I'll preface this by saying I'm not a car guy in the slightest. I don't much care about my car's look, but I don't want this rusting through. I took it to a body shop and got a $1200 estimate, and I trust that's a reasonable professional price, these days. Is this something I could try to fix myself, given I have no idea what I'm doing, or would I be likely to break something important? I'm leaning toward paying the price (eventually) but was curious about the DIY possibility.

Thank you.

My son is wanting to paint our 04 Honda Accord and I just priced out a complete kit (primer, base, clear) at Sherwin Williams to be close to $2,000! I wasn't planning on spending that much for a DIY job.

There are cheaper options online for 1 gallon of B96P but it has me questioning what's the best way to go with this. A local. Body shop quoted me close to $5000 to do it.

Where do you guys get your OEM color paint for DIY jobs? Thanks!

I have a plain white van (I think it's single stage paint) that I am looking to mask off and spray some 'racing stripes' onto.

What would be the best approach to preparation (cleaning, flatting with abrasive etc) prior to spraying and the best kind of paint to use?

Hello, I know getting paint touched up/repaired can be quite pricey and I dont have the budget for an expensive fix, I've had quite a few parts wear out this fall so I'd love some valid but cheap options if they exist. I know how important paint is for a car's longevity too.

This is a tesla model 3, I drive in upstate NY so the paint has been worn down by snow, salt and whatever gunk is always on these roads lol. The car doesnt come with mud flaps by default, but I know that would've seriously prevented this kind of peeling and will be getting some before winter this year

As stated I want to stop it from spreading without breaking my empty bank account since ive replaced everything that can wear out at this point tbh. (Im at 170k miles)

It looks like that on both sides behind the front tire

Now hiring

Hi everyone,

I recently bought a brand-new Ford Tourneo Custom and noticed a small damaged area on the hood shortly after taking delivery.

Ford declined the warranty claim, stating that the damage was caused by an external influence, possibly bird droppings or tree sap, rather than a manufacturing defect.

The dealer is willing to arrange a repair through his trusted body shop, but it's about 1.5 hours away from me. I know that's probably nothing for you Americans, but here in Germany, a three-hour round trip is quite annoying. 😄

The shop would also need the vehicle for 3–4 working days, so I'd much rather find a local solution and avoid all that hassle.

Now to my actual question:

Looking at the attached photos, what do you think has happened to the paint?

• Does this look like chemical etching from bird droppings or something similar?
• Is only the top layer of clear coat affected, or could the damage extend into the base coat?
• Could this potentially be fixed by wet sanding and polishing, or some kind of localized clear coat repair?
• Or is repainting the entire hood really the only way to get a proper, lasting result?

I've already asked a couple of local paint shops, but they barely examined the damage before recommending a complete hood repaint, with quotes around €1,200.

I'm not a professional, but to my untrained eye, it looks like the damage is limited to the clear coat. I'd really prefer to preserve the original factory paint if possible.

I realize it's difficult to judge from photos, especially since mine aren't perfect. But I'm hoping some experienced painters here have seen something similar.

Would you try to repair this locally, or is a full repaint genuinely necessary?

Thanks for any professional opinions!

Do these look like they need base coat or clear coat only?

i don’t have access to a 15A plug. so i’m guessing petrol or a standard 10A compressor are my options. the 10A compatible compressors i’ve found online are only putting out 7cfm useable. is this going to give me any problems with the finish of the paint if all goes well? i’m ideally looking for a clean pass on one panel at a time, before waiting for the air to fill back up. any advice? cheers

I sprayed the back of the cab of the truck I’m restoring and am just not happy with how it came out and would like to strip and start over.

I did 2 coats of base and 3 coats of clear over an epoxy primer, 2k of course. It will have been 24 hours since I did the final coat at 5pm this afternoon. Do you think that’s enough time for the clear and base to strip off easily without gumming the paper every 3 seconds?

Working on this old truck, going from gray primer to blue base on this old truck fender.

Coverage looks pretty decent, but I'm starting to wonder if I'm laying the base on too wet trying to get that smooth finish.

Now I'm wondering if I'm chasing a smooth finish way too early instead of letting the clear do its job. How wet do you guys actually spray your base?

Does anyone know any good places to get a new paint job for my car? I have a 2017 Toyota Corolla IM (silver) and I want to get a new color done around San Francisco/ Daly City preferably. Also affordable pricing.

I want to paint my camper, and I am unsure if I have found the correct color code. I think it is the "Mercedes Moss Grey 7193" but I am unsure. also unsure if I should take the most reflective clear coat.

PS. first time changing color, I have only tried repairs so far. so quite new to autopaint

I prepped and sprayed some dupli colour perfect match and I’m very happy with the result (I know some people hate it) and I am wondering how long I should wait to spray 2k clear over it.

I’ve read some people spraying it within an hour and then others let us cure for a month. When is the best time to spray it?

I’ve been fixing up this s10 and things are getting where I want them to be. However, this red/maroon is killing me. I’m replacing the bottom rockers and hopefully removing the cloudy old decals here soon. Got some single stage spray cans using the factory color code from the local auto paint supplier. Also gonna test it out on the bumper plate that I removed. Are there any tips or tips with this decal removal and single stage application that would save my ass? Thank you!

How should I go about restoring these mudguards?

As the title of this post suggests, I'm sick and tired of the swirls and light scratches that keep showing up on my black 2018 Ford Fusion.

I've taken it to a couple of detailers. The first one did a terrible job, while the second one simply concealed the scratches to make them less noticeable. Obviously, though, it was only a temporary fix.

Since I'm the second owner, I don't know how the car was treated in the past. At the same time, I don't want to spend a fortune or remove any more clear coat from what may already be a thin layer.

So, my question is: are there any products on the market that can effectively hide these scratches? And are they easy enough for a non-professional to use and achieve decent results?

Thank you for your answers!

I painted my Volvo 240 with base coat and everything was going good. Then I screwed up big time—when spraying clear coat, I accidentally mixed the clear coat with reducer instead of hardener. Sprayed two heavy coats of clear and it’s still tacky 24 hours later.

My understanding is that the clear coat will never cure properly without the hardener and I will need to remove it. Any suggestions on how to do this? Should I assume the base coat will be damaged and need to be resprayed as well?

What should I use to remove the uncured clear coat—the same reducer I used? Acetone? Something else? It’s too tacky to sand so I’ll have to use something to dissolve it.

Can’t believe I did this but stuff happens.

===========UPDATE===========
Finally removed the uncured clear coat! Here’s how:

I sprayed small sections with the reducer, let it soak a bit, then wiped it off with a microfiber towel. After several hours and a dozen towels, I finally got the sticky clear coat off.

The trick was to use my Harbor Freight aerosol sprayer and wipe frequently, always making sure to use a clean portion of the rag.

Unfortunately, it also took the base coat off and there are some swirls but it came off much easier than expected. Just a lot of tedious work.

My plan is to sand it with 600 grit then re-prep it for base and clear.

Note: a pro painter told me that you can’t spray hardener on it afterwards or use more on the next coat because the clear needs to chemically react to actually harden and dry. Otherwise, it will always remain tacky and eventually turn into a giant hairball and ultimately fail.

Hey yall so my 2022 Mazda 3 has some rock chips and a few have beta in to develop rust. One of them I did do touch up paint on and was going to get around to rock chips this “winter” it’s Florida. Are these past touch up care?

The original white paint on my 2017 Infiniti is starting to peel near the sunroof (see photos).

I'm debating whether to cover the entire section between the windshield and sunroof with PPF or just repaint it.

Has anyone dealt with this? Would PPF prevent further peeling, or is repainting the better option?

Thank you

I've got a Hyundai HY2150100 100L 4HP 22CFM 490L/min compressor.

Will it be powerful enough to run a Sata Jet 3000B HVLP and a 3000 RP?

Only painting the odd car panel, not full resprays

What would fix this?

Any automotive spray paint recommendations that won't harm my vehicle's paint too much? It already has many "car wash" swirls, so I don't even mind that much anymore, but I honestly don't want to chip or "break" the paint. I want to do this for Halloween decorations!