February 7, 201016 yr I got a wild hair and decided to paint my car. Went to the home depot and got some paint and clear coat decided to only do one panel at a time, so i can still drive it during the week sanded her down: first coat first coat done: After that dried i put on a second coat of paint, and then 2 layers of clear coat. More progress tomorrow!
February 7, 201016 yr Don't clear coat it - that will just peel off. You should put around 5 to 6 coats of color on, then wet sand it with 600 then 1200 grit. Then buff it out with finishing compound. It will looks better and last longer than the clear coat. Remember - light coats - but lots of them. Don't glob it on or it will take forever to dry. Prep the surface with a D/A if you can get one or sand it real good by hand. Make sure the suface is very clean - use laqour thinner to clean up sanding dust, etc before you spray a panel. There's nothing wrong with a rattle can job - just understand that it's going to last about 2 years give or take - the clear coat will make it look worse when it does start failing and makes it impossible to touch-up, color sand and refinish when it does start looking like poo in a year or two. And watch out for big bugs - a good sized one will roll up that soft rattle can paint from your headlights to the winsheild if you hit em right GD Edited February 7, 201016 yr by GeneralDisorder
February 7, 201016 yr follow this and enjoy - a very good step by step how to http://autofix.com.au/blog/archives/497
February 7, 201016 yr you know i had good luck with wheel clear. seems harder than regular clear, from a rattle can. tru tru on the touch up thing though. if you plan on keeping it solid, you will need to touch up from time to time, and clear makes that step a bit more involved. plus for the clear to stick, you would have to wait for the paint to fully dry, id give it a week or 2, since its non catalyized, and then scuff it with a light grit paper or scotchbrite, and THEN apply the clear, or it will indeed fall right off. if you do clear, and need to do a touch up, you have to sand the area around the scratch then touch up and then RE clear to a body line, or even the whole panel, it really does add a level of complexity to the whole ordeal. tip for the year? avoid red rattle can, it fades REALLY fast, and when it does, it turns pink Edited February 7, 201016 yr by wagaru
February 7, 201016 yr Looks good so far... It'll probably look like my XT when done. Leaving the lower portions of the doors and quarter panels white, and painting the top of the front bumper would look cool. My XT was repainted single stage blue, it's easier to manage than a clear coated paint. Gotta have yellow in there somewhere!
February 7, 201016 yr Author I am gonna paint the whole thing blue, except the hood, which will be flat black. Then i am considering having blue racing stripes on the hood. I wanted to use clear coat, because it would prevent fading, but should i not use it? btw, i'm using krylon paint And for yellow, i had somthing like this in mind: Edited February 7, 201016 yr by Markus56
February 8, 201016 yr Author go some sanding done, but it was too cold and humid to paint. go saints!
February 8, 201016 yr any time estimates - like how long did it take to do one fender? i have some before and after pictures of a guy i know that did this to his RX, i posted links to it here and on subaruxt.com. $64 paint job was the title of the thread on subaruxt.com. i told him not too and it looked good, i was impressed. he was driving the car a couple years, not sure what happened to it after that. he never clear coated it as far as i know.
February 9, 201016 yr i have been fine using middle grade spray paints. stay away from the 99 cent stuff as it will oxidize qiuckly. krylon paints are ok, but will oxidize by 2 years, bu is not hard to do seasonal youchups. Krylon will be dissolved by gasoline, though, say, if you spill fuel when filling up. rustoleum is best or an equivalent brand enamel paint. Takes longer to dry, but will be a tougher paint. I have used clearcoat on one paint job out of 20 or better. I used it on rustoleum "metallic' blue to seal in all the little flakes. I used the cheapest cleargoat and it held up for several years. if you are using a rustoleum grade glossy paint, clearcoat isnt really necessary. if you want a primo paint job for cheap, do your hand at the rustoleum stuff, and then have the car clearcoated with professional grade materials. if you are handy with spraying, you can get cheaper paint to look as good as better paint, but the paint job will last only as long as the paint you use. my general rule of thumb is, the more paint smells like candy, the better it is
February 9, 201016 yr The best rattle can paint I've EVER used is SEM. EXCELLENT stuff. Lays down almost as nicely as some single stage acrylics.
February 9, 201016 yr Author Well, i just found out, that i am actually using rust-oleum. More specifically, rust-oleum painter's touch. I also found out today that i own an air powered paint sprayer.
February 9, 201016 yr I rustolem'd my XT a few years ago for about $40. Using the gallon cans and a harbor freight spray gun and stolen-from-my-father sanding materials... it was a great choice considering what my car looked like before. Sanded and prep'd it decently, took about 20 hours for that. Then sprayed about 5 coats on it. No clear. Still looks ok if I wax it... I painted it in '06 before the Alcyone Dragon run and this was it at The Dragon last year.
February 10, 201016 yr Author That is one sweet ride. I've been looking for a trunk lid with the spoiler thingy, but i haven't had any luck I am going to return the spray paint and get a gallon of enamel Edited February 10, 201016 yr by Markus56
February 12, 201016 yr that is the hottest xt i have ever seen 10 million points! Thanks! It's really ugly up close... until you open the hood.
February 12, 201016 yr There's not to many car's (in my opinion) that look good in yellow, but that looks pretty good. I love the yellow the the baja's!
February 12, 201016 yr What ever happened to the $50 Dollar Paint job, I heard that it was a viable solution to paint issues.
February 20, 201016 yr Looking good. Get the roof done then you can get a low side view shot and convince people it's totally done. Also, join the XT board:grin:
February 22, 201016 yr Author welp, i've got a belt sander with some 3 grit paper. That should smooth things up in no time at all
February 23, 201016 yr welp, i've got a belt sander with some 3 grit paper. That should smooth things up in no time at all holy crap I laughed at that, is that like hand selected parking lot gravel with a sticky side out duct tape belt?
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