? for professional painters

NYSpeed Automotive
1

Sorry for the long post, I highlighted the actual question for those that don’t like a lot of words(like me)

I paint all of my beaters flat black, always have but hopefully not always will. I prep my cars like the pros, I’ve been around autobody my whole life. I always wash my car thoroughly, wet-sand or scotch-brite, tack cloth and prep-sol. I mask off everything that I can’t remove(within reason) but here’s the kicker: I always rattle-can it.

It’s been beaten into my head never to get into auto-body because it’s too much work and very little appreciation(custom work aside). Because of this, I never bothered to really find out how hard it was to paint the right way. Honestly, I never cared to know since flat-black is the cheapest paint you can buy and it’s abundant. Well now that flat black seems to be the new Ferarri-Red, it’s time for a change but it seems as if the cheapest way to go is using real paint.

My good friend ‘Painter Chris’ moved away quite a few years ago so I turn to you for advice. How hard would it be for me to use professional equipment and get a decent finish on my car? I’ll probably still stick to a matte or satin finish for its ability to hide imperfections(more like crash-n-burns) but I really don’t know just how hard it actually is to use a real gun.

2

matte would actuallly be hard to get right. you cant buff and polish your imperfections in a matte finish. you have to have it lay out perfect from the gun. id suggest trying some gloss white first to get gun speed and your settings correct before you blow thru 10 gallons of matte clear getting it right.

3

forget about the satin or matte finish.

here is the very first thing I painted. ~$300 equipment total investment (already had a 60 gal compressor)

just do your prep work right and you’ll be fine

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd237/jim1234664/0520080312a.jpg?t=1211274738
0520080312a.jpg?t=12112747381024×819

4

You’ll need good equipment and a good dust free environment (can not emphasize this enough), after that, it is pretty easy if you take your time. Don’t expect it to come out perfect the first time, however it is realtively straight forward to get a good looking job done.

5

Some of the biggest things I’ve found is pressure at the gun, humidity control in the lines, and spray technique. Two of those you can control with equipment.

6

if you are doing this is your own garage u do have to have a super clean area always sweep, blow the area out with a blow gun, wait a few hours for everything to settle and spray water on the ground … should be good after that