Painting a 'Stang

[Whip313]

I am new to Mustang, cars in general, etc. But I SOON will have a '99-'04 Mustang V6 (hopefully V8). Once I buy it of course I want to paint it. Probably a shiny candy, glossy metallic type paint lol. Im still deciding on the color. Maybe a dark blue, then buy white stripes. Or maybe red with white stripes. But yeah im still deciding on that, maybe even a real nice grey.

But you know, my main concern is not necessarily price but its the quality of what im paying for. BUT i am thinking about doing it myself. I just want to know an estimate, DIY vs. A Paint store. I live in Detroit, MI btw.
Im not asking for a exact estimate or price I just want to sort of know an ballpark that I should be expecting when getting it painted. I want to know what I would need to do it myself. And where could I do it. Can you list ALL the things I will need to do it myself though. Or should I just buy the supplies and like prep. the car and take it to the pro's. Also can you tell me what I could do to prep it, would I like have to sand down the paint already on my car ?

 

[Danny1222]

I do bodywork in tx. If u want a quality paint job have it done by profesionals. If u want to save some money and don't mind doing some work take it apart yourself anything that is not going to be painted. As far as price it really depends on the color.

 

[saleenspeedster]

whereabouts in texas you do work? would you be interested in painting mine??

 

[UserName]

I'm not gonna say a DIY job is impossible but its really really hard work.

I went to college for automotive refinishing and i've worked at various shops and my own cars for years. To give you a idea you need a compressor that puts out enough CFM to keep up with tools, you need a spray gun and some sanding blocks...

Your working with chemicals that are dangerous you dont wanna get them in your eyes you dont wanna let them soak in your skin and you don't wanna breathe in any sanding dust, paint fumes or isocyanates and you don't wanna fog out your garage and risk a fire/explosion (not that you cant paint in a garage, just need air movement). While spraying a car you run the risk of running the paint or having improper bodywork that looks horrible when its done...

So normally if money isnt a huge issue then i would recommend a professional even then i would suggest seeing what any shop you goto has done. I would say for a really nice paintjob on a mustang would be roughly 4 or 5,000. When you pay less you gotta wonder what short-cuts they are taking to give you a cheap job.

If you go DIY read as much about bodywork and painting online as you can
good luck!