[93BlueTurbo]

What's up everybody....

I know NOTHING at all about painting cars and my friend Jesse (the kid that does all the headlights) and I wanted to paint both of our cars RSP and roll to shows together. There is a place we know of that can mix the paint, and the cost I am not concerned about there. I just want to get it right the first time, so does anyone have any suggestions or advice on how I may go about doing this? We do have a professional spray gun from a body shop, and a good location to do this job. We just want to make sure we know everything about this before we do it.

Thanks in advance

Mark . Jesse

 

[Xotic sC]

go make a friend that works in a paint/body shop and then have him help you out and guide you throughout the whole thing.

 

[SupraLB]

You're thinking about painting a Supra with no experience? Please tell me you're joking.

 

[93BlueTurbo]

Nope...I'm not joking here. I have all the professional tools needed and I am getting an estimate on the cost of the paint today. If I have all of this stuff why would I pay thousands for labor?

I also said that I wanted advice, and any tips just so I know everything about this job, I didn't want any criticism.

Thanks

 

[93BlueTurbo]

sorry for the double post...but I guess I did mislead you all a little...its not that I know nothing about this job, it's just the fact that I've never done it before, but we know someone who used to work in a body shop, which happens to be Jesse's uncle, however he got hurt badly, so we are gonna have to tackle this job ourselves. Any more advice would be great, and I will be sure to get pics of this paintjob once we are done.

On further note, Has anyone ever done this before?

 

[Guest]

from what ive heard practice makes perfect when painting...if you have little experience with painting start with some scrap panels and stuff..Dont try to paint your beauty the first time around...
Experiment on scrap and when youre comfortable move on.

-I have never done this myself, but thought the same that i may be able to do this myself, then realized that the professionals are definatley worth the price...
But if you wanna do it yourself, good luck and let us know how it turns out.

 

[down south fire]

Nope...I'm not joking here. I have all the professional tools needed and I am getting an estimate on the cost of the paint today. If I have all of this stuff why would I pay thousands for labor?

because your gonna pay double after you fuck it up so bad for them to fix it. never make your virgin job your supra, come on now

 

[Jeff Lange]

I'd pay $200 and buy a scrap car, and paint it up to get experience, then maybe do it again.

I would not do it on the supra the first time around, but if you've had some previous experience, doing a bunch of scrap pieces should allow you to get a good idea of exactly how you'd like it done.

(Personally I'd just make friends with someone who knows what they are doing REALLY well)

 

[93BlueTurbo]

thanks for the input guys...I figure the slim chance that I may mess up, I can jus sand it and repaint it

I am talking with professionals tho..

However, the whole point of this job is for us to do it ourselves, because I'm not sure if that has been done before, so even though you guys are prolly all right, we want this to be our project.

Anyways, once again I will get pics as soon as I'm done

 

[blkturbo!]

thanks for the input guys...I figure the slim chance that I may mess up, I can jus sand it and repaint it

Slim chance??..........you'd better humble yourself quick, because cockyness gets you nowhere when you have zero PERSONAL experience. I've worked with newbies like you (no offense, just saying) and they didn't have much success, and I've also seen a widebody supra GET F U C K E D from a newbie <------ and his brother owned the car! His own blood couldn't swing it for even as bad as he probably tried. Everything that could be done/go wrong with a paint job, DID.

Talk all you want to pros....verbal learning gets you very little in return.....its the HANDS ON and TIME that will ACTUALLY teach you the valuble knowledge you need to paint a car without fucking it up beyond recognition.

Another thing, redoing an entire paint job (because you weren't humble enough to begin with), can be a big fucking mess and makes the second go-around not so great (I could go into a million details on why, but whats the point really).

Think about this: Various professional painters experience paint problems on a weekly basis.....it's the nature of the job. We have problems that bite us in the ass every now an then.....the only difference is that our problems aren't quite as bad as a newbie's problems. But the idea is that even with mucho experience, this shit aint a cake-walk every time

You don't only have to know how to do it, you have to know and UNDERSTAND what to look out for and avoid.

Practice all you want......just spare your supra (unless it's a tird).
It's the volume of work you do that will teach you (try making a living at it).

Don't take any offense, I'm just laying it on you straight from an ex-newbie's perspective

 

[blkturbo!]

Nope...I'm not joking here. I have all the professional tools needed and I am getting an estimate on the cost of the paint today. If I have all of this stuff why would I pay thousands for labor?

You can have all the tools you want....sure they'll help, but it's the execution that is so tough. You brain and hands have to have the coordination to pull it off......the tools don't come near to doing it for you. You're only scratching the surface so far.

I wish you luck of course, and the confidence is cool to a point, but still, if you actually DO pull it off with actual success all by yourself, you'd just be considered a seriously lucky SOB.

 

[93BlueTurbo]

hahaha u guy's make reall good points... and no offense taken man I thank you much for the advice because it is really changing my mind. The Supra is such a beatiful car and needs a beautiful paint job IMO. Right now the water spots in the paint and sap cracks are killing me... I neeeed to get this done, so I've decided to increase my hours at work so I can get more money for this sh*t...cus lets face it I don;t make 6 figures a year lol...

thanks again, found a body shop in Northern NJ that will take care of it and I'm getting an estimate on Tuesday

peace peace

 

[cuemaster]

just go to maaco, they would prolly get better results than you would. jmho

 

[93BlueTurbo]

blkturbo!! omg man how did u do that to ur hardtop supra??!?! what did you end up in mud or something??

 

[blkturbo!]

Yeah seriously, i didnt mean any offense. I was just in a hurry and had some points i wanted to get across
But also, I worked in shops and painted until i went back to school...so i know both sides of the fence.
Wanting to do it yourself is all good....its just a shame that its no as easily done as it is said -----> there's just entirely too much involved than what meets the eye!
Talking to guys who have done it is of course a good start to say the least, but it won't make you a painter after a few conversations.....like I said, paint conversations only require ears....the brain still has to transmit it to the eyes and hands (hence practice) The first time will be an eye opener to put it gently. Kinda like a kid choking and having his drink come outta his nose for the first time, LOL (well, maybe not THAT bad).

I seriously hate thinking that I'm bursting your enthusiasm and shit, serving as a big negative bubble floating around you, so I will say "go ahead and try if you have the time, it's your car, not mine. It's good that you have tools and a guy to talk to who's done this before....just don't set yourself up so high, and be humle enough to know that there's plenty to learn to even come close to decent". You can tell a child how to ride a bike untill he's blue in the face, but untill he gets on it and falls on his ass, he still don't know shit.....so, decide if your supra is what you want to use as your first bike ride

As for my first supra, I drove it into a big canal at 50+ mph. I was racing down a bad choice of roads and slid threw some gravel. Landed, bounced and flipped into the water upside down and sank to the bottom. I was knocked out but came to, then swam threw the windshield to the top of the water. 35 stitches and about 5 were from the accident, the rest were from escaping the windshield.....didnt have a clue I was even cutting myself - which is kinda cool when you think about it Crazy shit your brain does for you! Poor car.....6 moths before getting the other one you see. Got it 4yrs ago @ 29k miles.

But anyway, give it some thought and make the choice you feel is right for you, not me

sean (wow, long post...sorry )

 

[DragRacingSupra]

93BlueTurbo: While you're at it, please take alot of pics for the works, thanks and good luck

 

[SupraLB]

Its just so easy to mess up a paint job. Professionals constantly make mistakes and have to redo their work. If you have to redo your work - its going to totally wipe out your margins and you would have saved money, got a better job, and had less headaches and time than doing it yourself.

Plus - you want to go to car shows with that paint job? Car show guys will see all the runs, the oversprays, the dead spots, the peeling, the bubbles, etc.

 

[Eric_C]

he will be fine. he has Jessie and he can get overnight bodyparts from Japan if he messes up

 

[93BlueTurbo]

haha damm blkturbo! thas one hell of a story..and like i said i want long posts, lots of advice, anything that will help me make the right decision...and i wouldnt have posted anything here if i didnt want some feedback, i would have just gone and done the paintjob myself, but I am glad I came to supraforums first, which is what I always do..but anyways..i dunno if this is a stupid ass question or not but what kinda plans do u have for that supra that u crashed? jeez i cant imagine how much it would be to even start to fix that

 

[93BlueTurbo]

and o yea...i LOVE takin pics so expect like 50 pics when im done lol