Clear coat had peeled on hood, roof and trunk and looked really bad. Was quoted $8,000 and up by body shops. I couldn't afford that and it looked so bad that I was embarrassed to drive it. I didn't feel like I had a choice but to paint it myself in my garage with 10 gallon air compressor. I was scared every minute that I would make a mess. It is not perfect but I am satisfied.


Anyone can do it but it is a lot of work.

 

Nothing is ever perfect, even sometimes from the showroom. But if these pics are any indication, you did a fantastic job. The color is beautiful, and look at those chromed wheels. You don't see that everyday.

Very well done.

 

I'm dreading this project. My roof is practically shot thanks to the beach sun and I have zero patience for anything to do with painting. Want to do mine?

Seriously, congrats on a job well done.

 

I thought that I was old school liking chrome wheels. They were popular when I was a teenager. A lot of people now seem to like black wheels.
When the sun is shining, they actually reflect light on the guard rails on the side of the road.

If you don't have patience with painting, be warned, you will be sanding for days. I have a lot of patience with sanding and it got to me at times and I had to walk away for a while. Luckily we have 2 vehicles and I could take my time.

I never want to paint an entire car again.😂

Tom

 

Love that it almost looks like a new car one could have purchased in the mid 2000s. Are you planning on installing some of the badging back on the rear?

Similar to how I'm not a fan of blacked out cars and de-badging, I have a soft spot for chrome because I grew up with it in the 80s restoring 1960s-70s cars with my old man.

Recall that factory chrome was a 3K dealer option back in 2010-13, so it's cool that a few of us have taken this route on the OEM+ journey.

 

Gotta ask- how was the cleanup in the garage after all that sanding, prep and painting? Even small jobs done on my Z racecar seemed to have overspray everywhere.

 

Curious what's up with that panel gap at the A-pillar.

 

It is a 2012. Just had not put the letters on yet. Took forever putting 3m double sided tape on the letters. and lining them up straight. The tape is supposed to be cut back a small amount from the edge of the letters. You have chrome wheels too. Is that a stock front bumper cover? Really good looking car.

I took the air compressor and blew a white cloud out of the garage door several times and I have a blue wall in several places.

Yes, I noticed that gap also. Quite wide on both ends. It snapped down on all of the clips so it must have always been that way or else it shrunk when I took it off and painted it. The front fender was one of the few pieces that I didn't take off and i haven't seen any evidence of a collision. It was challenging taking the long door gasket off and gluing/taping it back on.

 

I remember when I was researching on how to paint a car I would read a forum called auto body 101 or something like that. Rookies like me would post questions and the pros would give them h_ll. I just read the information. I wasn't going to post a question and be made fun of. One person asked what brand of paint should he use. A pro replied that it didn't matter what paint he used, it was going to look like sh_t. The pros would claim that you couldn't paint a car unless you had a compressor with a tank the size of a submarine. I may be wrong but I believe that if the air compressor outputs more cfls at the pressure you need then the size of the tank is irrelevant.
The reason that I posted was to show that you can do it and not be told that you can't

 

Love that you ignored the critics and took this on yourself. I did some of my own bodywork and helped my dad’s friend paint a few cars when I was a teen and it was tedious and difficult work. I think that I still have bondo dust in my lungs.

You need to add a before and after pic to this thread once you get everything back together and cleaned up.