= $40 paint job. Now all I gotta do is spray it on. A couple points I want to make, and a couple questions.
1) My painting ability stops at rattle cans and paint brushes
2) Campbell Hausfeld sprayer that came with the compressor
3) PPG implement paint in a baby-blue shade of Ford-New Holland tractors

Since this is gonna be a quick and dirty job that's gonna see only mud, rocks, branches, and the like, I figured I'd try and do the paint myself. It's gonna be done outdoors over the course of a few nice days with (hopefully) no rain and minimal dew. Wash it, sand the clearcoat off all the painted surfaces, mask off everything I don't want painted, fill the jar, set the compressor to 50 psi (per the warning on the sprayer). 8-12 inches from the surface, and start spraying. My only question at this point is there's a screw-dial thing on the back of the gun that determines how far the orifice opens up. Does that determine the spray pattern? Or the volume of paint that comes out of the gun? Or should I just fill up the jar and get after a panel and adjust the dial according to how ot looks after it comes out? And I assume that if runs start showing up, move faster, and wait for the paint to dry and sand the runs out and get after it with the paint gun again.
Again, this is a quick and dirty paint job that is only intended to put a better layer on than a rattle can. Any advice would be great.

 

Use a piece of plywood as a practice panel before you go after the truck. Just ot get your nozzle and technique right. No need to have runs if you can prevent it my practicing first and even if you have runs no need to worry if they are very small. After all this is a down and dirty job. Oh use a paint degreaser after sanding or you will get a nasty surprise.

 

Alright, I'll bite. What'll happen? You mean between sanding off the clearcoat and applying the new paint, right? But I guess even if I sand it after I see big runs, I still should use this 'degreaser' stuff. Is that a readily available product? SOmething I can buy at my local autozone. I assume so, since they carry all kinds of miscellaneous paint and bodywork supplies.

 

<cr>
1) Wash the truck. No, make that, scrub the truck. Don't be afraid to use a brush. You're going to a paint booth, not a car show.
2) Degrease the vehicle. Spray it on and wipe it off with paper towels. This is your best insurance against fisheyes. You should be able to buy it at Autozone. Get the type designed for paint work.
3) Sand the clearcoat. Do not sand the clearcoat off. Just scruff it 400 grit. The clearcoat is an excellent sealer coat and you don't want to remove it.
4) Degrease again.
5) Apply your finish.

Practicing is something you should consider. Old hoods, fenders, & etc make excellent targets. Plywood is okay to adjust your fan pattern but it tends to soak up the paint.

Try to get a 50% overlap on the spray pattern. In other words, lets assume you have a 6" fan pattern. The next coat would apply paint on 3" of the previous coat and 3" on the unpainted area.

 

Well, crap. I knew I shoulda checked in here before I went crazy. Now that I read the part about NOT wanting to sand the clearcoat off, I'll be on my way to get a few sheets of 400 grit sandpaper. On one door and fender and a part of the hood, I used my trusty pneumatic drill and sanding wheel (well equipped with 40 grit sandpaper), I got several places down to the steel and pretty much the rest down to the primer. Oh well. Gonna be a mudder anyhow. I'll get the degreaser and 400 grit tomorrow. After my rough sanding, I ran my hand over the surface and it felt relatively rough. Oughta be enough to soak up the paint, I imagine. I'll make sure not to goes so nuts with the 400 grit.
Another thing. How think will the paint go on? Of course, it's all relative to how many coats I spray on. Will it fill in some of the deeper gouges left by the 40 grit? Or should I just go over the gouged area again with the 400 grit just to get everything smooth? As for cleanup, will regular pain thinner or mineral spirits do the job? And should I put some in the jar and spray it through, or disassemble everything and thoroughally clean it? I'd imagine the latter...thanks for all your help, guys. I'll make sure to post pix upon completion.

 

Gun cleaning - no need to take it apart. Use a strong thinner, mineral spirits won't be good enough. Lacquer thinner is best, but the thinner you used in the paint should be good enough.

After pouring out leftover paint, just fill the cup with about 1" of thinner and spray, shaking the gun at the same time. Repeat 3 or 4 times untill the thinner stays pretty clear. You can hold a rag against the nozzle as you're spraying the thinner occasionally, this reverses the paint/thinner flow into the cup. Then take off the air cap and pour a little thinner through it. It's always good to swab off the outside of the gun with a paintbrush.

 

<cr>
Paint will not hide defects. It will help show them. Matter of fact, the darker the paint and the shinier the paint, the more the defects will show.

I'm not familar with the paint your are using. Its possible the solvents in the new paint may cause a lifting of the old paint (where the clearcoat has been removed).

Your $40 paint job has gone up in price, if you want to do it correctly.

 

The guy at the paint shop said it's an implement paint. It is ppg, if that's any help.

Would it be advantageous to apply a rattle-can coat of primer before I apply the final finish?

 

Over the bare metal areas - yes! Check with the paint jobber about a small amount of water based metal etch compound (it's pretty cheap) use it per label directions before you apply the rattle can primer. It would be best, but not necessary if you're cost cutting, to go over the whole thing with a "sealer. If everythings sanded, and the bare metal is properly primed, you should get a decent job without a sealer.

 

Oh yes though, lifting is a possiblity, as Aekisu said! My guess, about a 60/40 chance in your favor though

 

And if it lifts, I'll just sand it down and respray it.

 

i do this every year to the grain truck. buy that little rattle can spray gun thingy. it clips to the top of the can and has a trigger. buy a can of brake kleen. use a degreaser in a pressure washer. spray a coat of primer on. l don't bother sanding because it's a grain truck. spray the paint on, done, finished. who cares how good or bad it looks. if someone heckles you say $50. argumant finished. my stuff is ugly but it runs and its payed for. finished. its a bush bomber so don't worry about fish eyes, dribbles and streaks. its not for show so who cares. spend your time in the mud not a booth or working on something with no payback. put 500 hours into the body and go hit a tree. you'll be right ****ed off. put 1 hour and you'll just paint the dent.

 

I like that idea. I already went to the store last night to get some finer grit sandpaper, so I might as well finish sanding the other half. My buddy said that after he sands, he just uses mineral spirits to clean it off with, so I'll do that tonight, along with the rest of the sanding. Then I'll be ready to mask, and I'll start painting tomorrow afternoon. Supposed to be a nice evening with no rain, so that'll work out great. Got a real good location for a paint booth, too. No walls, no ceiling, GREAT ventilation. Just gotta pick a nice day to paint. How long does it usually take for the paint to dry? And should I just spray on the second coat after a half hour, or is there some other prep work i need to do between coats?

 

<cr>
No prep between coats.

The average flash time (the minimum time between coats) is about 10-30 minutes. Without knowing anything about your paint though, I have not a clue as to how long you should wait between coats. A guess would be 15 minutes.

Drying time will depend on your product. Since you are using a PPG paint, you should be able to find that information. Check with your paint supplier.

 

Well, got my masking all done, and decided to go with a 300 grit light sanding for all the areas that I didn't demolish with the 40 grit. Wiped everything down with minearl spirits and got out the spray gun. I found out that the little dial thing on the back of the gun determines how much paint comes out while spraying. I got that all adjusted and started on the real rough area that I did (with the 40 grit). The areas where I scuffed the clearcoat turned out real good, but as you guys said, all the scratches and gouges where I used the 40 grit showed up. After a few choice words, I got out the sander and decided that the only option left for me to do would be to take it down to bare metal, prime it, and spray it again. I got a lot of the sanding done last night, and will continue sanding this evening. I had to get out the rough stuff again to sand off the pinstripes on the other side of the truck, but got the rest of it hand sanded with the fine paper. Where there are a few gouges where I used the rough paper, should I just go over it with the fine paper to get the gouges out? And as far as little specks like dirt and stuff in the paint, just sand that of with the fine paper and spray on another coat?