Can someone give me an estimate of how much paint - in ounces - it would take to paing a 3g Eclipse? If i can save money from buying my paint online than I will.

 

It took me a quart to paint my front bumper... I would have to say alot.

 

I have painted before, and I do a really good job...but I've never painted with a spray gun like those used for auto work. In you opinion, would it be hard to paint my own car if I had my won gun? The only hard part I see id the clearcoat, the base coats are nothing but flat based colors that, im assuming, dry fast. All I'm looking to do at this time is paint my body kit and if it's not that hard, then I'll just get the stuff I need and do it myself or take it somewhere if it's too hard to do. Any recommendations?

I found a website where I can buy a pint (16oz) of Kameleon paint for $150, or a concetrated base color, such as Manderin Orange for $40 an ounce. Mu main focus here is to save money but I want it to look nice when it's done. It really can't be that hard to do it myself.

 

Well you must remember that a shop likely has a ventilated and filtered place to paint the car. Doing it yourself I would recomend 1st cleaning your garage (DO NOT attempt to paint outside as you'll likely get dirt, dust, and bugs blown into your paint job) and by cleaning I mean scrub that place good. no dust ANYWHERE. Then get a fan in the window to suck the fumes out (Can't be gettin high and painting it don't work... been there done that...). Now that you have this elaborate setup you can start thinking about painting the car... You'll need AT LEAST a couple of days downtime with the car as you'll need to sand the car to make things smooth for the and being that you're putting a different color on you'll likely want to sand the clearcoat off and possibly the color and take it down to the primer. Then you'll need to tape off areas you DON'T want painted (Windows, chrome trim), take out headlights and taillights and other lenses you don't want painted. Then you want to make sure your body kit is fitted properly so that you're not drilling and altering after the paint is dry.

This is just the starting of the painting process. Not to discourage you from doing it yourself but it's a time consuming and nit picking process. If you're still wanting to do it yourself and think you can handle all this then I suggest getting a book and starting to read. also get some cheap paint and practice on a few things first. Don't do your car first get a few different materials. Maybe a fender from a junkyard or a busted up bumper of your buddies car. Practice a few times sanding down making things smooth then painting the piece. Get used to block sanding and doing things by hand. Learn about wet sanding and lint cloth cleaning.

I'm not trying to discourage you but I AM trying to save you the heart and pocketbook ache of dorkin up the paint job due to lack of experience. Thre's a reason that they pay upwards of $3000 for a paint job. You CAN do it but it won't be cheap and the experience is what you pay for in a paint job. Good luck whichever way you go.
Also another side note I recommend painting the body kit while it is OFF the car and when painting the car COVER THE RADIATOR. Paint will insulate it and that's the LAST thing you need.

 

I'm confident in all but actually using a spray gun. When/If I do paint it myself, I'm taking out all the carpet, seats, trim, etc...even the engine so i can paint the engine compartment. I have wet sanded before and am actually a perfectionist. I have just never used a spray gun. The booth would be something that could present a problem because 1 spec of dust would **** me off lol.

 

You don't need a booth just need a clean area. Being a perfectionist is a good thing. Just make sure you clean and dust the garage ESPECIALLY areas where you have things you'll use. As for using the gun it likely won't be hard but as I said PRACTICE. Us different materials and test different distances from the gun and the material being painted. Make sure you do THIN coats or you'll have runs.

 

i painted my eclipse in my garage and my friends neon all you gotta do is go to home depot or any hardware store and get one of those heavy duty fans that will make alot more air flow then just a house floor fan and get a decent air compresser if you dont alreddy have one and make sure it runs fine so it dosnt cut off in the middle of the paint job and the best thing to do befor you spray the car is to take the car out and spray the entire garage with a hose it will tack down every last peice of dust and most of the bugs will go on the ground befor the car so if you can spray good enough the paint job will turn out just as good as a job in a paint booth if not better

 

Yeah exactly. That's what I was getting at the first time. You clean up the garage and I hadn't thought about spraying it all down but that's a god idea too (Just make sure all your tools are put away). And like I said practice on scrap first. that way you have an idea on how to do things without actually dorkin your car up first.

 

I would say a gallon, that will give you plenty base, but I would get a gallon and a quart for the clear, just to get a few more coats. Also get extra basemaker too, helps because you have to soak the paint gun parts good after you shoot clear.

PS Dont forget to get the right tip for the paint!!!

 

What kind of gun do you use?