I was busy this past weekend. I sanded down my car, primered with an etching primer, sprayed Nason brand single stage urethane, then for some eye candy effect I covered it with some dupont chromaclear with a touch of red pearl. The primer, clear and pearl I all ready had. The single stage urethane was about $130. I did this in my back yard. I am expecting a "nasty gram" from the home owners association. My compressor was running out of air, so I kept having to adjust my gun. So some of the metalic came out "splotchy". Because I was outside I got a few bugs and dirt particles here and there.

Here are some before and after pics. I have yet to wash the car. Next month I'll wet sand, buff/polish it and then give it a good coat of wax.

Before










After

What is the correct way to wet-sand and polish? Is it necessary to wet-sand a fresh paint job?
--
Mike F - 1984 244 DL - 265,000 miles
Original engine, transmission, drive train, alternator, starter
Undergoing reconstructive surgery with POR-15

LOLOL I have been there. I swear the bugs seem to find me when I am painting,and I decided that I need a better compressor, so that mine can keep pace with my gun. I dont know whats louder, my compressor, or my diesel truck. I have one neighbor that gives me that look---like I know what you just did in that garage.

Your car is the same color purple as mine! It even looks like your rear door looks a shade off, just like mine does. It is a great job however!! With a good wash and wax my car looks pretty good for a week or two.

Hi jguerra3235,

Looking good! Painting the grille-surround body color was a nice touch!

I'd love to hear more about your process/equipment.
Did you remove any parts (trim, lights, bumpers, etc.) or just mask everything?

I'm going to need a re-paint eventually, but have no painting experience, so any advice, recommendations, etc. is appreciated!

On a related note, what did you use to revive your mirror covers?

I hope your HOA was understanding-- in any case, you could argue that it adds more value to the neighborhood now, right? ;-)

Take care,
volvie!

Thank You,

The grill is actually from a 1993 Volvo 240 classic. I lucked out and found one at my local pick and pull. I still have chrome one in my garage.

I used a DeVilbiss HVLP gun with a 1.3 mm tip. The primer was a self etching primer. The paint was a single stage (Nason brand) urethane. Because I had some left over clear from a previous paint job I sprayed a few coats of clear with red pearl. Because my 30 year old compressor started to lose air I had to adjust my fan pattern while spraying. So my metallic came out kind of of splotchy in places.

The only parts that I removed were the bumper trim pieces and mud flaps. Every thing else I masked off. The rear "VOLVO" and "240" I painted over. I will soon remove the paint and polish the flat surface of those emblems with my dremel. Doing it this way makes the emblems stands out better. The sides and the back ground of the emblems will be body color, while the flat surface will be polished.

The mirrors I cleaned with simple green and a scotch brite. I then gave them a fresh black look with "KIWI" black leather dye. I am not completely satisfied with the results. Up close I can see streaks from the sponge applicator. Next week I will spray the mirrors, bumpers, and black trim with "Krylon Fusion" satin black. Krylon Fusion is marketed for plastic but can be used on almost any surface. Basically it is paint mixed with an etching chemical that helps it to really "bite" into the surface. For $5 a can you can't go wrong. Two weeks ago I did my mud flaps with it and they look great. On my car it was a very rushed job and for as little money as possible. From start to finish this job took 6 hours and cost me about $130 to $140.

Painting cars is not really very hard. I'm lucky my father in law is a good teacher. Take a class or two at your local community college and you will have more than enough knowledge to paint cars. Some advice, offer to paint a friends car for free (he buys the paint) before you paint your own car. This way you make you "beginners" mistakes on someone else's car.

That thing came out nice!
My son and I painted our 740 td wagon a few years back when he was about 8 years old, it didn't take long before he was shooting the paint better than I was. Now he's been bugging me for over a year to let him paint our raggedy looking crew cab pickup and I just bought the paint for that one So far it's going to be metalflake gunmetal gray with green flames up front and some red and blue stripes on the bed. I bought him a new airbrush for his birthday so we'll see what he does with it. When it comes to artistic things, I quit questioning his crazy ideas a long time ago. Now for the wisdom of letting a 12 year old paint a car.....
--
-------Robert, '93 940t, '90 240 wagon, '84 240 diesel (she's sick) , '80 245 diesel, '86 740 GLE turbo diesel, '92 Ford F350 diesel dually

Hi jguerra3235,

Thank you for taking the time to further explain your process and equipment!
This is definitely going in my bookmark folder for future reference!

Happy holidays!

Take care,
volvie!

Looks great!
--
Jake

Wow, that was rough shape, great job. Did you end up removing the bottom plastic panels on the side or just painted over them? Did you remove the trim strip on the doors and did you break any of those clips in the process?

I have literally 4 small scratches and chips that need attention but otherwise the car is shining. Had one guy look at it and he said he'd just paint all the top surfaces, basically everything up from the side trim. Sounds excessive to me. Plus may look different from the below the trim part. Can't they just fill in the scratches and buff it out? It's a gray metallic car.

The plastic panels I painted body color. The "VOLVO 240" emblems I painted. I have not decided if I am going to leave them that way or remove the paint by sanding them and then polishing back to life.

Where I get my paint supplies they can mix any color you need into a "paint pen" or a spray can. If you only have a few small scratches or chips I would use a "paint pen" and polish and wax it after it cures.

The emblems that say volvo are easy to put back on with some double sided tape. You may want to just remove some from a donor car and save the hassle of fixing them. The paint job stands out as non-professional due to the emblems being painted. Otherwise it looks pretty good considering the before look. Makes me think maybe I'll attack my aging roof sometime with a spray can.

Looks much better! I can't believe you did that outside!

Looks nice!

-Phil

Ooops!
Anyways, why didn't you take the time to pull off the rear badges and the passenger side key lock!?