Hot Rods Laying down glass like paint......advice for the DIY crowd?

So, I do my own paint and bodywork.

Not because I am good at it, but because I am poor.
I have always envied the guys that can lay down paint and it looks like a mirror, even before color sanding.

Are there any easy tricks to help the DIY guys?

I have a Sata 2000 HVLP gun that I spray with.
Are there certain tip size combos that work better than others? I took a 4 hour crash course one time put on by HOK and one thing I picked up was the 6" fan at 6" of height.

Do you guys have one of the pressure gauges for your tip? I always wonder how critical that is in comparison to line pressure.

I have installed driers and true 1/2" hose and fittings.

I would like to have at least one car that people are really impressed with the paintwork before I die. I may just hafta hire it out.

 

I do mine too. The bigger fittings didn't hurt, didn't help me. I bought a gun from Eastwood that works with a little less CFM, since I have a home-size air compressor. I think orange peel is built into the DNA of the universe. Hope you get some good tips. I just shoot for wet, but too wet.

 

lots of practice and some luck.
I started using TAMCO clear, goes on with some pretty ugly orange peel, 3o mins later its like glass smooth. The right products sure do help!

 

When I see guys like Ryno, it makes me wanna give up and sell my paint gun.

 

You just need to expect to sand and buff. That's how I end up with mirror finishes consistently.

 

I usually get mirror smooth just before it runs and drips onto the floor, sigh.
Not much help just in the same boat.

 

90% of a great paint job is the prep work before the paint is ever sprayed. If the surface isn't perfect before paint it doesn't matter how well you lay down the paint. Also as mentioned colour sanding and polishing are pretty much a requirement for great paint especially if you are not using a booth to keep keep things like overspray and dust out of your work.

 

Been painting our own cars since the '80s. I've used Sata, Binks, Sharp, etc. In the end, having enough product on the car is far more important than laying it down perfectly. Sanding and buffing are easy, rub-throughs are a pain in the... well, rhymes with "glass."

 

I should also mention, we make our own down-draft paint booth. 2X4 frame covered in plastic with a duct running down the middle of the floor, drawing air from the bottom. In the roof of the "booth" I put 4 large furnace filters. Works a treat, especially as modern urethane paints need air movement to dry properly. When it's on (I use a furnace fan to pull the air), you cannot feel the air move, but there is no fog while spraying, and as soon as you release the trigger on the gun, if you pull your mask off (always, always, always used a good mask with a face shield), there is virtually no oder hanging in the air inside the booth.

 

One thing that I discovered with BC/CC is that the clear worked better (for me anyway) if shot with a siphon feed gun. It seemed to atomize the clear better. I always shot it at 55 lbs. at the gun. I understand that you will lose 1/2 pound of pressure for every 2 feet of hose. So have some sort of pressure reading at your gun. Clear likes a little pressure. It needs to be atomized. That's where a siphon feed gun seems to work better than a HVLP. I added 5% more reduction to the first coat of clear from manufacturer recommendations. Second coat right according to recommendations, and 3rd. coat again an extra 5%. I had a regular old DeVilbiss spray booth. No force drying. I used PPG products mainly but also worked with DuPont and NAPA. PPG just seemed to work for me. If not going for a show quality paint job and just a nice driver job, never touched a buffer. Clear flowed out really great. Just remember your prep work will also dictate your paint job. Paint does not hide bad prep work. It only magnifies it. Nice smooth surface, product applied correctly. nice job in the end .... That old Binks model 7 really worked great 'till I completely wore it out ....

 

That's my "flow indicator".

 

No one I know has ever done a show paint job w/o wet sanding their ass off to make it slick.
My paint jobs take a day to spray and a week to cut and polish, yes I'm old and slow but that's the way it is for me. The high solids clear of today need quite a bit of pressure to lay down on the car too.
Good luck!

 

There are no shortcuts to brilliant paint jobs. You can buy the latest and highest priced gun out there, and you may not have the good end result. Prep, Prep and then prep some more. If it does not look straight with primer on it, then its a sure bet that shiny paint will only make it worse. Try doing this. Go find you a 67-72 chevy pickup hood. Try to get one that's pretty straight. Put it on sawhorses and block and prime and prep it for paint. It will have the ridge down the middle, as well as corners all around. Paint it with whatever you want, enamel, BC/CC, laquer, etc. Then cut it and buff it til its perfect. Screw up and burn the corners, Then strip it and start over. When you get it right, you will know it. Sell your hood and move on to your car. I assure you , the practice you put in on that hood will pay off. Good luck.

 

I use a Devilbiss GFG-670.ITs called a PLUS its not an HVLP but A reduced pressure gun.They call it compliant.I shoot clear at 35psi and it lays it down really smooth.

 

I shot this with an 89 dollar DeVilbiss.



My tech tips to you are do exactly what your paint guys says as far as mixing ratios and such. Also, experiment with test panels until you get the best results, then try to duplicate it on the car. Finally, get that sumbitch as straight as you possibly can, then block it two more times before shooting color.

Nice seeing you and your darling bride last week.

-Abone.

 

Thanks guys. Yeah I understand the whole prep part of it. Mine usually look ok, but I am more curious about the setup of the gun etc.

Thanks, Jeff. It was good to see you too.

 

I learned all I know by reading books, asking pros questions and following the mixture units exactly like the label says. I retired my Binks 18 siphon gun when I bought an Iwata 400 LPX. I have a pressure gauge, Sharpe I think at the gun and adjust it there. All of the advice about having the prep work as close to perfect as you can get is right on. Any flaws in the primer will show up in the finish paint. Buy the best paints you can afford and don't mix brands.

 

"Run it to the ground and trim it at the Rocker Panel".

VR&C

 

Really doesn't matter what gun or system you use. They are all regulated by temperature and humidity. I paint at home and when it comes to the color shot I look seriously at the weather.

Have accomplished what you are looking for doing this.

 

Primer is cheap, so is your time, sand it till it looks like marble, no flaws, not a speck of orange peel, then think about paint. Bob

 

1.3 Tekna Copper with my acrylic urethane, will slick out like glass. But find someone around who can help you set your spray gun up correctly, this is critical. Look at technical data sheet, they usually give you specs with psi, gun brand etc.
Also buy aftermarket or damaged fenders and play at different psi and see what works best for your spray technique. I have sold my paint up against paints that were better, but I knew how to set the gun up whether it was a hvlp, lvmp, rp, lvlp, pressure pot, electrostatic, airless, air assisted airless.
I am putting on 2 paint clinics 1 in Ft Valley, GA April 12, 13 and one in Kernersville, NC May 17, 18, its free but this would help any diy guy. I will be more than happy to walk anyone though setting gun up etc, just send me a pm and I can walk you through it.

 

nothing beats a good old school paint stick turned sanding block, before and after painting
slick straight body work = slick straight paint work
spraying takes practice and good lighting
spraying in shadows sucks

 

I think sticking with a certain product and having a lot of experiance with how it reacts and it's limitation is a big part also , each new product you use will probably have a learning curve

 

Don't even bother. Sand it and buff it to get perfection. Even if you get it to lay down like glass, it will shrink slightly, and not be perfect.

 

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Cleanliness, patience and quality products.






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Talk to David Hay. He is the guy I'd ask paint/body. questions.

 

All good advice. I do read all the tech data, talk to experienced folks and obviously I ask a lot of questions. I like being able to answer that I did the work myslef, when asked. I have noticed that a lot of body guys aren't great painters and vice versa. I'm sort of a jack of all trades and master of none Keep it coming....

 

I thin paint a bit more to lay down a very wet final coat. Makes for a excellent finish. A pro showed me that technique on my first paint job. I been using a Campbell Hausfield gun the past 10 years

 

43 years in the biz, still doesn't turn to a nearly polished finish for me. I surface my top coatings like my primers so I don't really care. I tend to admire those who can get right there on the edge of sags and runs, but me? Nope. Try for slick, end up with strings. I tried every fuckin gun made. Surprise! Doesn't matter. Since day 1 I learned to hate the gun. I'll do all the rest to mind blowing quality but that trigger time is something I simple detest at the highest level. Is that my problem? I don't fuckin care if it is. Between the 'thane hangover the next day, the aches and chest pains, the prep, the dangers, the, well, fuck it. I hate spraying!

 

My paint jobs are so shitty ....But people comment about the nice patina..