How do you spray-paint your car so that it looks like a professional paint job?

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Take it to a body shop and have it repainted - aerosol cans are not capable of spraying the same kind of paint as a professional and even if they could the propellant and method of application that an aerosol can uses is massively inferior to a professional's spray gun and it does not properly atomize the paint as it is sprayed on the vehicle, as a result the spray pattern is not as constant or predictable and paint is applied unevenly (thicker in some areas than in others) this will always result in color variance. Aerosol cans were simply not intended for this purpose, you may as well use a paint brush.

Answer

How many cans of spray paint did you use? You paid nearly as much for that stuff as you would have for a real paint job!

Listen close: If you don't want to spend the Big Bucks to buy car paint, go to an ag supply store and buy a gallon of tractor paint. Spray it with a good sprayer, and polish it up after three days.

Answer

I'll try to actually answer you question instead of just telling you not to do it. The quality of your finish, no matter how you paint it, is going to be a direct result of the work you put in. Make sure everything is sanded and clean.

This is how I spray paint large object it takes a little practice but when done you cannot tell the difference. First repair anything that needs repaired and make sure everything is smooth and clean. Wet sand everything you are going to paint with 360 grit paper. Spray a couple coats of a sandable primer. Let that dry, wet sand that with 600 grit. Make sure everything's clean, spray a coat of primer-sealer. Spray your color, at least twice as many coats as you think you'll need, vary the direction pattern you spray between coats to avoid color banding and minimize color variation, you may need to practice this, this is the part most people have trouble with. Let the color dry for a day, wet sand it smooth with 600, 1500, and 2000 grit paper. It should be glossy now. Let it finish drying for the next week. After the week has passed apply twice as much clear coat as you thing you will need. Allow the clear to dry over night, then sand similar to the color. Then let the clear dry for at least a week, buff with a mild buffing compound and wax. Now admire your work, and make up some lie about how you paid a bodyshop $5000 for it.

Okay...look, spray paint is too expensive to paint a car with, and there are much better products that don't cost very much.

If you don't want to use the tractor paint, try Rustoleum. There's a guy on the internet who tells you how to paint a car with Rustoleum and a brush. What I'd recommend is to buy two Rustoleum products--their Rusty Metal Primer and one of their enamels. They've got one that can be tinted, and that's handy. Also get a Wagner Power Painter, and you'll need paint thinner.

Fix all the dents and stuff on the car. Prime the car with Rusty Metal Primer, then let it dry for a week. Paint the car with two coats of enamel, with a day or so between coats. Give it a month to cure, then use 2000-grit sandpaper to polish it up. 2000-grit paper feels very smooth, and it will polish up the paint well. You can also use polishing compound. Finally, wax it and you're done.

First answer by Jmowreader. Last edit by Jmowreader. Contributor trust: 1091 [recommend contributorrecommended]. Question popularity: 5 [recommend question].