Often, vehicles get repainted when the old paint gets damaged or discolored for some reason. Applying paint to a car or other vehicle is a perfect work of art. Because after repainting any vehicle, the shine of the paint depends on the artistry of the painter.
But in the process of repainting the car, if even a single step is not done carefully or cleanly by the painter, then it directly affects the shine of the paint done on the car. Some people think that painting a car is a trivial process. But actually applying paint to a car is the result of many processes.
Through this article, we will tell you the complete process of applying paint to the car in the right way in detail.
How To Paint A Car (Step By Step Process)
To paint the car, first of all, you choose a clean and safe place, repair the damaged surface, remove rust, apply body filler, rub the body filler, masking tape, apply primer to the surface, paint with a spray gun, and apply a clear coat.
1. Select A Clean & Safe Location
Whenever you are preparing to paint on the car, choose a clean and safe place to park your car. because while applying paint or primer, dust particles get accumulated in it. Then the paint of your car may get dull and you will feel it rough when you turn your hand.
Or if you can accidentally or unknowingly stick or rub anything with wet paints on the car in a crowded place. Due to this, the entire layer of the paint gets spoiled. Due to this, it will have to be done again, which can be a waste of time and money.
2. Repair The Damaged Surface
If the paint part of your car is damaged, then you have to fix the bad part and straighten it. For this, you will use denting tools. This process is not straightforward if you dent the painted part of your car. Then you have to cut that much part with electric cutter or gas welding.
Always take care when cutting off a part damaged by gas welding. because there can be a danger of burning other things as well, and after taking the measurement of the cut part, cut a good iron metal sheet and apply it to the cut part in perfect shape.
You must use gas welding or light electric rod welding to join this sheet piece. After this, remove the dented or cut piece. so that it can be molded into a flat and perfect shape.
3. Remove The Rust
Use 40- to 80-grit sandpaper to remove rust from a piece of sheet metal after denting the damaged part of the car. You can also clean the rust by applying sandpaper of this grit to the grinder. Denting from this process will flatten the surface. Due to this, at least body filler putty will have to be used.
And cleaning rust off the surface will allow the paint to shine more and last longer. After rubbing with sandpaper, wash the surface once with water. Due to this, the garbage from the rubbing will be cleaned.
4. Apply Body Filler
After this, take out the body filler paste from a good company and place it on a plate. Mix the hardener paste in it according to the prescribed proportion of body filler putty. Due to this, the body filler putty dries and hardens quickly after being applied to the surface.
Due to this, the body filler putty will become suitable for rubbing with sandpaper. Mix this paste well. Now apply it well to the surface with a putty blade. Fill the surface scratches and pits with body filler putty. After applying the body filler putty, leave it to dry for some time.
5. Rub The Body Filler With 40-80-Grit Sandpaper
The body filler putty will harden after drying. After this, rub the body filler putty with sandpaper of 40 grit to 80 grit. The sandpaper of this grit is coarse, which easily and quickly rubs off a thick layer of body filler putty.
Rub the body filler putty into the perfect shape. After completing the work of rubbing, wash it thoroughly with water. Due to this, the dust from the rubbing of body filler putty will be cleaned.
6. Re-Apply Body Filler
When you will first rub the body filler with sandpaper in the face. Then, in the final process, you will see scratches and small, light pits in the body filler. For this, body filler has to be applied again very lightly.
And leave it to dry. After drying the body filler, lightly rub it with sandpaper of 300- to 400-grit. Due to this, this surface will come in perfect shape. The process of body filler putty is completed here.
7. Tape Masking
After this, a primer has to be applied, which will be done with a spray gun. Before doing this, you will need to mask off the area around the area to be painted with tape and newspaper. so that the spray particles of the primer do not fall on other surfaces or parts. That’s why masking well on the area and parts around the place to be painted.
8. Apply Primer
The next step after rubbing in the body filler putty is to use a primer. Use a primer with a spray gun. Mix the primer thoroughly and apply it with a spray gun. After this, leave the primer on for some time so that it dries completely.
9. Rub The Primer With 600-800-Grit Sandpaper
After the primer is dry, lightly roughen the primer with 600- to 800-grit sandpaper. so that the primer can be made shiny and plain and no scratches should be visible on the finished parts. Do this process carefully, because this will be the final process of rubbing. After this, the painting process will start.
The sheen of the paint will depend on the rubbing of the primer. because while rubbing the primer, light scratches can emerge in the paint. After the primer rubbing is complete, wash the area thoroughly with clean water and dry it, and after that, clean the preparation thoroughly with NC thinner so that there is no bad effect on the shine of the paint.
10. Apply Paint With Spray Gun
Before painting any vehicle, you have to take care of this thing. what kind of paint is on your vehicle. because some vehicles have simple paint and some vehicles have pearl-base metallic paint. The painting process may differ depending on the paint.
because simple paint will only take a coat of paint. And in metallic pearl paint, first a base coat, then a pearl coat, and then a clear coat will have to be done.
11. Paint Process with Base Coat
First, clean the paint spray gun thoroughly with NC thinner, so that any other paint or primer in the paint spray gun can be cleaned and maintain adequate air pressure for the paint spray gun. If you are preparing to paint Pearl Metallic. Then you prepare the paint solution and you can use 2K thinner in the paint as required.
First you have to do 2 base coat of paint. If you see any light scratches in the paint or drop lining of the paint, then after drying the paint, you can clean the paint with 1000- to 1300-grit sandpaper and clean the scratch with a light scrub.
12. Apply Pearl Coat
After the paint process is complete, you have to apply the pearl coat. If you have only one spray gun, then to pearl coat you will need to wash the paint spray gun with NC thinner to clean the paint from the spray gun. Now pour Pearl Coat into the spray gun. And after done paint you have to do pearl coat.
This will add shine to the paint of your vehicle. because paint pearl contains shiny fine particles. Spray pearl coat carefully. So that dullness is not visible from anywhere in the paint job.
13. Apply Clear Coat
This is the final process of pearl metallic paint. In the paint process, after the base coat and the pearl coat, you have to do the clear coat. It is a shiny liquid like water.
A clear coat is used to protect and add shine to the paint. Add the clear coat solution to the paint spray gun and spray the clear over the finished paint as a final process.
Be careful not to apply a thick layer of clear coat, as this can completely ruin the shine of your paint and cause the drop line of the clear coat to hang. Now leave it to dry for 1 to 2 hours.
14. Remove Masking Tape
Remove the masking tape after the painting process is complete and dry. After this, after 1 day, lightly rough up the paint with 1500- to 2000-grit sandpaper. so that any minor errors in the paint can be corrected.
After this, you have to rub the paint so that the dullness in the paint can be removed and more shine can be created. And the layer of clear coat can be made thinner. Rubbing anytime
And don’t do rough or fresh paint; do this process after 1 to 2 days of painting. Because there is a possibility of tearing of fresh paint during rubbing and rough up. This way, you complete the paint process.
Sandpaper Grit Information On A Car Paint Job
- 40 to 80 Grit – This sandpaper grit is much harder and rougher and leaves visible marks behind. Sandpaper of this grit is commonly used for rough rubbing of body filler putty or to remove rust.
- 100 to 200 Grit – This grit range is used for leveling scratches in the paint process, feathering edges of body filler, spot putty sanding, and light rust removal.
- 300 to 400 Grit – This grit sander can be used for pre-primer sanding, rough primer sanding, fine sanding spot putty and final body filler sanding.
- 600 to 800 Grit – This grit is sanded to correct imperfections in the primer applied before paint. This primer works to level the scratch and drop lines. It is best to use it wet for better results.
- 1000 to 1200 Grit – This grit is used for sanding paint to remove imperfections in the base coat. It should be used wet for better results.
- 1500 to 2000 Grit – sander with this grit is used to smooth out surface imperfections and scratches before and after applying clear coat.
Banty is the owner of Autorepairszone.com & is also a vehicle mechanic by profession. We have almost 12 years of experience in the field of automotive repair, and we strive to provide you with accurate information about vehicle malfunctions and repairs based on our experience.