Lets talk paint and related products

So what type of gun is everyone using and how many gallons vs. coats are you using?

I currently have a California Air Tools 10 gallon/ 2 hp compressor and I have a SP-33000K LVLP Gravity Feed Sprayer. I've had the compressor but the sprayer is new and I haven't used it yet.

 

Next paint job I do, I intend to grab an armful of those Harbor Freight guns when they go on sale for 10 bux.

Works plenty good enough to shoot a "motor pool" style paint job with Gillespie, and also cheaper and easier to just shoot with it and then throw it away when you're finished, as opposed to spending 18 bux for a gallon of lacquer thinner and attempting to clean it!

 

I got one of those, but I never used it because I heard the air consumption/ waste was insanely high.

 

Some of the fellas over on Steel Soldiers have used them and for what they are, they got the job done just fine.

 

Any cheap/old school gun is going to use lots of air. I use the harbor freight ones to do small parts, primer, catalyzed laquer for cabinets, and sometimes for topcoat on smaller things. They work fine and are a great value. For bigger projects I use a 2 gallon Binks pressure pot with a Binks 2001 cheap gun. The gun only was 120 bucks and is sure not a model 18 or any other good old school gun. Its better than the chinese one for sure. Pressure pots allow you to paint upside down. I love them and have shot thousands of gallons with them. they can be used for shooting glue or epoxy or poly or whatever you want. I buy liners for them and clean up is minimal. You do lose a lot of paint in the fluid line, so I cut mine down to 10 feet. To clean them or any cup gun you wipe out the paint and then run laquer thinner through them until its relatively clear. You then store the gun with thinner in it. I buy the 5 gallon of laquer thinner when they are on sale at the paint store for under 40 bucks. When you get paint build up inside you take it apart and use paint remover to get the paint off. All guns get build up inside at some point in time. Torch nozzle cleaners are the only thing that works to clean out the passages.

I use a harbor freight 60 gallon 3 HP 220 volt compressor. Its really just enough to do the jobs I need. i would like a bigger one because its pretty much maxed out. I have used small air compressors and killed them with a poor paint job.

The first thing I do is get all the rust off. Then i treat with phosphoric acid, rinse, shoot with rustoleum rusty metal primer because its cheap.The part then can sit indefinitely. if there are pits I shoot on a surfacer, which is basically liquid bondo. I then either use a 2K primer or an epoxy surfacer. In between all these things I block sand blow it off, tack rag and then topcoat. Shoot the edges first, then the curves, then the flats. depending on the paint and what you're doing its 2 coats or more. This is basic tool painting stuff. a jeep is mostly a tool, so there you go.

depending on how you thin the paint you're going to need to mess around with the flow rate and the air pressure. I alway put on a separate air regulator at the gun.

My particular jeep is so rusty and crinkled that all that and it still looks like dookie. I knew that from the start and didn't care about the fact that I used 30 year old free paint. It is what it is and no amount of polishing will turn the terd into gold.

I actually dont suggest you do any of this unless you understand proper PPE and have the ability to at least tent your project in visqueen. You can get injured or injure your family or neighbors if you're not cognizant of the dangers involved in shooting an explosive mix into the atmosphere. At the minimum you need a proper fitting respirator, nitrile gloves and you should wear tyveks and shoe covers. The solvents will sit in your cotton clothes and off gas for quite some time afterwards if you don't use tyveks.

If you go with alkyd tractor supply paint, you're not going to kill your family, probably won't blow up and the tyveks and visqueen can be optional. Respirators and gloves are never optional. The stuff generally thins with mineral spirits or VM&P naphtha or another low danger solvent other than MEK or xylene or toluene. those things are bad.

You need to be careful and read the directions on MSDS or whatever the new term is for them.

 

I shoot two different products, both PPG. DDL - DurAcryl - Which is an Acrylic Lacquer. I have used it on the body of my Model A's. Here is a Pic of "Frank" (He was built from parts). The body color is Lombard Blue.



This product has to be rubbed out. But that is how Model A's were made. Originally the fenders would have been dipped in Enamel, can you imagine the runs.

For fenders I shoot DAR-DELSTAR, which is a single stage enamel, however can and should be catalyzed. This Speedster was also shot with DELSTAR.



The color is Viper Red.

I am shooting my 67 CJ6 with DELSTAR.

I use a DeVilbiss Gun. Have had it for so long, before the modern guns came out. It works for me, but that is what I learned on.

I can't get these coatings in MA. Have to go to NH or RI to get the paint.

Hope this helps.

 

Those are really beautiful cars for what i can see.

 

a good quality activated polyurethane paint in single stage will hold up the best and should be available at your local auto body supply. paint is unfortunately one of those things that you get what you pay for.i prefer dupont products and a sharpe hvlp gravity gun. nason basecoat with dupont clear. dupont cromabase basecoat with dupont clear.dupont chromabase with dupont nason clearand last but not least old school(im talking thirty year old paint) dupont enamel with a modern polyurethane hardener.

 

Such nice paint.

 

Yes, beautiful paint jobs all!

That's gotta be the first Model A I've ever seen with air conditioning. R)

 

:iagree: