How to Paint a Car

You can change the appearance of your car by painting it. Smooth shiny paint gives your car a glimmer. Professional painters charge high amounts ranging from $300 to several thousand dollars depending upon the quality of the paint and paint job. You can save this amount by giving you full commitment to this job. You should be committed enough to complete your paint job as soon as possible. Half painted patches will make your car look absurd. Painting your car requires full focus, precision and beforehand knowledge. Here are few steps that help you to complete your paint job.

Items Required

• Wax/ Grease remover
• Tarp, paper or other covering
• Masking Tape
• Car washing detergent and brush
• Sandpaper (fine and thick grit)
• Paint Sprayer (for regular spray paint)
• Putty and knife
• Dust mask, goggles, and clothing (to save the exposed skin)
• Paint Urethane-based
• Primer
• Car Wash Soap
• Car Wash Mitt
• Mr. Clean Car Wash
• Car Wash Sponge
• Urethane Clear coat Kit
• Car Painting Clear Coat
• Acrylic Lacquer Clear coat

Instructions

Step 1: Wash your Car

The first step is to wash your car. Remove all the dust, dirt, grime and debris form your car carefully. These pollutants do not let the paint to adhere properly. Once you have washed your car thoroughly, remove the insoluble dirt with the help of wax or grease remover.

Step 2: Prepare the Car for Painting

Let the car dry properly for at least two hours before doing anything. Take a wire and ground your chassis frame with any grounded object to discharge all the static charge to keep the dust away. Now cover the parts like mirror, windows, any chrome metals, etc which you don’t want to be painted. You can use tarp to cover those parts and masking tape to fix the tarp.

Step 3: Sand down your Car

Once you are done, sand down any rough areas or patches present on the body of the car with the help of sandpaper. For extra rough areas use loose grit sandpaper and use fine grit sandpaper for mild roughness. If you have small holes or dips in the body, first you have to fill them with putty. Putty will fix those holes and dips. Later sand the areas down to make them clean, level and smooth before applying paint to those areas.

Step 4: Apply Primer

This is an important step before apply any paint to your car. Take primer and apply it on the areas that you want to paint. Primer has the ability to adhere paint quite efficiently. Remember, if you are using primer or paint inside the car interior; there should be sufficient ventilation. Always use goggles, gloves and other protective materials to avoid any direct contact with paint or primer. They can be harmful for your skin, especially for your eyes.

Let the primer dry for sometime, once it is dried; sand it down with sandpaper to make it smooth and plain. Primer often causes mounds and heaps, which should be smoothed down before applying paint. Otherwise you will not get the required shiny look after paint.

Step 5: Paint your Vehicle

You are ready to apply paint now. Choose a urethane based paint and spray the base coat on the paint on the required surface with spray gun. Let it dry for 10-15 minutes and apply the second coat of the paint on the surface. The number of paint coats may differ according to the requirement and the vehicle. It can be sometimes consists of 20 cars, especially for showy cars. However, in normal circumstances 2 or 3 coats are enough. After the final coat, let the paint dry for about 90 minutes.

Step 6: Apply the Clear Coat

After you are done with the base coats, apply clear coats to the surface in the same way as you applied the base coats. 3 coats of clear coats are enough for the task. You have to give 10-15 minutes gap between each of the coat. When you are done with the third coat, wait for about 90 minutes till the paint get dry.

Following these steps you can easily paint your car with minimum of cost. Just keep some safety precautions in your mind the job is done.