Classic Car Guides

Classic Car Guides

How To Paint Your Classic Car Like A Pro

How To Paint Your Classic Car Like A Pro After the finish body work is done, and your primer has been sanded to 600 grit wet, you can mask your classic car, and get ready for paint, if your lucky you can rent a paint booth for a day to paint the car, if renting a paint booth is the plan, you should wait to mask your car, until you get there.

I always suggest that you rent a booth, unless you have a garage that you can clean, blow out, and hose down until it's absolutely dust free, if there is any dust around your car, it will be in the paint in the end, where if you rent a paint booth, they are usually kept clean, all you have to do is water the floors.

Now that you ready to paint your car, no matter where you have chosen to do the work, you need to be sure that you have all of the supplies that you need, because once you start to paint, you can't just stop and make a run to the paint supply store, below I'll add a list of the supplies you need. Supply List

1) Paint
2) sealer
3) reducer
4) Catalyst
5) Tack Cloths, preferably designed for clear coat
6) Measuring Cups
7) Stir Sticks
Measuring Stick
9) Strainers
10) Respirator in working order
11) Paint Prep Cleaner

The list above is a list of the supplies that you'll need to paint your classic car, you cannot skimp on this list to save money, you will need every item on it, so be ready to spend some money on it, on average your supplies will cost between $600.00 and $2,000.00 depending on what you use to paint your car.

Now that we know that the car is masked, we'll prep clean it, this will clean any contaminants off of the surface of the primer, after you have done this you can tack cloth the car, this is done to remove small dust particles from the surface of the car.

Now I will give you a few things to think about, when painting with metallic paints then you must pay allot attention to the settings on your paint gun.

Metallic paints will tend to get lighter if the pressure goes up and darker if it goes down, your fluid flow and fan on your gun will also effect this.

Now I will give you a basic mixing chart, most paints will follow this chart. Instructions

1) get your paint ready to pour.

2) make sure that your mixing cup is clean.

3) Get your strainer and sticks.

4) Put a strainer in the top of the measuring cup.

5) Now pay close attention to the level of paint in the cup. Paint Mixing Table.

Always be sure to read and follow the paint manufactures mixing guide lines.

These mixing ratios are just a basic idea of what to do, things will change with different manufactures.

Recommended Air Pressure At Gun Head.

Paint Mix Ratios.

Paint Product.25-40 PSI Mix 4:1:1

Base Coat 25-40 PSI Mix 4:1:1

Sealer 25-40 PSI Mix 4:1:1

Clear Coat 25-40 PSI Mix 2:1:1

Primer Coat When using a spray gun, you try to achieve a certain spray pattern of spray coming out of the gun, this is done by adjusting the air pressure at the tip of the spray gun, also the fan of the paint, and fluid flow of the paint, all of these factors will make, or break your paint work.

What your looking for in a perfect spray pattern is very simple, it will consist of a fan 4-6 inches wide, that has no dry spot in the middle, or heavy spot on either end of the spray fan, once you achieve this type of spray coming from the gun, your ready to go.

Remember do not test you spray pattern on the paint booth wall, or on your car, take a piece of masking paper, and hang it on the wall of the booth, and use that to test your spray gun, if you rented my booth, and sprayed on the wall of it, I would charge you to remove the paint from the wall.

You should always follow the manufactures recommended paint mixes, and spray pressure, the manufacture know more about their product then anybody else does, if you follow what they sat to the letter, your paint should look great.

About the Author

I've been in the automotive business for about 20 or 25 years, I have worked in all facets of the industry, from parts to restoration, all different makes and models, I just want to keep people interested in the old cars because it's where my heart is.

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