Here's a picture of my girl that I picked up a month ago.

Bare metal was exposed along the sides of the hood and I decided to paint it myself. The paint was peeling especially here.

I heard about a budged do it yourself painting method here:
http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/...6e789ba9e7f47c
I was thinking of painting the hood pure black, the high gloss one. Due to certain circumstances...I already have a dark gray paint, but I think I messed up because one the can was shaken and two it's not Rustoleum. It's Glidden Ultra-Hide Oil semi-gloss . I think pure black would be cool and I think the gray I have is just going to end up looking like a bad attempt to blend in if I can use it. However, I've been told that black would look retarded because I'm adding another color into a grey metallic look. Too many colors supposedly. So...I'd like some fresh opinions.
Here's a closer look at the nose.

And here is a pic of the interior just because I think it looks good.

 

I vote for a grey that matches the car

And isn't rustoleum/tremcrap/etc..........

 

So one for grey and what's with the shifty eyes? They are the same brand yes, tremclad or "tremcrap" is the canadian variant.

 

Sorry, that should be one scentence. "a grey that matches the car, and isn't rustoleum/tremcrap"

If you're going to do it yourself, may as well learn some actual techniques instead of rolling on some oil based enamel and trying to buff the 1/8" of texture out of it. Even some cheap acrylic urethane will do a better job.

But whatever you do it'll look better then it is, I just hate seeing people who want to do their own body work use **** like that.....it will teach you nothing about paint work (other then not to use it again after it fades out in 3 months and starts chipping off in sheets )

 

How much did your local Mazda dealer quote for painting it the original color?

 

black should look the best.

 

Cool, black is winning =D I was talking to a guy at checkers about it and he suggested I make the hood black along with everything else back in a straight line. I'm definitely not going to do that...Brother in law said black would make it "look like I picked up a hood from a junkyard". I did like what the checker guy said about checking it on on photoshop, hopefully one of my friends have it, hehe.

To Evil Aviator - I didn't get one because I have a good feeling I wouldn't be able to afford it. Maaco quoted me at 350 that's already steep for me..I can probably do just as good as them for $40.

 

Already did the paint job, here I am in my new car. I have to admit I am pretty stressed out from doing this so fast! Please excuse my facial expression.




How do you guys like it?

 

Honestly?

Looks like ****.

But I suppose its better then before.........

 

Haha ClassicAuto...I thought you would have realized from the guy in the window that this was photoshopped =D
I haven't painted it yet hehe.
Oh well, I was hoping it would make someone laugh...
Seriously though, from photoshopping results the black looked too overpowering. I picked up semi-gloss anodized bronze rustoleum stops rust type. It's the closest thing to a dark gray they had.

 

Whether anyone cares or not here I go!
I sanded for most of my day so far progressing from 120 (which I had already used in the pictures), with a little bit of 80 grit for trouble spots, to 220, and then 400. I used a pressure washer to blam the hood a bit and then soaped the car down real good.

Of course, after I finished washing I noticed a few bumps that I had missed! So I had to do some quick 80 up to 400 because a storm was blowing in. The whole hood feels very smooth, I love to run my hands over it.

And I JUST finished painting the first coat, wOOt! I mixed in a bit more mineral spirits after I had already painted a third of the hood because it seemed too thick, shouldn't be too bad as it was my first try and I can sand the bejesus out of it if I have to. I probably will have to in order to remove all the bugs! The light in my garage attracted them like hicks to nascar! (Bad place for that? Eh don't care) I will not be painting at night again for this reason. I picked a few of the suckers off my hood with tweezers, it was sad the way the grabbed for the tweezers when it came withing reach, as if they were some lonely person drowning in the ocean and god reached down with his thumb and pointer for you. Too bad I couldn't remove them without crushing them to death. Thems the breaks I guess.

I think I'll take a picture tomorrow and post it. I used anodized bronze I think it's called as the paint color, seems OK.

-Peace

 

I'm already learning new things after putting on my first coat, I think it's impossible not to learn when I'm doing something so new and intricate. As for the fading and chipping in sheets, I'll refer you to the 69charger guy who's paint job is still going strong after years

 

Does it matter if I have a fan blowing on me while I paint? I was wondering if it could have contributed to more bubbles in the paint because of convection? Blows more junk into the paint? Or would the air flow actually slow evaporation of the spirits in the paint? *shrugs* Any opinions?

 

def black

 

Sorry about the width of the page, that last picture didn't get reduced.
Anyways, here's a picture after the first coat



I had read that I wasn't supposed to have full coverage until the 3rd or 4th coat although that guy was using white. Still, I think I might have mixed it thick.

Kudos for about.com I will be painting my next coat in backwards N's in smaller sections instead of long up and down runs. Now that I write it, I have used that technique before in drawing heh.

-Peacefulness

 

Better than it was