Paint Your Car at Home

To paint a car at home may seem like a ridiculous idea to some, but for those on a budget, it may be the only option. What I would like to say is that while using car paint is a challenge, it can be done by anyone willing to put in their sweat and blood and can yield pretty decent results. This method of painting a car at home is possibly the most common as it provides professional paint job results. If you paint your car with a roller, you will still get good results but will have to do a lot of sanding.

Painting Your Car at Home

Preparation
Start by thoroughly washing the car using detergent and follow up with a wipe-down with wax and grease remover. Once you are done with the car wash, you need to sand down the old paint using a dual action (DA) orbital air sander. Before you start, protect the windshield molding with heavy duct tape. We suggest sanding the car down to at least the level of its original paint. The most important thing to keep in mind is that you roll up all the windows and close the doors of the car to protect your car interiors before you start the painting job.

Repairs
If you come across any badly rusted areas, put in replacements wherever possible. You need not get new parts (yes, we know you're on a budget) but could use parts from wrecked cars, and trim them to fit exactly. For small rusted areas, thoroughly clean the area and coat the backside of the repair sections with a weld-through primer. Once your car repairs are completed, apply a light coat of plastic body filler to the patched area. Once it is dry and fairly hard, file it with a Surform blade (a ridged, half-round shape) until you have a uniform surface that is properly contoured. Regular filler will almost always leave pinhole-size bubbles. Use acrylic glaze sparingly to fill minor surface flaws.

Sanding
Now, sand the surface of the car to create a uniform surface with a finely feathered edge. You may use any hard auto-body sanding board. This job needs to be done very thoroughly, for much of your outcome hinges on it. Once this is done, clean the car once more and begin masking. Use masking paper and tape to protect parts from overspray. Use masking tape to make a curtain all the way, around the underside of the car. You may use a 3M soft-edged foam tape for sealing panel gaps.

Primer
Next, treat the surface to a final wipe-down, and preferably use a solvent-based product. Your first primer coat should be done using an epoxy primer. In order to achieve a top quality finish, some recommend the use of a thin haze of a contrasting color over the primer. This will serve the purpose of a guidecoat (which will reveal high and low spots in the body). You need not paint the guidecoat, but mist over the surface.

For a great finish, sand the primer with dry 150-grit paper and wear down the high spots. Once you are done blending or correcting distortions, spray on a second coat of primer/sealer. Sand this down too to a 600-grit surface for the base-coat and clear-coat. We advise that the car be demasked and cleaned of the collected wet-sanding goop. Mask the car once again and ensure the surface is spotlessly clean.

Painting
To get down to the actual painting, spray on a light base for uniform coloration; this will be the base-coat. Hold the spray gun 10 to 12 inches away from the car and perpendicular to the area that you are going to spray. Keep up an even speed and overlap the strokes 50 percent. Follow this method while applying the clear-coat too. After the paint has been cured for at least a few days, do a final color sanding and buffing before applying the topcoat.

I do hope these instructions clarify how to paint your car at home. An important aspect to keep in mind is to check and adhere to your local environmental regulations regarding mixing and spraying paints at home.