It’s often not long before the average automotive enthusiast contemplates putting on a respirator, picking up a spray gun, mixing up some paint, and unveiling their first paint job. Yet, there’s more to learning how to repaint a car at home than simply going through the motions. In fact, much of that education comes before even stepping foot into the paint booth (otherwise known as the garage).
As with almost anything automotive, preparation can make or break your final results. Repainting your car at home is no exception. Use the guide below to discover what you need to (and didn’t) know about repainting your car in your own garage to save time and money, avoid common mistakes, increase your knowledge, and ultimately improve your final results.
Find a qualified location
If you’re researching how to repaint a car at home, you’ve probably already picked out a location to set up shop. In most cases, it’s your garage or an enclosed building separate from your home. Before you even order paint or supplies, make sure that the space you choose meets the following requirements:
- Square footage: Obviously, you want enough room to wheel the car in and out of the space you choose, but you also want to account for room for materials, yourself, and about 10 to 20 feet around the entire car for maneuvering.
- Cleanliness: You don’t have to have painted a car before to know that a painting space that isn’t clean leaves its mark on your finished paint job—and not in a good way.
- Ventilation: Respirators help purify the air you breathe, but you still need to remove the chemicals released during painting from your space to protect your health.
- Permission: Depending on where you live, painting your car in your garage could be illegal, so read up on local laws or contact your local code enforcement or zoning board office for specifics.
As many problems as painting outside might solve, such as ventilation and space, the contaminants in the immediate area make it nearly impossible to achieve a blemish-free result.
Take stock of your materials
A superior paint job stems from quality materials that make your job easier, as long as you know what you’re doing. Determine which supplies you already have and which you need to add to your shopping list. Here’s a basic list of automotive painting supplies to help get you started:
- Spray gun
- Respirator
- Eye protection
- Paint suit, preferably with an included hood
- Air compressor
- A few boxes of disposable nitrile gloves
When researching which type of paint gun to buy, consider a gravity-fed setup. In this common configuration, the paint cup sits atop the spray gun, allowing the paint to feed into the gun via gravity. You can also use a siphon-feed spray gun, but these are less common.
Essential automotive painting chemicals
We’ll cover how to select paint in a moment, but there are also several other chemicals you need during the automotive painting process. For example, you’ll need wax and grease remover, reducer, and sealer, to name a few. Remember to match the sealer you choose to the base coat you’re laying down right after.
Learn more about what’s behind reducer choice and which works best for your application.
Why do quality automotive painting supplies matter?
If you’ve done any sort of automotive work besides painting, you’re likely well-educated on the value of quality materials. In the case of automotive paint, it’s about spending a little more to get more pleasing (and durable) results. When you need high-quality products that mirror the passion and hard work you put into your first (and subsequent) paint job, trust Colors Edge to deliver.
Select your paint
Chances are, if you’re searching “how to repaint a car at home,” you’ve probably already picked out a paint color. Whether you have or haven’t, it’s important to research the different types of automotive paint and which meshes well with the look you want. For example, urethane-based paints offer superior durability, while acrylic paints more closely match a car’s factory finish.
You can also approach paint selection by brand name. If you’ve heard good things about a particular automotive paint brand, choose from the colors and chemical products they offer. There’s also nothing wrong with mixing and matching products, as long as they’re compatible and deliver the results you anticipate.
Want to learn more about different types of automotive paint? Check out our guide on 3-stage paint jobs if you’ve heard the term but aren’t familiar with when to use them. You might not be ready to tackle a candy coat just yet, but it doesn’t hurt to investigate how to get that beautiful depth.
Technical data sheets for automotive paint products
Product manuals may have a special place in your home (read: the trash bin), but when you receive the paint you’ve selected, it’s worth keeping—and reading—the technical data sheets (TDS). These information resources list a lot of critical data you need to ensure you’re using the paint properly, alongside the other chemicals you need for a quality paint job. If you didn’t get a physical copy in the box with your paint purchase, you can typically download the TDS from the manufacturer’s website.
How to repaint a car at home: Preparation is key
The first step in preparing your car for paint is deciding whether to strip the body down to bare metal or spray over the existing surface. As you can imagine, you’re more likely to get better results if you go down to metal, especially if you don’t know if (and how many times) the car has been repainted before and how well. It’s a much longer process to approach repainting your car at home this way, but it is often well worth it in the end.
Whichever method you choose, you’ll also want to determine whether you need to paint the outside of the car (which may or may not include the door jambs) or the entire car. Repainting every metal surface requires almost a full disassembly process, which quickly eats up time. However, removing parts can make it easier to reach certain panels that would otherwise be difficult to paint.
Bodywork and repairs
Automotive paint can certainly put a new shine on an old vehicle, but if you don’t address rust damage or mismatched panels early on, you’ll have only wasted a significant amount of time, effort, and materials. Don’t overlook the value of restorative bodywork and sanding sessions—as painful and tedious as they may be—in helping you achieve the results you expect.
Sanding, priming, and guidecoats
Painting a car takes time, but those few hours pale in comparison to the days you’ll spend sanding to achieve a superb finish. We don’t recommend cutting any corners when painting a car at home, especially at this critical stage. The time you “save” will only compound exponentially later, when you have to essentially repaint the entire car—good for practice, but bad for morale.
Here are a few tips to keep in mind when sanding, including using guide coats to smooth out the primer:
- Simplify sanding across large/long surfaces with a sturdy sanding block
- Remember to change your sandpaper frequently to continue cutting, rather than smoothing the surface
