Cheap color - wrap roll or spray?

I'm planning to do a color on my x1/9, Bertie the Bomber (it's grey primer now with remnants of plastidip hanging on). Assuming I can get the Plasti off and get the surfaces scuffed, and maybe another coat of primer, etc, I'm looking for a way to get a nice job done for not much money.

So, wrap roll or spray? I don't have a compressor that can handle a hvlp, and I'd rather not buy one at the moment. So if I do spray I'd do rattle can. I did the saab ute this way and I think it came out pretty darn well.

Budget is modest, I'm willing to pay some money but would like to keep it around $200 or so? 

Harbor Freight gun and rent a compressor?

Honestly, I'd recommend spraying it. Once you add all the accessories that come with wrapping a car, it's not cheap. Rolling is fine for big flat panels but often requires a lot more wet-sanding than spray cans.

Rattle can, and 2k clear. The good news is within the past few months a 2K clear without a short pot life has come on to the market.

https://car-rep.com/shop/car-rep-2k-polyurethane-clear-coat-high-gloss-11-oz-aerosol/

That is a game changer. They also have a filler primer and epoxy primer in 2K that doesn't have a potlife. 

Google "$50 paint job" - it's labour (rolling and sanding and many coats), but it's cheap.

I did my Daily Driver with a roller and no thinning and no wet-sanding, and there's enough orange peel to cause canker sores, but it's reasonably durable, and some sanding could make it smooth and shiny.

What's the cheapest Maaco paint job go for?

I miss earl shribe...

check the rental price... that might work well. 

Full disclosure:  I have NOT painted a car myself.

I did the blue car hauling trailer with implement paint, hardener, and a foam roller.  It looked great when new but it lacks UV and/or weather resistance and I would NOT do this on a car I was planning to keep (or planned to sell to someone I liked).

I rolled some rustoleum (no hardener) onto a hood on a 323 years ago.  Same deal.  A year later it looked like hell.

I bought a car that someone used (I don't know what product) flat black and it's now gray.

If I was to do any paintwork at home, UV resistance would be THE number one consideration (based on the experience I listed above).  Though, I've pretty much decided this is not a skill I need to perfect in my lifetime.

berkeley it, roll it.

We painted my car using my $100 HF compressor and HF piant gun. 

I'll have to get a picture of my compressor, but it's not big enough to paint cars with either. However we painted five in my driveway with it using the cheapest Harbor Freight paint gun they sell which is usually on sale for $9.99. I would honestly suggest Rust-Oleum thinned with mineral spirits and a splash of partner from Tractor Supply. Wet sanded and buffed you get amazing finish as you saw on my challenge Miata. That paints 3 years old and is still holding up well.

My rolled on impliment paint job seems to be holding up well.. I should probably wax it before winter...  All in cost was around $110 after some fresh sandpaper and two tubes of JB Plastic Weld to fix the front bumper.

I plastidipped my racecar with fantastic results. Highly recommend.

What compressor do you have? I've painted a couple cars using a cheap 30 gallon compressor and it worked fine. Not ideal but better results than I've had rolling.

The cheap HF guns are pretty darn good. You can get away with a smaller compressor if you take breaks, especially if you have a decent sized tank. Make sure you've got some sort of dryer in the line if you're really working it hard, though.

I've seen a cheap wrap job degrade amazingly badly  in our sun here. 

We used my 8 gallon compressor; we obviously painted sections.

Spray and learn a new skill. I like the HF 'pro' gun. It's like $50 instead of $15, but worth it. I can also second what Michael said about thinner Rust-Oleum.

I bought single stage paint for Datsaniti from paintforcars.com and including primer and fillers, the whole job cost less than $250 in the Challenge budget.

Dusterbd13-michael said:

...and a splash of partner from Tractor Supply.

Hardener? Or is it "partner" and I just don't know the term in paint-world?

I hate it when I'm so clueless I can't tell reality from autocorrect...

spray.  It's so much faster than wrapping. 
   Practice by painting a big cardboard box.  Then cut up the cardboard box and put it around the car to catch overspray and drips from runs.  
    Go on line and buy lacquer. It dries really fast and it's the safest stuff you can spray. If I'm painting outside I use a good 3M dust mask and that's all.   I've painted many cars with Lacquer. Because it dries so fast if you have a run or other problem you can sand it a couple hours after you paint it and then Re spray that area.  A gallon is enough to do a whole small car. Buy two gallons of lacquer thinner from a big box store. That's your cheapest thinner and  tends to dry quickly. 
     Stay 10-15 feet away from a building. Or anything that you don't want that color. A lot more if there is wind. In fact don't paint when there is anything more than an occasional zephyr of wind. 
Nor when it's damp out.  
   White will show the least flaws. Black the most. But black is easiest to match. White the hardest. 
    Do not use metallic. Straight colors. 
  Paint will not fix poor body work. All it will do is make everything one color. Sometimes that's enough.   I tend to blow on a thick coat of primer let it dry overnight then starting with 150 grit and a DA sander  Smooth  it out. Go grit by grit. 150, 180, 220, 330 back over everything.  Then wipe off the dust and put on the paint. 
  Watch a few painting video's, the technique is easy and seemed natural to me.  
With Lacquer  you don't need any supplements like hardener.  Read what is in hardener. You don't want to breathe that stuff.  So you need a fresh air supply and a full body suit.  
 I painted my MGTD in 1974 and it's still very nice,   just Lacquer.  Many long trips including a cross country. Plus at least 20 vintage sports car races.  

In reply to Jesse Ransom :

Hardener. Stupid autocorrect...

Quick hijack/question. For those of you spraying, where are you painting?  In a garage? In the driveway?  I live in the burbs so my neighbors are close and I'd be afraid of overspray on their cars. My garage is attached, but I thought drop cloths taped from the ceiling might help paint from entering the house. 
 

-Rob

I've done it in my garage after building a plastic paint booth. I just stapled it to the ceiling. I've also seen one built out of a couple of EZ-ups as a frame. A box fan and a furnace filter take care of airflow. By the time any overspray is outside, it's just dry dust anyhow. My plastic walls acted like an electrostatic trap to catch it.

I have found the NAPA single stage to be remarkably easy to deal with and very friendly. Clear coat and I don't get along. 
 

The stripes are Martin Seynour (aka NAPA house brand) shot with a $10 HF gun. No sanding, no clear, that's right out of the booth. 

Do spend the money on PPE, particularly the mask. Isocyanates are no joke. 

rob_lewis said:

Quick hijack/question. For those of you spraying, where are you painting?  In a garage? In the driveway?  I live in the burbs so my neighbors are close and I'd be afraid of overspray on their cars. My garage is attached, but I thought drop cloths taped from the ceiling might help paint from entering the house. 
 

-Rob

If you have a solid 20+ feet around you you can paint outside  on a windless day with lacquer.  Overspray with lacquer dries fast enough that on a windless sunny day it's dust beyond the 20 feet. 
    Kieth Tanner's approach also works very well in the garage.  Although I do like the floor slightly damp to prevent kicking up dust.  Not wet because that will cloud the finish. Just slightly damp. 
     Before you Poo Poo Lacquer, realize that modern paints do some things nice but Lacquer gives a depth that no clear coat ever will.  Plus it's pretty benign.  All of the cars I've painted with lacquer and a dust mask  have never bothered me as much as modern paints do even with a full body suit and a fresh air supply. 
   I'm a poor painter. Seriously. But lacquer will dry quick so you can sand out your mistakes and fix them.   
   My first real paint job was 47 years ago and still looks decent today.  

I learned the damp floor trick later - but it didn't seem to make any discernible difference :) A good sweeping and you don't have any dust to speak of. The furnace filter makes sure the incoming air is clean and the plastic walls take care of anything else. Wet sheets might also work but plastic sheeting is so cheap it's hard to come up with a reason not to use it. 

I'm not sure how well a wrap could be done for your $200 budget, but admittedly I haven't priced out all the materials for it.

Here is my rattle can paint job on my project car that I did in my garage. Turned out good enough, but it's definitely not as durable as a real paint job, as it scratches fairly easily. I wonder if adding a layer of clear spray on top of the color coat might help.