Considering Another Bump, But Painting?

[Subzero]

With my 89' F150 sold I have some extra funds laying around I can put to good use. I've considered buying another Bump for a daily driver, my current 72' is not coming out unless it's a sunny day once it's done. However the truck I've found is a 3 OTT and is rust free but needs paint and some minor body work but it's only a couple grand. I've never painted a car before honestly, my own 72 is at a body shop getting done for a good deal, but this next one id like to tackle it myself. I can paint engine parts and other small things all day long if it's just individual pieces. I do not own a garage but I have a storage unit and I can build a tent at my house to paint in if needed. How much is involved to paint a car the right way?

[sargentrs]

Forgive the long post but this is important for us first time painters...

Here's what I learned from my first pathetic attempt at painting the interior of my cab. I had already sprayed gallons of POR-15 and Eastwood Chassis Black with my $15 Harbor Freight paint gun, which all came out good, so I felt good about tackling it myself. I chose my color and purchased 1 gallon of what I thought was "good" paint for the paltry amount of $390/gallon + hardener + reducer for about a total of $500. I also purchased what I thought was a "good" paint gun set. A DeVilbiss "Starting Line" primer and finish coat HVLP gun set, around $160. I already have a good compressor that will push 12cfm @ 90 psi but it didn't have regulator on it so I decided to us my 21 gal HF compressor. It ran my impact wrench ok and worked fine spraying POR and Chassis Black so why not? I prepped with sanding down to bare metal and spraying 2 coats of 2K primer and sanded with 150 grit, spraying rattle can black between coats and sanding down to primer to find the low spots. Then a coat of high build 2K primer and 220 grit. Then a coat of epoxy sealer and sanded with 400 grit. Mixed the color to the directions on the can 2:1:1. The spec sheet recommended a .04 nozzle but I only had a .03 for my finish gun. I called the distributor and he said "it'll probably do just fine". It was an 80* summer day so, I covered the walls of my garage with plastic, put fans in the windows, installed an inline filter and water separator on my hose, hooked up my gun, fired up my compressor and started spraying color on the interior of my cab. Sprayed the 1st coat, waited 20 mins and sprayed the 2nd coat. Then sat back, admired my handiwork and patted myself on the back on what a beautiful job I had done. And honestly, it did look great. Picked up my toys and went back in the house for the night. Then next morning, it still looked pretty good, but not as good as it did last night. Later that morning, the orange peel started showing and my the next day, I was horrified to see the level of orange peel that I had wrought. I waited a couple of weeks and then spent 3 days sanding it back down to smooth. During the course of the summer, I was introduced to a guy, retired and on disability, who would come to my house and paint my truck, provided I had a place to paint and a compressor good enough. He charged $24/hr and provided his own guns, sandpaper, etc. He told me to get a regulator for my big compressor, another water filter and a new air hose. He refused to use the old stuff through his expensive guns. He spent the first day going back over my sanding job and hitting a few more places with a paint stick wrapped in sandpaper. Then had me go buy some DynaGlass filler and smoothed out a few spots that he thought needed attention. The next day, he came back and proceeded to spray. He had a 2 SATA guns, one for primer and one for finish, that he said he paid over $700 each for and had bought 20+ years ago. They looked obviously well used. Watching him spray, I could see right away what an amateur I was. Clean, concise strokes of the gun with a little snap of the wrist at the end of the stroke and enough overlap so no missed coverage. 25 mins later, the 1st coat was on and we sat and shot the bull for about 20 mins. Then another 25 mins and he was done. He did have to go over the spots he filled and primered with about 4 coats before it covered sufficiently. He used the remaining 2/3 of a gallon of color I had bought. He hung around for another hour or two and let if flash off while we chatted about old cars and fancy paint jobs. I wrote him a check for $210 and he left, telling me when I was ready, he'd come back and do the exterior. The next day it was absolutely beautiful and will not even require cutting, buffing or polishing. While we were talking he educated me on what I had probably done wrong.

#1: I had bought “cheap” paint, hence the multiple coats. He said expect to pay $600/gal for good paint.
#2: Pressure is good but volume is critical. You need a good 10cfm of constant air flow at 40 psi for HVLP guns to operate efficiently.
#3: My paint was too thick. I needed to thin it down much more and should have used the .04 nozzle.
#4: Use quality equipment. My guns were ok for spraying primer and coating frames and parts but for quality finish painting, you need a very good gun. Expect to pay #300+ for each gun. Buy SATA if you can afford it but DeVilbiss was also a good brand.
#5: Practice makes perfect. Spend hours with scrap practicing and honing your technique. Spray it, let it cure, and if it's not good enough to suit you, sand it off and spray it again until you get it right.

I learned so much from this man and will definitely follow his advice on future attemps. The first photo is how my dash turned out when I sprayed it. The second is my door frame when he did. The photo does not do it justice but you can see the shine on it.

[Subzero]

Sounds like it's a pretty involved process and my deal of $2K for the entire job of prep and painting on my 72' is even better . I was planning to budget $1200 for everything quite honestly- gun, paint, compressor, prep materials. Your right about the undercoating type- I can do that all day and it looks fantsitic. My engines and individual pieces have come out looking good painted, especially after I got away from the Autozone rattle can junk paint and started using 2 part paints. Seems like I better pass on this new to me 72' 3 speed truck as I was expecting to have maybe $3500 in it by the time I was done painting. Your truck looks awesome with the red and thank you for the information, one day I'll try to paint one myself

[sargentrs]

I fully intend to tackle the rest of my paint job myself but correct the errors I made and practice a lot more. At $500+/gal I can't afford to waste any.

[Subzero]

Yes, at that cost mistakes mean considerable money. The 1972 I have now is my "show" truck although it'll never be shown its a professional job with all new parts. I'm just looking for a good shade tree fix-what breaks daily driver if I find any. I've also been looking at Fairlanes and other 70s/60s ford cars but it seems all the ones I liked sold before I had my truck sold

[sargentrs]

Where are you located? There's a few Fairlanes, Falcons, Mavericks, Comets and even a Cougar or two pop up in the Atlanta CList. All running and driving and under $4000.

[Subzero]

I'm in Chesapeake, VA- border city of Virginia Beach. So it's a ways from Atlanta. Rust is a problem with the coastal location so good old cars are hard to find and if they are still not brown dust they go for a pretty penny. I try to look a couple hours south in North Carolina or west where there's more selection

[sargentrs]

Too bad you're so far away. Good luck in your search!

[Ranchero50]

I wouldn't sweat the paint. I'm more than happy with mine even though it's just rolled on Rustoleum. It fades and needs waxed twice a year but none of these trucks kept a shine beyond 6 months unless garaged when new.

[Lone Ranger]

Painting is about practice. I'm by no means a pro I've only painted a hand full of vehicles. If you want a professional job let a professional do it. But with practice and a few coats you can make stuff look good. I painted my truck a few months back with a medium grade paint I think it was 200$ a gallon. Mix it how it tells you! My first paint job I thought I would add extra hardener to ... Make the paint harder... Not so. The last few vehicles I've painted I haven't used a primer and it has worked great. I sand the surface down to 320 and then clean it real good. Then instead of primer I start laying down color just do a few more coats. When you spray you get a mist on the edge of each pass, you have to "push" the mist all the way around the vehicle The more coats you do the more it will lay flat. You can always wet sand and buff imperfections. I've seen lots of brand new vehicles that have orange peel on them from the factory. I did an interior with a rattle can and it looked fantastic, rattle cans have come a long way and with technique you can make them look pro too. In all my paint job with paint, hardener, reducer, and tape was probably 350$. It's not pro but it'll last me probably five years till I want to cover up the scratches and new dings from workin my truck. And it's a heck of a lot cheaper than the 6000$ I was quoted by the guy down the road!!