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First time paint jobs with pics,lets see yours

15K views 66 replies 21 participants last post by  496CHEVY3100 
#1 ·
It just dawned on me that so many guys are doing their first paint work and doing some really beautiful work. I remember how I worried way back when I did mine but you guys blow me away,it took several jobs before I could get anything like I'm seeing here.....So I thought A little thread showing your first paint job's and a short list of what materials you used, problems you had,would you do it again? etc...
I thought it would be great having this all in one place so everyone can see it can be done and get some encouragement.....Some of us have been doing this so long we forget all the challenges we had to overcome..
My hats off to all you guys that do it yourself so lets see some pics of those first paint jobs. This is your wall of fame....
 
#3 ·
First complete paint job. DuPont Chroma Premiere BC/CC with Chromalusion flames.









Second. PPG Omni SS







Centerline
HotRodsAndHemis.com

"Remember, if you didn't put it together with your own hands, its not really yours." - Tim Allen
 
#4 ·
See ,Thats what I'm talking about....Beautiful work...
My first job looked good but not like those.
I just find it amazing that someone can do such nice work the first time outa the gate...I wish I had some pics of my first one.You guys would laugh but I sure was proud of it (Iwas 16)......until it fell apart a year later. Thats how I learned the hard lesson of having a good air supply and filters.
Any words of wisdom to anyone thinking of tring it?
 
#5 ·
Replaced most of the body panels and painted this Blazer in 1983. I guess I didn't sand the primer good enough and the paint started to peel. The paint also didn't have any gloss, it turned out more of a satin finish (I uess I was way ahead of my time)







 
#7 · (Edited)
This is my Hobby, and fifth complete repaint and 2nd frame off restoration. This Project was by far the biggest challenge and most rewarding. I used all SPI primers and clear, Base is Napa Crossfire. Sprayed with Sata NR2000 gun and 3M System to cut and buff. My Son and I rented a booth,he sprayed the gray and I did the black, Years ago when he was in High school we restored his 64 Nova so this was payback for Dad.
 

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#8 ·
This is a cool thread DMB thanks for posting it. It is amazing how many photos we take these days because of digital cameras. Back when I painted my first car (truck) you had a 12 exposure 126 Kodac and you picked and choose what you were going to "waste" them on. :D

This is an pathetic photo but it means the world to me. The Model A is my first paint job ever it was SS Ditzler acry enamel. As I remember, I shot my 64 Nova SS in lacquer but it was after the Model A I THINK. I'll have to call my brother and ask him then record it somewhere as I don't remember these things well. But the Model A is it I am pretty sure. My truck behind it is the second enamel paint job I ever did and the third paint job counting the Nova.

The Model A had a "curtain" style run all the way across the body line in the back. :rolleyes: I really improved on my truck with only a little sag on the drivers fender. :D

The photo of my truck is right out of the "Booth" (our garage) Aug 1st 1977.

This photo is also my very first "rod run" going to Andy's picnic Aug 7th 1977.

Brian
 

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#9 ·
By the way AWESOME paint there guys! The later picks like Centerline and Dave's are what I love seeing! What beautiful paint jobs and you guys don't do this for a living. This is why I have to laugh at the guys who do it for a living and act like they are walking on water. There you go, BEAUTIFUL paint jobs by "Hobbiests" (I think both of you are hobbiests ?).

Look at that paint on those cars, BEAUTIFUL!

And Arrowhead, GEEEEEZ you completely rebuilt that truck! AWESOME!

Brian
 
#10 ·
Sixguns said:
This is my Hobby, and fifth complete repaint and 2nd frame off restoration. This Project was by far the biggest challenge and most rewarding. I used all SPI primers and clear, Base is Napa Crossfire. Sprayed with Sata NR2000 gun and 3M System to cut and buff. My Son and I rented a booth,he sprayed the gray and I did the black, Years ago when he was in High school we restored his 64 Nova so this was payback for Dad.
Very nice plus that color combo is great.

Dave W
 
#12 ·
MARTINSR said:
By the way AWESOME paint there guys! The later picks like Centerline and Dave's are what I love seeing! What beautiful paint jobs and you guys don't do this for a living. This is why I have to laugh at the guys who do it for a living and act like they are walking on water. There you go, BEAUTIFUL paint jobs by "Hobbiests" (I think both of you are hobbiests ?).

Look at that paint on those cars, BEAUTIFUL!

And Arrowhead, GEEEEEZ you completely rebuilt that truck! AWESOME!

Brian
Forgot to mention that both of mine were done in my garage (as I'm sure some of the other guys were as well).

The Deuce will be painted in my garage as well. Already did the jams and interior paint work. Just waiting for the temps to climb enough to do the rest. Martin Senour SS (1964 Ford Candy Apple Red).







Centerline
HotRodsAndHemis.com

"Instructions are just the manufacturers opinion of how it should be put together". - Tim Allen
 
#13 ·
I don't know where the single picture I have is of the very first car... but I can tell you this... It was bad!

I painted my first car, a '53 Chevy 2-door post, in 1965... at age 16. It was that Seafoam Green used on '65 Chevys, and of course it was all lacquer.

Trouble was that it was a "flat" finish! Today it might be fashionable with some builders... but at that time, it was NOT! (I was still proud because I did it myself.)

I did not attempt a car again until after I had been painting choppers for a while (about 1975), and had learned how to get the finish I wanted. The second car only happened because the owner, a very good friend) told me he had faith in me... and would not accept "no" as an answer. :) He is gone now, but I will always be in debt to him.

Here is the first complete I ever did on a bike (about '72)... and my second complete after the '53 Chevy. Another good friend loaned me his gun and compressor and coached me about how to spray paint. After this, I cancelled my long-term plans to be a drag racing pro, and decided to paint! Went full time 14 years later, in '86.

Friends and family are really the reason I was able to do something I love for a living. :)
 

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#14 · (Edited)
Brian,I eremember very well when the instamatic cameras came out man we thought they were the greatest, but all the pics evedntually changed color. :( Kinda like our first paint jobs)
The computer has changed everything .You guys are very lucky to have it at your fingertips,I had to go to work at a body shop to learn and even then I was destined to make all the same mistakes they did (and man,there was a ton of them) and to all those fortunate to be a father/son team....theres NOTHING more satisfying than that, it dosent even matter what the car looks like...You guys really rock, I think you'll all agree that a nice paint job is all in the prep ,the actual painting is pretty easy...Centerline, I've used that omini a lot in the past but I never had it look like that... :thumbup:
I thought it was about time we got all you guys on one thread so you can all get the respect and credit you deserve...and give others that are thinking of doing it themselves some encouragement........and so us pros can remember what it was like....BTW it doesnt neccesarily have to be a car,bikes are very cool too,anything at all.
 
#15 ·
About 20 years after I painted that truck, I built his T bucket and did all the paint and graphics w/ modern PPG and Omni paints. Came out pretty good but it could have been better.






I did this Mustang a few years ago w/ mostly SPI products (Omni for the color). I had a rough start shooting it, but after a few panels I got in a groove and when I did the shell, I was actully surpised how well it came out.





 
#17 ·
see my avatar. Buff colored Napa urathane primer, and darker stripes courtesy of the crapiest spray paint i've ever seen. still, good enuf to keep water out. and i dont have to worry about tailgating people on a dirt road. haha. like that damned camaro in my journal! couldnt have any fun in that thing. my blood pressure doubled any time i took that out on the hwy. this will also me my first REAL paint job, if i am still lucky enuf to have it by the end of the year. currently for sale cause i am broke broke broke!
 
#18 ·
'91 Corolla I got for my daughter. Silver from Kirker didn't work (mottled) so I ran down and bought Omni base instead and still used the Kirker clear (Its not very tough clear). Used the wrong reducer (fast) and had problems with gun spitting and didn't get coverage on the doors because of the reducer and low-light conditions.

Learned a lot though !! Had a blast !!
 

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#20 ·
Yes I read the date on this thread. Bump.

First complete paint job. My first Grand Prix as well. Sprayed in an empty warehouse with a borrowed DeVilbiss. I used K36 primer, my own custom mix of DBU based on the then-popular GM Black Sapphire, and DU1000 clear with DU5 hardener. There were no significant dust nibs and one sag about an inch long on the trunk lid. No polishing was done. The year was 1989. Top pic is before and none of the photos have been edited. The paint looked like new the day it was junked in 1992 by a negligent driver.





 
#21 · (Edited)
Yup it's a old thread but still a good an active thread, Thanx idrivejunk for bringing it to the life !

No picture of my first paint job Thank God ! I was 17 and worked in a bodyshop after school. Being young an cocky thought l knew it all, so one Sunday l decided to paint a 73 Chevy short box van l had bought as it had side damage(rockers)this was after being partime at the body shop for 3/4 weeks.

So l straighten out the body in my Garage, sprayed 3 coats of gray primer on it, no sealer an blew 2 heavy coats of Dupont SS bronze metallic paint on it an a mist coat. Well being my first paint job an getting excited about finishing it l got a sag the size of my hand right behind the driver's door at eye level. What a mess !! The following weekend sanded it out an a total repaint !

Now l've built every vehicle from the ground up and painted everyone l built but l still have to fight wanting to hurry up the painting an get it done. Still a hobbist, still paint in my garage but only worry about that one little bug that's going to land on the fresh paint.

Patience is my point ! Pics of some of the vehicles that l've painted are in my photo Gallery an in my old photo gallery under Troy Norrad, forgot password and between myself and Hotrodders couldn't seem to get back in. Can't seem to attach thumbnails.
 
#22 ·
This is my '81 Malibu wagon that I painted quite a few years ago, now. I forget the exact color, but it's the factory color so i didn't have to do the jambs. I installed a TBI 4.3 from an '85 Monte Carlo, T-5 from a Camaro, and Monte Carlo SS exhaust mated to the 4.3's Y-pipe. That was a good driving car once I had 3.42's swapped in place of the 2 series factory gears. Nason single stage painted in the garage with no booth, with a Binks 2000 (2001?) siphon feed gun. Weather changed and I couldn't paint in the driveway, lol.
 

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#23 ·
You would not want to see my first shingle, errrrr, car paint job. The one a few posts back is the latest and quite possibly my last as the cash flow after retirement just isn't there:(

Glad this thread was resurrected as it really shows that folks can do good 'backyard' painting
 
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