Spray or Pay?

[BOSS 540]

Im getting to the point with my project XE where the body is stripped with engine bay, doors, front & rear windows, boot and bonnet, interior is all out of the car. Most of the panels are already in primer. As far as I can tell it would be almost a 'panel beaters dream' as far as a straight forward job to do. Which begs the question is it worth spending something like 6k + to get it done by someone or buy the gear (compressor etc) and give it a go myself. I have had some experience before with painting trucks and loco's and would rather save some $ for other things such as the engine. Ive also heard varying reports on benefits of Acrylic vs 2 pack (not the rapper!)
Any suggestions?

[Brandon1989]

the old man and i are thinkin of doing the samething, we have all the gear, just not the expierience, my dads a real perfectionist and is a jack off all trades, he just feels a bit iffy about it, we are gonna do the guards next week, if they turn out alright i think we mite turn down that street, if not we will get the pros to do it. The best thing i recon is that u can say to people, we built that car by ourselves, in my eyes the hard work that goes into project cars are what makes them so magnificent.

[rag top]

Give it a go. Most painters prefer their own products, including the primer, so you would have to start again...

Some TAFE colleges offer painting classes. Paint it yourself, and if you don't like it, do it again, and if you are unsure, ask for advice.

[Feathers]

If you have old panels or can get a couple cheap from a wrecker, then practice on them first, before trying the car.

[Captain Stubing]

It might take some experiments with different brands and mixtures of paint/thinners, as to how good a finish you get "off the gun".
Then you can experiment with how many layers of clear over the top of the colour, to get a great finish.

But I've heard it said, and found out for myself, that it's 90% preparation, before you spray that makes the difference.

[LTD351T]

yeah thats for sure, its all in the prep, especially with any metallic colours as you can't cut it back, I've painted a few cars and the thing I found hardest was getting the whole car to the same standard and keeping stray dust and dog hair away from it, having a clean shed/yard is the first step.

Acryllic (sp?) is the best to learn with and easiest to repair, cheaper too.

[xe351]

Yeah give it a go, and as said before acylic is forgiving, and you can get really good results with it.

[BOSS 540]

Originally Posted by xe351

Yeah give it a go, and as said before acylic is forgiving, and you can get really good results with it.

I probably will end up giving it a crack. If doing in it Acrylic Im wondering if you can get away with a less pressure / cheaper compressor?

[Racecraft]

dont buy just hire the compressor, spend abit extra on purchasing a good gun from a trade shop and an extra water trap

Go the 2 pac...

[BOSS 540]

Originally Posted by Racecraft

dont buy just hire the compressor, spend abit extra on purchasing a good gun from a trade shop and an extra water trap

Go the 2 pac...

Thats a good idea too. Ive been told you would have to try and choose a day with the right temp, conditions, dust free, heater lights etc. I dunno, 2 pac sounds like a hassle?

[BOSS 540]

Ok, decided on 2 pac, found a painter willing to finish of the primer, cut some rust /weld a plate and finish in the original 2 tone colour scheme Silver / Charcoal and black around the windows / taillights. As far as resprays go does just under 5k sound reasonable?