Automotive Paint Handbook: Paint Technology for Auto Enthusiasts and Body Shop Professionals (Paperback)

by John Pfanstiehl (Author) "Auto paint has only two purposes: to make the car look good and to protect the underlying metal or synthetic body panels from the harsh..." (more)
Key Phrases: allow sufficient flash, chemical spotting, pigmented undercoats, Pro Motorcar Products, Final Finish, General Motors (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The Automotive Paint Handbook is a comprehensive resource that covers the entire field of automotive paint technology, from types of paint and how to perform a complete paint job, to advanced OEM factory paint techniques, paint care and inspection. For years, paint professionals from companies such as DuPont have used this book for training. Now fully revised and updated, this bestselling HPBook now has the latest information available from the paint industry.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: HP Books; Revised and updated edition (August 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557882916
• ISBN-13: 978-1557882912
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.4 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #269,479 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great coverage, July 1, 2000

By A Customer

This is really a great book on "how to" do a paint job on your car. I liked Boyd Coddington's How to Paint Your Hod Rod a bit better, but it has less scope than this book. It covers a new paint job, but this book covers everything...paint types, repairs, resprays and even paint care. A great book.

42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book -excellent overview, April 3, 2000

By A Customer

This book is great for anyone looking to get started up painting cars, motorcycles, etc. I used this book and have saved a great deal on custom paint jobs restoring classic trucks and street rods. Well worth the money!

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well, I have mixed feelings about this book., July 22, 2003

By	Nathaniel Horn (Northern California, USA) - See all my reviews

There is a lot of useful information between the covers of this book and it was a great help but I'm left with this vague sense of having missed something even though I read it cover to cover. There is substance but it's a little light on detail which the 170 pages would tend to bear out. While I gained a lot of clues, I still feel that I need to read another book in order to really know what I'm doing. Some how-to books are satisfying like a shotgun blast at close range... Their authors just lay out what you need to know and deliver it in a way that imparts confidence. This book is like being hit by a scattergun from 100 yards- you pick up a lot but don't really know exactly how much flew right on by. This guy kinda meanders all over the place seemingly without a coherent outline. I felt that the author really knows his stuff but left out a lot of necessary context that a beginner like myself needs to form a clear picture. And the typos, (hundreds!) missing sentences, and even missing paragraphs just about drove me nuts at one point. But they lessen towards the end of the book. Still, the price was right and it brought me to 5 on a scale of 10 so I can't really complain too much.

The publishing date of '98 dates it a little also. Seems like everything is going the way of computers and computer information where 6 mos. old is already obsolete. These poor authors are just going to have to realize that if they have the impulse to write a book then they are going to have to resign themselves to update them every two or three years or they will rapidly become useless! All knowledge and technology is just moving so danged fast these days.

So, I would buy it again but I ain't about to spend hundreds of bucks on paint and create a disaster until I find some better information.