DIY PREP AND SAVE

How To Prep Your Car for Paint the Right Way

- JOHN MCGANN

Sources

The Eastwood Company; 800.343.9353; eastwood.com

Mick’s Paint; 310.947.6727; mickspaint.com

PPG Automotive; us.ppgrefinish.com

The most expensive thing you can do to your automotive project is to paint it. Yes, you can certainly come up with ways to do this job on the cheap, but the results will generally reflect the amount of time you spent on the work and the amount of money you spent on materials—or lack thereof. Paintjobs are expensive, not only because of the cost of materials, but also because of the amount of labor involved, and that’s for something we would generally consider “driver quality”. If winning major car shows is your goal, prepare to shell out some serious coin. At that level, it’s not uncommon for a paint job to cost more than $100,000.

We’re not talking about those kinds of paint jobs here. For this article, we’re focusing on a nice paint job for your daily driver, or weekend cruiser. The good news is that, if you have the time and talent, or the willingness to learn, you can cut the costs of a paint job significantly by doing some of the work yourself and farming out the rest.

For more info, we spoke with Mick Jenkins, owner of Mick’s Paint in Pomona, California. Though he may not be a household name, we guarantee you’ve seen his work before. Many show-winning paint jobs have come out of his shop, and he has done work for the likes of So-Cal Speed Shop and Pure Vision Design, as well as dozens of cars for private individuals.