sil8ty

does anyone work in a body shop? how difficult is it to paint a car? just going to start experimenting on a spare hood I have and curious if it takes alot of work....

Trip

It's not that hard to paint, it's a matter of knowing if the paint your using is going to stick to the surface your painting. Adhesion can be a pain depending on the material. Second thing is layering. Different ways to paint different surfaces... Another thing that can be a pain in the ass is where youre painting (environment). It's very much worth the money to leave it up to the pro's... IMHO anyway.

foesicks

I work in a bodyshop, Its not hard to paint you just have to get a good rythem going. Anyone can paint, but only a painter can fix problems that they run into. If you have no prior refinishing experiance I wouldnt really screw with it unless you can find someone to show you a few pointers. With painting a whole car you need to figure out where your gonna start and finish so that you have minimal dry spots. Small things like bumpers and hoods ect... you can get away with painting them with out a paint booth because most of the debris that you get in the paint can be wet sanded out. If your going to try and practice go to autobody express and buy the paint that is mixing screw ups, its usally pretty cheap. Dont forget to buy the correct reducer and hardner for the paint also, you'll need some clear also if you paint B/C. If your painting with base/clear then you need to wet sand the hood with 600 or 800, you can getaway with 400 but I would only do that if your gonna seal the car if not you will prolly see the 400 sand scratches through the paint. After wet sanding when the hood is dry, clean it with a grease and wax remover, "wax on wax off" style , if you just wipe it an let it dry up with out wiping it back off while its still wet then you will end up with fish eyes. After that blow it off and then use a tack rag and lightly wipe the hood, dont press to hard or the sticky shit will get on the hood, then blow it off again. You can also use the tack rag in between coats of base, but make sure you let it flash. Maybe this helps you a little if not then you should hang around a body shop if you wanna learn to paint. Pm me if you need work done, much cheaper and better quality than alot of shops around.