1952-59 Ford Help with choosing a paint sprayer

Hey everyone, this is my first question since joining a couple of days ago. First of all what a great forum, I have gotten a lot of info from all you knowledgeable gearheads.
I've decided it was time to starte working on my car so one day I took her apart without a plan ( I know stupid). I think I work better that way, anyway the motor and 3 on the tree was taken out along with the suspension, gearbox, dashboard and heating components. I've sanded the firewall and frame down along with everything else that came off the car and i'm ready to paint. My question is what should I look for in a spray gun? I know that a gravity feed is the best, I just don,t know if there is anything else I should look at. I went to my local body shop and their spray guns were around 150.00 I thought that was high (maybe im wrong). Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

tillerman43, you didn't say how much experience you have behind a spray gun. If you are just getting started and looking to keep the cost down on your project. Harbor freight has a garvity feed gun for 29.99. It works good with todays paint ( base coat of single stage). Now if you want a professionial type gun (sata, accuspray. iwata) then you are looking more in the 495.-695. range. Some of the guns that I use for spraying ppg water base clear coat are in that range.
Like with all things, it is not how expensive the item is, it is the user behind that item.
A friend of mine who was just getting started with a new project, bought one from Harbor Freight and after sand blasting his frame we used it to seal and paint the frame base coat clear coat. The color is dark gray pearl which is a Lexus color that runs 295. a qt. With the setting on the gun set, it spray the finish very nice.
Devillvis has a low cost gun in there finish line.
You want to get a gun with a 1.3 tip for paint and clear. For 2k primers a 1.8 tip works best.
Just my .02 cent and 40 yrs experience on the subject

 

Thanks riskybiz for the info. I've worked on cars for 25 yrs and yet never did any painting. I'm going to have a body shop paint the car but I thought I could do the firewall, dash and window trim myself. Thanks again

 

It seems that Harbor Freight gun is a "bang for the buck" I have seen several positive posts about it on hotrodders.com also.

 

I've used the Harbor Frieght gun to paint several of our service trucks, and they have turned out really well, considering my lack of experience with one.