I am getting my car back from the body shop today. They filled a few holes and basically got the car to the point where I just need to mask, sand lightly and then put on my base/clear coats. I have a guy who can do it in his shop for some amount of money, but I am thinking I could just do it myself. I have a garage I can setup, compressor and I can buy one of those Eastwood guns. I have done a little spray painting a few years back, but nothing to the quality of an exterior paint job. Should I do it myself or shell out the money? The body shop I was at wanted an extra 1200 to do the paint...didn't make sense. All thoughts are appreciated. I will post pics of the car when I get it back later this evening.

I can't tell you what you should do. But, there are other factors to consider. What color are you doing? Do you want a metallic? Base/clear or single stage? What all does $1200 buy you?


The reason I ask is, the material costs add up. If you want metallic, I would definitely farm it out until you had a few paint jobs under your belt. For a single stage with medium grade paint like PPG Omni or NASON you can figure on $300-$500 for paint/primer/chemicals alone. So, by the time you buy a gun, a decent respirator, and everything we can't think of now I bet you will be closer to the $1200 mark than you realize.

Don't forget, you will probably want to wet sand and polish too.

I would do it for the fun/experience. But, I'm not sure you will save enough to justify it.

BTW I'm assuming that $1200 includes paint materials and final wet sanding and isn't just labor on shooting the car.

1200 did include the materials. This is for a two stage phoenix red (stock non metallic) paint job. I would use the inexpensive PPG paint. The car is already primered.

Can your compressor keep up with a paint gun? Are you cutting in door jambs, trunks, and such?

It can. I would be painting the rear trunk and hell hole (new stand/tray installed)...door jams, etc are good.

On a strictly financial grounds, it will prolly cost you the $1200 to do it yourself. There's a lot of little stuff that adds up. I paid $350/gal for single stage urethane paint, and that didn't include the reducers and curing agents.

On the other hand, it's a lot of fun to say "I painted it myself" , but when the response is "I can see that"??? Actually people have said nice things about my paint job.

I don't recommend a color change: Big PITA.

Good luck!

I would do the math on the paint materials. Go to an autobody supply shop near you. Figure on at least half a gallon of base and clear to shoot what you are doing and go from there. I would probably buy more than that, it doesn't hurt to have extra. Also, you might want to find out what its been primered with and make sure the paint you choose is compatible.

I painted one 914 and the actual painting is the easiest part. But, plan on wet sanding to get a glass look.

I think you will be in it for at least $600 by the time you buy paint and a gun. You will also want to get at least a cheap water separator for your air, if you don't have one. And... Make sure you have air hoses that don't have oil in them (thats if you have an oiler for your air tools). You will also probably want a "last chance" filter dryer (its cheap) for your gun. Its a little disposable dryer/filter that goes on the air line right before the gun.

One last thing, when I did my car, I made a cooling loop. It was an extended run of hose to help cool the air before it hit the gun. Remember the air coming out of the compressor tank is usually warm or hot.

This is from the classics forum, should give you most of the info you need.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=17931

Good Luck, Don

I did my own, and it looks better than any shop around here would do. Yes, I spent over $800 on paint, but I got a lot left. I went with the Dupont line. Practice makes perfect...

Only bit of advice, wait for a good 0 humidity day and spray during the early afternoon hours. I went through a lot of headache because I sanded until early evening and then tried to race the sun and the rising humidity of nightfall. So not fun!

-- Steve