Just got done with my garage paint job~! Need info

[RatedR]

What do you guys think? Its semi-gloss black, didnt want to go full FLAT-BLACK cause they lacked the supply. But the wife was asking if I was going to clear coat it. Should I or should I leave it like that? Looks pretty good, some overspray needing to blend in. I'd like to have all this done before I clear or unwrap the car. Please post opinions. I'm going to finish it tomorrow.....

[chrislis]

i like it, but i also like a nice shining car. so i vote clear coat.

[0wn3r]

i vote the death to spray painting cars... especially flat black.

[RatedR]

Thanks for the useless vote Own3r. Just to let you know, I decided to paint the car because I took out the pinstripes and ended up with deep creases in the paint. I sanded those out and went to buy some touch up paint and wax. I found out it would cost more for the wax and other things and would take more effort than painting it black. The car was white, but I always planned on it being black. So I took this opportunity as a sign to make the change. Now, do I hear any more for clear coat???

PS - Not sure how the clear coat will go as I will be using the spray can, but I just want the paint job to last longer than a week(hyperbole/metaphor).

[Dano]

clear it... please...

-Dan

[eds13]

clear it for shizzle

[slydin'240]

So what did yoiu do to prep the white paint before you did that to it? If you didn't do anything I say no clear because its all gonna come off anyway.

I'm going to have to agree with Own3r on this one. My car was rattle canned when I bought it. We took the time, money and effort to give it a good quality DIY paint job. In the long run you will spend more on spray paint then you would have to buy the proper touch up paint and wax.

[RatedR]

Well, I worked for a body shop for a while. Not long enough to do everything, but my boss taught me how to prep. I used the red rubbing pad (scotchbrite type) and washed it clean. Then I started painting it......

[BaliLover]

good luck with the spray can clear coat, its going to look horrible.

Spray can clear coat does not spray evenly and dries to fast for it to flow out smoothly. You're going to end up with lots of streaks and a pretty rough finish, or a final product that is covered in runs and costs a ton of money. To spray a car with clearcoat using a spray gun and an air compressor, you should be using a gallon of clearcoat and the appropriate amont of catalyst for it (typically 1 qt per gallon) Now figure out how much money you would have to spend to buy enough spray cans to come up with that amount of material, then realize you'll be throwing that money away because its not going to come out well at all.Remember one thing, a gloss shows up any imperfection much more than a semigloss or flat. If you don't have the equipment to spray good clear coat, then don't even bother or its going to look terrible and it WILL peel off and chip terribly.

[RatedR]

yeah, i figured it would come out gay.....I guess I'll just go heavy on the coats....

[BaliLover]

If you go heavy on the coats with a spray can, it will "blush" or getting a whiteish look to it and will run. Not to mention, you're going to need at LEAST a gallon of clear, even in spray can, and you're going to be talking probably 4-5 cans for the hood alone. How much are you planning on spending for a rattle can paint job? Macco would have been cheaper and netted you better results and a waranty.

[chrislis]

the maaco comment is the truth. im going back there for my s14. but im just getting the actual $1800 paint job this time, but last time i got the $500 presidential it actually came out pretty good.

[Nismochick240]

clear coat

[jdm_master_X]

i spray canned my car and im definitely paying the price for it. clear coat, and get it professionally done.

there are decent places that will paint it for $150-300 if you look hard. a decent black isnt too expensive.

see what i mean? (lookie)

http://img.photobucket.com/alb...8.jpgh ... lb...8.jpg

it looks decent at first, but with the heavy elements, its a pain in the *** to retouch.

[wilfonzo]

stay rattle can flat black, its hardcore.its whats on the inside that counts

[240sxjeff]

dude you should not clear coat it, at least with a spray can. I've done more than enough spray can jobs on my stunt bikes and trust me the clear will make your body like 10 worse than it looks now.If I were you just leave it like that or borrow a paint gun and compressor and then shoot the clear. But from MY personal experience spray can clear will never come out nice no matter how good you think you prepped before the paint, sanded in between coats, or even wetsanded after the paint was laid down.

[0wn3r]

i spray canned my car and im definitely paying the price for it. clear coat, and get it professionally done.

i wish i could put that in my sig cuz i seriously would.

[RatedR]

I think you guys are misinformed as to what my intentions are. I just wanted to know if I should clear it to help preserve the color. I KNEW FROM THE BEGINNING THAT THIS WOULD NOT BE SHOW QUALITY~! Or anything close to that. I just wanted 1 uniform color that didn't show my greasy fingerprints that the old white used to. I also had a gray trunk that made it look like I had no trunk. >:P

Personally, I'm happy with the job. Now I could care less about the dings/dents/scratches. I do plan on having a prof. paint job on it, but not now. WAY LATER in the future.

[PoorManQ45]

I personally think it looks decent how it is.

I have one recommendation though. You should wet sand it up to ~2k grit, then use different levels of rubbing/buffing combound.

[udunnawme]

if you just wanted it black, and plan on getting it redone later, why didnt you just prep it right and primer it black?

[240sxjeff]

^ +1I agree you should just do all the body work pull all your dents and what not then just primer it. Because now you(or the body shop) are going to have to strip the spray can stuff you put on there, pull all the dents/dings, then primer it, and finally get it to paint.This way your already setting the car up to be ready for paint whenever that day comes. Pretty much your just gonna wind up doing twice the work if you continue on the road your on now

[driftin2trance]

i sprayed painted mine semi gloss or gloss (i cant remember) but it looks pretty good. i didnt put a clear on it or sand it or buff after. u can see the car in my sig pic but now the hood is painted glossy black rather than flat black. ill get a new pic soon.

[BaliLover]

We are telling you NO, don't clearcoat it. What we've been saying is that its going to look WORSE with spray can clear than it does without clear and the money you're going to need to spend on enough spray cans to even do the car isn't worth it. Using rattle cans to get one solid even color is fine, but you don't use them to try to achieve a gloss on an entire car. The spray can clear does not hold up to the elements and is going to make what you have already done look like crap. Leave it semigloss until you can afford to have it done at least by Macco, instead of spending another $50 in hopes of making something look better and failing. You can get a cheap paintjob that has a shine and a waranty for $239 from macco, maybe cheaper if you prep the car yourself.

[Noventa]

^^his question is whether the clearcoat will preserve the paint. not about how good it looks or how much it cost at macco, or warranty, or semigloss or whatever you are talking about in your post.

[RatedR]

Maaco sucks, my boss used to work for them. They buy paint by the BARRELS, I dont need to tell you what kind of quality control issues that provokes. I decided NOT to clear it. I'm just too broke. I'm VERY HAPPY with the outcome. It looks great from afar, which is more than enough for me.

PMQ - I thought wet sanding it would make it look dull.....its on semi-gloss so it looks less faded than black. I'd wet sand it, but I dont want to loose out on the semi-gloss part. Do you think I should still wet sand it?

As for the body work, its not too bad. I can do most of the mud work and I know where everything is. Regardless of whether I did this or not, if you're doing body work (I mean REAL body work, not just BONDO) you're still going to need to strip the paint. No filler will bond to paint/primer, it needs to heal with the pores on the metal.

The final product looks better, except for the hood needing 1 more can, but that's not a problem.

udunnawme = I DID prep the car right, I didnt half-*** this. This is the look I was going for. I'm tired of trying to preserve the long lost gloss of my original SUPER WHITE factory paint. This way, if anything happens to the car, I just buy another can an bust out a cloud of paint dust. PS - I had your rims on my 93 Honda del Sol, they were sweet~!

[PoorManQ45]

PMQ - I thought wet sanding it would make it look dull.....its on semi-gloss so it looks less faded than black. I'd wet sand it, but I dont want to loose out on the semi-gloss part. Do you think I should still wet sand it?

Nah, it won't dull it out if you go to a high enough grit. Then on top of that you use different "roughness" rubbing/buffing compounds. It's possible to get it pretty shiny.

[masticatingcow]

I just want the paint job to last longer than a week(hyperbole/metaphor).

Kind of a hyperbole, but not even close to metaphor.

Honestly, it's not that much of an exaggeration... if you don't seal your paint, dust and moisture will get to work on it immediately. Then your paint job will look like pewpew regardless.

You should clear it, but if you're out of money, your hands are tied. Not to be an jerk or anything, but it doesn't matter how much prep or skill goes into a paint job or a mod or anything we do to out cars. Not finishing the job for any reason makes it halfãssed.

[RatedR]

PMQ - I'll try it out, I have to spray the hood some more, but I'll definitely try it.

mcasticatingcow - Opinion noted about the 3/4 job done. That being said, there's no way I'll clear coat this sucker. I dont want to have to worry about scratches again. I'm just happy with it being uniform.

On the other hand, if I ever feel like I need to clear coat it, I'll definitely get a spray gun. Like I said earlier, I'm very happy with the results, but I will try the sanding just to see what results they bring.

[udunnawme]

I DID prep the car right, I didnt half-*** this.

my bad, i thouhgt you meant you just scotched it and didnt sand all the other spots.

and thanks! i love them.

[masticatingcow]

I'm just happy with it being uniform.

Well, don't get used to it just yet. Sounds like maybe a 5-gallon air compressor and a spray gun would be a good thing to ask your wife for this year!

What I'm trying to say is, in the long run, a real nice clear coat will pay for itself in spray cans you don't need to buy and time you don't need to waste. It's MUCH easier and cost effective to buff out scratches in the clear coat than to repaint and try to blend a new layer over some little imperfection.

If you're okay with the job being a "work in progress," there's the solice in knowing that at least you got a good primer down. You can always sand out the imperfections that will assuredly accrue before you clearcoat it and put down a couple coats of proper auto paint. (If that's what you want.) Otherwise, it sounds like you're just a few more cans away from a great paint job... down the road.

That's just my take on it: it's not done until it's done. And if you're okay with letting the job finish itself sometime in the future, as money and time permit, then great job so far.

Just curious though, why did you ditch the white if you don't like dealing with scratches? Or, more importantly, why, of all colors available, did you go with BLACK?