Painted by students? Should I go for it?

Topic: Painted by students? Should I go for it? (Read 2091 times) previous topic - next topic

Painted by students? Should I go for it?

January 24, 2008, 06:28:09 PM

Ok, so some of you know I've been talking about painting my car black and getting new (secret, hopefully new for all of us) wheels for the TC. I had an 'in' at the local auto body/paint school but it now turns out that if I take my car in, he can't give it special attention. It'll be 3-5 students working on it (I'm thinking I'll do the body first, and have them paint only) and it's possible that it may come out quite sub-par... or pretty good (there have been a few killer paint jobs come out of there). SO, I pay for primer, paint, etc... and cross my fingers.

Thoughts? How much will a good (not necessarily the best)high gloss, black paint cost?

Painted by students? Should I go for it?

Reply #1 – January 24, 2008, 06:34:52 PM

I'm picky so I'd rather have a professional do it instead of a student. To each is own though.

Painted by students? Should I go for it?

Reply #2 – January 24, 2008, 06:39:11 PM

Normally I'd go for it, but Black is the hardest paint to get right, period. Might want to pass...

Painted by students? Should I go for it?

Reply #3 – January 24, 2008, 06:41:08 PM

I would go for it if it wasn't for the black. Every spec of dust, the slightest run, orange peel, no thanks.

Painted by students? Should I go for it?

Reply #4 – January 24, 2008, 06:44:07 PM

I usually agree with them, but my buddy just painted his stang black, in a barn.... his first paint job, and it turned out very nice... except for the fact that he didn't put any hardener or flex additive in it....

Painted by students? Should I go for it?

Reply #5 – January 24, 2008, 06:53:52 PM

Well, I should also say, it's kind of a temp paint job. I want the car black and I would rather settle for a decent (fingers crossed) black paint job than to keep the maroon for the next couple years til I'm ready to drop real cash into a super pro job....? I don't know.... what would the materials cost me? Anyone have a rough idea?

oh, and: painted in a barn? That's so sweet! If I was was still living back home in WI I'd probably be looking into something like that already!

Painted by students? Should I go for it?

Reply #6 – January 24, 2008, 07:48:50 PM

I painted my '88 tbird in my back yard outside, and it turned out mint... Even changed the colour from two tone brown to metallic blue... A good paint job is 90% prep work 10% spraying...

Painted by students? Should I go for it?

Reply #7 – January 24, 2008, 10:00:41 PM

Sweet! I've been wondering where you painted that car. I liked it a lot!

Anyway, turns out he may be pulling some more strings, so I may be able to get it done better after all. We'll see... and if not, I'm gonna do all the prep and just take it to a local cheap place just to get it done for now...

Painted by students? Should I go for it?

Reply #8 – January 24, 2008, 10:27:24 PM

If you had them use base/clear, then you could do the final sand/buff yourself and you'd probably end up with a nice looking car. I've never had any formal training and I painted my son's TC black myself. I think it turned out just fine. As mentioned before, prep is key, then go for the final "quality" with the clearcoat sanding/buffing.

Painted by students? Should I go for it?

Reply #9 – January 24, 2008, 11:21:55 PM

! That looks great!

If the students can get it like that then go for it.

Painted by students? Should I go for it?

Reply #10 – January 25, 2008, 01:07:27 AM

Prep is definetly key. There are alot of cheap paints out there. Your best bet is called Martin Sr.'s I think they sell it at Sherwin Williams, its a cheaper Auto Paint, or Omni. If it was me, I would be going with Sikkens. We spray that at the Body Shop I work at. If you spend the time prepping you can paint anything with a max of 3 coats, and thats light coats. Sikkens sprays so nicely. Their primer just flows. Its alittle more bang for the buck, but you use so much less material, and you end up with the same cost in the end as such say Dupont, or PPG.

better to do something right now than perfect much later

Reply #11 – January 25, 2008, 03:21:46 AM

:2c: I don't see a problem unless they don't get a chance to learn from their mistakes. Is there some rule saying they can't redo it if the job blows?

Painted by students? Should I go for it?

Reply #12 – January 25, 2008, 06:37:55 AM

Quote from: t3skidoo;199799

:2c: I don't see a problem unless they don't get a chance to learn from their mistakes. Is there some rule saying they can't redo it if the job blows?

agreed. when i was in paint/body, the only limitation we had on "customer" cars was time. as long as they dont run out of time, good instructors will have them sandin out runs, fixin orange peel, and re-sprayin it.
if you do all the prep, there should be no reason they run out of time to get it right.

Painted by students? Should I go for it?

Reply #13 – January 25, 2008, 10:38:45 AM

Yeah, I'm sure they'll do base/clear. And I figured they'd fix/redo stuff, too, but I guess a few bad jobs left unfixed and it worried me. But I think I'l give it a try. Wish I could work less right now. The class is free at this college and if I took it I could probably just paint it all on my own!

Painted by students? Should I go for it?

Reply #14 – January 25, 2008, 10:04:54 PM

Quote from: gumby;199805

agreed. when i was in paint/body, the only limitation we had on "customer" cars was time. as long as they dont run out of time, good instructors will have them sandin out runs, fixin orange peel, and re-sprayin it.
if you do all the prep, there should be no reason they run out of time to get it right.

I agree with Gumby, It's not like there are 5 student's going off unsupervised shooting paint all over the place. The instructor should be watching and training all the way and not give the go ahead until it's right.
At least if he's a good instructor thats the way it would be, and you already mentioned some real nice pain jobs have came out of there.

If it was me I wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth and I'd let them do all of it.