1st post - can I paint my own car? *long*

[DarrenD]

A beginner should get the dvd Len has.
I bet rolling on metalic paint lays out the metalics perfectly. LOL

I ordered the DVD this morning, I can't wait.

I'm not sold on the roller stuff, if it was that easy, everybody would do it.

[Jim Streib]

Darren,
You said you know cars mechanically, but you FEAR bodywork. Evidentally you know how to weld and know how to do mechanical things. Was the first bolt you loosened or tightened preceded by fear ?. Did you ever snap off a bolt or have a nut that wouldn't budge ?. Did you ever have a weld that when cooled fell off of the surface ?. You might have and you might not have but if you learned or overcame your fears, you got better at it. Look at bodywork and paintwork the same way. There will be a learning curve and you may or may not be able to do the work. Bodywork and paint work will take tools just like welding does.
What I'm trying to say is if you want to try it, go for it just like when you started welding. It may come easily or it may not. Having a person show you things standing next to you or looking over their shoulders will help also. I do some welding also and chances are it's not as good as your work BUT I have gotten much better than when I first tried it.
If you continue to pursue bodywork then after welding you will have less warpage issues but then you might find yourself trying hammer and dolly techiques to make the repair better.
Rust sucks in plain words. A lot of time what you see is only the tip of the iceberg.
Jim

[DarrenD]

Thanks Jim, great post

You're right, I am completely self taught in everything else, but I am not a patient person, and bodywork takes huge amounts of patience, so that's where the fear comes from.

I am looking forward to trying. I am going to wait until I watch the DVD, then get started. In the meantime I have started taking the car completely apart to fix some other things, and to do the paint/body job right.

I just hope I am not in over my head.

[toolbox]

I ordered the DVD this morning, I can't wait.

I'm not sold on the roller stuff, if it was that easy, everybody would do it.

It's not easy...it's time consuming and a lot of work. But it is cheap. It's not for everyone...but if you have a lot more time than money you can get a nice looking paint job for a pretty minimal invest (dollar wise anyway). You'll be wet sanding until you want to cry. The secret to a quality paint job has a lot more to do with your prep job than how the paint gets on the car. I spent several hundred hours doing body and prep work on my Oldsmobile. Painting it took a day.

A while back I tried painting a truck fender I was going to chuck with synthetic enamel (w/hardener) and a fine bristle paint brush just to see what would happen. The paint flowed out well enough...I had to wet sand down some ridges, but it buffed out just like any other paint job. Nobody would believe I painted it with a brush .

Anyway, body work is nothing to be afraid of. It's more "art" than turning wrenches, but doing it yourself if very rewarding.

[Steve White]

painting is not to be feared. It is hard to do it bad if your willing to spend the time wet sanding afterwards

My first paint job was in the backyard using spray bombs and after a day of wet sanding it look great.

My second paint job was on a Mazda MX-6 in a tiny garage with a home made pressurized breathing apparatus using a touchup gun that I bought for $50 and it came out great. Didn't even have to do much wet sanding.

I've done a few since then and I keep improving.

Bottom line is go for it. The worst that happens is you have to do it again.