New Paint - DIY

I want to give encouragement to all of you that have considered painting their car themselves. It's not that hard to do once you build up the confidence and of course you have the pride of knowing that you did it yourself.

The last time I painted a car was 30 years ago with Glasurit hand brush enamel, sprayed from a gun. I didn't know what I was doing then, maybe still don't, but I did more research this time.

The tub was completely stripped down, the bed liner that the DPO applied to the engine bay was removed with a heat gun and scraper and then media blasted. There were only two small rust spots that needed repairing and it still has the original floors.

When I purchased the car it was painted white, but I decided to take it back to its original Iris Blue. I sprayed the primer in my shop and then rented a spray booth for the top coat. It turned out well and I'm real chuffed with the results.

I used Kustom Shop DTM primer sealer from TCP Global (almost a gal.) followed by PPG Concept DCC single stage (3/4 gal.). The PPG was mixed to match an existing piece of the original body that was still in Iris Blue by the local paint store (Industrial Finishes).

Dave

Nice job. How much did it cost to rent the paint booth?

I have been using the TCP paints recently and found them to be quite good. My only complaint is the shipping charge to the east coast... but that's not TCP's fault. I also like the DCC paint from PPG. I found it sprayed really well and buffed up to a nice shine. One suggestion the local PPG rep gave to me was to spray the final top coat as a 50/50 mix of the color coat and their DCU clear coat. The result is a deeper gloss than the single stage color coat alone provides.

Nice work! Its something I'd like to learn, one of these days I'll have to get up some confidence and give it a try.

Painted mine in the carport with snow on the ground before and in the new garage the second redo... If you can do prep work, the. The painting part is easy day.

dklawson said:

Nice job. How much did it cost to rent the paint booth?

I have been using the TCP paints recently and found them to be quite good. My only complaint is the shipping charge to the east coast... but that's not TCP's fault. I also like the DCC paint from PPG. I found it sprayed really well and buffed up to a nice shine. One suggestion the local PPG rep gave to me was to spray the final top coat as a 50/50 mix of the color coat and their DCU clear coat. The result is a deeper gloss than the single stage color coat alone provides.

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The paint booth cost $150 for the day (8:00am to 8:00am the next day) and the owner does all the cleaning so all you need to do is turn up and paint. He also has a great air system with a chiller. My son suggested mixing with the clear with the final coat but as this was basically my first paint job I tried to keep it simple.

Nice Job! i painted mine myself with TCP global paint as well last summer. i think that stuff is well worth the money! it's probably not as durable as DCC, but 1/4 the cost. it took one gallon to do the whole car including the underside of the tub, the inside of the bonnet and the cockpit. I'm building a 24 X 36 X 9 garage in the backyard this summer to facilitate more home paint jobs. i've got an itch to rebuild a triumph GT6 Mk1 next.

Mark and Dave,

Just want to let you know what a great job both of you did. I chickened out on painting my big Healey on my own after doing all the body and prepwork. I was too nervous about tiger striping or mottling the Healey Blue metallic on my first go.

I probably wouldn't try to paint a metallic first go... But it's not to hard to paint normal colors just take your time. It's all in the prep work. I use the Eastwood paint and it works great, plus it's cheap. Painted 2 cars with it now, both a red and black and Id recommend them for the do it yourselfer

Mark, what color did you spray on the Bugeye?

If you would like to learn, your local community college may be a good choice. I took a number of classes at Contra Costa College in San Pablo, CA and learned a world of stuff about body repair, welding, and painting. Next job, painting the TR6 british racing green.
Scott in CA

dklawson said:

Mark, what color did you spray on the Bugeye?

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that is leaf green from the 1958 AH/MG color chip card on TCPGlobal.com. those color chip cards are supposed to be original.

markberry said:

that is leaf green from the 1958 AH/MG color chip card on TCPGlobal.com. those color chip cards are supposed to be original.

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Nice looking green. What did the first coat cover like?

I wonder what the Iris Blue from TCP Global would look like compared to the match to the old Iris Blue I found on my car?
The red '59 Bugeye I have was originally Iris Blue as well. I would like to try the paint from TCP Global, but not sure that I want another Iris Blue

I believe TCP uses the PPG color chip set for their OEM matches. I have no idea how close their mixes come to being "correct". To date all I have used are the generic colors from their pre-mixed fleet paint family.

dklawson said:

I believe TCP uses the PPG color chip set for their OEM matches. I have no idea how close their mixes come to being "correct". To date all I have used are the generic colors from their pre-mixed fleet paint family.

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PPG have an Iris Blue formulation for their waterborne line of paints, but not for the DCC, so they had to match to an existing sample.

Just wondering as I was thinking of painting my '59 the "original" Cherry Red.

oud272 said:

Nice looking green. What did the first coat cover like?

I wonder what the Iris Blue from TCP Global would look like compared to the match to the old Iris Blue I found on my car?
The red '59 Bugeye I have was originally Iris Blue as well. I would like to try the paint from TCP Global, but not sure that I want another Iris Blue

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it covered well. like i said, i like the paint for the price. the durability still remains to be seen though. if it fades or chips unreasonably i guess i would repaint the outer body panels with DCC. by going through TCP i was able to take advantage of them having the color chips to work from as well. i couldn't find any formula codes that were still valid for PPG.

oud272 said:

Just wondering as I was thinking of painting my '59 the "original" Cherry Red.

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If I remember correctly, TCP has online color chips of what they can offer. You may find they have the BMC chip for Cherry Red which would justify calling and asking if they can mix it in one of their house brand paint types.

I am sure you are already aware that red paints typically cost a bit more and weather worse than other colors. We used their Corvette Monza Red on the Spitfire. It looks good when washed, glazed and waxed... for about 6 months. After that it starts to look a little weathered.

For all the work involved, 6 months sure seems like a short life to still be looking top notch.

In defense of the paint, it is red and the car is parked outside at college with no waxing or maintenance until my son comes home from school. A wash, light going over by hand with glazing compound and the shine comes back quickly.