Project car paint budget: <$150

[randomhero8473]

Going to sit down this weekend and do the majority of the body work on my project car (85 300zx). Cash is tight right now and I'm not looking for anything uber fancy, but making it look decent in a dark color (black, dark grey, royal blue, dark green) for cheap would be cool too.

Anyone care to share any magical ways to make a car look pretty for < $150, or is a shitty spraybomb cantire job going to be what it gets?

[ehos]

I wouldn't paint it a dark colou then

Paint it Silver (NOT metallic) or white and it will hide ALOT of stuff/flaws.

You can get a gallon of paint for 50-60 bucks, plus reducer (12 bucks) and you will still have money left over. Do you have a compressor??

If you don't then you might have a place like Desro's up here in Edmonton where you can rent a paint booth for CHEAP! VERY very cheap. I won't ever paint a car in my garage again

[randomhero8473]

Yep, have my own compressor. Could probably borrow a decent paint spraygun, but I was under the impression that automotive paint is very finicky and uber expensive.

[1badPT]

I understood it to be finnicky too - like too light and it runs, too thick and you get orange peel. If you are painting a flat colour you'll probably make life a lot easier and the job cheaper, but pearls/high flake/candies would be impossible on your budget I would think.

I use to have some really good links stored somewhere on DIY paintjobs but I've reinstalled like 20 times in the past year (THANK YOU microsoft, with a capital 'F') and I doubt I've got those bookmarks anymore. If I find them, I'll post them - good luck either way.

[RX-7_TWINTURBO]

U-paint
you can rent a bay to paint in
im not sure if they give access to equipment though
might be worth a call

[illeagle]

GO WHITE!!!! if your not a professional prepper, GO WHITE! No metallic colors, The metallics will make sand scratches and stone chips stand out. Dark colors make the flaws (dents, bad bodywork) stand out.. Red is another choice, But go white, I did...it works and it's cheap!

[ehos]

That's cool. I think for 150 it's very doable. You can even buy paint at Canadian Tire/Parts Source.

It depends on what you want. I'd probably try to save up another 100 bucks and you could have a good complete PPG system (really GREAT paint system on a budget!).

The finish will be in the prep. Sand well, prime it, sand it, THEN paint it.

Get those huge rolls of plastic from HomeDepot/Rona and make your own paint booth at home (I'd still take it to U-paint or whatever) because they will have the correct respirator for rent.

Don't breathe that paint/primer in. It will end you.

[hockeybronx]

Originally posted by randomhero8473
]Cash is tight right now and I'm not looking for anything uber fancy,

Originally posted by randomhero8473
but I was under the impression that automotive paint is very finicky and uber expensive.

What the hell man? What's with you and the word uber? I've never even heard of that word before.

If you could remember please PM me letting me know how things go, with whichever method you take, I'll probably have the same project in about a months time.

[WGR4Pussies]

paint it a flat color, not black tho, well maybe black, i dunno, I saya good old army color, not a chalk board color, but a flat green....http://www.mil-mod.nl/featod.html

[ehos]

If you're going for the rat rod look, you only need John Deer Blitz paint.

It goes on really eassssy, looks really great with VERY little body work needed. It will have that deep flat black look to it (no shine whatsoever).

Looks good on certain cars (VW's, eurotrash cars, but would look really stupid on some imports and domestics, ie newer cars, but who knows?)

[QuasarCav]

The body work is good, he just needs to cover up some paint flaws and missing paint.

The car is originally red and then painted steel grey.

Whatever you do dont paint it UBER-pink or anything.

Take care of my baby, how is it running.

Pm me for the new seatbelt

[randomhero8473]

Running pretty nice, looks to be a piston ring that it needs though. Borrowing my buddy's compression tester this afternoon to properly diagnose the problem, then I either fix that valve guide seal or pull the engine and slap some new piston rings on it.

My buddy had a remote starter/keyless entry thing he gave me, so the lack of keys is no problem, and the quarter panel damage is very fixable. Once it's painted, or while it's being painted i'm pulling the seats and recarpeting and reupholstering the entire car. Gonna head out to PYP and try to find a black dash for it as well.

[Scat]

Any painter will tell you that black is the hardest solid color to paint. Although black always looks nice, it won't if you can't paint properly. White, red, light grey, and some shades of blue can turn out great, even if your painting skill isn't.

[BBMac]

go with white for sure!!!! +black is not hard to paint it is actually easier than white as you can see your previous strokes very easily!!! on the other hand though and sags or runs will be a focal point as well as bad body work.

go with white. you can paint it in your garage with very nice results but if you do not have an exhaust fan or a fresh air respirator I do not recommend the garage method. I have both and it works great for me and my paint turns out nice from my garage.

if you are a compitant painter I would try and get my hand on an hvlp spray gun but if you have never done it before and conventioal spray gun is much more forgiving. Sure with a conventional spray gun ther is more overspray capabilities and it goes through more paint but it is much harder to cause runs.

anyways my thoughts correct me if i am wrong please!!!

[randomhero8473]

Don't know if I could live with white...

[MintRacer]

Is anyone here willing to do bodywork for cash?
I have a rust bucket I'd like to get a new paint job on.

[randomhero8473]

I'm pretty confident in my body work but I've never painted a car myself.