Painting woes. I WANT TO PUKE!!!!!

I just need to vent a little, hate to sound like a cry sack but I'm a little frustrated.
I went to paint my car this morning. I set everything up last night, wiped the car down, ect. This morning I got up, wet the floor down and went at it. Well Murphy decided to give me a hand. Let's see first I went to pull some air hose towards me and it flug some drops of water onto the side of the car. Them I was sweating so bad I dripped sweat in a few spots. Like I said I really want to puke right now!!!
On the brighter side of things, There are no runs in the paint and I still have at least one more coat to go for good coverage. I figure I wiil wait till at least the middle of next week for everything to set up well ( I'm using enamel with hardner) amd wet sand out all my little fuckups, scuff the rest of the car and finish the job.
This is the first car I've ever painted. Please tell me I'm not alone with these little setbacks?? Thanks for listening. Todd

 

just a normal day in the at home paint booth!

 

Cry sack????????

 

When the utility trailer leaning on the garage wall decides to tip over for the first time in 3 years, and smacks a huge dent in the still-wet hood and throws trailer-dirt all over the rest of the wet paint......then we'll talk See, it could be worse! At least you can face it today. I just set the gun down and locked the garage up. Took 2 weeks to get un-mad enough to open the door.

 

Thats enough to piss ya off! I don't think I would have just "set" the paint gun down at that point.

 

You ain't. Trust me. Once I got done making all the old mistakes I found a shitload of new ones.

* Use a vegetable sprayer to wet the floor, not a garden hose. You want just enough moisture to keep the dust down, not big damn puddles that will flick drops of water into the wet paint.

* I cut down an air hose to reach the corners of my spray area and that's it. Maybe 27 or 28 feet. Then I put swivels on both ends where it doesn't get all balled up. Over-engineered? Maybe.

* When it's hot weather (most of the year here) I wrap an old t-shirt over my head and around the mask to somewhat keep sweat from dripping into the paint. Dirty Doug stylz. Yes it does make you feel like you're suffocating, and I'm sure there's a better way but since I only paint a couple - three times a summer it works for me.

 

Todd, you can save it today.
For all the little water droplets....put your wax n grease remover in a spray bottle/windex-type bottle, and you can wet sand those places GENTLY using it instead of water. It'll work with the right grit paper(probably about 600), as long as it's tacked up good Keep it good and wet, and use gentle strokes
For future reference, having a roll of toilet paper around can be useful when the water drop thing happens--just tear off a strip and roll it into a point, and just barely touch the boo-boo and it will wick out the water good enough to recoat. Most of the time, the next coat will flow out the irregularity left. This works for ENAMEL.

 

If you smash the gun, then you gotta clean a cup of paint out of your hair before heavy drinking can commence At that second, the last thing I wanted was any obstacle between me and a healthy buzz.

 

get back in there and get to painting its not a big deal,most the time water will just blow of. im sure by now it aint there any more nib the spots down if needed and get to painting
alex

 

Shifty,

I feel MUCH better now. Sorry for you troubles though.

Earl,

I actually have to wait. I need 1 more qt of paint that I cant get till monday. I will remember the toilet paper trick though. Thanks for that.
Do you agree though, Wet sand the boo-bos with 400/600 wet and scuff the rest with a grey scotchbright and re-shoot?? Thanks Todd

 

I think my biggest problem is we see people on this board to such fantastic work that we forget what sometime happens along the way. We always like to show the good stuff, not the bullshit that happens while we are getting there. Todd

 

LOL, me too. My brand new Binks #7 (years ago!) cleared the back fence of my shop shortly after it dripped right in middle of a Corvette hood as I was finishing spraying a candy red .

 

Exactly...

My 37 is wearing all of the runs, the dust, and the bugs I laid into it when I painted it this past spring and it's going to be like that all season until I have time to finish it right this winter.
But I started it...and I'll finish it all by myself!

Hang in there Tugmaster, I'm sure it'll be excellant when your all done!!

 

I totally feel you on these problems. They're just minor setbacks, just don't get discouraged. It took me two weekends to paint my buddy's Model A roadster because of reaction problems, nothing a little sanding and respray can't take care of.

 

Agreed, and you might even consider red scotchbrite if it's a non-metallic color (better mechanical adhesion)
Don't feel bad, brother......do this for a livin' every day and mess up--THEN you'll feel the pain

 

You're getting it now......most people show the finished product, that being the job after all the mistakes and suicide bug / asteroid damage has been fixed. If there's anything that can go wrong, it will go wrong within the last 2 coats of clear in my shop..........

 

it is just fortunate that YOU don't mess up! Good, Cheap, Fast? Always appreciate your suggestions, Mike. Damn, I wish I could have made the Drags to hang with the cool guys.

 

Back in '66 I was building my first dirt track car (55 Chev) in a shop I had rented outside of town. Had been attending races on weekend while building and was determined to have a nice looking car! Had seen seen enough rough looking stuff to realize the fans and your sponsors whose names you put on the car deserved it.
When all else was pretty much finished, it was time to sand and paint. We sanded and sanded and sprayed primer/sufacer and sanded some more.
When we finally had it slick, it was time to spray with the industrial safety orange enamel we had obtained.
So we swept the shop out real well, even wet down the dirt outside the shop plus the floor, tacked the car off and started spraying.
After 2 full coats of enamel then it was a coat with lots of slow thinner to help it lay down a good glossy final coat.
About 15 mins later the "Nancy Hanks", the last passenger train stll running on the tracks about 12 feet back of the shop and which we had completely forgotten about her schedule, came roaring by about 70 mph!
Well, this old rented shop had no ceiling, just rafters and the roof. You can gues how much dirt got shaken out of there and on the car!
Had we just given it some thought, we could have waited till after she passed by, then tack off and spray.
Some of it we were able to get of later, enough that it still looked good from the grandstand, but up close you could see dirt all in that shiney paint!
Dave

 

my stepfather painted a hudson stepdown in the alley, then turned around to find one of the cats walking over the fresh paint.

 

Git back on that horse, cowboy-you haven't invented any new ways to screw up, you're just discovering the common ones. Lots of good advise from smart guys-you have persevered this far, keep at it-remember-you're going to be the guy who says "yeah, I painted it myself". Good luck.

 

dont worry about those small mistakes, soon , with plenty of expeirence, yo will be able to move on to much larger goof ups..lol

i dont recall too many paint jobs just coming out perfect ,most involve some sort of entertainment



skull

 

Heck, that sounds like one of my BETTER days

Which do you want, perfection or experience

 

boy if thats enough to make ya puke i'd hate to see how you'd handle real drama!!lol
JimV

 

Leave him alone, Mr. Rattlecan!!

 

The good part is most folks looking at the car won't notice the imperfections in the paint. You will, because you know they are there. Just don't overcompensate and ruin the whole job by fussing with the bad spots.

 

If you puke the texture of the paint would be way to rough. Just kidding , hang in there and it will work out.

 

Happened to a friend of mine also but nobody will fess up to how the cat got into the paint booth. You have to understand this is a guy that hates cats and wouldn't have one near his property. I won't mention what happened after that. Kids may be reading this!

 

Hey the guy that says he did a pefect paint job is big fat liar !! shit happens the better you deal with it the better you are .Some old brake shoes in front of the tires will help that damb anconda air hose from hanging up water will slip out of every crack mist coat first some times run over it with an empty gun REMEMBER HIND SIGHT IS 20 20!! HOPE IT WAS NOT CANDY!!

 

it happens to the best of us. i dont wet booth floors or shop floors anymore. if u blow the shop area out the day before... then paint the next day u will be fine. splashin water is more of a headache then help.

 

That's why god created pinstripes...to draw your eye away from the huge run.