Thu. Mar 28th, 2024
Paint Your Car

3 Essential Steps to Perfectly Paint Your Car

Spray painting your entire car a different colour, or even just certain parts, can make a real positive change to how you feel about the vehicle. Whether it’s sprucing up an old banger, refreshing faded areas or adding a different coloured trim for a sleeker design, it will rekindle your love for the motor.

Paint Your Car

Many garages offer full paint jobs but these can nearly cost as much as getting a new vehicle. Instead you can save money and get exactly what you want by following these three main steps to change your car’s colour.

  1. Prepare

Painting your entire car will take longer than one afternoon, so pick a time when you have a few days spare and won’t need to use your car much. If you don’t have a garage it’s best to paint in summer when the warm and dryer weather is a real help.

Gather your equipment before starting. 1200 and 2000-grit wet-and-dry sandpaper along with an electric or air powered sander are required. An air spray gun from a reliable manufacturer such asSGS Engineering is essential, as is a buffer, tape and newspapers for covering areas, face masks (not the beauty therapy ones!), primer, topcoat acrylic and clear-coat lacquer.

  1. Strip and Prime

Sand down all the areas of your car that intend to be painted. For the best effect sand right down to its bare metal but if this is too time-consuming just ensure a smooth, even finish is reached. Clean the surface, removing any rust and wait until the car is completely dry.

Tape newspaper over all the areas you don’t want to paint. Mix the primer and thinners by following the instructions on the tin, with enough for all the areas you are going to spray. Start from the roof down and do two or three coats before lightly sanding down for a smooth finish.

  1. Paint

Again mix the paint with thinners according to the instructions on the tin. From the roof down apply three or four coats following the same method. Before the final coat remove any powdery bits with the sandpaper and wipe down then use the clear-coat lacquer for the last coat.

Carefully remove all the tape and newspaper while the paint is still wet, let it dry and touch up any noticeable areas. Buff the paint using circular motions and leave to set. Finally, put on some shades and feel a million dollars taking your shiny motor out for a spin.