- Thread starter tonyt76
- Start date
You'll never get the finish you really want using spray paint and doing it yourself.
I'm dropping my Egret 2 off for sandblasting and painting with auromotive paints on monday. I'll get all metal and plastics painted at the same time or they won't match. I debated having the metal powder coated but opted for auto paint for the super smooth finish.
I'm dropping my Egret 2 off for sandblasting and painting with auromotive paints on monday. I'll get all metal and plastics painted at the same time or they won't match. I debated having the metal powder coated but opted for auto paint for the super smooth finish.
If you have the time, equipment and have knowledge/technique on the process and use, then of course go for it, it’s way cheaper and most likely more rewarding if you do it yourself. On the other hand if you, don’t have the experience, equipment, etc...you are probably better off having a shop do it professionally.good luck whatever you do and please post your results.
Just curious what are they charging you to do 1 cab?
Total for everything (total cab and metal parts sandblasting and painting of all metal and plastic parts) is $400 but I didn't really negotiate. Not many places even willing to try it here. I found a guy who is retired and does this stuff on the side now. If you need a color other than white then you can expect your paint cost to go up by 50% to about 100% for red. But white is the most common cab color and the cheapest paint color.
Don't use a spray paint. You will end up with something worse than what you have now.
But you can do this own your own with HVLP. The trick is getting your hands on a compressor large enough to allow you to do the job. If you have a buddy that has a large compressor you can borrow, that is half your battle. The rest is prep work, setting up a spray booth to kept particles out, ventilation, and getting an HVLP gun. The cheap Harbor Freight purple HVLP spray guns are well respected but you need to do some simple mods to them to get the best out of them. Lots of discussions on the web on interwebs about the Harbor Freight purple HVLP guns. Also, lots of DIY spray booth ideas are on the web too. Once you get to HVLP spraying something the size of a candy cab, that is like a 2 minute activity per coat. Doing that with shaker cans would take 30 minutes per coat and won't smoothly blend.
Getting a compressor, which you can use for other household chores, plus tooling and buying paint would probably cost you as much as taking it to a pro auto painter to do your cab.
But you can do this own your own with HVLP. The trick is getting your hands on a compressor large enough to allow you to do the job. If you have a buddy that has a large compressor you can borrow, that is half your battle. The rest is prep work, setting up a spray booth to kept particles out, ventilation, and getting an HVLP gun. The cheap Harbor Freight purple HVLP spray guns are well respected but you need to do some simple mods to them to get the best out of them. Lots of discussions on the web on interwebs about the Harbor Freight purple HVLP guns. Also, lots of DIY spray booth ideas are on the web too. Once you get to HVLP spraying something the size of a candy cab, that is like a 2 minute activity per coat. Doing that with shaker cans would take 30 minutes per coat and won't smoothly blend.
Getting a compressor, which you can use for other household chores, plus tooling and buying paint would probably cost you as much as taking it to a pro auto painter to do your cab.
buffaloj0e
Student
I work in a professional restoration shop and as mentioned the painting part is easy, it is all in the prep. A spray booth ensures you get a dust free finish so your time is not wasted. Another point to note is there are a lot of materials that you will need in small quantities that can only be bought in bulk that a workshop would have on the shelf. Things like plastic primer, etch primer and hi-fill, if refinished in 2-pack paint this will be a resilient hard wearing finish that should last as long as the cab itself.
thomas3184
Grand Master
400 seems pretty reasonable
I've bought candy white automotive spray paint for my Aero City. I used it to repaint the control panel, a coin door and light touch ups and it worked wonders. Looks brand new after a few coats. Obviously not feasible for painting the whole thing, but it looks spiffy nonetheless!
JohnRambo'sKnife
Champion
Body shop is the way to go. A flex agent added to paint will help in the long run but you will get a terrific result even at a lightweight shop. Well worth the money. Want to save more? Ask them if you can do the prep then just drop off and pick up the shell.
Kidkaos
Grand Master
I'm definitely going to sand them myself and maybe even primer them and light sand so they're ready to paint. Good advice, great minds think alike
