Going To Start A Paint Job Soon

6

66FBACK

Promoted Users
This is my first post and I'm going to start to work on painting my car as soon as the weather breaks. I painted two vehicles a long time ago with acrylic enamel. The first one went on dry but the second one turned out fairly well using an old Binks siphon gun that I still have. I'm planning on getting another gun to shoot basecoat clearcoat with it. I haven't decided on which gun to get yet but it can't be anywhere near top of the line because of cost. This may be the only time I ever use the paintgun.

I have a shop near me that sells SPI products and Matrix paint. I will be painting an original Ford color that will be silver blue metallic. Spraying metallic is the biggest concern with the whole thing because I certainly don't want any striping in the paint job. Is there any particular brand base coat that is more forgiving of metallic than others. Is two stage paint better to use for metallic than a single stage? I'm going to be using SPI epoxy primer and probably their clearcoat also if it will work with the basecoat that I use. Is the Matrix an ok basecoat to go with or do you guys recommend something else that's not super expensive.

The car below is the color that I'm wanting to paint.

Thanks for any advice that you guys can give me.

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RosharonRooster said:
I would buy a good gun, use it. Then sell it for 20% off when done. In the end u get a good gun for fraction of cost. .might take some leg work, but worth it imo.
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You're implying a good used gun I gather? Would be hard to get 80% back on a new but used gun. But that would be exactly what I'd do too.
 
The same place that does or did sell Matrix also carries Automotive Art Motobase. It's about 15 miles from me and the nearest place that sells the Wanda is quite a distance from me so I'll probably go with the Motobase.

How do you tell if a gun is good when buying off of Ebay? I wouldn't know even when holding it in my hands unless it had obvious damage to it.

When painting two stage, could I paint the panels at one time and then paint the body at another time or is it necessary to paint them all at the same time. If on different days would temperature and humidity differences make the paint look different? I was thinking that by doing them at different times would make it easier. Would painting all of the jambs and places that wouldn't be seen from the outside and then assembling for a complete exterior paint be better for me?

I'm wanting a good job but know that it won't be perfect.

I appreciate you guys helping me out. I'm going to start buying supplies soon.
 
I would be hesitant suggesting painting a color like that in pieces. Can it be done? Sure. Can it come out different colors? Definitely. A used gun is a gamble, and really no way to be 100% sure it is good until you spray with it. That being said, a good quality gun is very durable and will spray good for 1000's of jobs with only thorough cleaning, but that is the problem. No way of knowing what material has been sprayed through it, and how thorough it was cleaned after each use. Almost impossible to get dried epoxy, for example, out of a gun with the chemicals available today. As Chris suggested, a used Sata brings 75-80% of new price, so you would basically be renting the gun for 20-25% of the cost. Used Iwata's hold their value, as well. Your jobber may also have a demo gun that he may rent you. Might be worth asking.
 
I'll have to build some stands to put the panels on and I think my garage is big enough to hold the body and all of the panels. I may be able to hang the fenders from the ceiling joists.

I'll have to check with the jobber about renting a gun.
 
RosharonRooster said:
No id buy a new one. A new lph400 is like 400? Use it and sell for 300 when done. I've used this approach atleast 5 times on car hauler trailers in the past.
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The ones on ebay are selling for close to $500 without the cup. Is there a better place to get one for less money at a reputable dealer?

Now I need to figure out some of the materials I'll need. I need to do a lot of reading.
 
66FBACK said:
The same place that does or did sell Matrix also carries Automotive Art Motobase. It's about 15 miles from me and the nearest place that sells the Wanda is quite a distance from me so I'll probably go with the Motobase.

How do you tell if a gun is good when buying off of Ebay? I wouldn't know even when holding it in my hands unless it had obvious damage to it.

When painting two stage, could I paint the panels at one time and then paint the body at another time or is it necessary to paint them all at the same time. If on different days would temperature and humidity differences make the paint look different? I was thinking that by doing them at different times would make it easier. Would painting all of the jambs and places that wouldn't be seen from the outside and then assembling for a complete exterior paint be better for me?

I'm wanting a good job but know that it won't be perfect.

I appreciate you guys helping me out. I'm going to start buying supplies soon.
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Don't buy supplies *too* soon because you've still got a lot of homework and research to complete. I see so many people on forums asking what they should do because they bought X and they need Y, and end up wasting a lot of money just because they bought too early before knowing everything that's got to happen.

I don't know how much warmer it is in Kentucky right now but you need your temps consistently at 65F before it's remotely safe to spray epoxy. Here in SW MI I can't start spraying epoxy until May.

If you're only doing one car I'd probably recommend something like a DeVilbiss Finishline. It's not a bad gun, but not a top of the line gun either, just a solid entry level gun that will get the job done for you, but it comes with three different cap sizes (1.3, 1.5, and 1.8) that will allow you to spray the full range of products you'll need to spray, primers through clear. I used to do everything with this gun; everything from high build urethane to clear coat. I base and clear with an LPH400 now but before then the Finishline did the job. Does not have near as wide a fan as my Iwata, but as long as you do a dropcoat on metallics you can achieve a uniform finish.

I'm not a pro, I spray in a dedicated booth I built in my shop, I'm just a serious enthusiast that paints a lot of projects.
 
It'll be at least a couple months before I start spraying. I'm starting my research early to try and figure out what I need and how much I need. I don't want to buy more epoxy, base and clear than I need but definitely want enough to finish the job. I want to buy enough of the sandpaper and other supplies to get through it but if I was to run out of those I could always go back and get more.

Anybody want to estimate how much epoxy and activator that I'll need. Will one gallon of each get me there? Is 2K primer necessary for a nice paint job? The car is pretty straight. How much base and clear will I need. I'm painting a 1966 Mustang Fastback.
 
66FBACK said:
The ones on ebay are selling for close to $500 without the cup. Is there a better place to get one for less money at a reputable dealer?

Now I need to figure out some of the materials I'll need. I need to do a lot of reading.
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There's one in there for 400 no cup. Harbor freight sells cups that fit
 
66FBACK said:
It'll be at least a couple months before I start spraying. I'm starting my research early to try and figure out what I need and how much I need. I don't want to buy more epoxy, base and clear than I need but definitely want enough to finish the job. I want to buy enough of the sandpaper and other supplies to get through it but if I was to run out of those I could always go back and get more.

Anybody want to estimate how much epoxy and activator that I'll need. Will one gallon of each get me there? Is 2K primer necessary for a nice paint job? The car is pretty straight. How much base and clear will I need. I'm painting a 1966 Mustang Fastback.
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Count on materials from. Start to finish costing approx 2000 dollars. Give or a take a lil. That's what I budget for when painting a complete car. Under hood and trunk, etc.

Color plays a factor. Red is expensive. Yellow doesn't cover. That blue metallic you want may be tricky for a first time paint job. Definitely want a quality basecoat and possibly a base blender. Not trying to deter you, but a solid color will be alot easier.
 
RosharonRooster said:
Count on materials from. Start to finish costing approx 2000 dollars. Give or a take a lil. That's what I budget for when painting a complete car. Under hood and trunk, etc.

Color plays a factor. Red is expensive. Yellow doesn't cover. That blue metallic you want may be tricky for a first time paint job. Definitely want a quality basecoat and possibly a base blender. Not trying to deter you, but a solid color will be alot easier.
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Yep. And depending on what you've got in the shop, you may start and realize you need ventilation, adequate air compressor, air filtering/drying, respirator or fresh air hood, lighting...
Lots of us slide down that hill

Still cheaper than paying the $30k a quality job will probably cost.
And satisfying as well.
 
I think my compressor will be enough. It's a two stage and I think it has either a 19 or 19.5 scfm rating. I don't have a dryer but I have two drop legs that will hopefully keep my air dry enough. I have a respirator that I used on my last job but it's pretty old so I'll probably buy another one.

The last paint job I did was in the same garage that I'll be using. I used a siphon gun and had no ventilation. The old Binks actually laid down a pretty smooth job. Needless to say there was a thick fog in there by the time I got done. The guy I got it from had painted his car the same silver blue metallic that I want (only in acrylic enamel) and if I remember correctly his paint came out pretty nice. I plan on using some fans in one door and try to filter the other door this time.
 
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