Budget Full-Color-Change Respray Using Marine Topside Paint (Roll or Spray)

Sand the entire car with 100-grit paper (up to 600 grit if the existing paint is in good shape), working in an X pattern - the cross-hatch reveals low spots and dents that will need filler. Wetsanding is strongly preferred over dry sanding: it is much faster and uses far less paper. Cut through the clearcoat; you generally do not need to go all the way to primer. Avoid sanding through to bare metal - any spots that do go to metal must be primed to prevent rust.

Fill any dents or imperfections with body filler - USC Icing works very well. Do not wetsand the filler itself: filler can absorb moisture, which can later cause the paint to flake or crack. Shape and finish the filler dry, then feather it into the surrounding paint.

Remove trim, weatherstripping, lights and badges where possible; mask anything that stays with painter's tape (green tape works best). Do not rush the masking - paint on unmasked rubber and trim is very hard to remove later. For the most thorough result the documented project removed windows, window trims, doors, body panels and even the steering rack to paint the interior, engine bay and jambs. Immediately before painting, wipe every panel down with denatured alcohol or mineral spirits to remove dust and skin oils. No primer is needed over sound existing paint - this paint adheres very well to it - but prime any new plastic parts such as replacement bumpers.

Using a 4 in roller, apply the topside paint straight from the can, unthinned. Roll each panel in one diagonal direction (/////), then go back over it a couple of minutes later in the opposite diagonal (\\\\) WITHOUT loading more paint on the roller - adding paint on the second pass risks runs. The paint is self-leveling and will flow out to a clean layer. Use a brush for the door jambs. Each layer is very thin; expect multiple coats for coverage.

Allow 12-24 hours between coats depending on the weather (about 12 hours to fully dry in the documented conditions). If bugs or large dust particles land in the paint, wetsand between coats with 600-800 grit, always in an X pattern - but note wetsanding removes most of the thin layer you just applied, so if you are working somewhere clean you can skip between-coat sanding and save enormous time. Build 3-5 coats, then wetsand with 1000 grit; if coverage is still thin, apply a couple more coats. Fix any runs with about 320 grit before applying more paint. Let the sandpaper do the work - do not press hard.

For faster, more even coverage, spray instead: mix the marine paint with about 10% mineral spirits and shoot it through an HVLP gun (a $35 eBay gun on a 2-gallon compressor was sufficient). One spray session gave full, even coverage of the whole car in the documented project, versus repeated rolling sessions - if starting from scratch, buy the gun first. Do not spray rattle cans over other brands of paint: mixing incompatible spray paints made the finish wrinkle ('one paint ate the other') and wasted about $200 in the original attempt. Wear a respirator whenever spraying.

After the final coat, let the paint sit for about a week before final wetsanding and polishing so it fully hardens. The last coat is the one where you take care of orange peel, so make it your cleanest, most even application.

Wetsand the cured paint progressively with 1000, 1200, 1500 and then 2000 grit, in an X pattern, until the surface is uniformly smooth and the orange peel is leveled.

Using an inexpensive buffer (about $20), apply rubbing compound first (3M marine rubbing compound was used), then follow with a cleaner/polishing wax (Meguiar's). This can be done by hand but takes far longer. The result should have a deep gloss with barely any orange peel, comparable to an OEM single-stage finish.