Paint Advice

[Turboelky]

I thought I would paint my car…about 12 years ago. I got around to blocking and said F this. Took it to a decent paint shop and broke bread. Thank god I did. But if you want to get in shape while your accomplishing this project, more power to you! The prep work is hardest, painting is all technique. I've done a bunch of 2 stage small parts with automotive paint/clear and its super fun. I just couldn't stand the prep work, which is the biggest part of the paint finish. Either way, good luck bro. And put 2 water traps on the compressor. One on the output, and one right before the gun. The hose will build a ton of condensation.

[Cameronmyers74]

Single stage won't last long, but if he's on a budget it will do the job. But yeah Two stage would be your best bet that way if you do get runs it will be easier to sand out and not have to worry about burning through. And yes I had a sata 3000B with the digital gauge in the handle got in for 150 when I was doing autobody class in highschool (promotional thing through sata) And boy let me tell you it was the best guy ever, sprayed nice, easy to clean, and just all around a great gun. And if you do go with a SATA maybe try and find one on ebay.

[Audio-Concepts]

If you want to do it quit and painless. This is the easiest way to go.

Fix all dents/dings- go over any damage areas with 180 grit and then skim coat with filler and sand and feather out till smooth. finish sand it in 320 and use basic rattle can primer over the areas.

Sand car- after removing handles, mirrors, and trim thats a pain to tape off, use a DA (dual action) sander with 500 grit sandpaper. Go over every panel vigorously until every square inch is covered. After this step blow off car and wash it. Make sure you have dried car completely blowing out water in every nook and cranny.

Masking- mask off windows and jams (doors, hood, trunk).

Painting car- after you have the car masked up and ready to go. Wipe every panel with wax and grease remover. you want to use "wipe-all" towels for this. you want to spray the panels and wipe with one towell and dry with another. this reduces contaminates and reduces paint issues (fisheyes, lifting, solvent pop). After you have cleaned the panels use an air gun and tack rag to blow off and wipe panels clean of dust, lint , etc. Now you are ready to paint.

For a quick easy paint job single stage is it. But for a better quality a base coat/ clear coat is the desired option. A tri-stage paint job is a base coat, mid coat, clear coat. These types of paint jobs are associated with pearl whites and misc candy paint schemes.

equipment:

30+ gallon compressor

HVLP spray gun (Sata, Devilbiss, Iwata) for base

RP (reduced pressure) spray gun for clear

6.5" DA sander

Wax n Grease remover

Wipe-all towels

Base coat with reducer (one gallon)

Clear coat with activator (one gallon)

Rattle can primer

I would use Nason paints...they are the best bang for the buck, and decent quality for a daily driver.

[Herokight]

Appreciate it. That pretty wells sums it up haha