I painted my car myself

[marc]

http://www.geocities.com/cretinx/paint.html

its not perfect, but its damned better than it was beforehand and it cost me $150 (compared to the quotes ranging from $5000-$8000).

[lpphreakx06]

Not bad. Did you wetsand it after words?

[ikaikajower]

how long did it take u?

[marc]

Not bad. Did you wetsand it after words?

I wetsanded after primering

[marc]

how long did it take u?

we finished prep and primer saturday, finished paint and clearcoat sunday, and finished polishing, waxing and the final photos monday - I'd say a total of 10 hours or so.

[lpphreakx06]

hmm, How many coats of clear did you put on there? If you have a lot to work with I would suggest giving it another wetsand, like with a high grit sandpaper (1500-2000). Then finishing it off with a polish > glaze > wax. That will make it even shinier

[kaminaricelica7]

wow...i dunno. Looks amazing, but looks like you cut alot of corners...like why didn't you remvoe the licence plate thing?? that would have taken 2 seconds haha

looks good, you can fool me with a diy job, looks good, but i would have removed several things along with lights, badges, rims, etc just for a more thorough job

[niquick]

Did you use rattle can for the whole procedure, or just for the primer steps? I'm thinking of doing some painting (just black, which doesn't seem to bad) for parts that are scratched or can't be buffed out. Did you use a pressurized paint gun?

Doesnt look bad at all

[reddragon]

Nice! good job

[02silverGT]

not bad for $150...looks ok in pics but what it looks like in person is another story


materials seem real cheap....guess u bought some sherwin williams or something

white and 2 stage is the easiest to paint, especially waterborn

[switchblade5984]

not bad looking

[GTShondakilla]

Doesn't look bad at all. We did my friends 87 Mitsubishi Starion ourselves and it turned out pretty good, however we did remove all the lights, handles, trim, ect.

Good job!

[frostyflax17]

looks really good. want to start taking offers to do other peoples cars? haha

[natewan31]

it looks good in pictures, and I'm sure you had fun with the project. :thumbup:

[ghet2_gts]

not bad

[atrac7GTS]

dude for a 150 dollars that is NOT a bad job at all..any specific equipment or techniques that helped make the job even better?

[silentchaos]

wow props to you!

[FriedChicken]

:thumbup:

[jiggzzaw]

:applaud: awesome job man.

[TRlPPlN]

looks better than any other 200 dollar earl schieb crap. now lets see how it lasts.

[Zero]

"Don Johnson Cool" C'mon Marc, you want them to chop another one of your images? :chuckles:

Not bad. I recall a member painting their beater Civic hatchback a dark grey and it coming out pretty good for a DIY job.

[Joey03_VVT-I]

Nice! But I still see hair and dirt in the paint job. Haha..just kidding! Good job. :thumbup:

[celicarace]

I like it! Good job.

[tehfrr]

wow, good job!

[03GTSTRD]

Not bad at all man. DIY FTW!!:headbang:

[marc]

"Don Johnson Cool" C'mon Marc, you want them to chop another one of your images? :chuckles:

Not bad. I recall a member painting their beater Civic hatchback a dark grey and it coming out pretty good for a DIY job.

I exist to create OT photochops



As for cutting corners, yes, we cut a lot of corners - however, it looks just as good in person as it does in the pictures. We wanted it to look as good physically as it drove mechanically.

If you get up close you can tell it was a DIY job.

I may consider wet sanding it again with the fine grit and doing another coat of superglossy clear - this clear was more of a protectant than a shiny shiny.

I did 3 coats of white and 2 coats of clear.

As for tools, I picked up a dremel - probably the coolest tool on the planet. What you can't see in the pictures is that before, there were tons of chipped spots (especially in front) and even some rust. I ground the **** out of everything and did the whole bondo thing over it (wife wasn't present as she's pregnant and the bondo label clearly says it will cause neurological damage - though we did both have masks I just didn't want to risk her with THAT ****).

I WISH I had a power sander - we sanded it all by hand (300 grit for the old paint, 80 grit for the bondo parts, and 800 grit wet sand for the primer).

I also picked up a Mother's powerball but my drill ran out of battery about halfway through so I finished the waxing by hand - it could definitely use another coat of wax as well but I'll get to that later this month.

With regards to the rear plate bracket, we couldn't get it off - the phillips screw was basically a big rusted circle where the screwdriver should go in..

Again - the object of this exercise was to keep it cheap and simple. We kept it cheap and simple. The car looks 100x better than it did when we started. The entire time we told ourselves - it doesn't matter HOW bad we screw up, because NOTHING can look worse than the car's original paint did.

And most importantly - we did have a LOT of fun. There's a real sense of satisfaction to completing the job and driving around something you did yourself. DIY FTW.

[lamboceliGTS]

Looks damn good, I would take that anytime over a 3-5K job.

[theguy216]

Thats awesome. I've always wanted to try painting myself but until my paint gets to the point where I can't do any worse to it I'm not even gonna try. the car looks really good. i'm jealous too I want a 944 sooo bad. makes me think that maybe I outta start looking for a cheap one with a sh!tty paint job and do this myself. unless I had a show car I think a DIY job is much smarter than a 3-5 thousand dollar paint job.

[Oreo GT-S]

I'm just finishing up painting my car myself. 200 bucks. We have the same equipment as the paint shop so we decided to give it a try on my 2000 GTS. I got a quote for about 2500-3000 for the kit install/paint so doing it myself seemed right at 200 :wiggle:

[RTZCeli]

Damn... I was so curious when I saw the thread. Glad I clicked on it seeing a decent job. Good stuff man! :thumbup:

[lamboceliGTS]

BTW Marc, nice find, how many miles on it?

[theguy216]

hey Oreo pst some pics when you get yours finished. This is a great example for anyone who is thinking about doing this stuff themselves.

[celica_2nr]

looks great...ill be doing this sometime this summer hopefully

[slvrcelicagt00]

nice job... i would say for the money you spent, it turned out quite well... and the car is sexy as hell

[Dasher17]

Not bad, I can't see any real flaws in the pics. What do the Porsche enthusiasts have to say about painting the car yourself?

Btw, just on the fly marc, if you had to decide between a 97 Boxster or a 2000 s2k which would you take. (planning for next car).

[lamboceliGTS]

Btw, just on the fly marc, if you had to decide between a 97 Boxster or a 2000 s2k which would you take. (planning for next car).

I'm almost certian he will sat S2K, the Boxster is a chick crap car.......

[marc]

BTW Marc, nice find, how many miles on it?

51,000 miles

cost me $4000 (cost of sister's A4 which I traded straight up for the car) - had it listed on Craig's List at $7500 - when I got it the body was pretty messed up, also I had to do water pump/timing belt/ball joints/tie rods and a tuneup.

Excellence magazines values the car at $12,500

by 2013 it will be eligible for classic plates - I expect the price to go up by that point but I honestly don't think I'd sell it, even for that profit - its a pure joy to drive and a special experience you only get with a Porsche

[marc]

Not bad, I can't see any real flaws in the pics. What do the Porsche enthusiasts have to say about painting the car yourself?

Btw, just on the fly marc, if you had to decide between a 97 Boxster or a 2000 s2k which would you take. (planning for next car).

two VERY different cars

from a performance standpoint they're actually quite similar (at least at the autocross) - the S2000 is clearly faster in a straight line but it handles better and has more feedback.

I like the lines on the S2000

The interiors are both so-so

If we're talking Boxster S, there's no contest - but if we're talking base 2.5L Boxster from 1997 I would hands DOWN get the S2000

However, my suggestion is drive them both - I really like both cars and it would be a tough decision - my personal decision in that dilemma would be to save up a few more thousand and pick up a Boxster S . . . .

or grab a 964 Carrera 4 (winter beater) for $10-15k and a Miata for 2 grand (summer cruiser/autocross car).

[Brianfanizzle]

damnnnnnn i wanna find an old porsche. i wish my dad woulda kept his 914's too bad both bottoms totally rusted out of the car. haha

[marc]

damnnnnnn i wanna find an old porsche. i wish my dad woulda kept his 914's too bad both bottoms totally rusted out of the car. haha

914s are making a resurgence in values

[hombredelassrta]

for a diy job really not too shabby. i agree another wetsand and buff could help but deffinitly not a bad pickup for 4g's

[Brianfanizzle]

yeah man ive seen some people selling like 944's and whatever the one is with the V8 in it but i cant remember what model....too bad no 914's or even 911's. i seen a clean looking 911 for sale but it was a newer one :(

[GSBoek]

You don't respond well to compliments so: terrible job :chuckles:

[Oreo GT-S]

Ok. I finally got around to taking some pics.

First one is after paint and 400grit wetsand. Ground was wet to keep dust away
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h53/Masterkorn1919/S5000332.jpg

Next was applying the clear coat
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h53/Masterkorn1919/S5000353.jpg

Clear coat when finished
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h53/Masterkorn1919/S5000361.jpg

and finally, my car the next morning.
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h53/Masterkorn1919/S5000363.jpg
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h53/Masterkorn1919/S5000362.jpg

[slvrcelicagt00]

nice work...

[Oreo GT-S]

Thanks. For 200-300 bucks i think it came out good. Better then I expected. I think I should have set up the door poppers before shaving the door handles tho, it's a pain to climb in the window and not scratch the new paint.

[Aznboi812]

^^

looks good wanna paint my body kit :D

[theguy216]

haha nice lookin good need some new wheels though. Is that still the stock suspension?

[Oreo GT-S]

yes it's still stock suspension. Damn these cars are not cheap.. :AF: Was planning on selling the Celica for a low mile 350z DD(no mods) and a bike. I was looking into the g35 but... not sporty enough i guess.

[Oreo GT-S]

In about a week I'm going to paint my rims black. If I don't like the finish I could always buy new ones.

[mrluilou]

damn that doesn't look that bad. i wouldn't be surprised if that trd_celica00 guy would do something like this since he's the diy guy around here

[Oreo GT-S]

I did everything on my car myself. Has not seen a shop yet.

[RED9spiner]

Nice work Guy

[InuyashsBrother]

Great work Sensei! I wish I had my own garage... I would do so many things to my car. The buliding I live in, they won't let me do any work in the pakring lot :sadpace: