Is Black hard to paint? Experts Chime In!

[starchland]

its true, with black , all the surface imperfections get magnified. Such as bondo pin holes, rust,dents, etc.

[AccordAnimal]

Dear loaf, I am def. NOT painting my car black

[i'm the girl]

ohh, and runs and dust spots can be wet sanded out after painting too.

wow i guess you plan on spending days on your paint job.

1. if you have dust in your paint, your area isn't as clean as it should be, and you're not degreasing properly

2. if you have runs, you're painting too hard and/ or too close

if you let paint cure with runs and spots... its gonna take a lot longer than you want it to take to sand it down - if you manage to do it at all - and wet sanding is something done at an ULTRA FINE grit - and high grits don't take well to "wet sanding out" thick runs - if you have runs, you need to get them out feather your sanding, and repaint the area, it is not as easy as has been said

the point of wet sanding is to lessen the "orange peel" affect that occurs naturally in the curing of urethane paints (well actually, in any paint that is sprayed)

black is a sensitive paint color - but no more than anything else dark, or red (red is a very tough color when it comes to touch-up, because in the color spectrum it is the most vibrant, therefor our eyes are most sensitive to its color - and its VERY hard to match)

prepping is your most important. I have a DIY on this over in the DIY forum -

If you have a steady hand and a lot of confidence, do black - don't freak out because of what everyone is saying to you

and remember, its a million times better to have 40 light coats than 5 thick coats

[i'm the girl]

So if you car is dinged up and you don't really want it to show too bad, white would be my best bet?

and if you're repainting a whole car without prepping it properly, it's gonna look like crap with any color, IMO

why waste the time and money to paint if you're not going to fill and smooth - your paint isn't going to settle as well as it should - it will shift and collect and possibly make for nasty streaks among other things

thats exactly why people bitch about bad Maaco paint jobs - because the prep isnt there

if you're not going to prep, save your money and empty out some krylon all over your car, instead


good luck either way

[91accord4door]

wow i guess you plan on spending days on your paint job.

1. if you have dust in your paint, your area isn't as clean as it should be, and you're not degreasing properly

2. if you have runs, you're painting too hard and/ or too close

if you let paint cure with runs and spots... its gonna take a lot longer than you want it to take to sand it down -- and wet sanding is something done at an ULTRA FINE grit - and high grits don't take well to "wet sanding out" thick runs

the point of wet sanding is to lessen the "orange peel" affect that occurs naturally in the curing of urethane paints (well actually, in any paint that is sprayed)

black is a sensitive paint color - but no more than anything else dark, or red

prepping is your most important. I have a DIY on this over in the DIY forum -

If you have a steady hand and a lot of confidence, do black - don't freak out because of what everyone is saying to you

and remember, its a million times better to have 40 light coats than 5 thick coats

doesnt seem like hes got a lot of cinfidence to me. and most likely his car is not perfect and he probably isnt going for a grade A paint job or he wouldnt be doing it himself. so black isnt in his best interest. runs come not only from being to close but also having the presure turned up to much while spraying. if thats what you ment by paitning to "hard" then sorry for misunderstanding you. and yes the paint jobs only as good as the prep work thats done.

[i'm the girl]

doesnt seem like hes got a lot of cinfidence to me. and most likely his car is not perfect and he probably isnt going for a grade A paint job or he wouldnt be doing it himself. so black isnt in his best interest. runs come not only from being to close but also having the presure turned up to much while spraying. if thats what you ment by paitning to "hard" then sorry for misunderstanding you. and yes the paint jobs only as good as the prep work thats done.

and i was agreeing on the black thing - but im saying all dark colors are tough, its not just black - there are a few misconceptions in these posts i just wanted to clear up

and yes, i meant the pressure by not painting "too hard"- and there are two places to regulate your pressure, which you need to understand as well - a good system should have a regulator on the gun and at the air tank as well - but im not getting into that discussion here, it's been covered

[91accord4door]

and i was agreeing on the black thing - but im saying all dark colors are tough, its not just black - there are a few misconceptions in these posts i just wanted to clear up

and yes, i meant the pressure by not painting "too hard"- and there are two places to regulate your pressure, which you need to understand as well - a good system should have a regulator on the gun and at the air tank as well - but im not getting into that discussion here, it's been covered

yes but i think he spray bombing it anyway so that infos useless to him.....i could go on all day how to make a sick paint job. but like you said its been coverd.....plus theres always google.

[i'm the girl]

yes but i think he spray bombing it anyway so that infos useless to him.....i could go on all day how to make a sick paint job. but like you said its been coverd.....plus theres always google.

google is your friend.


good to see i'm not the only one around here with a paint job or two under their belt


well, adam, if you decide to aerosol your car, then just try to keep a steady arm and work all the way from one end to another, so you dont start or stop on the car itself - that will help get rid of polka dots

nuff said good luck

[91accord4door]

google is your friend.


good to see i'm not the only one around here with a paint job or two under their belt


well, adam, if you decide to aerosol your car, then just try to keep a steady arm and work all the way from one end to another, so you dont start or stop on the car itself - that will help get rid of polka dots

nuff said good luck

yea i also got a few campers under my belt....28+ foot campers too, 3 stage paint jobs as well. also adam buy a 99 cent snap on plastic trigger grip that clips onto aerosol cans...make your work easier and your fingers will love you. good luck man. and pics are a must.when complete. take your time and do your best.

[Bongo]

i know that runs and dust spots aren't supposed to be there but in his situation being new to painting there will probably be runs...as any other person's first paint jobs, and the dust situation, if he's doing it in his garage then there will be dust. hope i didn't sound like an ass i just wanted to clear that up so i didn't look dumb lol and i've done plenty of paint jobs before too, maybe not as much as you but i work in a bodyshop full time so i've done a few.

[PRIMOCB7]

if you've never painted a car before, leave it to the professionals. it don't matter what color it is.
its gonna look horrible 99.7194739312759%( <-----and i'm being generous w/ this # ) of the time when its painted by using aerosol spray cans.

[Bongo]

lol ^^ true but..he's gotta start somewhere and some spray can paintjobs come out decent if done right.

[91_accord]

yea i also got a few campers under my belt....28+ foot campers too, 3 stage paint jobs as well. also adam buy a 99 cent snap on plastic trigger grip that clips onto aerosol cans...make your work easier and your fingers will love you. good luck man. and pics are a must.when complete. take your time and do your best.

them campers are a pain, since they are so big.....we also paint concrete trucks

[uncle_el]

from the looks of the car, it's going to be an aerosol/rattle can/spray can job. if that's the case, it won't really matter, as in the end it's not going to look that great, but then again it can't look any worse than the reddish/pink hue going on now.

please correct me if i'm wrong about the aerosol/rattle can/spray can job.

as was said earlier by many members, a professional route (even if cheap professional) is likely better.

[starchland]

50$ paint job

I would try this on your car, cant hurt since its already 2 colours.

Taken from moparts.org

here's how i painted my car for about $50, it's actually very easy and the results are amazing. First off, get a can of tremclad real orange (or what ever color u want) in the can, not spray, yes tremclad, it is a acrylic/enamel paint which is very durable. next prep your car as if was any other paint job, fix all the rust, ect....no need to prime the car since the tremclad allready contains elements which allow it to be painted over bare metal. next, after prepping the car get a small 4" professional FOAM rollers, it's tiny and has one end rounded off, and the other cut straight, and is a very high density foam. u also need a jug of mineral spirits to thin the paint. The thing i really like about this is that there's no mess, no tapeing the whole car, just key areas, and u can do it in your garage, since your not spraying there is virtually no dust in the air, just clean your garage first, also it does'nt really smell at all, dries overnight and it super tough paint. also it you decide to paint the car professionally later, just prep and paint, there's no need to strip the tremclad. i have done this to a few cars, and i can say it works amazing, u just have to be paitient. next u thin the paint with mineral spirits so it just about as thin as water, a little thicker. get out the roller and paint away, don't get the paint shaked when u buy it, enamel is stirred, otherwise you'll have bubbles in the paint for a week!!! after u do 2 coats, wet sand the whole car, then repeat, 2 coats, wetsand, 2 coats wetsand. i painted the charger using a can since your not spraying the car u use all the paint and not spray 50% in the air, use progressivly finer sand paper each time. it's not really that much work, cause u can stop and start any time, u can do just a door, or the hood, ect. do one panel at a time, and don't stop once you start. once your done the final coat, wetsand with about 1000 grit to a totally smooth finish, and then using a high speed polisher i use a buffing bonnet and turtle wax polishing compound. do the whole car with this, and i'm telling u, depending on the amount of time and paitence you have, the results are amazing. laugh if you want, but for $50 ($30 for paint, about $20 for rollers, sand paper, ect...) it really looks good. also you can do these steps overnight, paint one evening and by morning u can wet sand. i have personally done alot of painting, mostly single stage acrylic enamel, and i've sprayed several cars in my garage with really good professional results, just it stinks, it's a real pain to do, easy to make a mistake, messy, and expensive. The tremclad is awesome paint, the "real orange" is an amazing hemi orange, and almost looks like it has some perl in the sun, awesome color right out of the can. I used this technique on my 1974 beetle also, here are the results:
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1.../Picture10.jpg
the car before:
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1...n/IM000475.jpg
another after pic:
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1...n/DSC00164.jpg
here is a car i sprayed (71 beetle, midnight blue metalic):
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1...n/DSC00194.jpg
here is the car before (71 beetle):
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1...n/Picture1.jpg

here's a few pics of the charger done:
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1...n/DSC02764.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1...n/DSC02769.jpg

well that's my 2 cents worth, sorry for the long post. i was borred lol
i painted the orange beetle in 1999, and it still looks like the day i painted it, the 71 blue beetle i painted in 2000, and built the car for my dad, i used the same paint on my charger, maybe one day i'll spring for a good paint job, prepping is 90% of the work, stripping the car, sanding, ect.....painting is overrated!!!
So if you have TIME, then i'd say go for it, the worst that could happen is that it does'nt turn out and your out $50, but if your paitient, and expriement with lets say just the trunk pannel and if you like it do the whole car, if not just get it done by someone else for $4000. i don't know about you guys, but i would rather spend the $4000 on other parts like getting the mechanics sorted out and new chrome, cause when u have really nice paint and crappy bumpers, door handles it just sticks out more.