Custom Car Painting on a Budget

Everyone wants a great-looking paint job on his or her car, but it’s not cheap. Since most of the expense of a custom paint job is labor, learning to do the work yourself using tips from the pros can save you money.

Veteran author Dennis W. Parks joined body shop owner and TV personality Rick Bacon with Custom Car Painting on a Budget to show you how to paint your car. With the knowledge provided in this book and your willingness to learn, you can be driving a car with a custom paint job of which you can be proud. Step-by-step photos and easy-to-follow directions cover everything from paint removal and disassembly to final reassembly. This book includes chapters on ways to reduce cost, perform minor bodywork, strip old paint, install patch panels, do surface preparation, mask, paint, and maintain the finish.

Bodywork, surface preparation, and buffing are all labor-intensive tasks that quickly add up at the local paint shop. With the knowledge provided in this book and your willingness to learn, you can be driving a car with a custom paint job that you can be proud of. Get professional results at a fraction of the cost with Custom Car Painting on a Budget.

In 1984 as a high school junior, Rick Bacon picked up a paint gun and began finishing cabinets and furniture for fellow students in his wood shop class. He never put down the paint gun. Opening his first auto body repair shop in 1995 provided the opportunities to explore custom work and expand his skills with custom paint. This work was seen by TV producers in Tennessee, and Rick spent several years showing his skills on MuscleCar TV and Overhaulin'. In 2014, he moved to Sonora, California, where he opened his current shop, Rick Bacon Customs.

Aside from a few Ford hot rods (a 1929 Ford Model A Tudor sedan and a 1927 Ford Track T roadster), all of Dennis W. Parks’s vehicles have been Chevy trucks. Beginning with a 1957 GMC, he has owned a lengthy list of a variety of models. Most of the miles he has driven have been behind the wheel of a GM truck. He has also been a freelance contributor to several special-interest automotive magazines and is the author of 14 additional automotive how-to books.