Sometimes all a vehicle needs is a little maintenance attention and a nice, new shiny coat of touch up paint to make it look like it is in showroom condition again. I thought that I might as well check out the various options in making my vehicle look as good as new and save money on labor in the process. I found that professional paint jobs can be pretty reasonable but none are as cost-effective as getting the know-how to spray paint a car by yourself. I found out that I could pick up this great new hobby and have a great looking vehicle within a day or two just by doing some simple touch ups myself. After reading up on some simple directions on how to spray paint a car I started on my project. This was not only a great way to spend a weekend it also turned out to be a pretty lucrative venture, too. The first step that you take when you are spray painting a car is to make sure that the surface is smooth. I removed any remaining flaking paint from the car and sanded the edges of the paint to get the surface smooth, then I sanded the general area to be painted. Then I applied some body filler to the surface and smoothed it out as much as I could before sanding. Once the filler hardened, I sanded the area and applied some primer paint using a paper template of the area by outlining the area with a pencil and then cutting the template out so that I did not get any overspray to the specific area I wanted to paint. This is my least favorite part of the process but it is really rewarding to see all of the primer and sanding pay off with a smooth surface. This is a very important step when you spraypaint a car because any bumps or ripples will show up if you don’t address them properly. I bought a wide sanding block and fine grit sandpaper and wet sanded the area carefully to the area I am painting. And I made sure that the surface was as smooth as silk by looking at different angles checking for any imperfections in the body. The last thing that I wanted to do after the project was to have to remove the new paint and re-sand the surface all over again. I also chose to spray paint a car in high-gloss paint so the bumps and dents would show up two fold. Making sure that you put in a lot of extra time to get things done right the first time is worth the extra hours. If you paint the car and get any overspray you will have to learn how to get spray paint off of a car instead of on the car. Included in the smooth surface is the absence of any dust or residue that can stick to the surface of the paint and cause problems. No matter how carefully you sand and no matter how smooth the surface is, it makes little difference if there is a bunch of dust when you spray paint a car. The dust will just bulk up and it will look like you never even sanded the area at all. It's quite satisfying to see that my car can still look great even though it is over ten years old now and the car is still mechanically sound and is comfortable to drive. Now that I know how to spray paint a car, some friends asked me to take on some side jobs completing these kinds of projects since I am retired and like doing this sort of thing. I get a pretty good business and I’m getting really quick at doing it. I’m almost tempted to spray paint vehicles full time once I get enought of the proper equipment for spray painting cars and ventilate my garage properly so I don't have a problem with fumes. * Touch Up paint - Note: You can identify the exact color of your car by recording your VIN (Vehicle identification number) located on the dash of your vehicle, you can see the number by looking through your windshield to locate the number. Bring your VIN number to your local automotive store for an exact color match * Sandpaper wet and dry sanding at least 220 grit * Body Filler * Paper for making a template of the local area you want to touch up * Pencil * Spray paint
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