DIY car painting : instructions for painting a car yourself, without an oven and without professional equipment. From spray can to metallic or matte paint.
Before starting to paint the car there are some essential preparatory work. You will therefore need to:
- A thorough and thorough cleaning of the car.
- Repair of any holes in the bodywork.
- Insulation of plastic parts and components that do not need to be painted.
The bodywork of the car you intend to paint yourself must be free of oily residues, greases, waxes or any traces of dirt, otherwise the new paint will not be able to adhere.
Painting the car without an oven
Obviously none of us have an oven where you can finish the drying of the newly painted car with the DIY! Once the car painting operation is finished, it will be necessary to wait for the drying times.
In this phase, the car must be placed in a dust-free, wind-free area but, at the same time, with a good air exchange so as to speed up the procedure.
Auto drying times are highly dependent on temperature. To tighten the time, the ideal would be to purchase a hair dryer from body builders , nothing so expensive. On Amazon, a good body shop hair dryer can be bought with a few dollars.
Among the best that we have been able to try we point out the Mannesmann M hot air gun , of course, the brand is a little anonymous but the performances are excellent: it has a long life and can be used for many hours in a row without being affected; it has a power of 2000 watts, two temperature levels (from 350 ° C to 550 ° C) and several nozzles are included in the purchase box… to dry the car without an oven, use the wide nozzle. The greatest advantage of this body shop hair dryer is the price: you can buy it for 18.99 euros with free shipping.
Useful links from Amazon: 2000W hot air gun
How to paint the car yourself
Not only the car to be painted must be completely clean in all its parts. The environment where you work must also be clean! If you do this in the garage, you must keep all windows and the main door open, the environment must be airy but windless.
If you really do not want to clean, with cellophane cover shelves, shelves and all the surrounding environments that on the one hand can get dirty with paint and on the other can dirty the car.
DIY car painting, what you need
Sure, you can paint the car with spray cans but… how many would you need and above all, how precise can they be? To paint the car you should use an air compressor connected to an airbrush. A small compressor is worth buying; also in this case Amazon comes to your aid by providing you with excellent products at competitive prices.
To get an idea of the purchase price and models, we refer you to the official page: air compressors .
A good airbrush to paint the car (instead of cans) can be bought for around 10 – 30 euros. Here is an example from Amazon: Airbrush with tank .
In summary, here’s what it takes to paint DIY cars :
- Air compressor
- Airbrush
- Thermo gun or body shop hair dryer
- Sandpaper P80
- Abrasive paper
Take three sheets of different grit P400 – P800 – P1200. - Plenty of old newspapers
- Carpenter’s Scotch
- Catalyzed bottom
- Catalysts
better if you choose fast catalysts in winter, in summer buy classic catalysts. - Paint
DIY Car Paint
As for the paint suitable for the car , online you can buy paints that already have glossy pigmentations. These are formulations created specifically for the body shop. If you don’t buy a specific paint that already contains gloss, you will need a gloss clearcoat for the finish.
More particular users may need a matte black acrylic can (if they want to paint the car with a very matte black). Yes, in this case it is not easy to find cans of matte black paint and therefore the more expensive cans seem to be a “forced” choice.
How much paint do you need for DIY painting?
For a whole car like a Fiat Punto or Ford Fiesta, consider two liters of paint.
If the car has holes in the body or deep scratches, before starting and after sanding, remember to fill the car body to obtain a smooth and homogeneous surface.
DIY car painting to remove scratches
If you just need to get rid of scratches and not paint the whole car, DIY car paint jobs start with p80 sandpaper with which you will have to scratch thoroughly until you have removed any scratches. Obviously in the area where you have scratched it will be rough then pass the P400 paper with water. With newspapers cover the area adjacent to the one without paint (where you have scratched) and varnish with a spray can. For small touch-ups, a 200 ml can is enough and left over.
For all the details on how to paint an entire car, we refer to the guide on how to paint a car . If you prefer to rely on a coachbuilder, for an analysis of the final price we refer you to the page: how much does it cost to repaint a car
