adanny01:
I have not had time recently and things went south yesterday. Too many hurdles on this journey.

Sorry bro, but we your diy supporter are still rock solid behind you... God bless bro

Car wrap is a pretty good opportunity to make your car look like new. As for me, I was using https://inkasdesign.com/3m-wraps/ which is a good service to get this service really fast. I am living in Canada, Toronto and it is really important to find a reliable service with a good guarantee. I am pleased that I can protect my car from sunshine, birds and insects as well.

[color=#006600][/color]
it's great.... you could come up with something using readily available materials for design.





pls note.
I have a foreign used Nissan pathfinder SUV for sale at a fair price, msg me for more info.. very neat

Please tell us how it goes when you go about it. Thanks

Update please

adanny01:
So, my car is about 6yrs and the paint is in bad shape, thats apart from scratches and dents by family and friends.

The plan is to buy an electric spray gun (see image below), sanding discs for electric drill, buffer for electric drill, paint, thinner, clear coat, primmer, scotch tape and old newspapers. The panel beating will be done by competent panel beater.

My motivation is lack of funds to contract the best services for the job. Also, the cheap ones will not do a good job. I paid 30k for my sister's car last year but at this time, my car painted 6yrs ago is far better off.

From my reading, the main work in painting a car is the preparation (sanding precisely). Actual painting does not take more than 5hrs but the preparation will take days - weeks to get it right. I know if I Do-It-Myself, it will come out better. The only part I am scared of is the actual painting i.e getting right viscosity and colour.

Challenges:
- I am not sure if the electric spray gun will be adequate. The main decision is buying the spray gun.
- The Spray gun itself cost more than half of the budget but if successful, I may do 2 other projects which will eventually be the cost advantage.
- I have no experience in paint mixing or thinning
- I am also afraid of the job being too tedious or that without a garage cover, dust may make the job bad.

Truth be told , you created this thread since May ,it is now August when will you start this your paint Job .. A car you have driven for 6yrs , bros na just penny wise pound foolish ,pardon my words ...
A good paint job ,won't cost max 60k is this worth your strength ,time and effort ..

tripoli007:


Truth be told , you created this thread since May ,it is now August when will you start this your paint Job .. A car you have driven for 6yrs , bros na just penny wise pound foolish ,pardon my words ...
A good paint job ,won't cost max 60k is this worth your strength ,time and effort ..

When I buy brake pads for N4,500. It costs me N500 to pay my mechanic to install them. But no, I take it home and install myself. Its not about the N500 installation fee.

80% of the time I wash my car myself. Its not about the N500 fee.

Within this same period that I created this thread, I have painted a car. I have the painter's number to call him?

Do you drive? I guess yes. Why do drive? As in, why don't you hire a driver instead of driving yourself? Its just 40k a month am sure you can afford it. You get what I mean?

In my own case, clearly I can't afford 60k for a paint job, do you want to volunteer? I would gladly, accept and appreciate your offer.

As an update to the thread, I have ordered 2 items and it has been 2months now, no show. Stuffs i ordered February were refunded last month, its not easy to get what I want.

Besides, after my accident, I have bought a bumper, headlight, bumper bracket, inner fender mudliner and engine splash shield. All I need is to drop the car with my panel beater in Jos.

If at any point I cannot proceed as planned, I would have no regrets to call it off. I have seen far more expensive ventures on NL that have not yielded desired results. I know when to quit except if you order me to quit by stepping up right now.

adanny01:


When I buy brake pads for N4,500. It costs me N500 to pay my mechanic to install them. But no, I take it home and install myself. Its not about the N500 installation fee.

80% of the time I wash my car myself. Its not about the N500 fee.

Within this same period that I created this thread, I have painted a car. I have the painter's number to call him?

Do you drive? I guess yes. Why do drive? As in, why don't you hire a driver instead of driving yourself? Its just 40k a month am sure you can afford it. You get what I mean?

In my own case, clearly I can't afford 60k for a paint job, do you want to volunteer? I would gladly, accept and appreciate your offer.

As an update to the thread, I have ordered 2 items and it has been 2months now, no show. Stuffs i ordered February were refunded last month, its not easy to get what I want.

Besides, after my accident, I have bought a bumper, headlight, bumper bracket, inner fender mudliner and engine splash shield. All I need is to drop the car with my panel beater in Jos.

If at any point I cannot proceed as planned, I would have no regrets to call it off. I have seen far more expensive ventures on NL that have not yielded desired results. I know when to quit except if you order me to quit by stepping up right now.

In that case this is purely an "elephant project"
You must paint am o
We want to learn frm you and you said you might call it off,abeg paint am,whether it turned out good or not,lets learn from it.

tripoli007:


Truth be told , you created this thread since May ,it is now August when will you start this your paint Job .. A car you have driven for 6yrs , bros na just penny wise pound foolish ,pardon my words ...
A good paint job ,won't cost max 60k is this worth your strength ,time and effort ..

Abeg gimme your painter number.

Zane2point4:

In that case this is purely an "elephant project"
You must paint am o
We want to learn frm you and you said you might call it off,abeg paint am,whether it turned out good or not,lets learn from it.

White elephant you mean.

The thread is titled, "I am considering....". At no point did mention I must complete the job.

Like I said before, if my spray gun will not do a good job, I will pull the plug. I have not had time to test it, but will soon. Since my front bumper is going off, I will get little paint and clear coat to test the spray. If the output is nice and smooth, we are game.

.........THE END.......

......TILL CONTINUED......

I'm currently doing my own and I'm enjoying it. Just replaced the bumper and made some modifications to it so it fits in properly. Did the painting of the front grill today. Next is the bumper.

Kelvin30286063:
I'm currently doing my own and I'm enjoying it. Just replaced the bumper and made some modifications to it so it fits in properly. Did the painting of the front grill today. Next is the bumper.

What of your dog

There was a little progress today. I decided to do my little experiment yesterday so I got some small amounts of base coat (silver), clear coat, hardner and thinner.

To do the trial with as little paint as possible, I decided on the back cover of my rear view mirror.

If removed, it is easy because there is no need for taping or other work other than just spraying.

So I got my paint and removed the cover yesterday.

I also adopted the widely popular mix ratio. 2 parts base or clear coat to 1 part hardener to 10% thinner.

However, I didn't have a measuring cup, filter or viscosity cup. The measuring cup for exact mix proportions, the filter for obvious reasons and the viscosity because the spray gun has a specification of 50din max. I skipped all these because it will just slow me down.

So today, I connected a wire extension for my spray gun. I got everything ready but something went wrong.

The paint was individually tied in transparent polyethylene bags. The clear coat somehow leaked and the hardener did what it was supposed to do on its own, it became solid, thicker than petroleum jelly.

If I aborted, it would be a waste of time so I hoped the thinner would melt it with good stirring. Apparently, that's where the filter helps. I did my best to get a consistent paste but it was not enough. The little clumbs just kept clogging and spitting.

I also didn't have a correct viscosity at first, I kept on thinning till it was ok but the clogging and squirts of solid hardener were just making a mess.

adanny01:
There was a little progress today. I decided to do my little experiment yesterday so I got some small amounts of base coat (silver), clear coat, hardner and thinner.

To do the trial with as little paint as possible, I decided on the back cover of my rear view mirror.

If removed, it is easy because there is no need for taping or other work other than just spraying.

So I got my paint and removed the cover yesterday.

I also adopted the widely popular mix ratio. 2 parts base or clear coat to 1 part hardener to 10% thinner.

However, I didn't have a measuring cup, filter or viscosity cup. The measuring cup for exact mix proportions, the filter for obvious reasons and the viscosity because the spray gun has a specification of 50din max. I skipped all these because it will just slow me down.

The old paint better pass

Lastly, I almost aborted at the last stage but decided to spray the clear coat without hardener just so I can see the spray result.

I had just little clear coat to use so I thinned it much more than I should.

The output was better, encouraging and uniform. It was smooth too.

What's the virdict, I will say it is plausible to use my spray gun and achieve some average results.

I did learn a lot from this trial.

1. I will need a lot of thinner, that's one thing a painting session should not run out of.

2. Paint filter is absolutely necessary.

3. I also got an idea of quantities required to paint the whole car.

4. I read somewhere that insects are attracted to the smell of clear coat, lets say I concur. That means painting outside of has this as major challenge.

I will plan a redo of this trial.

DonDemu:
The old paint better pass

U never see am u dey happy say I don fail, ha! Bad belle full here.

Incoming.

adanny01:


U never see am u dey happy say I don fail, ha! Bad belle full here.

Relax man. Just go thru this post and you'll see that I have been consistent in defending you right from the start. I only thought what you posted was the end result and why my comment.

HeavenlyBang:
Incoming.

Is this your car? Your painter must be from sambisa since for sure you didn't do it yourself.

So, once again, I have made series of trials yesterday and have arrived at a conclusion.

First, I sanded the last paint with soft sandpaper. I was able to experience the difference between wet and dry sanding. I must confess, as small as the part was, sanding took some time and effort to even out. So, I can only imagine how stressful it would be to sand an entire car.

Secondly, I bought the paint in same quantity but with more thinner. I proceeded to paint the base coat.

The result of this stage was a cause for concern. I wasn't satisfied with the base coat again like last time. I added more thinner, did another coat and the result became poorer.

I proceeded to buy more thinner, washed the new coats of paint. The thinner even washed other previous coats and left an uneven surface. I did another round of sanding, bought and sprayed another coat of base coat. This time, it was presentable but not of the quality I was looking towards.

At the end, I sprayed the clear coat which came out very good.

In conclusion of the trial session, the problem experienced is spraying the base coat. The clear coat comes out neat and smooth devoid of orange peel. The base coat is not smooth at all no matter the amount of thinner applied.

The final resolution arrived at is that, I have no issue with clear coat but have serious issues with base coat. The clear coat being thicker. The main reason for such a result though is the nozzle size. I did mention before the trial that recommended nozzle size is 1.3-1.5mm. My spray gun has only one nozzle of 2.5mm which is quite large to give a good result especially with the base coat. Until I am able to find an appropriate sized nozzle, am afraid I won't get a good result.

adanny01:
So, once again, I have made series of trials yesterday and have arrived at a conclusion.

First, I sanded the last paint with soft sandpaper. I was able to experience the difference between wet and dry sanding. I must confess, as small as the part was, sanding took some time and effort to even out. So, I can only imagine how stressful it would be to sand an entire car.

Secondly, I bought the paint in same quantity but with more thinner. I proceeded to paint the base coat.

The result of this stage was a cause for concern. I wasn't satisfied with the base coat again like last time. I added more thinner, did another coat and the result became poorer.

I proceeded to buy more thinner, washed the new coats of paint. The thinner even washed other previous coats and left an uneven surface. I did another round of sanding, bought and sprayed another coat of base coat. This time, it was presentable but not of the quality I was looking towards.

At the end, I sprayed the clear coat which came out very good.

In conclusion of the trial session, the problem experienced is spraying the base coat. The clear coat comes out neat and smooth devoid of orange peel. The base coat is not smooth at all no matter the amount of thinner applied.

The final resolution arrived at is that, I have no issue with clear coat but have serious issues with base coat. The clear coat being thicker. The main reason for such a result though is the nozzle size. I did mention before the trial that recommended nozzle size is 1.3-1.5mm. My spray gun has only one nozzle of 2.5mm which is quite large to give a good result especially with the base coat. Until I am able to find an appropriate sized nozzle, am afraid I won't get a good result.

Been following this thread for quite some time and I'm loving ur DIY Spirit cos we share similar traits but for real I don't think painting an entire vehicle is an easy DIY task,if it were just the bumper or fender I'll give my full support but doing a full body spray job; I'll advice u leave it to the experts.

Why don't you source for the correct nozzle sizes from overseas specifically the US of A?

double3:

Been following this thread for quite some time and I'm loving ur DIY Spirit cos we share similar traits but for real I don't think painting an entire vehicle is an easy DIY task,if it were just the bumper or fender I'll give my full support but doing a full body spray job; I'll advice u leave it to the experts.

The actual painting of a car is not more than 2 or 3 hours. The DIY challenge is energy, time, tools and the condition of the car body that requires painting. With a car that needs panel beating, the skill required and energy to be dispensed is far greater to a car with perfect body that needs touch up.

Yes, I know its challenging, what I set out to do is to break the jinx that supposedly prohibits a DIY enthusiast who has minimal tools and skills to embark.

That's why all my challenges are documented so as to establish the DIY limits with regards to painting. In my own case, it is limited by the budget I have set and the availablity of budget tools I require.

Before now, DIY painting is a no go area with one reaction, "leave it for the experts". This thread opens the topic to specifics of the limitations.

AutoElectNG:
Why don't you source for the correct nozzle sizes from overseas specifically the US of A?

That's the way to go but how long will the delay be?

Besides, I own a spray gun already which I got locally. It wasn't my first or second choice mainly because I knew before buying that it came with just one nozzle unlike other non locally available brands that could have as much as 4. (See pix below)

Secondly, I just cannot rush to buy another nozzle and risk the fact they are not just one part fits all. The spray gun below comes with a plastic nozzle while mine has a copper nozzle. Another issue is the spool needle design and size.

My nozzle looks like pic 3. But my own nozzle is threaded and screwed to the plastic with a 13mm flat wrench. If I buy this one and cannot remove or install the copper part, I would just have waster more money. This nozzle is for another brand of spray gun (pic 4) but I believe it bears a close resemblance.

adanny01:


That's the way to go but how long will the delay be?

Besides, I own a spray gun already which I got locally. It wasn't my first or second choice mainly because I knew before buying that it came with just one nozzle unlike other non locally available brands that could have as much as 4. (See pix below)

Secondly, I just cannot rush to buy another nozzle and risk the fact they are not just one part fits all. The spray gun below comes with a plastic nozzle while mine has a copper nozzle. Another issue is the spool needle design and size.

My nozzle looks like pic 3. But my own nozzle is threaded and screwed to the plastic with a 13mm flat wrench. If I buy this one and cannot remove or install the copper part, I would just have waster more money. This nozzle is for another brand of spray gun (pic 4) but I believe it bears a close resemblance.

I have imported two used ECUs within recently.

I imported the first one circa June and when there was an inexplicable delay with the first shipper, I contacted an alternative shipper and purchased/forwarded a second identical ECU nearly a month later. Both arrived Nigeria within 7 days of each other. From start to the end of the both shipments, everything was concluded inside of 2 months.

Adanny01, I believe shipments are arriving without as much hassle now. Things have opened up. You can get the right nozzle or spray gun combination now.

9icetoo:
Adanny01, I believe shipments are arriving without as much hassle now. Things have opened up. You can get the right nozzle or spray gun combination now.

Spray gun, am not buying again. Why I didn't buy on AliExpress last time was the shipping cosr. I was getting the spray gun at 10 to 20k and shipping 50k and above.

I have been searching for the nozzle on AliExpress. I just saw what looks exactly like my nozzle but its a 1.8mm.

I would like a 1.3-1.5mm but can't find it yet.

adanny01:


Spray gun, am not buying again. Why I didn't buy on AliExpress last time was the shipping cosr. I was getting the spray gun at 10 to 20k and shipping 50k and above.

I have been searching for the nozzle on AliExpress. I just saw what looks exactly like my nozzle but its a 1.8mm.

I would like a 1.3-1.5mm but can't find it yet.

Ok.

adanny01:


When I buy brake pads for N4,500. It costs me N500 to pay my mechanic to install them. But no, I take it home and install myself. Its not about the N500 installation fee.

80% of the time I wash my car myself. Its not about the N500 fee.

Within this same period that I created this thread, I have painted a car. I have the painter's number to call him?

Do you drive? I guess yes. Why do drive? As in, why don't you hire a driver instead of driving yourself? Its just 40k a month am sure you can afford it. You get what I mean?

In my own case, clearly I can't afford 60k for a paint job, do you want to volunteer? I would gladly, accept and appreciate your offer.

As an update to the thread, I have ordered 2 items and it has been 2months now, no show. Stuffs i ordered February were refunded last month, its not easy to get what I want.

Besides, after my accident, I have bought a bumper, headlight, bumper bracket, inner fender mudliner and engine splash shield. All I need is to drop the car with my panel beater in Jos.

If at any point I cannot proceed as planned, I would have no regrets to call it off. I have seen far more expensive ventures on NL that have not yielded desired results. I know when to quit except if you order me to quit by stepping up right now.

Just go and study medicine so that you can be treating yourself.