How to Paint Your Car on a Budget (Cartech) Paperback – April 19, 2006

Wow! This book is very thorough and an easy read! I have been slowly preparing for my first automotive paint job for my Firebird in the upcoming spring. I spent many hours on Youtube and many more hours reading how-tos in various car websites, forums, etc. This is the second book i bought to load up on info. The first one from the Workbench series was good, can't complain about it, but still left me with so many unanswered questions. This book is phenomenal! I absolutely recommend it to anyone who is a beginner to automotive painting like i am! They covered everything in detail, including step by steps on many different paint projects covering everything from a frame-off restoration to a simple color change over old faded paint. It doesn't get into detail for body repair welding or frame straightening, which is great for me since i really dont need that. It does cover basic dent removal, filler application, and accompanied tools. There are plenty of full color pics with captions. The author goes over mistakes he has made or seen others make which is a definite bonus since you can learn from others' mistakes rather than making your own.

I found this book to be a good read with plenty of good information. A good amount of it is written more in story form which I like because it is easier for me to read without getting bored. This book does a good job of talking aboutthe process of painting a car; the questions you should ask yourself when looking at a car you think you want to paint, different types of paint jobs, garage prep, body work, choosing paint, painting, and finishing/polishing. There is however, a lack of specific details in some sections, like how to apply paint to a car. Most of his stories involve older vehicles and lots of references to lacquer paint. BUT the basics are there and they are the mostly the same to this day. I recommend this for people thinking about tackling a paint job or minor body work that requires paint. You won't find all the information but you will have a decent foundation to build on.

Great introduction to the process, and lots of good info on the prep process. If you want to prep your car before having Maaco/Earl Scheib shoot it, this book is perfect! If you want to shoot the paint yourself, get this AND a second book.The book is full of color pictures, and reads a lot like having a conversation with a veteran painter. The condensed technical content is lacking, but there's a lot of good advice, tips and tricks, etc. that makes it a good read. "Sponsorship" is kindly avoided, with only a few specific products recommended.Distinctly lacking is a chapter on shooting paint; the author cites rapidly changing technologies, and this information could become rapidly outdated. It's an honest answer. There are other books that fill this in (e.g. How to Paint Your Car (Motorbooks Workshop)), and are a good follow-up to this one.Well worth the time and money to read this, if you're serious about a re-paint lasting more than a month, just understand it doesn't cover everything you'll need to know.

As mentioned in an earlier review, perhaps the best chapter in this book covers how to get good results by taking your car to one of the low-cost production paint shops - the "one day wonder." I've done a couple of cars this way, and you can get a really good value if you do the right pre-painting prep yourself and choose a good shop.If you're going to, as the cover suggests, actually paint your car in your garage, I suggest you read this book for background. Then go to one of the online forums like autobody101.com or spiuserforum.com and read everything that you can find that relates to your project. The online forums are a great source of highly current information about specific products - something (intentionally) lacking in this book.Another section that stands out deals with how to paint in your garage, stay out of trouble and get along with your neighbors. An important topic if you live in the city or suburbs.Also mentioned in an earlier review - the prices for top shelf paint and materials will shock you - another reason to consider the one day wonder approach. Once you price just the materials for an all-over respray, you'll see the prices at the production shops in a different light.But if car painting is something you want to do more than once or twice in your life, and you can afford the admission cost for tools and equipment, this book will show you the ropes. Highly recommended.

While I have read and agree to an extent what others have said about learning actual techniques to painting are slim, paint is really about the process, that being preparation. This book gives so many good and practical examples and also is very honest. And the book follows a certain order, always showing examples or telling of examples from experience. I enjoyed reading it on kindle format and have bookmarked the pages that I found most relevant. Lots of great insight and tricks from a the author. Very happy with purchase.

Its Ok. I did not learn too much from it.. other than you need some tools, you know and air gun, a low pressure high volume is better blah blah.The second thing is that you need to ask a paint professional about the paint system you are going to put on your car.Would have enjoyed more info on that, but according to the author, things change so much, so fast, its pointless, you just need to ask your local friendly paint guy.. apparently there are many in California, I don't know any in my state though.I know we are not painting with varnish and ash, but a little more info on this would be good.The rest or the book is common sense, I mean really, clean the car, prep the surface wow, mask the rest.. is not rocket surgery, since you need to rely on your friendly paint guy.. maybe just ask him for all the info and not waste money on the book?..