Help with DIY Spray Painting & Prep Work? Any Bodyshop people here?

[d215yq]

Watching with interest and after reading this I think I would like to completely DIY respray my W124, more out of interest as to how difficult it really is and how bad it will really look than anything else.

It's a difficult one knowing when to listen to the naysayers and when not. At every stage of expanding my mechainical/DIY knowledge there have been people (across many forums) who said not to and yet in 10 years I've gone from not knowing how to polyfilla a crack in a wall to creating a bathroom and kitchen from scratch, and not knowing what fluids went where in the engine bay to servicing/replacing the brakes on the car. All very well to say leave it to an experienced person but then they also didn't know those things at one point and, without such wonderful forums/youtube videos around probably had a much harder and hit and miss learning curve than you do nowadays.

Just doing enough research and considering each stage and potential safety implications to date I've had no engineering "failures" or need to re-do anything though obviously fit and finish and timliness on some of the first jobs was not great...but if you spend 10% of what it would cost a professional and you learn and enjoy along the way who cares.

Looking forward to seeing the finished results.

 

[Severnless]

@d215yq and @Vx-Man-G
I take my hat off to anyone who will have a go at paint application, my only advice to anyone who wants to have a go, is please, please make sure if you are using any type of 2k paint, use the correct PPE, ie not a filter mask!! Use a forced air fed mask and the correct filters and charcoal regulators, your lungs will Thank you!
Link
And
Link

those are the ones that I use and above all else clean everything, then clean it again, also pristine house keeping where you are working, you can never have to much Light, When applying 2k paint.
Use a reputable paint supplier, don’t skip on cheap paint.
Are sure it’s mixed correctly before you poor it through a paint filter into the gun, check colour with spot panel
Don’t put to much paint on as you could end up with solvent rash, remember 2 wet on wet is better than 1 curtain coat.
The list goes on and on.
But when you crack the technique there’s no better feeling when you roll the car (or boat) out into the sun for the first time after the last coat has cured.