# Anyone here have experience painting?



## RJ_05GTO (Jul 6, 2008)

Im practicing painting on my 03 cavalier. I bought my cavalier and it had a messed up bumper. I always thought it would be nice to know how to paint a car so it wouldnt feel like the end of the world when there is a blemish or a scrape or scratch so I bought a new bumper and a hvlp gun and a small but adequate compressor for painting panels with. I painted the bumper and it turned out pretty good after all of the wetsanding and buffing and polishing that was required to smooth out the clear coat. So i feel pretty good about attempting another job. I have noticed that the clear coat is starting to fail where the trunk lid meets the rear quarters. I would like try a single stage paint and was wondering if it was acceptable to paint one panel with single stage and have the rest of the car base/clear? I plan on sanding at least all of the old clear coat off and fixing a few dings and using a 2k primer before painting. I was just wondering if there will be any noticable finish difference between the single stage and the rest of the car? The reason I would like to try a single stage is because I think it will be easier to work with for a beginner like myself.


----------



## jetstang (Nov 5, 2008)

You can use single stage, but it won't hold the gloss of the base/clear, so you will have to buff and wax more often. But, the money you save will make it worth it. I've progressed to using more expensive paints because the cheap paints just don't last, especially here in FL, the paint just burns up unless its garaged. You can always clear single stage later on. The clear should lay down pretty smooth and not require much wet sanding if you laid it down correctly. But, when learning it's OK, just put enough paint down so you can sand it out without going through the paint.


----------



## RJ_05GTO (Jul 6, 2008)

I spent around $90 for a pint of dupont chormabase red. After i bought the primer and the clear and the reducer and the activator it totaled over $200. After thinking about it i might just stick with the base/clear with this car because that is what is already on it and im not painting the whole car. If i were painting the whole car i would most likely try the single stage because i would rather have the whole car dull out evenly than just a couple of panels. I just need to learn how to properly set up my gun for the clear. I think i either had too much air pressure or not enough feed or i was holding the gun too far away from the panel. The base coat sprayed beautifully and i felt like i was in total control but the clear coat sprayed differently and im not sure what exactly i did wrong because it was the most extreme orange peel and it took a rediculous amount of time smoothing it out but when i was done it looked pretty good for my first job. I color sanded it with 1000 grit 1500 grit and then 2000 grit and went with meguires ultimate compound and after that meguires swirl remover and i got a nice almost mirror reflection out of it.


----------



## jetstang (Nov 5, 2008)

Painting is about practice, and it's not an exact art. Humidity and all affects the paint. It's a hit or miss thing with paint, one time it will go great, next time not so good. Practice makes perfect.


----------



## Backup (Oct 16, 2010)

jetstang said:


> Painting is about practice, and it's not an exact art. Humidity and all affects the paint. It's a hit or miss thing with paint, one time it will go great, next time not so good. Practice makes perfect.


Very good advice for the beginner. I was thinking the same myself. The only way to know how a particular paint will lay is to shoot it in different situations. Get your form and adjustments down and the rest is all experience with conditions. When in doubt, lay on an extra coat or two so you can take out the blemishes without burning through the paint and you'll be just fine.


----------



## RJ_05GTO (Jul 6, 2008)

Thanks for the advice. Im going to give it another whirl here in the near future. The clear coat is already starting to come off around the trunk lid area on both side quarter panels. The clear coat on this cavalier looks almost like they coated the car in plastic or something. It is very thick on the outside but they did not clear the door jambs or under the hood or trunk lid area at all. They just basecoated the whole car and then ran the clear on the outside of the car. It is just starting to peel at the edges where it is weaker and unfortunately the edges are on the outside of the car where it is ugly. Im happy it needs painting in a way because i get more practice plus i get to fix some dings that are in it.


----------

