Respraying A Guitar Body

[Ryan]

Hi All,

I brought a squier affinity strat for only £20, so thought i might have a go at respraying the body. At the moment it's black and i'd like a bit more colour, thinking maybe fiesta red. Can anybody help me on how to go about this?
Questions....
1) Is it ok for me to just sand down the protective lacquer and a couple of coats of the original paint colour?
2) What sort of paints are best to use? Can i use car spray cans, like the 1's sold in places like halfords?
3) If i'm not sanding back to bare wood, do i still need to use a primer paint?
4) After i have sprayed the colour i decide on, will i have to spray a couple of coats of clear lacquer over it?
5) If clear coat is needed, will i need to lightly wet/dry sand in between these coats, excluding the last coat for obvious reasons.

My way of thinking is this...
1st i sand down the protective lacquer and 2/3 coats of original paint, but not down to the wood. Next i give it a couple of coats of primer paint, light sanding with wet/dry in between coats. Then spray chosen colour 3/4 coats, again light sanding down between coats. Finally finishing with a couple of coats of clear lacquer, with light sanding between coats.

I want this to be as easy as possible, as i have a bad heart i tire very easily, but it's something i'd really like to try.

Any help will be much appreciated
Cheers
Ryan

[kevinr]

I would not sand the last coat of the colour or between coats of clear, because if you leave some sanding residue between colour and clear it will be trapped beneath the last coat of clear for all to see!

[ecca]

I got a tin of Leyland Fiesta Red paint if you're interested ..... cost me £20... big un.

[John M]

I am in the process of re finishing a squier vi bass.
Wanted to get a colour that was close to the other guitars I use, as Fender only do this model in black, white and sunburst.

First job was to strip it back to the wood with polycel stripper gel.
Some surprises there ... no primer.. black sprayed directly onto the body with 2 coats.
Note the filler in some spots and the 5 blocks used for the body.







Next job was to apply my own primer to the bare smoothed wood.





Then ready for many coats of chosen colour.






Familiar colour?

OK.. the paint is a spray paint from Halfords.
This was a custom colour which they made up on request from their colour charts. Take a sample of the colour you want and they
will match it up against their charts. Also make sure you ask for the mix formula they used so that they can make up more if required.
This was around £12 a can. Ready made colour if you can find the one you want is a bit cheaper.
These are "automotive" paints the same as Fender used in the early days of their custom colour paint jobs.

Be warned... this is not a weekend job.
I have been working on this on and off since before Christmas.
The primer dries fairly quicky but the colour coats take a fair while to cure...maybe a day or two between coats.
Each coat should be LIGHTLY sanded to smooth out any orange peel or runs. too heavy a sanding will wear the paint back to the primer, so take care.
A pack of impregnated auto body wipes is a good idea. These can be used to wipe the body down before the next paint coat.
They help remove any grease or residue which may be present on the paint surface.
You will need several coats of the colour (maybe 5 or 6 ) depending on how much sanding you have to do.
You will also need plenty of wet/dry sandpaper with grades from 400 through to 1200 or finer. And do use them wet.
If you do dry sanding the paper clogs with small globs ( technical term ! ) of paint and you end up scratching the surface

I have still to photograph the finished article beacause I am building up layers of clear coat / lacquer beacause I had to strip some of it back due to marks appearing
on the surface.
The problem is that the Halfords lacquer takes ages to cure (over a week) before its impervious to handling marks....found out the hard way

A better soluton was found in B and Q. They stock Valspar spray paints and they make a clear lacquer which sets in a couple of hours..this is the one to go for.

Spray painting needs to be done in a dry warmish area free from air currents which can carry dust particles on to the paint surface.
You also need good ventilation to let the fumes from the paint disperse....you do get a high from them I did my spraying in my garage.
Face masks are sometimes suggested...but if you stick to short periods you should be ok...just take care.

Cost wise.. Primer around £7 a can (only one really needed)
Paint cans about £12 each ... 5 or 6 cans.
Clear coat / lacquer around £7 a can .. 2 or 3 required depending on how much sanding done.
Supply of wet / dry sandpaper 400 to 1200 or finer.. around £3 a pack
Paint stripper about £7 (B and Q)
So refinishing starts at £100.

If you are really lucky you could probably get away without buffing the final clear coat to a glossy finish.
The lacquer does dry to a gloss finish and you may feel that this enough for you. Failing that some elbow grease is required to buff the clear coat
to a final gloss finish.

Have fun.

[Gary Allen]

I did the same a while back getting primer and fiat paint from Halfords.

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[dave robinson]

Hi Ryan, for something that is inexpensive I would recommend that you cut down the surface with fine paper to 'key' the surface and just overspray the colour you want. Halfords do offer good options as do North West Guitars (google them).
That's how Fender do the over sprays, keep it simple and cheap.the nearest stock colour I found to Fiesta Red is the BMC Austin Allegro colour 'Vermillion'.

[Pat Seaman]

A closer match would be Ford Sunrise as used on the first batches of the new Ford Ka. It is a slightly pinky red, very close to Fiesta Red.

Pat.

[dave robinson]

A closer match would be Ford Sunrise as used on the first batches of the new Ford Ka. It is a slightly pinky red, very close to Fiesta Red.

Pat.

I agree it would and I didn't consider it , but that wasn't available at the time I was speaking of so ignore the Vermillion.

[Pat Seaman]

Actually, Dave, I've used Vermillion and prefer its' slightly more orange colour to the pink of Sunrise.


Pat.

[dave robinson]

Actually, Dave, I've used Vermillion and prefer its' slightly more orange colour to the pink of Sunrise.


Pat.

I bought the vermillion by the quart and added white to it which gave it the pink hue. It was as close as it gets.