We are in need of severe help. PLEASE.

9

91_GSTBaby

New member
Joined
Feb 7, 2010
Messages
12
Reaction score
0
Hello everyone. Well I come to you guys with a sincere question.

I just recently purchased a 1991 Mitsubishi Eclipse GST, Fully loaded with re-upholstered interior and 86,000 on the clock. She is a beautiful car. Mechanically sound, beautiful interior.

However this car was a Long Beach, CA car for most of its life and the paint is oxidized, deteriorated, and lifeless.

I am a 19 year old college kid, and I do not nor will I probably ever have upwards of a 1,000$ for a paint job.

I have studied the art of detailing and found that this forum, the porter cable 7424 series and the write ups on here are some of the best around.

Please if anyone can take a quick look at these photos, and let me know what the smartest choice is, and if anything can be done about this paint.

Some sections still have SOME clear coat, other sections seem as if they have none. In fact some of the paint is dark black with primer shining through.



Thank you all for your advice,

Josh






 
That thing is going to need a repaint. There is no other way around it.

What ever spare money you have I suggest you save it and keep it on the side in the event the car breaks down, and it will. Best of luck to you!
 
Anyone suggest prepping it, and primering it myself and taking it to maaco for a couple hundred bucks? Or should I spend a few thousand only.

Thanks
 
Hey Josh,

Welcome to Autogeek Online!

Congratulations on your new ride however after a close look at the attached photos and reading your description I'm afraid the paints too far gone and will need to be refinished.

The car looks in decent shape and spending $1500 or so to get a good paint job shouldn't be too unreasonable.
 
You can prep the car yourself by sanding and tapping but dont primer it. That cheap rattle can primer that you buy at auto parts stores are useless so dont even think about them. Leave it to the painter to use a self-etching primer or high build primer/sealer. They will only use primer if you are changing the color, otherwise they will paint over top.

As for a Maaco job, it all really depends upon the painters there. You will have to do research on local forums and ask around which ones are good. I have seen some great factory looking paint jobs and some horrible ones come out of Maaco.

(Make sure you take the spoiler off and paint underneath it.)
 
Sorry dude, from the looks of the pics.........that paint is smoked! SORRY :(
 
Want to watch some pretty crazy video's on painting your own car using rustoleum paint and a spray gun check out You Tube.But as far as you paint like everyone else mentioned when there is clear coat failure not much can be done
 
If I was broke and wanted that car to look better, I'd definitely go the rattle can route. I don't know how crazy you want to go, but a color change can be a lot of work and I don't know how much time you're looking to put into this. I painted the rear fascia of my Vette with SEM semi gloss/flat black (I think it was called Honda black bumper paint). I spent A LOT of time masking, scuffed with 800 grit, used plenty of Meguiars body solvent, and did many thin coats. It turned out awesome...did it on my friend's car too.

I would personally give something like that a shot, but since you don't have a good layer of paint to work with, you'll likely need to sand it down and re-primer it too.

IMG_5046.jpg


IMG_5056.jpg


IMG_5071.jpg


IMG_5074.jpg


IMG_5096.jpg
 
You did really good with that, but I am someone who appreciates the high gloss, and do you know if its possible to get half a decent paint job through cans with high gloss paint?

I dont want to change the color, the red is fine. I just want it to be pretty. I dont want to spend 1,000+ on it, nor do I have that.

But I am definatly interested in the can job if it can turn out somewhat ok. As long as it will look BETTER then it does Im in for it.

Thanks
 
Do the $50 rustoleum paint job then. Google it. The way the paint looks will depend on how much prep and time you put into it. I've done the $50 paint job before and its turned out ok. And the good thing about the rustoleum red is it is almost a perfect match to the factory red 1g DSM paint.




::EDIT::




Here are some pictures of what the paint job looks like. I painted the entire care and parted it out a few months down the road but I still have the hood and rear hatch. The only prep I did was scuff and tape up the trim. I never wetsanded inbetween coats like I should of and applied the paint too thick.

Well I revisitied the hood a year or two later to see what could be done to it. Well here it is.


Close up of paint. Dirt particles and orange peel. You can see I really layed the paint on heavy.
CIMG4924.jpg



Overall condition.
CIMG4927.jpg



After some wetsanding. Notice the haze in the right corner.
CIMG4931.jpg



After compounding and polishing.
CIMG4939.jpg



50/50
CIMG4941.jpg



Another 50/50 shot. As you can see there is still some heavy orange peel in the paint but with a little more sanding it should look like factory paint.
CIMG4945.jpg



Here is a comparison shot of the rustoleum paint and factory paint. The color is really similar. (Note: The rustolem paint in this shot was not sanded nor buff.)
CIMG5040.jpg
 
Last edited:
i know the macco around me is charging $249 for their paint job. The more you can sand down and prep or take off the better imo
 
91_GSTBaby said:
You did really good with that, but I am someone who appreciates the high gloss, and do you know if its possible to get half a decent paint job through cans with high gloss paint?

I dont want to change the color, the red is fine. I just want it to be pretty. I dont want to spend 1,000+ on it, nor do I have that.

But I am definatly interested in the can job if it can turn out somewhat ok. As long as it will look BETTER then it does Im in for it.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Well...there's the problem. I don't have any experience with a glossy rattle can finish, but I would assume that any inconsistencies will be much more prevalent in a glossy finish than matte. It's going to be tough to make it look really good, but you don't have much to lose with the amount of clearcoat failure that's on the car now, so I'd give it a shot. Lasthope posted some good pics and with good prep / enough wetsanding, it will look decent enough to get you by. :props:
 
ok, thanks for all the help! Well I have done some re-search and found a whole BUNCH of write-ups on how to prep/sand cars before painting them but does anyone reccomend a certain technique??

I don't have much to work with space wise so if I were to do this it would probably have to be body part by body part. Mask off one section, etc.

I do see the rustoleum is similar. Any specific write ups or videos that you guys think are the best way? I'm pretty new to this painting all together. I would like to take it to maaco if it really is only a few hundred bucks but I've heard good and bad about the shops around me.

I think it really is all in the prep work. But I also think a OK maaco paint job would probably still be better then me in my garage with some cans.

So if I apply the rustoleum correctly it can actually be treated as a automotive paint job? ie (buffed, polished, etc)??

Sorry for all the randomness,

Josh
 
P.S. I have an automotive paint place where I live that can mix any color combination I want, and use real hardener, urethane paint and he sells this little batterized spray gun thing. Its like a cheapo air gun runs off of those little co2 cans.

I wonder if that would be better then rustoleum...
 
91_GSTBaby said:
P.S. I have an automotive paint place where I live that can mix any color combination I want, and use real hardener, urethane paint and he sells this little batterized spray gun thing. Its like a cheapo air gun runs off of those little co2 cans.

I wonder if that would be better then rustoleum...
Click to expand...

If you have a compressor, or a friend with one, you could look into getting your own spray gun. Just a thought.
 
I have a large air compressor, but the only part is I'm at my in-laws place and they wont let me spray here. I like the 50$ paint job idea because theres no over-spray dust or anything because its done with a roller. I am re-searching the 50$ job like crazy, I was VERY impressed with the Corsa Corvaire car that this one guy did.. I am seriously considering it.
 
I would just buy a gun and repaint it.... I am not allowed to paint stuff here and I do at night. Nobody notices... shhhhh. But in all seriousness.... do you have anyone you know who had a large garage dedicated for this kind of stuff? If you do.... buy the gun and paint, sandpaper, bring your air compressor and practice and go from there..
 
okay, so i just went and bought some 320 grit, and 600 grit wet-sand paper.

For laughs I took some 320 to the heavy oxidation on the paint, and it took the oxidation right off, but straight down to the primer in some areas. The bucket of water i was using to wet sand was blood red after about 3 inches of oxidation taken off.

So.. yeah thats not gonna help.

I have decided to do the roller-50$-job.

However, I cannot find a rustoleum gallon of the red talked about here.

I found a red in the smaller can they have, but I wouldn't know how to thin out the paint properly seeing as the 50/50 is supposed to be for the gallon.

Everyone I talk to or read about on the roll-50$-job says it needs no primer, or sealant prior to painting with the rustoleum enamel.

I went to the home depot and found the 4" high density rollers.

Im this close to just diving in. My paint is so bad, its litterally coming off with microfiber rags. :autowash::mad:
 
^^^ haha.. Yea DSMs crank walk but chevys crank walk a whole lot too.

The quart size is correct. I grabbed two of them but only needed one. Get an small bucket with lid. Pour the quart of paint in there and use the same can and fill it with mineral spirits. There is your mix. Its going to be thin like water so dont worry about it. Use what you need for the first coat and dump the rest in back in the bucket, close the lid, and set it aside until you do your next coat the next day.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top