Having learned the cost of painting a car in a specialized service, car owners make decisions in favor of independently carrying out this procedure. However, many of them do not know how to paint the car themselves, so we will try to understand this topic as much as possible within the framework of a short article.
In general, painting a car with your own hands can be done by absolutely every car owner, and some craftsmen for painting are limited even to an ordinary vacuum cleaner. However, one must understand that with its help a complete repainting of the car will not succeed, therefore it is best to get a special compressor. Our website contains an article on which compressor to choose for painting a car and what requirements it must meet, as well as several options on how to make a compressor yourself.
Just in case, it is recommended to additionally purchase two spray caps for the compressor, supplemented by several spare tubes with different nozzle diameters. It will also be useful to have rubber plugs and O-rings.
In their assortment, service stations have many different equipment, with the help of which professional painting is carried out. We list only what is needed for a quick and efficient paint application in the garage. Materials and equipment for painting a car can be purchased at specialized stores. The color is selected using a computer, but this can also be done “by eye”.
What equipment is needed for body painting:
- compressor, approximate cost from 5000 rubles;
- airbrush (spray gun), from 1500 rubles;
- painting mask, from 1000 rubles;
- grinding machine, from 2000 rubles.
Materials for car painting:
- abrasive materials (sandpaper, discs for a grinding machine);
- paint, varnish;
- putty (universal, finishing and finishing putty);
- primers (acrylic, anti-silicone for surface degreasing, developing powder);
- pastes (polishing, matting and protective pastes);
- masking tape;
- oilcloth;
- paper napkins.
Approximate costs for the purchase of new equipment and materials - from 10,000 rubles. You can save money by purchasing used equipment, but it is worth considering that the quality of painting depends on it. It may be more profitable to use the services of a service station if you are going to paint the car once. Moreover, such services use specialized equipment and guarantee high quality painting. With a small budget, you can do without a grinder, but then all the work on preparing the body for painting and subsequent polishing will have to be done manually! All other elements are required.
Another popular way to save money is to make your own airbrush and compressor. One example of a quick implementation of a homemade paint system:
Where to paint a car?
Many beginners have such a question if they do not have a garage where they could drive a car.
Is it possible to paint a car on the street?
Our answer: yes! The main thing is that there should be no precipitation, wind and good visibility. (Otherwise, a "beach painting" defect may appear - when there is dust and sand in the paint). The best time of day for such work is early in the morning, as soon as the dew has disappeared: firstly, the whole day is ahead, the paint will have time to set before the night cold snap, and secondly, at this time there is usually neither wind nor midges. The advantage of outdoor painting is that there is no need to prepare the room for the procedure and, as a rule, there is no need to clean it afterwards.
Preparing the garage for car painting
Have you decided and you have the opportunity to paint in the garage? The main problem in this case is the presence of dust in the room, which can subsequently get on the car. Therefore, the preparation steps are as follows:
- we do general cleaning, sweep out large debris, sweep the walls;
- we moisten the walls, floor and ceiling, our compressor with a special gun or just a bottle of water with a spray will help us with this;
- do not forget to moisten / remove dust from hidden cavities;
- for work, we put on clean, dust-free clothes, if necessary, pre-blow it.
Preparation before painting
To begin with, we need a thorough preparation of the car for painting, or rather its surface. It requires a cleaning procedure to remove rust and dirt. Rough sandpaper works great here. The main thing is not to overdo it in those places where the primer, together with the old paint, is held very tightly.
You can limit yourself to a 30% solution of caustic soda. 10-12 hours after application, the paint is washed off with hot water.
Etching is also carried out using home-made or purchased pastes. We recommend kneading 0.5 potato flour per 0.5 l of cold water and adding a solution of 2 l of water and 2 kg of caustic soda to the resulting mixture. Next, the mixture must be continuously stirred and gradually pour another 5 liters of boiling water into it. The prepared paste is applied to the surface area, after which you need to wait about an hour for it to work. Then the paint is removed with putty and a stream of cool water.
Before buying a used car, you should definitely check it out! A full check of the car before buying includes checking the documents and the technical condition of the car.
A brief overview of the fastest car in the world →. Find out more about this unique supercar.
How to assemble a battery charger from improvised means, read the link → /tehobsluzhivanie/uhod/kak-sdelat-zaryadnoe-ustrojjstvo.html. Unique car battery charging methods.
Do-it-yourself car body painting
So, we figured out how to prepare the car for painting. Now let's move on to the next very important step. The paint should be prepared immediately before the car is painted. It is diluted with solvent No. 647 (No. 646) directly in the jar. Before using the paint, it is filtered through gauze or a fine sieve.
It will also be useful to heat the resulting enamel to 50 degrees. This will allow you to paint 2-3 layers, which 2 times will reduce the cost of the solvent. The viscosity of the paint must be chosen very carefully, and the last layers are laid with a more liquid solution. The time for natural drying of nitro enamel depends on temperature conditions, but on average it is 15 minutes.
When painting your car yourself, it's helpful to sand down every layer of putty, paint, and primer. Treated areas require abundant wetting and occasional rinsing with water. Grinding is carried out only with waterproof skins. Among other things, you can use grinding paste. Minor scratches on the surface are very easy to remove. It is enough to apply solvent No. 648 or the same No. 647 with a spray gun.
The painted surface needs polishing, which is carried out with rotational movements. Basic polishing is done using polishing paste No. 290 (fine abrasive), and finish the surface with polishing water. A flannel rag or zigzag skin is useful here. Read more about do-it-yourself car polishing.
So we figured out how to properly paint a car. After finishing all the work, it is advisable to wash the car and do anti-corrosion treatment, which is quite feasible at home. And in order to better understand the whole process of painting a car with your own hands, we suggest watching the following video.
