I painted my Mustang out in the garage a couple nights ago and it actually turned out a lot better than I figured it would.I painted it once before using a Binks gun but a few weeks ago I picked up an HVLP one at Princess Auto for about $35 on sale.The HVLP puts out less pressure at the tip which reduced the overspray a lot and seemed to let me put the paint on thicker than the other gun would without fear of runs.I am no expert at setting up the spray pattern but a few quick turns of the ***** and I was ready to go.I used the Duplicolor paint from Canadian Tire without a hardener so it takes about 2 hours for it to be dust free and 24 hours to be tape free.I took off the tape tonight and the paint is still a bit soft but it has a real nice gloss to it already.I have to wait about a month with this paint before I can wax it but for less than $100 in materials it turned out nice.The paint without the hardener is a bit more hassle as it takes a lot longer to dry, but most hardeners contain isocyanates which are a known cancer causing agent and the proper safety equipment to use them is fairly expensive.

 

Post some pictures. I would like to see the finish and maybe what facilities you made in the garage (if any). I want to do a cheapie Rustoleum paint job on my truck.

 

I prefer Tremclade myself. I just bought a gun that you snap on top of the can. I haven't had time to test it out yet.

 

My brother-in-law paints a lot of cars so I picked up a few tips from him.He told me that on the last coat to put extra reducer in and it would make it more glossy and it seemed to work.He painted a truck once with Tremclad and he said it turned out nice.I have a double car garage so I took a rope and hung it near the ceiling across the middle of the garage and draped poly over it.I took more poly and stapled it to the other two walls.I have a vent on the ceiling of the garage hooked up to an old furnace fan.Before I paint I sweep out the garage good and since the Mustang is fairly low to the ground I put it up on jackstands to make it easier to reach the bottom parts and to keep it further away from the floor which is probably the major source of dirt.That is about it for my set-up, before I start I do a dry run just to make sure the air hose isn't going to get hung up on anything.I bought a pair of disposable coveralls and long rubber gloves to wear and my respirator came from Levitt-Safety and seems pretty good as I never get a hint of paint odor until I take it off.I read once that the charcoal cannisters in the respirators react with air so to keep then good longer put them in a sealed plastic bag when you are not using them.

 

I found that Tremclad fades very bad, looks like primer after a while. Is easy to apply and minimal prep. We used to spray the shop floor with water, broom it in then squeegee the excess off and let it almost dry so not to get the air hose wet.

 

Another tip is to wrap a chain around the axl, when you spray the vehicle it builds up static electricity and cause liitle pieces of crap to stick to the paint, the chain grounds the static. Sounds goofy but I never paint without doing it first. It was the second thing they had us do when i took the auto body course, the first thing was what Morris mentioned, wet the floor down.

 

No Hardener?? That cant be to good, Your paint will chip very easy. Are you going to clear coat it??

 

All the hardener does is accelerate the curing process.My paint will be just as durable as if I had used a hardener but it will just take longer to cure.It is optional but not neccessary with the paint I used.It is not practical for a body shop to leave a vehicle in the paint booth for extended periods of time while the paint dries or to have to wait a few weeks to be able to do touch-ups or striping so they need hardeners.Most hardeners contain isocyanates which require special safety equipment which aren't too practical for home use.My paint already has a glossy finish.The base coat-clear coat systems use a dull color paint covered with a clear to give it a gloss so I don't think it would be compatible with my paint.