Your iron horse still serves you faithfully, but its appearance leaves much to be desired? Do paint chips and rust on the fenders and sills spoil your mood every morning? It's time to take matters into your own hands and repaint the car yourself, without waiting for a raise in salary.
Necessary
- - garage
- - drill with grinding attachments
- - sandpaper
- - solvent
- - rust converter
- - car putty of two types
- - rubber or plastic spatula
- - primer
- - dye
- - varnish
- - spray gun
- - masking tape
- - newspapers
- - respirator
Instructions
Step 1
Before you think about how to repaint the car with your own hands, find a place for this. It is good if you have your own spacious garage in the city or in the country. If there is none, then you will have to rent a room in the nearest garage cooperative or ask for a "visit" to a friend at least for the duration of the painting work.
Step 2
Prepare the surface. This can be done using the abrasive polishing method, in other words: using sandpaper or a drill with the appropriate attachment. A drill will save you time, but you need to be careful with it so as not to damage the metal. If the old coating is thin or the metal of the body is worn out, we strongly recommend sanding the surface by hand using sandpaper. Depending on your diligence, the processing process can take from several days to several weeks. Remember that at this stage we need to get rid of the gloss, roughen it up in order to adhere to the primer and paint, and get rid of defects: drips or chips. They need to be smoothed out so that the surface of the body is perfectly flat. Begin sanding with a coarser grit, gradually working down to a finer grit.
Step 3
Remove rust. Corroded areas should first be sanded down to metal, then coated with a rust remover to avoid re-corrosion, which can negate your work. If necessary, the centers of corrosion treated in this way should be putty to smooth out any irregularities.
Step 4
Get rid of minor body defects. Having dealt with the processing and filling of all the centers of corrosion, proceed to the filling of irregularities over the entire surface of the body. Remember that the paint will not hide preparation defects, so the quality of the whole work will depend on how carefully you do this work. After you have filled in the irregularities and the putty has dried, sand it again to smooth it out. surface finally.
Step 5
Degrease the surface. This step precedes the application of the paintwork, so no matter where you sand the body of your car, now is the time to drive the car into the garage. All subsequent steps should be carried out in a clean and dry room, isolated from dust, hair, animal hair, insects and anything else that can stick to the primer or paint and spoil the result. For degreasing, ideally arm yourself with a non-woven material, because it leaves no fibers behind, and solvent.
Step 6
Cover up anything you don't intend to paint. Using masking tape and newspapers, secure all rubber parts and seals, window openings, windshield washers (it is better to remove the wipers altogether so as not to interfere) and antennas. Don't forget to tape over door handles and locks, rubber and wheels, grille, bumpers, headlights and turn signals.
Step 7
Prime the body. Apply one or two coats of primer to the entire surface of the body, each time allowing the material to dry properly. It is better to apply a primer with a spray gun. Take your time, do not make sharp abrupt movements.
Step 8
Start painting. The paint should be applied, like the primer, with a spray gun. The layers should be thin, and two or three layers are needed for a perfect result. For a perfect result and shine, several coats of varnish should be applied to a completely dry paint coat. Do not forget to wear a respirator: car enamels and varnishes are very toxic! Before painting your car, practice on something: a garage door is perfect. You will be able to understand how the paint lays down and how best to handle the spray gun so that there are no drips on the body already.
Try it and make sure that everyone can repaint the car!
