Cheap Automotive Paint Handbook: Paint Technology for Auto Enthusiasts and Body Shop Professionals (Book) (John Pfanstiehl) Price

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Customer Reviews of Automotive Paint Handbook: Paint Technology for Auto Enthusiasts and Body Shop Professionals

Well, I have mixed feelings about this book.
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.

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Great Book to get youy foot in the Car painting door
This book is both informational and entertaining if you have an interest in painting your own car/s. This is the first book I have ever picked up on automotive painting and it has paved the way for me. I will obviously use more resources, but this was a spectacular start.

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Great coverage
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.