Confession

[FLIP K1DD]

I have zero experience in painting and body work, but I did it anyways. Minimal orange peel that is pretty much unnoticeable until I point it out, only because I have never used a HVLP gun before I didnt realize you can set the trigger to only max out at a certain point. That was my mistake and not the supplies I used.

I was going to post this under the recent Plasti Dip thread, but I felt like I would have been thread jacking. This is an alternative I personally used to paint my camry and IMO I really love the results. Being a college student, many others have pretty much watched the process my car went through and I have gotten plenty of complements, especially on the paint alone.

This was a route I chose because I got the best bang for the buck. My budget was to keep it under $100, provided that I had a booth and gun available to me. I spent $75 for all supplies including gloves, respirator, mixing container, 4 qts of paint (did not find the gallon), xylene, and japan drier. I only used 2 qts, so the extra paint could have been returned and the price would have been lower, but I kept them for some moulds Im making for the car.

I went to the local Maaco to compare and contrast between DIY and shop.

- Maacos cheapest paint job was like $299 for single stage with no UV protection. (cant remember if they clear it)
- Upgrade the single to like $399 with UV protection..
- Then after that the price gets higher yadaydayda.

Mind you Marine paint I believe is much more durable than regular single stage auto paint, and already has UV protection. You dont have to clear this paint, but I'm sure itll be WOW if done. This is from the website, I second to all of these facts minus battery acid as i havent spilled any of that.

- Out performs Awlcraft 2000.
- Features lower VOC and higher solid content for increased build.
- Provides unequaled resistance to saltwater, corrosive chemicals, spilled fuel, and battery acid.
- Self-leveling finish.
- Long term submersible.
- Outstanding UV resistance.
- Colorfast gloss retentive.
- Withstands heat to 500F.

I have still have the option to buff this thing like regular paint if I wanted, but IMO its good enough for me just waxing.











and finally..



I was able to get in and out of the paint booth in less than 24 hours. started at 7am, finished at 7pm (masking was a biiii#$%), picked up and put together the next morning at 8am

This has successfully gone through Arizona's 90+ degree weather, the beginning of a deserts freezing temp winter (ice on car/windshield), rain on the 3rd day after, high pressure wash, fuel spill from the station, and 2 waxing sessions. No signs of fading, no touch up needed, looks exactly how I took it out the booth.

[ghettosled]

kudos for the good work and doing it yourself.

[RichieRichJP]

Finally, your car is one color!
I agree, it came out pretty good!
Personally, I hate grills. I don't know why I had kept mine on for a year before finally taking it off. It looks so.. cheap..

[projektvertx]

I like it! And doing work yourself is always a plus

[Chris Crash]

Great job man! Glad to see someone else realized they could paint a car themselves...it's really not that hard....

[csaxon]

Looks great! I used to fly that B-52 in the background.

[Zembonez]

Very cool!

Nice work.

[JimBowNut]

Danggggg ! I want that in white for my machine !!!!!!

[eyeball96]

It looks great, good job!


Kudos for doing it yourself

Now drop it!!

[Falloutkid90]

Originally Posted by FLIP K1DD

I have zero experience in painting and body work, but I did it anyways. Minimal orange peel that is pretty much unnoticeable until I point it out, only because I have never used a HVLP gun before I didnt realize you can set the trigger to only max out at a certain point. That was my mistake and not the supplies I used.

I was going to post this under the recent Plasti Dip thread, but I felt like I would have been thread jacking. This is an alternative I personally used to paint my camry and IMO I really love the results. Being a college student, many others have pretty much watched the process my car went through and I have gotten plenty of complements, especially on the paint alone.

This was a route I chose because I got the best bang for the buck. My budget was to keep it under $100, provided that I had a booth and gun available to me. I spent $75 for all supplies including gloves, respirator, mixing container, 4 qts of paint (did not find the gallon), xylene, and japan drier. I only used 2 qts, so the extra paint could have been returned and the price would have been lower, but I kept them for some moulds Im making for the car.

I went to the local Maaco to compare and contrast between DIY and shop.

- Maacos cheapest paint job was like $299 for single stage with no UV protection. (cant remember if they clear it)
- Upgrade the single to like $399 with UV protection..
- Then after that the price gets higher yadaydayda.

Mind you Marine paint I believe is much more durable than regular single stage auto paint, and already has UV protection. You dont have to clear this paint, but I'm sure itll be WOW if done. This is from the website, I second to all of these facts minus battery acid as i havent spilled any of that.

- Out performs Awlcraft 2000.
- Features lower VOC and higher solid content for increased build.
- Provides unequaled resistance to saltwater, corrosive chemicals, spilled fuel, and battery acid.
- Self-leveling finish.
- Long term submersible.
- Outstanding UV resistance.
- Colorfast gloss retentive.
- Withstands heat to 500F.

I have still have the option to buff this thing like regular paint if I wanted, but IMO its good enough for me just waxing.











and finally..



I was able to get in and out of the paint booth in less than 24 hours. started at 7am, finished at 7pm (masking was a biiii#$%), picked up and put together the next morning at 8am

This has successfully gone through Arizona's 90+ degree weather, the beginning of a deserts freezing temp winter (ice on car/windshield), rain on the 3rd day after, high pressure wash, fuel spill from the station, and 2 waxing sessions. No signs of fading, no touch up needed, looks exactly how I took it out the booth.

I love it! My camry is the exact same color (beige). Now I want to I want to black it out. I need a more detailed diy. I was going to plasti dip my car black. But seeing that it isnt that hard to do. I think I want to give this a shot. How many coats did you use? Did you sand it before?

[fenixus]

nice!

amazing results with simple (but time consuming) process. are you going to clear coat it in future?

what is the marine paint you used? rustoleum (can you link it) ?

[FLIP K1DD]

Hopefully after the holidays Ill get around to the drop. then ill defiantly research on the v6 and pick one up somewhere

I love it! My camry is the exact same color (beige). Now I want to I want to black it out. I need a more detailed diy. I was going to plasti dip my car black. But seeing that it isnt that hard to do. I think I want to give this a shot. How many coats did you use? Did you sand it before?

Yeah don't plasti dip the whole car (id use if for trims and maybe rims), especially with this cheap but effective paint available. There is a ton of DIYs on the internet. Essentially you just thin the paint about 50-50 (test it out on a cardboard box), find a flow of the paint you like and stick with it, then followed the mixture instructions for the Japan Drier (appx 1 cap full). The drier was key in being able to take the car out the next morning, otherwise like everyone else, without a hardener you'll be stuck doing about 2 coats a day.

I actually lost count and didnt pay attention to how many coats I did (prob like 3.5 go arounds on the car), but I did use 2 even quarts. I probably could have done more..but so far so good.

And yes I did prep the car to the best of my abilities, by hand. No DA sander

nice!

amazing results with simple (but time consuming) process. are you going to clear coat it in future?

what is the marine paint you used? rustoleum (can you link it) ?

Thanks! yes it took forever to prep! I did try to make sure everything was up to my standards. The paint doesnt necessarily need to be clear coated, but for that extra protection I would like to in the future.

The paint I used is called Topside by Rustoleum. http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=4