Painting car one panel at a time?

**joec** · 08-03-2008 01:20 PM

I have been thinking of painting my car DIY for a while now. The thing is I do not have the time or the place to prep and paint the entire car at once. Just preparing the car for paint will take me a few weeks on and off.

The question is, how would it work out to paint one panel at a time? Hood, fender, roof etc. Completing one panel per weekend. Assuming all the paint is mixed up ahead of time and the final sand and polish is done at the end.

Anyone have any experience or comments?

Thanks
Joe

**biketsai** · 08-03-2008 02:04 PM

It would be fine. I dont see how it would be bad in any way.

**Poopie** · 08-03-2008 02:16 PM

humidity, temps, etc will all play a small part in the color matching

**andyrew** · 08-03-2008 02:22 PM

More likely than not, all the pannels will be a slightly different color..

Your better off doing all the prep work through your various weekends per pannel, priming the pannel with a sealer when your done, and the final weekend after all the pannels are done you do your final sand, throw the next primer down one day, and shoot the whole car the final day.

This will make your job a whole hell of a lot easier..
GL

**A4Rob** · 08-03-2008 02:47 PM

Taping off and cleaning your paint gun would be a PITA 9 times

**MattzWarsteiner** · 08-03-2008 04:35 PM

Solid colors would give you the best results....even then I would take the paint to its source and have them shake it for you each time.

And yeah, like A4Rob & Andy sayz, prep and un-prep + cleanup would be a giant pain.

**Siena** · 08-03-2008 05:28 PM

If a metallic, pearl or mica-based paint, forget about painting at those different times.

You won't match the paint, even if all pre-mixed.

The ambient temperature, and angle of spraying will affect the final shade you'll end up with.

**zrowcool** · 08-04-2008 05:12 AM

yeah i would recommend doin all the prep first since thats what takes the most time. You may be driving around with a car that looks flat and dull for a while but its definitely worth it in the end. Then leave the paintwork so you can do it all at once. Taping and covering is what makes it such a huge pain in the arse.

**joec** · 08-04-2008 09:23 AM

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like a better plan to do all the prep work little by little then paint all at once maybe on a long weekend. Had not considered cleanup 9X, definitely a real pain. Will just have to drive with a patch primed car for a while.

Joe

**onemoremile** · 08-04-2008 10:10 AM

At least paint it in sections. You could do the entire front clip - fenders, hood, bumper - over a weekend. Then do the doors and roof the next weekend. Then finally the rear quarters, trunk, and bumper. Staging like this will also mean that the aftercare will also be staged so you won't have to do everything at once until you claybar and wax it a couple months later.

I had my entire front clip done and it wasn't bad at all. Before removing each panel drill some 1/8" holes near the mounting bolts. These make reinstalling and lining up much quicker and helps prevent panel damage. You can prep and primer a set of panels over a weekend, reinstall, and use the block and longboard on the panels during the week. Friday after work you pull the panels back off, make sure they are perfect and clean, and then lay down the base.