Do It Yourself Auto Repair

Over time, paint on an automobile's plastic side mirrors can fade or flake. This occurs for a wide variety of reasons, including breakdown of the paint caused by outdoor temperature extremes,...

While plastic body panels on cars can save a automobile from expensive dents and dings, even the most careful driver can incur knicks and scratches to the paint job. Small stones and road debris...

Hard water spots have a variety of causes. You can eliminate most spotting by carefully drying your vehicle after washing. Staining can occur as a result of minerals in rain water, and other...

Unattended rust can develop into several problems. Blisters and ugly rust stains along with the eventual complete destruction of metal body parts can and will occur unless rust is eliminated....

If your car or truck needs a paint job but you don't want to spend the money on a professional paint job, paint it yourself. It may seem like a difficult task, but with a little patience and...

Scratches on a car's clear coat can be frustrating. They can mar the surface and reduce the appearance of your car. Luckily, if your car has a few scratches in the clear coat of the paint job,...

Clear coat is regularly used to seal painted metal, providing shine and important UV protection. Clear coat is prized for its longevity. However, over time clear coat can lose its shimmer or even...

Auto touch-up paint usually consists of a solvent based paint. These paints are sometimes referred to as oil based paints. Oil based paints must be removed from brushes with chemicals, as using...

Peeling paint on a car can quickly spread and turn from a small problem into a very large and expensive problem. Getting a car completely repainted can cost hundreds of dollars, but fixing the...

Many things can cause rust spots on your car from a chip in the paint to broken paint surface over a dent. Surface rust on your car not only looks bad and reduces the value of your car but it can...

Touch up paint on a car is meant to cover areas where the paint has either chipped off or has been burned off from a polishing compound or high-speed buffing machine. However, if you want to...

Chipped or scratched paint can significantly reduce the appeal of an automobile's finish, and professional paint jobs can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Fortunately, it's easy to...

Painting an engine block without removing it requires that you be able to spray the inside of he engine bay and not over-spray the paint on any parts that you don't want painted. This can be quite...

Every now and then your car gets a scratch out of nowhere, sometimes the scratch is too deep to cover and in other cases the scratch can be easily removed as if it never happened. This guide may...

Occasionally, you may have parked your vehicle somewhere and returned to find a scratch in the door. You can successfully remove a minor scratch from a car's finish yourself, without further...

Air is heated when compressed. Because of this heating, water present in the air condenses as the compressed air cools. This can be a problem when using a paint gun. As the water accumulates, it...

From time to time, we all make contact with inanimate objects in our cars. The damage can range from a total loss to a small scuff. The less-drastic impacts result in paint transferring from the...

Getting rid of rust on car paint is hard. Rust tends to spread rather fast and can hide underneath paint if it begins behind a panel that you cannot see. Since moisture can get to places that are...

The plastic cowl grill on the Ford Mustang is an overlooked part when it comes to detailing your car. The flat-black finish is unprotected and little is done to preserve the factory finish. As a...

If you want to make your vehicle last, it is essential to keep the exterior clean. Paint chips and scratches allow water and the elements to penetrate deep into the vehicle's shell, causing rust....

Nothing can ruin your car's look more easily than a bit of misplaced paint. Whether it's a vandal's spray can, dollops of house paint or some other kind of stain, paint on your car can be an...

Scratches and paint chips are two common problems that most car owners have had to deal with at least once. There are many reasons that your car's paint job may be in need of a little freshening...

Automotive body rusting is the result of metal being exposed to moisture. This exposure to moisture then permits the surrounding air to oxidize the metal surface. Rust on a car's body will...

Water spots --- or paint scale --- can ruin the appearance of your car's finish and can sometimes be so stubborn they require more than just a wax and polish to get rid of. Some scale spots can...

Many of us have done it---we've gotten too close to another vehicle or that yellow parking lot post, and marked up our car. It is disappointing, since most of us try hard to keep our cars looking...

Removing paint from the body of a car is a time-consuming process. While the basic principle is simple, it involves a lot of hard, physical labor and normally involves the use of powerful...

The base coat of a vehicle is often referred to as the color coat. The base coat is the actual color of the car that you see. The base coat is actually very dull when left alone. What makes a car...

The paint on a vehicle is supposed to feel smooth as glass and look glossy and shiny. Unfortunately, when the clear coat becomes oxidized, it feels rough and looks very dull and flat. Oxidation is...

Removing paint from an ATV fender is tricky. Because the body panels are made from plastic, using paint stripper will damage the fender. For this reason, the old fashioned method is used. You'll...

As time goes by, light causes the plastic on your vehicle's headlights to oxidize, forming a yellowish haze over the lenses. Although car manufacturers put a coating on the headlights to combat...

Painting your car doesn't need to be a frustrating, scary or unenjoyable job. It simply requires time, effort and diligence on your part. With the right tools and know-how, it's not difficult to...

Taking your car in to a professional to be painted can be extremely expensive, and there is really no need to pay a large fee when all you need to paint is the side panel mirrors. When you paint...

No matter what condition your car paint is in, having paint spots makes it look bad. Paint spots can be hard to remove considering you only want to remove the spots and not the paint off of your...

Automotive body work is something most people would never consider doing on their own. However, most body work is expensive and leaves people driving around with dents or rust rather than having...

You have an RV, but it is ugly as sin and you want to paint it. Painting an RV, however, is not an easy job. It takes a lot of time and effort. This will show you how to get it done the most...

Any object made of metal is at risk of developing rust at some point. Rust occurs when moisture invades the outer coating of metal and reacts with oxygen to corrode it. Rust is extremely corrosive...

Dented and damaged bumpers can detract from the appearance, and value, of your car. As of 2009, a damaged bumper cost about $700 to fix. Tears and cracks are some of the worst damages that a...

Everybody does what I like to call a curb job on their silver coated wheels at one time or another. It's happened to me more than once and the cost of professional refinishing can be hundreds of...

From start to finish, autobody work takes a lot of time, materials, tools and safety equipment. If anything is left out, the project either won't be done properly or won't be done safely. The best...

The tools needed for body work are readily available for do-it-yourself body repair. Most of the work can be done with basic hand tools, but there are a few power tools needed as well. An...

Automotive paint guns are not as simple as a home painting gun, which can be plugged in and turned on. Automotive paint guns are available in different styles and types, depending on your painting...

Understanding the steps and techniques used in car painting is valuable, not only for someone wanting to paint their car, but for someone paying a professional to paint their car for them. There...

Automotive paint is not a simple pour-and-paint process. There are steps to take to get the best paint job possible, including mixing the paint correctly. If the paint is not prepared properly, it...

Portable sandblasting is one of the most fun and rewarding professional-grade tasks you can do at home. Whether you are restoring an old army jeep or refinishing a glider for your front porch,...

Attempting auto body repairs on your own vehicle doesn't have to be complicated. With a few special tools and some basic steps used in every body shop, you can make successful,...

Clearcoat paint is the key to a smooth, shiny, glossy looking paint job. It is also used to protect the base paint, which is the actual color of the vehicle. Without clearcoat paint, the color of...

My husband has done this many times, Even to vans. You just need to know how to sand, add bondo (puddy)if needed. and time on your hands. He will be doing this again in the spring as we are...

Autobody repair normally consists of repairing dents and repainting repaired areas. Collision shops charge by the hour, plus materials, so the price can add up quickly. With the right tools and...

Painting and refinishing a car is not simple, but can be done using the right tools and following the procedures correctly. The good thing about painting a vehicle is that there is a way for a...

Automotive spray paint is easy to use, but only after you know the steps to properly mixing it. After purchasing the paint from a paint store, it cannot be put in a spray gun and sprayed on a...