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rockits

MB Enthusiast
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Hertfordshire
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2005 E55K Estate; 2020 Jaguar I-Pace HSE;2004 E500 Estate;2005 Alfa GT V6;306GTi-6;206 GTi 180
Anyone done any more major spray works in home garage/workshop? I've been doing lots of research & it doesn't seem brain surgery difficult. Just lots of man hours & clean dust free environment needed. A decent compressor & spray gun with a half decent brain with some half decent ability.

My friend has a fibre based sports car that he would like to fix so I have offered to help & provide the necessary workshop. Being a fibre glass body it can't be baked so just needs to be air dried for longer in warm non humid environment to cure/harden.

The costs for a specialist to do the work were getting silly & makes it not viable. The only viable way to complete the job is by doing it yourself it seems.

Seems feasible to me. What do you guys reckon?
 
I sprayed a car in a domestic garage many, many, years ago.

The main issues are achieving adequate ventilation, getting enough even light on the job, and that everything - and I mean everything - in the place ends up with a light dusting of spray mist.
 
I should be able to create a separate contained space that I can ventilate, keep the air temp/humidity correct & stable. Also keep it pretty dust free. In essence a separate spray booth I guess.
 
Yeah I painted 3 cars in my home garage. You'll need to make sure that you have enough space to be able to walk around the car and squat to get the lower panels. You'll also need to make sure that you have good lighting. I just left the door open and put a box fan there to push fumes out. Just make sure you do it on a warm dry day with low humidity. Preferably when there's not that many insects around (morning) and if you have a gas boiler in the garage, you might want to turn it off.

The smart money would be to make sure that the garage is empty because I got over spray on everything :), but the results came out pretty well

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I think that with both cars, I used Sherwin Dimension paint (solvent based) base / clear with a medium reducer, even though it was a warm day as I was worried about bugs getting into the paint.

I have a 60 gallon , 5 hp compressor at home which more than keeps up with a paint gun. Painting is a lot of work, if you can find someone who can paint your car well for under 1000GBP, you should probably let them. By the time I got done with the materials, I was already in it for $500 and had lots of hours in it.
 
Sprayed 4 minis (2 fibreglass) in garages. No problems at all
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These were all done with Earlx airless sprayers HV5500. They give excellent results and minimal overspray but as above make sure everywhere’s covered up well!
 
Yeah I painted 3 cars in my home garage. You'll need to make sure that you have enough space to be able to walk around the car and squat to get the lower panels. You'll also need to make sure that you have good lighting. I just left the door open and put a box fan there to push fumes out. Just make sure you do it on a warm dry day with low humidity. Preferably when there's not that many insects around (morning) and if you have a gas boiler in the garage, you might want to turn it off.

The smart money would be to make sure that the garage is empty because I got over spray on everything :), but the results came out pretty well

39727_10150233986245165_4850527_n.jpg


182221_10150404226260165_6322942_n.jpg


196256_10150435776225165_6405676_n.jpg


10392246_297817075164_34074_n.jpg


10392246_297814190164_1653347_n.jpg


10392246_297817090164_3657553_n.jpg


I think that with both cars, I used Sherwin Dimension paint (solvent based) base / clear with a medium reducer, even though it was a warm day as I was worried about bugs getting into the paint.

I have a 60 gallon , 5 hp compressor at home which more than keeps up with a paint gun. Painting is a lot of work, if you can find someone who can paint your car well for under 1000GBP, you should probably let them. By the time I got done with the materials, I was already in it for $500 and had lots of hours in it.
Thanks for that. Good to know. Certainly seems viable. Had quotes to do what I need to do of 8-15k GBP! Has got to be worth doing yourself as most of the cost is labour. Once you have your compressor, gun & ancillaries the materials costs aren't too great. Unless you go for silly expensive paints.

I take it all paints are water based now?
 
Thanks for that. Good to know. Certainly seems viable. Had quotes to do what I need to do of 8-15k GBP! Has got to be worth doing yourself as most of the cost is labour. Once you have your compressor, gun & ancillaries the materials costs aren't too great. Unless you go for silly expensive paints.

I take it all paints are water based now?

For 8-15k GBP, I would either expect a concourse finish or the car has major body work. If the panels are straight , there's no rust or door dings, then it's just a matter of taking everything off and sanding the existing paint to 400-600 grit which is what I did with the W126. The W114 had rust blisters everywhere from where the old paint failed and I had to weld in a lower valance and some patch panels in the wings which is why I went back with primer before top coating.

People still very much use solvent based base / clear here. There's no legislation against it and it's good stuff :)
 
There is a fair bit of fibre glass work to do prior to painting. We do have a replacement body shell though so there plan is to respray the bodyshell as it will be much easier to paint as a shell. Then swap the body.
 
Fair enough. I figured that the UK labor prices are much cheaper than the US. Last time I was in London, somebody had side swiped my mothers VW Polo while it was parked. I took to a body shop that had me buy a new front wing and both doors which I got used. He painted them inside out as they were a different color and also fixed the bumper. He charged 300GBP for paint and labor. If that was in the US, nobody would look at doing this job for under $3000.
 
That’s eye watering. I got a quote for £3k if I prepped it.
All mine are in cellulose. Used Jawel paints. Good price and good quality paint. Fibreglassing is so much easier than welding even if it is itch! What is it your spraying may I ask?

Spent about £300 including 5l primer, 5l paint cellulose high quality thinners, strainers, cups mixing sticks a couple of decent masks and masking tape.
 
Skill. Skill. Skill oh and more Skill. Mixed in with years of practise and knowledge. This helps a lot.

If you have the above then the rest is all about common sense and mentioned in the earlier posts.

I have seen people spend big money putting their diy paint jobs right. Big money as all their prep now has to be undone and redone.

On my 300te the lacquer alone cost more than enough to scare me away from diy.
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Thanks all. I'm an able & confident chap so I'm sure I'll be fine. I'm one of the most patient people I know so good slow proper prep shouldn't be an issue. The good thing is I can do much of the more time consuming rough prep over time as & when.

The nuggets of information I can't easily pick up are the type of paints, reducers, gardeners, clear coats etc. That are best to use. These are the important bits as well.

I realise there is lots of skill involved but most of that I can't pick up easily & quickly enough. I modified my roof in the garage myself in the end OK to get my 4 post lift in. That took some skills, learning & time/effort. I don't envisage this will be too much different. I'm quite fussy with an often unpromising attention to detail so this should at least be a road I'm used to walking along.
 
I've just put two new front wings and a valance on my w123 today - cost £720 for the parts but nothing for the labour. I'm getting new arches welded in for the rear wings and then having all four corners painted.
 
Everone has their own opinion. In the mini scene it’s two pack or cellulose. If going two pack lots of ventilation required and air fed mask is a must as it’s deadly stuff. Cellulose not so bad and I think easier to paint although not as tough as two pack but easier to re-spray and blend should it get bumped or chipped.
As above plenty of info out there to research although you can read too much into it. I got fed up of reading and just went for it. It’s not to hard or difficult as some ppl make out.
Even done bits in the damp cold which is a massive no with celly and it all came out fine. Played a lot with ratios of paint to thinner mainly and found the colour of the paint made a difference, must be the pigments.
 
People have not used cellulose since the 40's. Either single stage enamel or urethane or base clear. Not many people want to deal with water based paint.
 
It is illegal to spray 2 pac on a car, any body shop caught doing it face hefty fines and being closed down. Although its still legal to paint trucks with it
 
Well most people might not have but I’ve used cellulose 4 times in the last 6 years! And know plenty of others.
I’m sure it’s not illegal if it’s a classic car although never been asked. It’s readily available so it’s not like you have to buy it on the black market!
 

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