Spray painting can be an effective way to change the colour of your vehicle or touch up your current paint job. However, automotive spray painting can be challenging. If you want the work to look professional, you may want to check out the following tips.

1. Prep

Before you start spray painting your car, take some time to prep your work surface. Sand down any bumps and try to remove rust before painting. The paint will temporarily cover the rust, but eventually, the rust will bleed through the paint and spread.

Then, remove any trim that you don't want painted, such as grilles, bumpers and, of course, your license plate. You may also want to add a primer. Make sure it's designed for use with spray paint.

2. Tarp and Tape

Once everything else is prepped, take some time to tarp and tape any areas that you don't want painted. In particular, place tarps over windscreens and side windows. To get a firm fit, you may want to cut the tarp to size. Then, tape it firmly in place.

Take extra time to press down the tape. Air bubbles can allow the spray paint to sneak past the paint and get onto your glass.

3. Apply Several Coats

As a time saver, you may want to just add as much spray paint as possible, but that can end up in a chunky, uneven coating of paint. To avoid that, add several layers of paint. It's better to add multiple thin coats of paint than one chunky layer.

Let the paint dry completely between each coat of paint. To make things easier, consider going over the entire car once. Then, when doing the second coat, start in the area where you started the first time. That area should be drier than the areas you have just completed.

4. Work on Small Areas

Ideally, you should divide the car into several small sections. This applies to detailed areas of the car where you need to spray paint around lots of bumps and crevices, but it also applies to larger areas.

For example, if you're spray painting the bonnet of the car, start with a small area. Then, move to the next small area and repeat until the area is all painted. If you try to paint the bonnet in large sweeping strokes, that can cause the nozzle to become clogged with paint.

5. Hire a Professional

Spray painting a car is challenging. If you really want your car to look amazing, you may want to hire a professional.