Painting my car parts, need a g0od gun

[Sspider 5,000+ posts]

Hey yall...

i recently painted my hood and it came out, well lets just say it's painted...

I am in the market for a new gun...what do yall reccomend..i was leaning towards the Devilbiss Finishline III, because it's at a g0od price...

what ya think?

thanks

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[maylar 10+ year member]

I have a Finishline II (last year's model) and it's an excellent gun for the money. I painted most of my car with it. The plastic baggie cup liners are way cool... you can paint upside down without spilling a drop.

However... it needs a whole lotta air - like 11-12 CFM. My 5 hp compressor will not keep up with it. I had to paint one panel at a time and wait for the tank to refill. Also, the Finishline puts out mega amounts of paint with like an 8" spray fan. Great for covering large areas in a short time but way to fast for small projects.

If you're looking to do boxes and kicks and stuff, you're better off with a good mini (touchup) gun. They use lots less air and make very little overspray. The king of mini's the the Sata MiniJet (I have one of these with the 1.0 tip):

http://autobodystore.net/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=SATMJIII&Category_Code=3S

DeVilbiss has one that's also highly rated:

http://autobodystore.net/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=DEVSRI625GW&Category_Code=1D

These guns will last a lifetime if cared for. They lay urethanes and clears out like glass with hardly any orange peel. I've seen Chinese copies of these (everybody copies Sata) for $80 or so at car parts stores, but they won't have the quality materials or workmanship of the real thing.

I like to paint...

 

[Sspider 5,000+ posts]

hey, thanks man, i will be painting my car aswell...

what do you think about this..

http://www.spraygunworld.com/Information2/FinishlineIIIKIT.htm

 

[maylar 10+ year member]

That's a nice package. I paid 175 for my FL II and it's got plastic parts, whereas the FL III is now metal. Get the stand and inline filters too. I made my own stand out of wood.

Just be aware that their recommendation for compressors of 3 HP or more is bogus. Compressor mfgrs rate by peak power not continuous (like audio amps lol), and a REAL 3 hp compressor is a 220 volt 60-80 gallon stationary unit. Portable units on 120V with 25-30 gallon tanks rated 5-6 hp (like mine) will NOT keep up with that gun.

Enjoy.

 

[monte_carlo97 10+ year member]

i would like to get into painting, nothing fancy, Maybe painting a car a solid color and taping off a strip or two. Is painting something that is that hard to learn. how did you guys learn to do it.

 

[maylar 10+ year member]

I learned by painting my motorcycle in laquer... 25 years ago. Been "learning" ever since.

For a newb who wants an idea of what's involved, there's a great video here:

http://www.autobodystore.com/videos.htm

It'd be the best $30 you'd ever spend.

 

[Sspider 5,000+ posts]

i'm going to have to get that video..

i would like to know the difference in paints, thats got me alittle confused..

can yall help?

 

[saywhat? 5,000+ posts]

pretty much u gotta watch out that its strictly automotive paint //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif lol im not sure on a lot but im starting an autobody class monday.

 

[maylar 10+ year member]

i'm going to have to get that video..i would like to know the difference in paints, thats got me alittle confused..

can yall help?

Ask away, I'll do my best.

 

[Sspider 5,000+ posts]

well, what type of paint is there...

i was looking at the house of kolor paints and was confused with what they ahd...

to my understadning righ tnow, there are 3 steps involved

primer

base

and clearcoat..

dont know the different type of paints out there..

 

[Einzee 10+ year member]

well thats true for "automotive" type paints. Perfect the body, prime, sand but dont go through the primer that you just put down. clean surface (blow w/ clean air & wipe down completely) spray basecoats yes coat"s" . leave then start on clearcoats. Now, to me thats way too much B.S. to do. There is a product that is available that doesn't require clearcoats and it is actually chemical, corrosion, and somewhat scratch resistant. Its called Imron (em-ron) There are several varieties of this product. I would highly recommend the 333/40p line. the 333 is a selection of "stock" colors. the 40p is custom colors. a complete setup will run in the area of $200. thats $150 max for color and activator (total = 1 Gal.) $25 for thinner. Sure its a little pricy but i cant testify enough on the performance of this product. And no clearcoat. Look for it and ask whomever sells it in your area what they think. BTW its made by DuPont. Good luck !

 

[maylar 10+ year member]

well, what type of paint is there...
i was looking at the house of kolor paints and was confused with what they ahd...

to my understadning righ tnow, there are 3 steps involved

primer

base

and clearcoat..

dont know the different type of paints out there..

If you're that confused, then you need to read a book on car painting. You can get the basics from one of the paperback books at any auto parts store. It'll explain the different paint technologies like laquer, enamel, epoxy and urethane and also the concepts of single stage vs basecoat/clear.

well thats true for "automotive" type paints. Perfect the body, prime, sand but dont go through the primer that you just put down. clean surface (blow w/ clean air & wipe down completely) spray basecoats yes coat"s" . leave then start on clearcoats. Now, to me thats way too much B.S. to do. There is a product that is available that doesn't require clearcoats and it is actually chemical, corrosion, and somewhat scratch resistant. Its called Imron

That "BS" is how you paint a car. Imron is just another brand name of Urethane. Basecoat/clear systems are MUCH easier for a DIY painter than single stage (no clear).

 

[saywhat? 5,000+ posts]

owned........

 

[kanucktruk]

Just buy a few cans of Tremclad in whatever colour you like....wash the car and just spray away...never been easier.....

Just Kidding!

The best way to paint a car is to use the 3 step method. It takes longer but it's well worth it in the long run. I painted a car with Enamel once and it looked good for the first year and once the sun and snow had a chance to do it's thing, the shine it had was gone for good and it just doesn't protect the paint like Clearcoat does. With Clear, you can put on many coats and the more, the less you have to worry about scratches being permanent.

Don't forget to smell the fumes....makes you feel funny too!! LOL

 

[jellyfish420 10+ year member]

base/clear is the only way to go if you want it to look nice. if you do a single stage it will look good for 6-9mos. tops! and ps. always were a mask when spraying clearcoat. it has isocyanide in it, the same thing they use in the gas chamber! i worked at a body shop for acouple years and i was sick for a couple days from not wearing a mask once.