Anyone painted a car themselves?

[Iamzod]

As some of you may have seen i have a thread floating around on here where i'm restoring a Ford Capri and doing a 24V engine conversion.

I'm getting to the stage where i'm starting to have to think about paint. Now i've never painted a car before, i've done parts & did a door on my peugeot 406 but i've only ever used rattle cans which I believe are usually acrylic based paints?

My main sticking point is wether or not to go with Cellulose based paint or 2k, i do know that 2k can be nasty stuff and using an air fed mask etc is highly advisable so as not to poison yourself but i'm getting mixed stories from people. I've spoken to a guy that i know that restores old MG's and he has told me that cellulose is a nightmare to use and that i'd be far better going with 2K, he's also told me for just doing 1 or 2 cars not to bother with an air fed mask as he never used one and he's painted 30odd cars in 2K, this sounds a little dodgy.

Then i have other people and websites telling me that cellulose is much more newbie friendly, easier to use, less likely to put me in A&E and an air fed mask is absolutely essential when spraying 2K.

I'm also concerned about the paint finish, i've been told cellulose is far less durable and prone to fading over time and never gives as good a shine as 2K based paints? I thought all paint faded over time anyway, is cellulose much worse than what i'm used to seeing on more modern cars?

Anyone here have any knowlegeable opinions on this topic?

 

[Oh Ed not again.]

My mate runs a body shop, and he would never paint 2k without a mask. It's horrible stuff!

 

[poker_999]

depends where your spraying.

 

[Janesy B]

2k is properly nasty, toxic stuff. I'd really consider doing all the prepwork yourself and just get it transported to a spray booth and finished there if you wanted to save on money but cared about finish/not dying.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg388.pdf

 

["andy"]

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=14051

people think they are ok after spraying it but its like smokers who think their lungs are 'fine' .

not worth the health risk imo. even if it might be small when its just a one off. get an airfed mask or get someone else to do it. putting the paint on is the easiest bit for someone with the setup to do anyway. prep and finish it yourself like youd be doing anyway

 

[Iamzod]

The costs involved in paying someone else to do the work i would rather put elsewhere into the car, besides, i'm planning on keeping the car for an indefinate amount of time, i'd like to think i still own it in 30 years, it will likely need paintwork again before then and i'd rather do it myself.

I paid a company £3789 to do it last time in August 2005, it looked amazing for 2 years, now it all needs doing again, i'd rather do it myself and spend that sort of cash on equipment and car components.

Anyone have experience with cellulose?

 

[atpbx]

I know someone who painted their car with a can of dulux and a brush.

INCLUDING doing go faster stripes down the side.

 

[Jonny69]

I sprayed mine in 2k and I've done a number of other bits. I've got a small compressor and the £25 Screwfix gun that gets all the good reviews

For spraying without air-fed gear, the mask you must use is a 3M 4251 organic respirator. It has a special filter that will stop any of the vapours getting through and you throw the whole thing away 30 days after opening the pack. Wear goggles, a disposable Tyvek overall and latex or nitrile gloves and you're adequately protected. Put it all on before opening the paint, mix it up, spray outside or with lots of ventilation, clean up, move away from the area and take everything off and you'll be safe. Obviously, be respectful of your neighbours as well...

I'd recommend the same mask if you spray celly, because cellulose poisoning is almost as nasty as what 2k does to you and that mask will stop you breathing in any cellulose vapour

 

[Jamous]

I did a bit of painting in a Ford dealer years ago, it was all 2K i used.
Don't take any risk with it, 2K contains cyanide and I don't need to say anything about the risks of that. Air-fed mask or the organic one advised above.
2K paint is more durable, needs less work to get the finish and gives a tougher finish.
Cellulose is pretty old hat now and doesn't give such a good finish and needs a lot of finishing/buffing to get a good finish.

Most bodyshops now use water-based paints but its something I've not worked with.

My advice is use 2K, but take the precautions!

 

[Iamzod]

I take it whichever paint i go for i want to be using a HVLP gun?

 

[ubersonic]

Wasn't Cellulose paint banned in like 2007?

 

[Matt82]

I sprayed mine in 2k and I've done a number of other bits. I've got a small compressor and the £25 Screwfix gun that gets all the good reviews

For spraying without air-fed gear, the mask you must use is a 3M 4251 organic respirator. It has a special filter that will stop any of the vapours getting through and you throw the whole thing away 30 days after opening the pack. Wear goggles, a disposable Tyvek overall and latex or nitrile gloves and you're adequately protected. Put it all on before opening the paint, mix it up, spray outside or with lots of ventilation, clean up, move away from the area and take everything off and you'll be safe. Obviously, be respectful of your neighbours as well...

I'd recommend the same mask if you spray celly, because cellulose poisoning is almost as nasty as what 2k does to you and that mask will stop you breathing in any cellulose vapour

if you spray outside dont you risk airborne things landing on the car and getting stuck to the paint?

 

[Iamzod]

Wasn't Cellulose paint banned in like 2007?

I think you are only allowed to use it on classic cars. I've already priced it up from 2 different suppliers.

 

[Jonny69]

I take it whichever paint i go for i want to be using a HVLP gun?

I'd use a conventional gun. You get hardly any overspray with 2k because the mist stays wet and sticks, unlike celly which makes a lot of dry mist that blows away. An HVLP gun needs a much more powerful compressor because it needs a huge volume of air at lower pressure.

if you spray outside dont you risk airborne things landing on the car and getting stuck to the paint?

Yes, but I think I can count it on one hand. Most of it sits in the surface and polishes out. I rolled out a sheet of plastic to spray on so I didn't kick up any dirt off the ground

 

[Matt82]

cool. ive not really tried much painting before, it seems like voodoo to me, i doesnt make any sense to me and never works.

the sheet sounds like a cracking idea though.

 

[divinebeetle]

I'm working on a project, and am looking to do all the prep/primer at home then hiring out a booth to lay on some 2k.

I have a little way to go before that stage though

 

[Tinders]

Ive just my 1st respray,it was a job for my dad, it was only a little corsa, but it wasnt so difficult to paint, prep was much harder.

We have a 200l compressor, and i bought a secondhand air fed visor and a secondhand devilbiss gravity gun. I had practised on plenty of old panels so i knew i could paint, I found having a steady hand the most difficult bit for the whole car. I did get it wrong with the clear coat, a bit of orange peel and a couple of drips, but they have flatted out ok.

 

[task]

I've sprayed several cars at home, all in cellulose, all outside.

The biggest part is prep-work, you must make sure the surfaces are perfect before you apply the top coat.

 

[Iamzod]

All the work is going to be done indoors, i'm hoping the next time the car comes out of the Garage is next summer after being painted so it can be sanded & polished prior to the car being fully re-assembled.

I have until the end of august to decide on this as at that point i'm going to be needing to get the engine bay painted prior to dropping the new engine in, i expect to be painting inside the boot and all the door shuts etc at the same time.

I expect that if i get the car ready to paint by the end of the year it'll need to be put on hold until warmer temperatures are available next summer.

I've atleast fully decided on a colour anyway, Ford Signal Orange, nice and bright!