Ive got my car all prepped and primered, next step is painting. I feel I did a pretty good job on properly prepping and cleaning the car...but after reading a little bit on paint, the battle is half over. I need some wisdom on the actual painting process so that all the work prepping the car was not in vain

The car has a thick layer of unsealed DuPont primer, will be wetsanding with 400 grit before painting. I'm assuming sticking with DuPont products will yield the best results?

I would like to paint my car a metallic blue, similar to C5 Corvette blue.

I've got quite a few questions for you auto body gurus.

I need tips and wisdom on:

-Single stage vs multi stage paints?

-Reducing?

-Hardeners?

-Flexing Agents?

-Clear Coats?

-Mixing?

-Applying coats- basecoat, top coat, clear coat?

-nozzle pressure for HPLV spraygun?


thanks in advance!

 

Here is one resource I found while looking around, but still looking for a resource (online, book, etc) that really gets into tricks of the trade:

http://www.scottgrundfor.com/ideas/paint3.html

 

awesome link dclin! thank you!

 

Here is a list of body shops in CA.
http://www.autobodypro.com/jobbers/states/ca.htm

Scroll down until you come across the Hawthorne area. You will find company called Finish Masters. I've been there and they can get a whole variety of paints from 3M to House of Kolors. The guys there can also help answer your questions.

Hawthorne

TLC (Finishmasters)
4823 W Rosecrans Ave., Hawthorne, CA 90250
Tel. 310-973-8111
(They are located near the corners of Inglewood and Rosecrans).

Also, you can post a message here regarding paint/body work.
http://www.autobodypro.com/pro_forum.htm

 

I know its not legal to sell and promote using any more than 16psi on a HVLP gun because of california pollution and crap, but when I got my gun, the guy told me ~23psi will yield the best finish. Definately do some praciticing just to get used to shooting and to get the feel of how the paint goes on. Also, setting the gun properly is a must, I know I learned my lesson from this the first time I painted my car... And most importantly, have fun! it will be a great learning experience.

 

its been a really fun experience. Lots of work, and lots of patience required... but I already feel satisfied now that the body work and prepping/primering is pretty much finished.

As far as high psi on HVLP's.... cool tip. I'll have to try that out. I'll just keep it on the D/L from CARB I'm already on the lam with them by having multiple rotaries with open exhausts

 

Depending on your spraying enviorment depends on the psi for the gun, in a down draft booth that has good air flow you dont need as much air versus spraying on a floor, those HVLP guns require ALOT of psi into the gun to run by the way. They are called HVLP but they need a big compressor to run them. DeVilbiss just came out with a new gun that is going to make HVLP useless. It uses half the psi of thier GTi HVLP gun, I just picked one up and it works incrdible, transfer ratio is better then 75%. I have the GTi gun as well, but this new Plus gun uses much less pressure, which is good when I do jobs on my own with my portable compressor.

Mettalics may not be a good choice for a learner, they are harder to spray, and you must clear coat them, so while you can use single stage paint, it still has to be cleared, so just go with the basecoat, its easier to use for mettalics then single stage. You may end up with some mottling, blotches, and stripes if you try to spray mettalics and dont know what your doing.
Reducers, hardners, all that crap depends on what
paint you end up using, mixing instructions are on the can.

 

Thanks for the recommendation of guns, Rob. Found these DeVilbiss Plus guns on eBay, three different sets from the same seller:

gun w/1 tip - http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=22779

gun w/3 tips, psi gauge and cup - http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=22779

gun w/3 tips, psi gauge and cup, and case - http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=22779

From this search:

http://search.ebay.com/search/search...DeVilbiss+plus

A good deal?

Is it ok to use the same gun for primer and for the base/clear?

What compressor do you recommend for use with this gun - are ones found at Home Depot/Lowes (within specs) acceptable for auto paint use?

I've seen little regarding moisture traps - what types are suitable for portable compressor use? Any brands, styles, etc preferable?

Thanks!

 

Ah, I just realized that the 1st auction is for a pressure feed, the 2nd and 3rd are for gravity feed guns...

Cool, I'm looking at DeVilbiss' site, and they have a chart with psi and nozzle settings/selections for major brands of paint and primer:

http://www.autorefinishdevilbiss.com

Click Products/Model of Gun/Paint Company Chart Info

 

www.paintucation.com

Stick with one MFG's paint line for the best results as a novice. I have my own fav products, but alas some are no longer made. Now I have to refigure what to use.

I shoot with a TIP HVLP Turbine sprayer. www.tptools.com

Good luck

 

Hi BlackR1

Could you do a write up on how to do the prepped and primered for your car.

Thanks

 

I'll post how I prepped and primered my car. But there could be a lot of errors in my procedure; this will be where the gurus step in.

So far for my prep work, I did a rough sand using 80 grit dry (yes i know) to strip off the clearcoat and any rust spots. This left most of the car sanded down to the basecoat, with some parts down to the primer and metal (repair areas) After that I pulled some dents and did some filling-- sprayed on some cheap black glossy paint after sanding down filler to make sure the feather edge was perfect-- this was a must because any imperfections would be seen after painting. Resanded the entire car with 220 grit dry. Degreased and cleaned the entire car prior to primering. Came out pretty smooth. I put on a pretty heavy coating of primer since i left it unsealed. Prior to painting the car I plan to wetstand using 400 grit (maybe higher grit is required?)

 

The DeVillbiss site gives the requirements for the gun, so get a compressor that keeps up with those.

The gun comes from Devilbiss with the 3 tips and the gauge/regulator. The regulator was required for Devilbiss to get certified in the toughest states in the country, this gun meets all low VOC requirements.

The other one is just for the case thrown in, its a good thing for the $10 or so extra. You can use the gun for primers as well, I dont spray primers thru my finish gun, but if its your only gun and you dont use it for work, then go for the one gun. I have 7 guns now, one for certain things, lol.

 

I just picked up an automotive paint book tonight - 'Automotive Paint Handbook', by John Phanstiehl (HPBooks).
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...books&n=507846

Has everything I'm looking for, including everything from start to finish, along with a pictorial guide to paint blemish problems, how to prevent and solve, etc.

Thanks for the link to 'Paintucation', Banzai - I had a friend try to bid on a set on eBay (I was out in the field for work) this week, but the numbnut does not understand the finer points of sniping, and I ended up with just one of the three. Eh well, I'll just buy the other two new.