car where it was all bubbling and dripping off. But hey, your hood looks freaking awesome!

[lostforawhile]

someone tape cahs eyelids open and make him read this thread. of course his will be the 4.99 paint job. he already bought out walmarts dollar paint

[Civic Accord Honda]

someone tape cahs eyelids open and make him read this thread. of course his will be the 4.99 paint job. he already bought out walmarts dollar paint
lol i have seen this thread this is what i want to do :P im just touching up the white and painting over all my primer spots lol
the car being multi color makes cops look twice at it wich is bad since i dont want it impounded