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September 21, 2010
DIY Paint: Should You Rattlecan It, or Go Legit?
By Jen Dunnaway
Editor
I’m approaching a crossroads on my bodywork project: once I’m done all the straightening and sanding and priming, it’s going to be time for paint. But here’s the question: spray cans, or spray gun?
I realize that using a proper HVLP gun is the way to go for best results, but that’s assuming you know how to use one, and I’m a first-timer. From what I’ve been told, automotive paint blown out of a spray gun is a lot thinner and more difficult to control than stuff from a can, and runs happen pretty easily when you’re not used to this format. Also, there’s the issue of pot life: once you mix the paint, you only have so long before it congeals, so it would pretty much mean spraying everything the same day. (Or, I’m thinking, two days: first one for inner panels, underhood, and door-jambs, then second day with a second batch of paint with the car reassembled to shoot everything visible from the outside).
So that brings us to rattlecans. The stakes are a lot lower, touch-up of mistakes is easier, you don’t have to do everything all in one go. It goes on nice and thick. It definitely won’t look as good–probably a little blotchy, especially on the big panels–but the probability of completely messing it up is a lot lower. Still, here’s the thing: since most spraycan paint isn’t specifically formulated for automotive applications, there’s a decent chance that your car will be a flaking, peeling mess within a year. Or that the paint won’t be compatible with the primer you’ve got underneath it, or what have you.
Cost isn’t really a deciding factor, since both of these methods can go either cheap or expensive, and I’m willing to pony up if it means I won’t have to do the work over again.
So, anyone else found themselves at this decision point? Did you rattlecan it, or spray it with a spray gun? How did the paint turn out, how well did it hold up, and is there anything you’d do differently next time around?
September 17, 2010
Students Saran Wrap Teacher’s Acura RSX
Tampa Sports Car Examiner
Car pranks are great, especially when on a level that they simulate a blown motor. Not as technical but still just as fun, using Saran Wrap on a vehicle is thought to be safe but actually causes damage called microabrasion. Read more about how Saran Wrap can kill your paint job at Tampa Sports Car Examiner.
August 16, 2010
Automotive Trim: Sweat The Details, Make The Difference
By Ted Berner
GTwildfire
I’m renewing the look of a 350-dollar 1990 Volvo 240 I found for my sister. This car has many minor things that needed attention, and one of them was the faded, scratched and chipped trim around the windows and lower body. Never underestimate the importance of having good-looking trim; you can have great, even new paint but bad trim will draw all the attention. Fixing this is inexpensive but takes a little effort and a little know-how. Continue reading…
Continue reading "Automotive Trim: Sweat The Details, Make The Difference" »
March 3, 2010
Close Bike Encounters Of The Car Scratching Kind
By Sam Barer
Sound Classics
It’s your fault, really. Here I was trying to do a CarDomain story for y’all and in the process of doing so I did serious harm to one of my garage-dwelling babies.
Let me step back. My 1986 Dodge 600ES Turbo Convertible‘s quarter-century-old radiator has been corroded for at least a decade. I decided its easy replacement with basic hand tools would make a nice story, so I began the process by snapping this “before” picture…but I noticed my daughter’s pink and purple bicycle was in the shot. Find out what happens below the jump…
Continue reading "Close Bike Encounters Of The Car Scratching Kind" »
September 3, 2009
The 1979 Chevy K10's New Paint
By Sam Barer
Sound Classics
We’ve all heard the old standard “you get what you pay for.” Here at Sound Classics we’re using our 1979 Chevrolet K10 4X4 pickup as the guinea pig in testing if you can get more than you pay for with a cheap paint job—if you’re willing to do some prep work yourself.
The last installment detailed the four arm-wrecking days of sanding, Bondo, more sanding, priming, and more sanding on our 1979 Chevrolet K10 4X4 pickup. With this done it was time to hand it off to a cheap painter. Seeing an advertisement in the newspaper for a $199 special deal at Maaco in Lacey, we had our place.
As readers might recall, we already did a mock-up of how we wanted the truck to look. We printed out the “Sound Classics Virtual Paint Booth” (actually nothing more than a photo-chop) comp of the truck in black and silver and gave to the quote manager at Maaco.
August 26, 2009
Like Sand Through The Hourglass, So Are The Days Spent Sanding
By Sam Barer
Sound Classics
With all of the metal and rubber trim removed from the Sound Classics 1979 Chevy K10 project truck, it is time to commence sanding in preparation for its budget paint job. As described in the previous installment, this is the first time I’ve ever done full prep for a paint job.
The lucky guy I am, while looking for the rubber backing for my electric random orbital, I notice I actually own a pneumatic dual-action sander – something given to me so long ago by my father-in-law that I had totally forgotten that I owned it. The DA is the best tool for the job…and being the same size as my random orbital, the four packs of sanding discs I bought fit perfectly.
The object of sanding is to make the surfaces as clean and straight as possible…with just enough roughness for the paint to stick. The general rule of thumb is that a vehicle can have two layers of paint. Any additional layers won’t bond well. This truck came out of the factory with Carmine Red paint, but a layer of two-tone silver now covers it, so we’ll need to get at least down to the original paint layer, if not bare metal or at least original primer.
Continue reading "Like Sand Through The Hourglass, So Are The Days Spent Sanding" »
August 12, 2009
Using A Virtual Paint Booth Before A Real Respray
By Sam Barer
Sound Classics
Car collectors are faced with the daunting challenge of having a vehicle repainted. For those thinking about a complete change in the color scheme, it can be very difficult to visualize what different paint combinations might look like.
A few years ago I started putting my photo editing skills to work to help choose paint colors. Around here we call it the Sound Classics Virtual Paint Booth. The basic concept is quite simple – take one or more photos of the vehicle you intend to paint, then use Photoshop to have your way with it.
The latest victim of the SCVPB is our recently acquired 1979 Chevrolet K10 project. Although its factory paint scheme was maroon and charcoal, it came to us in a combination of primer black front and two-tone silver middle and rear. The consensus around the team was that we wanted a combination of black and silver, so I experimented with many combinations for roof, top, center and lower sections. After completing more similar-but-different pictures than a decade’s worth of Joan Rivers’ head shots, we settled on a winner.
Now printed out, it goes with the truck to the paint shop to illustrate exactly what we want.
November 5, 2008
Surf's Up in the PPG Paint Booth!
By John Coyle
Editor
There are lots of impressive booths here, but I just loved PPG’s. Obviously, the cars and the bike parked in front have incredible paint jobs—Jen called out the Nomad’s in her "What’s Hot in Paint" post—but the visual impression of this set-up is awesome. The crowning touch? Well, when I walked inside to check out all the candy-colored Vibrace Collection hues, I smelled the unmistakable scent of surf wax. After one of the guys spotted me looking around in vain for a pile of Mr Zog’s, he smiled and pointed out a fragrance dispenser mounted up in the corner. Talk about attention to detail! More pics after the jump.
SEMA Top Ten Trends: What's Hot In Paint
For a SEMA show car, the final finish is crucial: it’s the paint that’ll make the car either pop or fade into the wallpaper. And in a sea of lavishly-colored vehicles, it’s really important to be on the cutting edge, because cars wearing last year’s trends get totally passed over. This time around, I’ve been noticing a ton of striking two-tone paint jobs—sometimes it’s like builders couldn’t decide between their two favorite colors, so they went with both. We’ve already seen the dual-hue treatment on the Dale Jr. Camaro, the color-matched Mustang, and this eye-searing Prius, and it’s also turning up on everything from tuners to hot rods. Another big theme is metal flake, with metallic treatments running the gamut from subtle sparkle to disco glitter. And we’re seeing a huge return of traditional flames in crazy colors, a contrast to the hyper-realistic photographic flames of last year. Finally, while we figured the satin-paint thing had peaked at SEMA 2007, Greg at the DuPont Hot Hues booth told me that varying degrees of flat is what he’s getting asked about most this year. Follow the jump for a few more shots.
Continue reading "SEMA Top Ten Trends: What's Hot In Paint" »
November 3, 2008
More Insane Truck Paint
I kind of dug this slammed S-10 I spotted outside the convention center, and looking at the wicked mother-of-pearl pinstriping treatment, I figured it had to be at SEMA in a paint-related capacity. Sure enough, the truck’s sponsor is YourPaintSucks.com. But it’s clear that this truck isn’t just another pretty paint job—the builders didn’t skimp on details elsewhere, either. Check out the custom wood bed—and the bottle!
