Can an admittedly below average DIY'er do this himself? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Toblin · #1 01-14-2004, 08:39 PM

Liesel needs a makeover bad! But I know she also needs her hood, roof and trunk stripped before bringer her to the paint booth. Previous bad paint job badly alligatored . No rust or damage anywhere.

Yes, I'm a cheapy (by necessity).

Has anyone done this themselves. I propose to strip the paint myself and then let a professional shop shoot the paint. Am I nuts?

Any specific recommendations as to products, tools or techniques will be very appreciated.

Stevo · #2 01-14-2004, 09:47 PM

If you take your car to "Maco" or any of those "quicky" places the more prep you do the better job you will get. What price range are you into?

rwthomas1 · #3 01-14-2004, 11:07 PM

I removed all the trim, bumpers, chrome, mirrors, lights, wipers, antenna, etc. on my wifes Jetta before I had it painted. The bodyshop did a great job, total cost $1300.00 This included aligning new front fender and rad support, fixing a big dent and all the little parking lot dings. If the car is pretty straight already then I would expect about $1000 for a quality job. Removing the trim, etc. is the time consuming part. Most shops prefer to just prep and shoot without the hassle of disassembly/reassembly. Expect to spend $1000 and it will look new. RT

leathermang · #4 01-15-2004, 06:32 AM

Yes, you are nuts... but in a different way than you are thinking... first answer Stevo's question...

240-diesel · #5 01-15-2004, 09:43 AM

Be careful on sanding down this is the most critical part as I have tried this a few times .When you sand and think it feels and looks smooth , You let them paint it and you can see almost every spot that you worked on, some more than others.

The paint jobs look good but very easy to see imperfections.
I had Maaco paint our 89 Isuzu Trooper - Hunter Green color ,after I did body work The paint looks great but It was easy to see where I did some wet sanding for hours etc. Not easy and should be done by pros. My gut feeling. I welded some new metal in some spots and did all the work and the paint only was about 300 dollars. Still looks overall very nice . A paint job does wonders.
.

leathermang · #6 01-15-2004, 09:56 AM

I would be way too much work.. and dangerous to sand the paint off if it needs to be taken off..
Many of these paints had or have Lead in them for various reasons.... so using a gel stripper and then carefully scrape it off and contain it until it can be disposed of properly.... your local hazardous materials dropoff would be the place to take it...
The paint should never be touched with sandpaper without a sanding block behind it. Wet and Dry sandpaper is much more frugal to use.... and should only be done with water running over the area you are sanding....
One way you check for smoothness is to apply alternating colors of primer.. then you can see if you are correctly featheredging your project....
Air power and wet sandpaper go together... save hundreds of hours and can produce custom car results....

Stevo · #7 01-15-2004, 10:43 AM

I think I would do what RT did with the addition of a gift of a case of beer to the painters. (too be consumed AFTER the job was completed) :p

Toblin · #8 01-15-2004, 10:50 AM

I'm talking $500 + tax for Maaco Supreme paint job and repairing a couple of small dents. They want another $225 to strip and prime the hood, roof and trunk. And Maaco does not remove anything except the emblems on the trunk. They mask.

leathermang · #9 01-15-2004, 12:56 PM

You are paying the largest amount of money for the part which is easiest to do... the actual painting...
The hard work is the prep and the rubbing out afterwards...
And I am speaking as a person that has painted several cars myself.... no guessing on my answers....
First you need to decide if the old paint needs to come off.. given what you said for yours it sounds like ' yes'...
If one had a car which had perfect paint but just the wrong color... then one would look at ' sealing' then painting as opposed to taking the paint off down to the metal..
There are books about painting cars you should study... and you should go and talk to your local body shop Paint Supply shop...
You may be surprised when you take the paint off as to the amount of fixup under it which was being hidden either by Bondo or putty... ( paint in a tube used to even out spots, spread on with a rubber squeegy )... this dries thicker than paint and does not dirty the paint gun... builds much faster...
Then you want to decide on the brand you are going to use and be sure all the components are recommended to go together by the company which makes the paint.. it is best to get the same brand from one end of the job to the other... you don't want to do this twice...
I used a Catalyzed Acrylic Enamel with a Clear Polyurethane top coat....
Do you have a garage or yard to work in ?

MS Fowler · #10 01-15-2004, 05:09 PM

I just saw a Maaco ad on TV where their "Presidential" paint job--normally $500 is on sale for half price. If you can take advantage of that sale, you could have them do it all ( including the strip and prep) and still stay within your budget.

leathermang · #11 01-15-2004, 05:19 PM

The only Maaco paint job I ever saw was put on my aunt's car.. the problem was the paint was applied very thin....normal polishing caused the original paint to be able to be seen about three years later....

leathermang · #12 01-15-2004, 05:23 PM

I am assuming that we love the cars we have and plan on keeping them... thus do not mind putting time and effort in the paint job... it is a huge amount of work compared to the projects most people take on...
There is nothing wrong with prepping and spraying sections of the car at different times... a few rules to follow.. but no one will know when it is finished... I am sure this statement will raise some eyebrows......

Toblin · #13 01-15-2004, 05:24 PM

leathermang,

Pls explain "rubbing out". I don't know what that means.

Thanks

leathermang · #14 01-15-2004, 06:02 PM

Home and custom paint jobs involve ' elbow' grease after you have painted ( and allowed the paint to 'cure' ) .
If you are going to use a clear overcoat then you would ' color sand' after your main paint is applied and cured....... this both gets it smooth ( typically with 600 grit wet and dry done wet ) and takes off the oxidation layer so the clear coat will stick to it .
On the other hand, if you are not doing a clear last coat you would use a much finer ' grit' ... a polishing compound usually made by 3M..... either by hand ( but always with a ' block ' in back of it ) ... ie, you might use a 17 inch board made to attach the long sandpaper to ( and which you used in the prep stage )...and just put cheescloth or cotton toweling on it.. with the polishing compound.. and do the same strokes as you did before.. meaning you keep it longitutinally straight and move in a diagonal pattern or there are one inch stroke air sanders made for this.
All these things will be more obvious when you see pictures of it... Call up Eastwood Co... and get one of their catalogs.. great stuff for seeing what is available in the way of tools....
The handiest tool I ever bought was a little metal frame bent to hold a roll of the legit paper for covering large surfaces... IT PUTS THE MASKING TAPE ON THE EDGE OF THE PAPER AUTOMATICALLY AS YOU PULL IT OUT... you can not imagine how much fun that makes taping off your car....
I am sure you still have questions.... let me know what they are...

Use this url to apply for a free catalog from Eastwood...
www.eastwoodco.com/1HMNR8.htm

rwthomas1 · #15 01-15-2004, 11:03 PM

I wouldn't let Maaco touch a car I cared about unless I was really confident with my sanding/bodywork skills. When I say remove everthing, I mean everything, like even the sunroof. Bring them that separately. You don't want overspray on the rubber/felts. The less masking the bodyshop does the better the paint will turn out.

Leathermang, my Jetta was shot with a new "wet" system, primer, the color, then clear. The next coat applied just after the first flashed, from primer to clear in one step. Paint by Akzo-Nobel. Very little in the way of rubbing out. Looks really good. RT