How to paint a golf cart? How to customize a golf cart? For anyone who owns a golf cart, customization surely has come to their mind at least once in their cart ownership. As human beings, we love to express ourselves, and that comes in the form of what we say, how we act, what we wear, and even the golf carts we drive.
Customizing your golf cart is not only great to personalize your ride, but it can also be a great project that feels fulfilling. Through customizing your golf cart, you will learn new things, confront new challenges, and hopefully, end up with a result you are proud of.
In this article, we will break down how to paint a golf cart. You will learn, down below, everything you need to know to create a killer appearance on your ride.
How to Paint a Golf Cart?
Before actually applying paint to your golf cart’s body, there is a lot of preparation you should not skip. Preparation work is important to make sure your new paint job lasts a long time and looks nice. Follow the steps down below, and your golf cart will be sublimely customized in no time!
Materials needed:
-Paint cloths (rags you do not mind paint leaking onto)
–Masking tape
-Golf cart
–Soap & water to clean your cart
–Fine grit sandpaper
–Primer
–Acrylic spray paint
–Clear acrylic sealant
–Dust mask
–Safety glasses
How to Customize a Golf Cart?
Step 1: Prepare your work environment
Using spray paint is only safe if you take the correct precautions. Spray paint can be extremely toxic and cause you health problems if you inhale it.
To make your work environment safe, choose a well-ventilated area with little-to-no air current. If there is no wind outside, then spray painting outside should be prioritized over spray painting inside. A decent work environment would be your garage with the garage door open, on a day with good weather.
Additionally, you do not want outside particles to hit your golf cart while the paint is drying. It is highly preferable to paint your golf cart on a day that is not windy.
Make sure there is an exit so the spray paint particles in suspension in the air can leave the area. If you inhale any particles or start to feel like something is wrong in your body (nausea and other issues), leave the room immediately and call a doctor.
Put some rags under your golf cart so that you do not damage your floor. You do not need to lift the golf cart; you can simply drive the golf cart onto the rags after you have laid them down.
Step 2: Clean your golf cart
Before painting your golf cart, you need to make sure it is clean. Any residues left on the golf cart can show up in the paint job and ruin its aesthetic value.
On every golf cart part that you plan to paint, apply soap, and rub with a damp cloth. Scrub the dirty golf cart parts until there is no more dirt, gunk, or residue left. A great soap we recommend is the Chemical Guys Car Wash Soap.
While you are washing the parts you wish to paint, you might as well wash the entire golf cart so you do not need to prepare your cleaning setup all over again.
Step 3: Sand down your golf cart
Make a list of all the golf cart parts you wish to paint. Every item on this lists needs to be sanded down with fine grit sandpaper. A good sandpaper to use is the sandpaper assortment by Miady.
Push the sandpaper against the golf cart parts in question, and rub firmly to scrape off the old paint job. The sound this makes is not pleasant, but it is a necessary step to assure you have a great new paint job.
Keep sanding the golf cart parts on your list and remove any dust left on the parts.
Step 4: Put masking tape on cart parts you do not want painted
In this step, we need to protect the golf cart parts we do not want painted. First of all, remove any removable golf cart parts you do not want painted; this often includes bumpers, the roof, and potentially the wheels, although it would be more time efficient to simply cover them.
Take note of where every part goes before removing them all. You will want to kick yourself if you cannot put your golf cart back together after it is finally painted!
On parts that you cannot remove, or on part sections you do not wish to be painted, apply masking tape. Use generous amounts of masking tape, making sure there are no gaps between the individual tape strips. Any leak into the masking tape will ruin your paint job. A great masking tape to use is the 3M masking tape.
Step 5: Apply primer to your golf cart
Put on your paint clothes, your safety glasses, and your dust mask. Double check that your work area is well ventilated, with few air currents.
Use one layer of spray-on primer onto the golf cart parts you wish to paint. Spray the primer evenly onto the desired golf cart parts. You could also use a brush-on primer, but that takes significantly more time, although it can be more controlled.
The primer, as its name indicates, primes the surface to be painted to promote the paint to stick to it. Wait 20 to 25 minutes for the primer to dry before moving to painting. Applying paint too quickly will cause more problems than if you did not even apply any primer!
Do not take your safety equipment off until you leave the work area.
Step 6: Apply acrylic spray paint to your golf cart
Once again, put on your paint clothes, your safety glasses, and your dust mask. Double check that your work area is well ventilated, with few air currents.
Hold the acrylic spray paint can in front of you, 10 to 12 inches away from the surface you want to paint. Spray the paint onto the golf cart parts horizontally, trying to not overlap, but also cover the entire surface to be painted.
Apply 2 or 3 coats of paint, giving each some time to dry in between coats, depending on the instructions indicated on the spray can. Every additional coat will make the color look darker and deeper.
Do not take your safety equipment off until you leave the work area.
Step 7: Remove the masking tape
When all the paint has dried, you can remove the masking tape, and reveal your masterpiece. Try to remove the masking tape as soon as the paint is finished drying because it can make the paint lines cleaner.
Step 8: Apply clear acrylic sealant
Once again, put on your paint clothes, your safety glasses, and your dust mask. Double check that your work area is well ventilated, with few air currents.
Hold the clear acrylic sealant can in front of you, 10 to 12 inches away from the surface you want to apply the sealant to. Spray the sealant onto the golf cart parts horizontally, trying to not overlap, but also cover the entire surface to be painted. A good clear acrylic sealant we recommend is the Aleene Clear Acrylic Sealant.
This coat of clear acrylic sealant will give your painted golf cart parts a beautiful showroom-style glossy finish, and slow down the decay of the paint job. You can either apply 1 or 2 layers, but wait at least 30 minutes for each coat to dry.
Do not take your safety equipment off until you leave the work area.
Step 9: Let your golf cart dry
Once all the steps above are finally complete, you are almost done revamping your golf cart! Let your golf cart dry for 24 to 48 hours without giving in to the temptation to touch the paint. Simply let the golf cart sit in place, and you will thank yourself.
Do not let anything touch the paint job, including bad weather like rain, wind, and other debris like falling leaves. However, make sure there is still some ventilation available in the area the golf cart is stored in.
Step 10: Re-install the golf cart parts you removed
After the golf cart is fully dry, you can reinstall all the golf cart parts you removed in step 4. Hopefully, you took note of where each individual part goes, or remember where they go.
After the entire golf cart is reassembled, you can admire your new customized creation! No one in the entire world has the same golf cart as you now. Take it out for a turn, and get recognized!
Conclusion
Voila! You now know how to turn your old, dirty, stock golf cart into an entirely different creation of your own! No one else in the entire world has exactly the same golf cart as you now! Do not forget to wear a dust mask when painting your cart so that you are safe!
How are you going to customize your golf cart? Are you attempting a restoration, or overhauling the cart’s appearance? Let us know in the comments down below!
