Inexpensive Car Paint Job

**bLindmOnkey** · 09-30-2004, 01:36 AM

It's very possible that I will inherit a 96 Honda Civic Hatchback DX from a relative soon and I'm just brainstorming now what to do with it when I get it.
It's pretty much the base model with stock everything. No A/C and stolen Hubcaps.

It's painted this really (IMO) ugly tomato red color all around and I just hate it. I was thinking of getting it professionally repainted but that would be terribly expensive. One of my friends acually spray painted his entire minivan from the original green to this dull grey and taped blue racing striped down the middle of the van-which alltogether looks convincing from a distance but hilarious. Would it be a good idea if I sanded, spray painted, then laquered my Civic to another color? How durable would the paint/laquer be? Has anyone ever done this before? If not I have another friend who has an airbrush I might convince him to let me use but he's someone who can't be bothered with right now. The main reason for repainting the civic is just because I hate the red and I'd be willing to sacrifice time and effort to save money. Thanks.

**freestyler** · 09-30-2004, 09:08 AM

get it done by someone else

spray painted is going to look worse than the ugly tomato red color

**JC-S60** · 09-30-2004, 09:14 AM

Count your cans of spray paint and you will know profesionally painted will not be that expensive

**DriverDan** · 09-30-2004, 09:37 AM

If the paint is in good condition don't waste your money. It's a cheap beater car! Not worth wasting your money on paint just because you don't like the way it looks.

**jpelzer** · 09-30-2004, 09:48 AM

Buying your paint in spray cans will spoil any savings you're expecting, plus give you a less durable paint job than using two-part automotive paint. If you really want to paint it yourself, get a compressor + quality spray gun. You'll still come out ahead financially, or even... If you're comparing against the "Ambassador Paint Job" (which sucks), go waste your money on that. But a reputable paint shop will be way more than what you'd pay for quality tools and the cost of paint.

If you really want to do this, and are determined to save money, you can probably find a shop willing to let you do the prep work, and they do the job. I don't think most people realize just how much work preparing a whole car for painting really is though. It is a serious pain. But if you are careful and patient, you can get it done right. But it's more than a weekend project, you'd probably want to have another car to drive while you're doing the prep work.

**gadget** · 09-30-2004, 10:56 AM

DON'T do it yourself. Either live with it or you can look into the Macco paint shop $299 special or whatever (it's not going to be all that great of a paint job though)

**Hcomplyr** · 10-02-2004, 10:43 AM

yeah maaco blows my parents made them paint my old 89 caddy 4 times before they got it right.

When my car got rear ended they sent my car there and not the trunk doesn't line up and the paint on the trunk is turning milky grey, things i can fix but that shouldn't happen

**carpcnoobie** · 10-02-2004, 01:16 PM

I'm not saying this is the best paint job, but if you're looking for easy solutions, you could try asking a local vocational painting school. Sometimes the public high schools as well as other vocational schools have 'student painters'. They obviously need cars to practice on. Just hope the teacher is overseeing the project.

They can't make a profit (usually) so can only ask for materials to be paid for. When I was in high school, I had several friends take their cars in to vo-tech and paint them with reasonably good results.

Not the perfect solution, but it's just another idea.