For this of you who have painted/repainted body panels on your cars, what advice can you give? One of my front fenders has been damaged in two separate incidents now, and I'd like to replace it.
Is it as simple as buying the unpainted fender, priming it if necessary, and using correct color rattle-can spray paint? A quick google search was only giving me articles about painting the entire car, or using professional body shop level tools.
>>14722877
U WOT M9
U MUST BE MENTAL M8
U CANT PAINT UR CAR AT HOME
U NEED OVER 9000 OF EWUIPMENT
RUNS, COLOUR MATCH, ORANGE PEEL, DEATH
SIMPLY CAN NOT BE DONE
I painted my fenders with rustoleum turned out pretty good for spray cans.
I used to work at a body shop and have painted cars.
There are varying levels of professionalism you can apply to your paint job, if you want perfection best be ready to pay or work your ass off.
>>14723066
>painting body panels off the car
>>14723134
It's much easier this way, they are brand new fenders and must be prepped and painted inside and out.
>>14723066
I just want it to look significantly better than the fucked up fender I have now. It's not like any of the rest of the paint on my car is in particularly good shape anyway.
That said, I will definitely check junkyards for a matching panel first.
>>14723144
Checking for a matching panel is a good idea but don't expect it to match perfect, different conditions and different mixes of paint will all effect the color of the panel.
If it's close that's good but if it's not it will have to be blended which will be just as much work as just buying whatever color and painting it anyways.
I hope you find something that works for you :3
>>14722877
Are we talking 20 year old shitbox, or a 3 year old car that you're still making payments on?
Doesn't matter what paint you use as long as it's sturdy and hardens up well.
The most important part of painting anything is the prep and detailing phases. You can lay paint down horribly wrong and have runs and orange peel, but a little sanding and buffing will make it look like it never happened.
Pic related, the stuff I used to give that rustoleum rolled on black paint a 99% smooth, reflective shine.
>>14723058
I don't know. I painted some fenders on an Integra that couldn't get worse. It came out looking like shit. It also peeled within 3 years.
Not that I know shit about painting though.
>>14723962
Mustard?!
>>14724053
It seems strange, but I use it after wetsanding but before compound/polish. Apply a thin coating with a sock or T shirt, wait 30-45 seconds, and buff it off BEFORE it dries on.
According to my paint/refinishing instructor I had back in school (took a class on auto body for 2 semesters) mustard specifically helps prepare a surface sanded with high grit (1500+) for higher grit compounds and things to work more effectively.
As for the sunscreen, I apply it as a "pre-wax" and let it sit for 5-8 minutes, wipe it off, and then apply wax. Some of the chemicals in the sunscreen (desu it's better in the aerosols than the squeeze bottles) that promote UV protection can be used on vehicle paint as well as human skin, but you want to let the paint absorb some of it and then get the extra off before applying wax.
>>14723058
This is why purchasing a car with a mint exterior is the most imortant factor.
Its virtually the most expensive part to fix.
>>14723944
It's a 2002 Grand Prix. To me it's basically a nice shitbox. I haven't done any mods or anything pointless like that to it. Like I said, the fender was already a little fucked up from being back into in a parking lot. I want to replace it now because the recent damage is more noticeable, and I want to hide the shame because it's completely my fault.
>>14724180
Can you make a detailed painting guide sometime? The paint on the rods holding up the mirrors on my scooter peeled like fuck and I sanded it off and tried to apply new paint to it but the result doesn't stick for shit and peels off at the lightest amount of force applied to it.
>>14724180
Seems legit.
>>14725047
Why not just pay a body shop to paint the new fender? It'd probably be less than $500 all said and done.
>>14725513
Because the new fender is probably $200 tops, and like I said, the car is more or less a shitbox. I just don't want to be reminded of how dumb I was one time every day because I'm probably going to be driving it for a few more years.
>>14725731
I got fenders for my truck for 33 dollars each brand new, shit is insanely cheap.
The fitment will probably need some adjustment but meh it's not a show truck.
>>14723134
Yep, that's how you do it
>>14725455
I'm gonna be repainting one of the doors on my Outback soon, with rattlecans. I'll gladly help. A lot of guides (mightyboganmods) suck because they tell you certain things to do, but don't actually show in reasonable detail how to do them because they probably fucked them up themselves.
So yes.
