I have done a search but technology does change so what would be a good quality setup for painting? I am looking at repainting and touching up the family vehicles and just want a good finish. It does not have to be competition quality. For example my wifes 96 Camry has started peeling at the hood and fender edges. My 92 Explorer needs rust repair and the 01 F350 has lots of paint chips in the fenders around the DRW's. I read about the DeVilbiss variety of guns in past posts.

One post says "Most HVLP guns require 10CFM and up (some as high as 18) and that usually means a two-stage compressor ($). "Conventional" guns are less expensive, require less air and produce good quality results, they aren't in fad now, but worth a look if you don't want to upgrade compressors. Their down side is they put a lot of paint in the air and not on the truck, a consideration if your shooting some of the pricier paints." True?

I have a Sears "Conventional" air gun and a standard small compressor. I don't want to start something that the equipment is not up to. I know my knowledge level is not there but I can practice. Shoud I be able to use the gun I have for the primer?

My budget: $100-200 for a new gun. I know what the compressors cost and what to get.

What is the difference in the spray equipment used for house painting and that for vehicles? I am not talking about the Wagner machines but the high dollar professional ones.

How do you decode the paint code to properly mix the paint?

Here's my last question. My garage has an gas fired water heater and furnace is it safe to do small jobs inside or is flammability an issue?

Thanks,

Reg

 

Yea, HVLP guns are more effecient.
Yes, I have painted small parts and a couple of smaller cars with the same set up. I am not a pro by any means, but have gotten decent results.

Are you talking about "airless" paint guns?
Let the pros do it. Take the paint code to the auto paint shop and look thru their paint chip books and have them mix your color.
DON'T DO IT!? You need GOOD ventilation when painting (and proper breathing protection), don't risk blowing yourself up!

 

High volume, low pressure with a quality regulator, and a moisture trap is the only way to paint. I use a home depot paint gun that meets these requirements, except I allow the built-in regulator to be "full blast" and I threaded on a seperate regulator with two gauges - pressure before, and pressure after the regulator so I have a more precise control than an unmarked knurled ****.

I am blessed to have a local auto body shop supplier locally. A 10 minute ride, I give them the paint code, I tell them what kind of paint I want (lacquer, enamal, acrylic enamal, etc) and they mix it, and hand it to me, along with the hardener, top coats and other obnoxious substances to mix when ready to spray. Oh, and a nice invoice too

Since my truck is kinda old and I'm just trying to keep it the same color, I rudely spray outside. I hang plastic from the front gutter to make sure I don't change the color of my house or the windows, and park the other cars in the street, and parked the truck on a 30x30 clear tarp.

When we painted my friend's old 'cuda, he was after a bug-free paintjob, so we erected four 2x4's vertically, and across the tops with deck screws, and stapled clear plastic tarps (2 mil) around the outside of that and across the top, leaving overlaps on two of the sides, so we could slip in and out with the sprayer. Sprayed each coat early morning, avoiding mosquitos and no-see-ums, both of which are you-see-um in the paint if they come by.

While more expensive high volume, low pressure guns are nicer, more consistant, I find that an inexpensive gun is "okay" with the external regulator. Just waste a small amount of paint spraying a small piece of steel you've already primed, just to get a feel of the flow and how fast (or slow) you'll have to move the gun for consistant performance.

 

Thanks for the advice. Triton, yes I am talking about the airless sprayers. The better ones cost in the thousands.

AFP

 

I have a question on the proper spray tip size??? If buying a HVLP gravity feed gun for spraying inside the fender wells, engine compartment, under cab , etc...
what would the best tip(s) size be for the primer, base and top coat or clears ???
The smaller tips( 0.5 )seem like they might take forever to get a good pass of paint on the surface while the larger tips like the 2.0 might put way too much paint down? Is it best to use a middle ground size for all type of paint products?
thanks for any insight. Ed