The Paint Thread...

[Morbidlife]

nice writeup and maroon the bumper looks killer goodjob bro

[Prodigy]

Great thread, I've learned a bit so far. I plan on learning to paint this summer as I have a few old vehicles I can practice on before painting my car.

Could someone give a list of the required equipment for painting? I know I need a gun and compressor but is there anything else? What about brand/model suggestions for the required parts? I see a few people in this thread like the Sharpe Pro gun, what do you think of the Sharpe Finex? How big of a holding tank does the compressor need for an HVLP system?

If anyone knows any good sites or books on car painting, that would be great.

[Leung]

This is great, i have always thought i would have to primer the entire car because i wanted to change it to a deep green. Now that i know it's only the the places i've repaired like around the wheel well, painting this baby won't take as long as i thought. Thanks for the info.

['93accordse]

Materials for bodywork/primer/paint

good choice man, i love PPG, i try to shoot it exclusively, talk my customers into using it. How's that Sharpe working out for you, i used to use one like that for my touch up gun, until i discovered Sata. I've shot with just about everything, Sharpe, Transtar, Ingersoll Rand, Blue Point, Sata, ATD. Right now i'm stuck on my Transtar for Primer, Sata for base and my Blue Point touch up gun. 1.4 tip is kinda small, hopefully you're not laying primer with that tip.

[maroonaccord2.2]

Could someone give a list of the required equipment for painting? I know I need a gun and compressor but is there anything else? What about brand/model suggestions for the required parts? I see a few people in this thread like the Sharpe Pro gun, what do you think of the Sharpe Finex? How big of a holding tank does the compressor need for an HVLP system?

If anyone knows any good sites or books on car painting, that would be great.

The Sharpe gun is the first gun that I've purchased, I don't have much experience with other brands. I love it, and have not had a single problem with it either. Sata makes a good gun as well, and there are a few other brands..... As far as a compressor, I am using a fairly small setup for my HVLP. It's a 7 gallon tank I believe, I wish that I had a large stand-up unit though. To be honest, for smaller jobs the demand is not too much for my compressor, although if you were shooting a car..... you'd need a larger unit.

How's that Sharpe working out for you

I love it, and yes...... I have used the 1.4mm tip for primer, I just thin it out about 1:1.5, it worked fine. I am looking for another gun in the future with a larger tip that I can dedicate to primers.

does anyone have experience with painting the plastics off a street bike??

Not a bike, well....not yet. I plan on re-shooting my Suzuki eventually, the prep and paint materials will all be about the same as if you were doing a car. Might have to use the flex-additive for the plastics so the base/clear doesn't crack if the bodywork is bumped or flexed.....

['93accordse]

i used to paint for a bike shop, i painted MANY ferrings (sp?) and bondo'd and airbrushed them as well. oddly enough, i didnt do many Jixxers, except for a ton of 'Busa's . mostly i painted Yamaha's ( R1's and 6's_ which are more popular around here. anyways, point is, if you can paint a car painting ferrings is the same, just a ton easier since you can pull them off and hang or lay them however you want.

[Ilikebigbutts]

Just read this hole thread.Deffinatly some good stuff to start out with.

One thing i didnt see mentioned is, how long till the paint cures-or is it even necessary to let it cure?In other words, do i wax it right after i'm done or wait a couple months too let it sit in the sun?

ILBB

[maroonaccord2.2]

Just read this hole thread.Deffinatly some good stuff to start out with.

One thing i didnt see mentioned is, how long till the paint cures-or is it even necessary to let it cure?In other words, do i wax it right after i'm done or wait a couple months too let it sit in the sun?

ILBB

It really depends on the paint. I've been using base-coat/clear-coat finishes and you need to wait a week or so to buff them out. Acrylic Laquers usually take longer because there is no hardener/catalyst. Oven-baked base/clears could probably be buffed out within a day of curing..... There is usually info regarding curing times available from the various manufacturers.

[Ilikebigbutts]

Ok, i got a question about compressors

I just bought a craftsman 3.5 hp 25 gal. 175 max psi compressor.It says "intermenent" use of paint guns.When do i know to stop?I'm planning on doing one panel at a time.(everything of the car and then spray the rest.)

And there is like three out let on this thing.There is one pressure regulator hooked up up and then there are two other fitting that obviously blow air out when i turn the machine on.I connect my line to the regulator and somehow plug the other two?

ILBB

['93accordse]

just stop intermittently, basically its saying that it wont handle a paint gun at 100% duty cycle. which most compressors that aren't two stage wont anyways. so just let it build up eevry once in awhile or else you'll burn the motor up.

you can run two airhoses off the other two outlets. i ran pvc pipe around my paint booth with multiple hook in spots so i could disconnect and reconnect all around the car and didnt have to drag a long ass air hose all over the ground. helps out. also, side note, make sure you drain that tank often, water or moisture coming thru your paint gun will own your life otherwise.

[Ilikebigbutts]

Hey, thanx for the info.The tank does say 2 stage so i guess thats a good thing ?

Also, because i got this thing at an aswamly bitching deal from a sears that is closing out, I forgot to take the box.Is there anything that could of been included in it?like anything imporatnt cause i already had the hose wich fit so that dont bother...but anything else?It says oil free.thanx againg.

ILBB

['93accordse]

naw, probably just the owners manual. if you got a 2 stage and its a Craftsman i'd dare say you should be able to spray as much as you needed to. Most likely on the compressor i would spray full primer, let build and sit, full base, sit, clear, sit, clear again or whatever youre doing. in other words i think you should be able to do more than one panel at a time.

[Ilikebigbutts]

Yeah its a craftsman.thanx for the help man really apreciated.

ILBB

EDIT:Is there anywhere online i can look at paint prices just to get an idea at what i'm looking at?

[YannieBoy]

Props to a nice thread.

[TypeG]

Just read this hole thread.Deffinatly some good stuff to start out with.

One thing i didnt see mentioned is, how long till the paint cures-or is it even necessary to let it cure?In other words, do i wax it right after i'm done or wait a couple months too let it sit in the sun?

ILBB

i'd say after 90 days any type of paint is cured enough for polishing/waxing. later.