I paint in my attached Garage. After completing all of the body work, I blow all of the stuff off including the lights, shelves tool boxes etc. Cover whatever you do not want that overspray **** on with plastic or old blankets after sweeping the heck out of the floor and letting the dust settle. I then wet everything that can get wet without any problems... Rust ****s *** on tools! Set up a couple of box fans in the door and use the walk in door for an air intake. Paint and get the heck out for a few hours. CJO13
Cjo13, try using some sweeping compound instead of the water, its a bit more money but the water is messy, How many of you guys ground your cars so they don't build up a charge and pull dust towards them?
I have seen it done, I have never thought of it as we are getting ready. A buddy that is paints all of the time has a steel pipe driven a foot into the ground behind his shop and a 20' lead with a clamp he uses. He swears by it. You would think that the compound would create a dust? I might have to give it a try. CJO13
looks mighty pretty. so, did it in garage? any prep to cover walls, etc? what kind of spray gun/compressor? type of primer used? any other details. Thanks.
Hey, I'd avoid any "sweeping compound" in the paint area at all times! Compound contains oils that have a way of winding up just where you don't want them, like on primered surfaces. " Spending a nation into generational debt is not an act of comp***ion "
I used a craftsman 33 gal 2HP compressor. I did keep draining and refilling for a day to get all the water out. the primer was just some lacquer (per eastwood this urethane will be fine over it). i really didn't have time to fix the dents (daily driver - must be ready by Monday!). i cleaned the **** out of my garage and my original plan was to drop plastic all around. so a couple beers into it i just went for it with out the plastic. the gun is a devilbliss finishline 1.3 tip. 50 foot hose and about 10 psi at the cap so i think that was about 23psi at the tip (?) i did have a big fan blowing slightly down to the front of the car and i did not ground the car. next time i definitely need more lights!! i think my lighting could have been a lot better. I'm going to srpay another trunk lid and a '50 hood separately with the same color. any advise on getting this to match somewhat close? same system.. thanks for the good words guys!!
I think your car looks great, especially for a first time job. The first metallic enamel job I did looked like **** and had to be done over.... That was long before hardeners were used and straight enamel was a real ***** to fix I'd just drive it as it is and enjoy it... Maybe some stripes or scallops.. As far as the technical problems with single stage urethanes..... They handle pretty much the same as acrylic enamels, which is what I'd recommend for your next job. There is no practical difference between the two materials as far as durability, etc, is concerned but A/E is generally less expensive, a little easier to work with, and a little more forgiving. There is a definite method to spraying single stage metallics that insures uniform appearance. It involves coordinating the outside temp with the temp range of the reducer, the amount of reduction, the air pressure at the gun, and the distance from the surface. In the old days of spraying straight synthetic enamel it was referred to simply as "fogging the paint". Fogging with higher pressure contridicts the basic concept of using HVLP guns and spraying with the lowest possible pressure, but so does painting anywhere other than a booth. I still use the technique, though and it still works well, although it's easier with A/E because you can fool around with the reduction ratios a little more than you can with urethane. I'd definitely recommend painting in a cooler temperature. This is easily the most important factor, especially in a home shop paint job. No more than 80 and preferably about 70. The most important thing is to keep the surface wet. Allow each coat to flash, but not too much. You want the paint to be "sticky"... flashed off enough to keep it from sliding off on the floor, but still wet. As each successive coat is applied you can reduce a little more and, after two coats, start raising the air pressure and backing the gun away from the surface a little while widening the spray pattern. By the time you have three or four coats on you are, literally, fogging the paint, allowing the material to float onto the surface. This allows the metallic to lay out on the surface and settle into the paint film in a uniform manner. This requires a little practice to get it figured out, but as the painting progresses, you'll end up with a nice gloss that requires NO polishing at all. The problem of ending up with runs in the paint goes up exponentially as the benefits of higher gloss and more uniform metallic dispersion go up so some practice is mandatory. Practice the technique on old panels that are painted while in the vertical position. You'll be surprised at how easy it is. As far as matching the paint on the spare parts.... I doubt you'll get them exactly the same color unless you can duplicate the same exact conditions and set ups that you used when you painted the car.. Please don't take this advise as criticism of your paint job... It's not. Just a few hints on how to make your next job easier and better looking... As I said in the beginning, I like your work. I like seeing guys do there own work, especially for the first time... It takes balls to spend the money for the materials and jump into unknown territory.
thanks rich - lots of good advice that i will use. so if i fog the pattern at then end i should turn the pressure up and reduce the paint even more? i'm going to try that this weekend.
That's correct... But be careful.... Without a lot of air moving through the exhaust fan, the overspray fills the room pretty quickly. You can still use relatively low pressure... You have to play with it a little to find a good balance between reduction, air pressure and distance between the gun and surface. I usually put my first two coats on according to the label on the can... as wet as I can without it running off on the floor. After that I'd thin my material maybe another 10-15 % and back the gun away from the surface and increase the pressure enough to allow the material to fog out over the surface. IF it still lays down wet with no orange peel I keep that set up and finish the job with another coat. The balancing act is in having no orange peel or texture in EACH coat, while not having it so wet as to create runs. In order to keep it that wet, the metallic settles unevenly with the results we all dread. So... The first coats are to lay the paint down wet... no 'peel... the rest of the paint job is sprayed to keep it wet and even out the metallic, hence the fogging technique. First few jobs... I'd recommend leaning toward having a little texture in the paint VS having a bunch of runs. Concentrate on the fogging technique to eliminate the metallic streaks while keeping it as wet as you are comfortable with. uniform metallic and some orange peel looks much better that a bunch of runs Good luck
I would add to the above recommendations that you might want to paint late at night. The air is cooler and usually quite still. We always painted between 1:00 AM & 4:00 AM sounds crazy but always came out nice. No complaints from the neighbors either!
Me too.... I paint outside my shop whenever possible, and I try to have everything ready to go so I can spray early in the morning just after sunrise....
nice man .... if you could cut it and buff it you would be even happier .... makes a hack into a hero!!! great job
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