Who painted their Cobra themselves ??

[wicked fast]

I know we are a HUGE group of do-it-myself guys,
but who has taken the plunge and done all of the
body work and paint in their garage ??

And how did it come out ???
pictures are good !!!

Would you do it again ???

Let me know, and thanks for the input.

Bill Cook

[David Kirkham]

Bill,

Been there, done that, and lost my t-shirt to prove it!

I really don't recommend it. It is hazardous, dangerous, stinky, dirty, unhealthy, time consuming, and requires a lot of talent, patience, elbow grease, and money.

Several of my paint jobs went on cars that sold for world records--(at the time. Who knows now.) I will NEVER do it again. I would not paint a car for 25K and that is no joke. (Well, maybe I would--but I would just send it to McCluskey and keep the rest)

Frankly, I don't believe there is any reasonable amount of money that could convince me personally to paint another car again in my life. There are just too many other people out there willing to kill themselves doing it.

Why do you think I figured out how to sand aluminum

Seriously, I REALLY do not recommend it. I would leave it to a painter so in the end you can yell at him and not yourself.

David

[aumoore]

I did it my self and yes it is messy and probably stupid to do. I think I crapped red paint for two days and I used a respirator.

The main thing the pros have is a $50k plus downdraft paint booth that will suck all the bad vapors thru the bottom and feed fresh filtered air into the booth. This helps reduse the vapors and cut down on dust getting into the paint.

If you have a nice day you can paint a car outside with pretty good results. Most people have to wet sand the paint after a few weeks anyway so a few bugs will not hurt too much.

Don't expect a Show car shine in you DIY but with proper preparation and a steady hand you can do it.

The Buzz from the paint fumes will make you tingle for days but I may not out live a three pack a day smoker now.

[BMK]

Prepared my Mustang to the paint stage and then had a pro do the rest.

Well he put the first coat on and found some areas that needed attention.

Had to re hire the booth a second time after he and the panel shop boss spent a day going over my work.

No way would I do that again. Savings did not exist and I still think the end result was not worth all my effort and dollars spent twice.

My paint shop has quoted $7,000 Aust. (About $6,200 US) to repair, fill and paint my Cobra. I think thats a reasonable price.

Have checked out his work on four or five Cobras and importantly all owners are happy and Cobras look great.

I would suggest getting it done at a shop. I'm sure someone on this site can suggest a shop close by you - and give a reference.

cheers

Bernie

[SSSnake]

We did all of the bodywork and priming in the garage. Over a year and a half later we are still cleaning up dust. We did however have access to the local chevy dealership's downdraft paintbooth to lay down the color. It came out fairly well. THere are pictures in my gallery and on ERA's Website.

Glenn

[mr0077]

Bill, I've painted maybe 8-10 cars over the last 15 years, including my last Cobra, moving from laquer through single stage and base coat-clear coat systems...the new stuff has some very toxic stuff and you MUST take care to get proper ventilation (so I did all my two-stage stuff outside on calm days...drives you crazy waiting for just the right day!)...like Aumoore and Bernie said, when it came time to do the new Cobra, I took it to a paint shop...very pleased, even at twice the price. I'll probably NEVER do it again...LOTS of work to do it right...body prep accounts for 90%+ of the final quality...and to do it right, there is maybe a 50% savings in cost, but the labor is extensive, both before (bodywork), during (masking, primer, base and clear coats), and final block sanding/buffing/polishing.
Also, My approach was to do several daily beaters for practice before I did my XKE and my Jensen Healey. Those two were my best paint jobs, near show quality, but I was disappointed with the first Cobra, so it HAD to be a pro to paint this Cobra. Interesting at the time and a helluva learning experience, and there is a certain satisfaction to be able to say that you did it ALL yourself, but wouldn't do it again if I could help it. Hope this helps.

[CHRIS POTTER]

I did the body and paint myself. Used black Imron, with clear Imron. It turned out great, but the Imrom is so hard to sand before buffing. I've been hobby painting cars for 30 years, and wouldn't attempt it myself without a fair amount of experience. Did it in my garage with a respirator, but will never use Imron again. Too dangerous. I painted my 34 Ford 3-window with base/clear, and am happy with those results. The feeling of doing it all yourself is satisfying, but expect more labor than you planned.

[GeorgiaSnake]

I did mine in the garage and ...........

It took a long time
Made a huge mess
Cost me about $1200 for paint and $600 for tools and $500 misc.
I still need to color sand one more time
Then will need to buff again
I learned a enough to know that I don't want to paint for a living
I doubt I would do it again because of the time
It is very satisfying when people say "You did that at home"

Pictures in my gallery

Randy

[Edbo]

I did the 'rough' bodywork and epoxy primer myself, then hired a pro for the blocking and paint. I hired him time-and-materials and had him keep a log sheet. When he was finished he had about 40 hours on the log. I'm happy with the finished product.

Some years ago a friend of mine died while spraying Imron on a small project that he thought would only take a few minutes without a respirator. As far as I know, the Imron brand isn't sold anymore.

Ed

[David Kirkham]

Just reading these posts makes me sick--again. It seems no one would really want to do it again. I sure know what they mean.

The safisfaction of saying you did it in the garage is not worth much for the mess, and the health hazards. What about the hazards for your family and neighbors? Do you really want to save a couple of thousand bucks and run the risk? To me it just isn't worth it.

I can promise you it will be far more labor than you ever dreamed of. If it is your first car, you will undoubtedly paint it twice and still not be happy with the result.

Like I said, it is better to yell at the body shop than to yell at yourself.

David

[mr0077]

David, you said it! The painting indoor with laquer was bad enough, (snorting and coughing up red for a week with a canister mask!), but the first time I painted indoors with the two-part...took a breath of that stuff through the mask and almost passed out, ran outside to get some fresh air...what was it, the cyclocyanimates? Don't remember, but I did check and the stuff is one step away from cyanide, and is bad potty! I painted outdoors after that! In addition, I've known several (and heard of many others) that got "sensitized" to the stuff and were partially disabled for the rest of their life. Using that stuff calls for a large dose of caution and it is NOT cheap.

[RedBarchetta]

David's posts hit the nail on the head. I've painted two vehicles in my lifetime, both with acrylic lacquer and both turned out great. The second job ('70 Z-28 Camaro) almost cost me my marriage, so plan on putting some stress on the family if you go down this path. I did it myself so that I could prove something to myself. Big deal.....I'm more experienced now but could have achieved similar results hiring a pro.

BTW, I still have my bottom feeder Binks pro shooter (with agitating cup) and occasionally break it out to lay down a nice coat on jack stands, steel ramps, etc.

[Art Burtt]

I preped the body in my garage and then flat bedded it to the painter. I'm still cleaning dust out of every nook and cranny in the garage! By the time you buy the paint and equipment you will have the price of a good job by people who know what they are doing. Why paint it yourself?

[wicked fast]

Guys,

Thanks again for the honest input.

I really like being able to say " I did it",
but I don't really care to purge blue paint out
of my body for a week.

David K,
Now to find a body shop that can put
up with my nit-picking.

Best,
BC

[Jon Miller]

I've done three cars and a boat and I didn't think that it was that bad......but then again it kills me to pay someone else to do ANY job that I can do.

The only real issue for me is the health aspect of it, but I saw an article in Street Rodder about a non-toxic, water based base coat system which is then top coated with standard toxic clearcoat.

www.autoaircolors.com

Does anyone know anything about this stuff?? I like the sound of it, but I don't want to be the first one to try it .

-Jon

[David Kirkham]

When you figure in the cost "savings" the amount of money you would have made had you just stayed at work...you would be amazed at how much the paint job really ended up costing you.

If you have a job where you can't work overtime, then I would suggest a trip to Disneyland with the family...you will be repaid in other ways by your wife.

David

[Jon Miller]

David,
It not so much about the money, it's the pride in doing it yourself, but then looking at the quality of what you build I would say that you know a thing or two about pride in a job well done!

-Jon

[BMK]

wicked fast

Good luck with your decision there.

Again, I did consider painting my self - if only for a few seconds.

But after talking with a few owners who used my paint shop I decided it was far easier and possibly cheaper to go this paint shop route.

I will take my car about 300 miles to the shop. I pass possible dozens of shops to get there, however the decision was made after talking with owners and looking at their cars.

The panel shop guy is prepared to paint gumballs and stripes the way I want and to muck around a bit. This was important to me.



I also did not want to stand behind someone who asked ....

"..Hell who painted that car?"

Again good luck with your decision.

Bernie

[David Kirkham]

Jon,

Many thanks for the kind words.

Sometimes I just wonder how many years I cut off of my life...

Just wait until you see what we are cooking up now.

David

[Spyderman]

Give us a hint.....