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I was always good at the Paint by numbers...with watercolors in case I screwed up.

Good lord...

Steves Charger is exactly how you described it... Sitting bare on some spinning car stand...

He wants to have it finished for some large charger show, like a 50th anniversary of it or some big deal?

depends on the paint you're using for the price. I believe the stuff that was over 90/qt was Tangerine. I'm looking a a Kandy blue, or one of the newer base/clear colors that gives the look of a candy translucent paint.

I can also tell you one reason a good paint job is so expensive is because on a car it's not just paint.
If you want it to look right, you start by media blasting the entire car to bare metal and taking the doors off, glass out, hood off, fenders off, etc..
Then you skim-coat the car and block it all out to make the car nice and even, get straight edges, etc.
after that, you prime the car.
then you block sand the primer from 80 grit down to 320 grin in stages, till you get rid of all of the imperfections in the metal.
after that, you tear the car apart again, and shoot it with the base/clear.
then you get to put the whole car back together from back to front, aligning and gapping every door and fender, hood, trunk lid, and what have you..
after that, you get to do all the finish work, like color sanding, buffing, etc till you have that glowing finish you're after.

There's a good reason people baby cars with good paint jobs.

5gs its a great deal if they color sand and buff. when its slow at my shop i usually take on paint work. i have been charging 1400 which is way to cheap for a complete paintjob

My dads friend is getting quotes to get his charger painted.

Best price so far is $5-7K. He wants the outside and full interior and door jambs painted...

Also, if anyone plans on tryingto "candy coat" something, don't. Unlike normal paints, which like KiKi said can be slightly overlapped, candy coat CAN NOT be overlapped, it will create what is called "zebra striping". You literally need a perfect painter to do candy coating. There is a reason it costs $5-6000 for a whole vehicle, you shouldn't be able to do it for $100 :)

Kiki where did you get that qutoe on HOK paint? I have seen most of their colors under 60 a quart. http://www.hokpaint.com is a great store to get it from.

note on paint, while HoK is the best, it's price also reflects this.
I'm using HoK and it's $97/quart, and let me tell you even with a HVLP gun, a quart doesn't go that far.

When you use a paint gun, move at a steady, even pace, and always keep your wrist locked.. don't "flip" outward at the end of a pass. you need to keep the gun perpendicular to the object you're shooting, especially at the beginning and end of each pass. You want to overlap each pass to give an even finish and build a good depth of color, after all the bodywork, skimcoating, block sanding, primering, and more block sanding.

This thread will be a little how to for using automotive paint to paint cars speaker boxes dashes or what ever floats your boat. I will add to this now and then usually when i have time. First ill make a list of products and tools of the trade.

Great tools:
For sanding Hutchins is the best sanders available but also have a high price. craftsman makes a pretty decent DA sander for under 75 bucks which is a great deal.

For painting Sata Jet is the best of the best but have a price to match. Sata isnt for your once a year painter or person who wants to run house paint through it. a higher end sata jet gun runs for about 450-500 bucks. There is a very nice 3pc paint gun set out there for around a 100 bucks that i use all the time. it comes with a primer gun and a base coat/clear coat gun and regulator.

Tack cloth is a nice thing to have. more info and link to come shortly.

Resporator is a must have. I dont care if you think your a tuff guy where a resporator youll thank me in 30 years.

In line air filter. always have an inline airfilter to filter out water.

Products:

Paint: Great brands of paint are House of Kolor, PPG, and Dupont. Evercoat makes a great primer and bondo.

this is all i have time for now ill update some later tonight or tomorrow.