How to Paint a Car Yourself

Painting a car yourself is not only a way to improve its appearance, but also to protect the body from corrosion and damage. Painting a car with your own hands can be cheaper and more interesting than going to a specialized service shop, but it requires certain knowledge, skills, and tools. In this article we will talk about how to properly prepare a car for painting, choose paint and a spray gun, perform the painting and drying, and avoid typical mistakes to achieve good results.

Preparing the Car for Painting

Before painting a car with your own hands, you need to complete several preparatory steps:

Dismantling and Protection. When painting a car, the metal and plastic body parts, as well as some other elements, undergo processing. Therefore, you need to remove everything unnecessary: door handles, mirrors, headlights, grilles, trim, emblems, etc. You also need to protect glass, rubber seals, chrome parts, etc. from paint. For this you can use painter’s tape, paper or polyethylene film.
Surfacing with Body Filler. In 99% of cases, painting a car by hand is done to restore its appearance, damaged during operation or as a result of an accident. Therefore, before painting, you need to eliminate all body defects: scratches, dents, rust, etc. For this, body filler is used – a special material that is applied to the surface of the body and then leveled with sandpaper. The filler should be selected for the surface type (metal or plastic) and have good adhesion to it. The filler should be applied in a thin layer and evenly distributed over the surface. After the filler dries (usually 15-20 minutes), it needs to be sanded with paper of varying grit: from 80 to 400. Sanding should be neat and not leave deep scratches.
Applying Primer. Primer is a special layer applied to the body surface before painting to improve paint adhesion, protect the metal from corrosion, and equalize the color tone. The primer should be selected for the paint type (acrylic, enamel, polyurethane, etc.) and have a similar color. The primer should be applied in thin layers with intermediate drying (10-15 minutes) and sanding with 600-800 grit paper. The number of primer layers depends on the surface condition and can vary from 2 to 5.

Applying a New Paint Coating

After the body surface is fully prepared, you can proceed to the most critical step – painting the car. For this you need to choose paint and a spray gun, as well as prepare a workspace.

Choosing Paint and Spray Gun

Car paint is not just a colored substance, but a complex chemical composition that should provide high quality finish, durability, resistance to external influences, and safety. Car paint consists of three main components: pigment (color), binder (base), and solvent (liquid). Depending on the binder type, paints are divided into several types:

Acrylic paints. This is the most common and affordable type of car paint. They have good finish quality, bright and saturated colors, dry quickly, and are easy to apply. Acrylic paints consist of an acrylic binder and organic solvent. They can be single-component (do not require mixing with a hardener) or two-component (require mixing with a hardener before application). Acrylic paints are usually applied in two coats: a colored basecoat and a clear topcoat.
Enamel paints. This is a more expensive and high-quality type of car paint. They have a deep and durable color, high gloss, good scratch resistance, UV resistance, gasoline resistance, and resistance to other chemicals. Enamel paints consist of an enamel binder (alkyd or polyurethane) and organic solvent. They can be single-component (do not require mixing with a hardener) or two-component (require mixing with a hardener before application). Enamel paints are usually applied in one coat followed by a clearcoat.
Polyurethane paints. This is the most modern and expensive type of car paint. They have superior finish quality, the highest gloss level, excellent resistance to external factors, and long service life. Polyurethane paints consist of a polyurethane binder and special solvent. They are always two-component and require mixing with a hardener before application. Polyurethane paints are usually applied in one coat that does not require a clearcoat.

When choosing car paint, you need to consider not only its type, but also the color that should match the factory code or the owner’s preference. Paint color can be solid, metallic, pearl, or chameleon. Solid paints have a uniform color without shine or iridescence. Metallic is paint with the addition of small metal flakes that give it depth and shine. Pearl is paint with the addition of pearly particles that give it shifts of different shades depending on the angle of light incidence. Chameleon is a paint that changes color depending on the viewing angle and lighting.

To apply paint to a car you need a special tool – a spray gun. The gun consists of a paint cup, a nozzle to spray the paint, and a handle to control the air and paint flow. The gun can be a gravity-feed (with a cup on top) or a bottom-feed (with a cup at the bottom). A gravity-feed gun is more convenient to work with since it does not require frequent refilling and does not interfere with movement. A bottom-feed gun is more economical since it allows using all the paint from the cup without residue. When choosing a spray gun, pay attention to the nozzle size, which should match the paint type and viscosity. For acrylic and enamel paints, nozzles from 1.2 to 1.8 mm are suitable, for polyurethanes – from 0.8 to 1.2 mm.

Preparing the Workspace

To paint a car with your own hands you need to prepare a space that should be:

Clean. The body surface should be free of dust, dirt, grease, and other contaminants that can spoil the finish quality. Therefore, before painting, the car needs to be thoroughly washed and wiped with alcohol or acetone. You also need to remove all unnecessary items from the workspace that can raise dust or interfere with movement.
Dry. The humidity should not exceed 60%, as this can lead to mottling, sagging, blistering, and other defects on the body surface. Therefore, it is best to paint in dry and warm weather or in a special chamber with controlled humidity and temperature.
Well lit. To control the finish quality, you need adequate lighting that will allow you to see all the details and color nuances. For this you can use daylight or artificial light with good color rendering.
Ventilated. When painting a car, harmful vapors and gases are released, which need to be removed from the room or protected against with a respirator or mask. Therefore, the workspace should be well ventilated or outdoors.

Performing Painting and Drying

After the workspace is prepared, you can start applying paint to the car. To do this, follow these rules:

Mixing the Paint. If the paint is two-component, it needs to be mixed with the hardener according to the manufacturer’s instructions before application. Mixing should be done in a clean container using a mixer or shaking. The mixed paint should be strained through a filter to avoid foreign particles. The mixed paint should be used within a certain time (usually 30 minutes to 2 hours) after which it loses its properties.
Filling the Spray Gun. The spray gun should be filled with paint to the level indicated on the cup. Do not overfill with paint, as this can overload the gun and impair atomization. The spray gun should be held vertically or slightly tilted forward. Test the gun for proper operation by making several test sprays on paper or cardboard.
Applying the Paint. The car should be painted from a distance of 150-250 mm from the spray gun nozzle to the painting surface, with smooth back-and-forth movements in 2-3 coats with 15 minute intermediate drying. Do not hold the spray gun too close or too far, as this can lead to uneven coating, sagging, or orange peel. Do not make the coats too thick or too thin as this can affect the finish quality and color. Do not stop in the middle of a surface as this can leave noticeable transitions. Do not paint in direct sunlight as this can cause fast drying and cracking.
Applying Clearcoat. If the paint is single-component or polyurethane, after applying the color coat you need to apply a clearcoat. Clearcoat is a transparent layer that gives the finish gloss, protects the paint from fading and scratches, and hides minor defects. The clearcoat should be suitable for the paint type and have good compatibility with it. The clearcoat should be applied the same way as the paint, in 2-3 coats with 15 minute intermediate drying. The clearcoat should be thin and even, without sagging or bubbles.
Drying the Coating. After applying the paint and clearcoat, you need to let them fully dry. The drying time depends on the paint type, air temperature and humidity, and layer thickness. Usually 24 to 72 hours of drying are required. During drying, the car should be protected from dust, moisture, insects and other factors that can spoil the finish.

Avoiding Common Mistakes and Achieving Good Results

Painting a car with your own hands is not the easiest task and requires experience, patience, and attention to detail. Many mistakes can be made when painting a car that may impair the finish quality or require additional costs to fix. Here are some of the most common mistakes and ways to avoid them:

Incorrect paint choice. Choosing unsuitable paint type, color, or quality can lead to incompatibility with primer or clearcoat, incorrect color tone, low resistance to external factors, or poor appearance. Therefore, the paint should be chosen based on body type, factory color code, primer and clearcoat type, and manufacturer’s recommendations.
Improper surface preparation. Failure to eliminate all body defects, clean and degrease the surface, apply primer or apply it unevenly, can lead to poor paint adhesion, rust, cracking, flaking or other defects. Therefore, all surface preparation steps should be followed thoroughly and its condition monitored.
Incorrect paint application. Applying the paint from too close or too far, too thick or too thin, too fast or too slowly, can lead to uneven coating, sagging, orange peel, bubbles or other defects. Therefore, optimal distance, speed and thickness of paint application should be maintained, as well as overlaps between coats.
Improper coating drying. Failure to allow the paint and clearcoat to fully dry or drying them too fast or too slow, can lead to loss of gloss, cracking, peeling or other defects. Therefore, recommended drying time and conditions should be followed, and the car protected from external factors.

If some mistakes or defects do occur when painting a car with your own hands, don’t despair. Many of them can be corrected by sanding, polishing or repainting. The main thing is not to rush and follow the instructions.

We hope our article has helped you understand how to paint a car yourself. If you have any questions or suggestions, please comment below. We wish you good luck and great results!