Yes. Definitely need a respirator and 3M suits once you get to spraying. What size air compressor do you have? Water separator?
Car Painters, I Need Your Expertise
- Thread starter wizbangdoodle
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Yes. Definitely need a respirator and 3M suits once you get to spraying. What size air compressor do you have? Water separator?
100% on the last 2 items he mentioned.
I've got a separator at the tank, but don't I need something at the gun itself?
Hopefully this compressor will do the trick.
Hopefully this compressor will do the trick.
Yes, you do need one at the gun. They're cheap, disposable, and don't get in the way. I don't have dedicated air hose for painting, so the attachment at the gun catches and residual oil or moisture that may be in hose or get past the separator. I used fish eye eliminator for years, but haven't needed it with good separators and filter at gun.
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I've got a separator at the tank, but don't I need something at the gun itself?
Hopefully this compressor will do the trick.
Sent from my SM-S506DL using the svtperformance.com mobile app
I wish I had pics of all the projects I painted, but I didn't have a camera on me like everyone has one on them today. Here's a ugly man lift I bought for a big job, but wouldn't dare use it on this multi million estate. I spent a weekend with my oldest son prepped and painted with the PPG bought a sticker kit and BAM! Class act contractors. First pic is the look when I bought it. Last pics is a couple years later after the project.
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Sweet! That looks great.
I was talking with a friend of mine the other day. He brought over his '67 F100 he's driving. He buys these, does a little fixing and flips them. The truck he was in was, as I call it, a 50 footer. Looks fantastic from a ways off, but as soon as I got close, I noticed orange peel, poor tape lines etc. He didn't paint this one, but he'll turn around and sell it for $30-35k. Crazy. I would not be happy with a paint job that turned out like that.
I was talking with a friend of mine the other day. He brought over his '67 F100 he's driving. He buys these, does a little fixing and flips them. The truck he was in was, as I call it, a 50 footer. Looks fantastic from a ways off, but as soon as I got close, I noticed orange peel, poor tape lines etc. He didn't paint this one, but he'll turn around and sell it for $30-35k. Crazy. I would not be happy with a paint job that turned out like that.
Crappy picture. Base coat, clear coat bug I did years ago. These things are a bitch to paint. Not a flat surface anywhere, so you to have to keep following the contour to keep it even.
Here's my 2008 ZX-10R that I painted the track fairings on it back in like 2010 I think. All of this was done by me in my dad's barn using just some plastic drop cloths stapled to make a 10x10 "booth".
Damn, we got some painters here on SVTP. That's pretty cool. It's amazing what you can accomplish in a garage or barn with some ingenuity.
Here's how my 65 came out for those that don't want to go through my build link.
I used a local paint supply store for the color. The paint brand was called Metalux (3 coats). Then I used House of Kolor UC35 for my clear coat (4 coats). Purchased the clear off Ebay. I did a 7 step cut and buff process. 4 steps cutting and 3 steps polishing.
This is how it looked after my 7 steps. I think it came out badass, but damn was it a lot of work....
Here's how my 65 came out for those that don't want to go through my build link.
I used a local paint supply store for the color. The paint brand was called Metalux (3 coats). Then I used House of Kolor UC35 for my clear coat (4 coats). Purchased the clear off Ebay. I did a 7 step cut and buff process. 4 steps cutting and 3 steps polishing.
This is how it looked after my 7 steps. I think it came out badass, but damn was it a lot of work....
Old one when I repainted my hood.
Wow, you guys do some good work. How was the first paint job you ever did? Any mistakes to avoid?
First one I did was lacquer with about 3 coats of clean, so you could wet sand and then buff. Prep is key, and learning the settings, pressure and spray patterns on the gun. I've had my share of sags and runs.
I have played with automotive paint for years. Started out on diecast cars. Learned how to mix paint with reducers and all that with diecast cars. Then I moved up to car parts (i.e. valve covers, intakes, water pumps). Then I moved up to bigger parts (i.e. fenders and hoods).
After that I felt I was ready. So, my 65 was the very first car I painted the whole thing.
My advice is to know your materials (i.e. mixing ratios, flash times and working temperature as various reducers work in different temperatures). Also, know your equipment (spray gun PSI, spray gun pattern, how far to be from the panel you're spraying, etc.).
Also, make sure that you get your spray gun trigger pull and arm swing/movement in synch. Too much trigger pressure with slow arm swing/movement will equal runs. Too little trigger pressure with too fast arm movement and you don't get proper coverage.
There is definitely an art to doing this. Practice on any spare metal you have laying around before you decide to go live.
Lastly, if a mistake happens it's not the end of the world. On base coat if you don't have enough coverage, spray over the area. If you get a run in your base coat, let it dry, sand with 1000 grit and then spray over the area.
With clear coat spray over areas with little coverage. If you get a run let it dry completely and sand it out during your cutting process and then buff it. Also, with clear be sure to follow flash times exactly. If you do not let it flash properly and then spray your next coat over that you can get solvent pop (i.e. air bubbles under your clear). Ask me how I know LOL....
If you go to my build thread I show all of this. I made my share of mistakes, but when you look at the finished product you would never know.
After that I felt I was ready. So, my 65 was the very first car I painted the whole thing.
My advice is to know your materials (i.e. mixing ratios, flash times and working temperature as various reducers work in different temperatures). Also, know your equipment (spray gun PSI, spray gun pattern, how far to be from the panel you're spraying, etc.).
Also, make sure that you get your spray gun trigger pull and arm swing/movement in synch. Too much trigger pressure with slow arm swing/movement will equal runs. Too little trigger pressure with too fast arm movement and you don't get proper coverage.
There is definitely an art to doing this. Practice on any spare metal you have laying around before you decide to go live.
Lastly, if a mistake happens it's not the end of the world. On base coat if you don't have enough coverage, spray over the area. If you get a run in your base coat, let it dry, sand with 1000 grit and then spray over the area.
With clear coat spray over areas with little coverage. If you get a run let it dry completely and sand it out during your cutting process and then buff it. Also, with clear be sure to follow flash times exactly. If you do not let it flash properly and then spray your next coat over that you can get solvent pop (i.e. air bubbles under your clear). Ask me how I know LOL....
If you go to my build thread I show all of this. I made my share of mistakes, but when you look at the finished product you would never know.
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There are a lot of things to take into consideration the reducers are temperature sensitive and fall within a temperature range with all quality paints. Colder weather applications are more likely to run but possible. I try to avoid those or bring the projects temperature up. My most frustrating spray was my first try at base coat clear coat. It really helps to read about the proven techniques. Spraying the first light tack coat then Spraying the second and adding a touch more reducer on a third to lay it down. I read and studied the procedure before actually doing it but I remember getting one run in a inconspicuous place on my first try and used the old masking tape trick to remove the run. This is the first thing I painted in 1980. That's me standing next to my aunt and uncle in the 23t. I built from scratch.
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Also, don’t use plastic to cover painted or cleared panels as masking. You can get an imprint from the plastic on your newly painted panel. I prefer paper for masking.
This is also good advice. I learned this lesson the hardway too. When I was building the diecast cars I mailed a Cobra off to @COOL COBRA and wrapped it in bubble wrap. When cool cobra received it he said the bubble wrap left little impressions in the clear coat. He had to buff them out and was VERY cool and cordial about the situation.
I learned not to put plastic over fresh clear coat. I guess failure is how we learn some times LOL...
I sure am glad I started this thread. I'll be avoiding a lot of mistakes that otherwise I would have made.
How many of you have had to do patch panels and cut out rust?
How many of you have had to do patch panels and cut out rust?
Not me, and this is a big reason why I sent my car off to be painted, which has turned into a FULL build... I knew there were issues with the driver's rear quarter, driver's rocker, cowl, etc. that would need to be cut and new sections welded in to be done correctly. Long story short, after shipping my car to K and K I then found a bare coupe shell with a good body but torn up floors and roof for $750 so that got chopped up and put on my car. Right now it's getting the engine bay shaved and all the panel gaps set and blocked, hopefully this time next year I'll be going to pick it up.
Florida, no rust unless they brought it down with them. Hard pass for me.
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