'85 Bronco II Paint & Body Thread

[Shran]

Painting in the sun is no good. I would try to rig up some shade. Maybe a big tarp or something.

The purple HF gun is fine. That's all I've used so far (although I do have a better one now.) I drilled out the tip on one of mine to 2mm for primer and I've got several others that all work fine... My guess is that your paint needs to be thinner or you need a slightly larger tip. 1.4mm on the purple guns is ok for some paints but it's too small for thicker ones to atomize properly. And reduce the panel temp... The truck body could be much hotter than the ambient temp in the sun.

 

[ford4wd08]

Painting in the sun is no good. I would try to rig up some shade. Maybe a big tarp or something.

The purple HF gun is fine. That's all I've used so far (although I do have a better one now.) I drilled out the tip on one of mine to 2mm for primer and I've got several others that all work fine... My guess is that your paint needs to be thinner or you need a slightly larger tip. 1.4mm on the purple guns is ok for some paints but it's too small for thicker ones to atomize properly. And reduce the panel temp... The truck body could be much hotter than the ambient temp in the sun.

Everything I've read says that the 1.4 tip should be fine.

If I was having issues with tip or getting clogs I would expected it the sputter or spit out globs. Never had that happen.

I'll check with the manufacturer as well.

I think this is more to with total novice technique and conditions.

I was waiting on the sun to warm up outside, but I see how it can hurt you now. Luckily my driveway is basically full shade in the afternoon.

I do think I'll try again on a warm afternoon after the bronco has been parked in the garage out of the sun.

 

[ford4wd08]

Check the manufacture temp rating for hardner and reducers to help control drying to fast or to slow

I've almost memorized the TDS sheet. Lol that's I chose the medium hardner. From 70 - 80 degrees on large areas (which I suspect painting a whole vehicles is a large area).

 

[rebuild83]

Painting outside in the sun will definitely have the effect you have been describing. The door jams are out of the sun (cooler) and the panels in the sun warm up fast. Do you have any way to at least have a cover so you don't have direct sun. Any wind will want to mess up the pattern and make things dry as well as disturb the pattern and fluid the gun can put out. I like to use a garage with a door on each end and wet down the floor and keep it wet. Paint wet floor between coats.

 

[ford4wd08]

Painting outside in the sun will definitely have the effect you have been describing. The door jams are out of the sun (cooler) and the panels in the sun warm up fast. Do you have any way to at least have a cover so you don't have direct sun. Any wind will want to mess up the pattern and make things dry as well as disturb the pattern and fluid the gun can put out. I like to use a garage with a door on each end and wet down the floor and keep it wet. Paint wet floor between coats.

There might be some options I can do. Maybe a pop-up tent or something. Like mentioned I get good shade on the driveway in the afternoon at my house. That might be the best factor. The house is sort of a wind break too.

I know winds can make it worse, but I don't see a good option for painting in my garages.

 

[Shran]

You might try a slow hardener if you can't avoid the sun completely. The problem is that hot body panels will cook off the solvent right away before the paint has a chance to flow.

I don't know what spray guns to suggest instead of the purple one - those things are everywhere, in various forms. Menards sells them as Performax brand, TCP Global sells them as their house brand, so does ATD, and a couple other companies. They are basically a knockoff of one particular SATA model. My only real complaint with them is that the trigger is kinda sorta "gritty"...not real smooth. Harbor Freight also sells another model that is a DeVilbiss knockoff... in fact the DeVilbiss "starting line" guns are exactly the same as HF. Moral of the story: compare whatever you buy with what HF sells... chances are, cheapish guns of any brand up to about $150 are probably the exact same thing as HF models.

Couple other tips for success with purple guns is to pull the needle out, put a drop of air tool oil on the tip, then put it back in so that it oils the seal that it rides on. Wipe off the excess and then use a small screwdriver to tighten the needle seat...not too tight but that'll help prevent air leaks. I do this every time I use the gun. Also put a drop of oil on the little rod that is actuated by the trigger, there is an O ring that gets dry.

If you are going to buy something else from HF, I think the Spectrum guns are decent. The Black Widow ones are way overpriced and way overrated... I bet you would be pretty happy with the normal Spectrum ones. I would AVOID the silver "Professional" central pneumatic one (about $75) because it's basically the same thing as the purple guns at a higher price... and avoid the green gun too, it's all plastic on the inside.

 

[ford4wd08]

You might try a slow hardener if you can't avoid the sun completely. The problem is that hot body panels will cook off the solvent right away before the paint has a chance to flow.

I don't know what spray guns to suggest instead of the purple one - those things are everywhere, in various forms. Menards sells them as Performax brand, TCP Global sells them as their house brand, so does ATD, and a couple other companies. They are basically a knockoff of one particular SATA model. My only real complaint with them is that the trigger is kinda sorta "gritty"...not real smooth. Harbor Freight also sells another model that is a DeVilbiss knockoff... in fact the DeVilbiss "starting line" guns are exactly the same as HF. Moral of the story: compare whatever you buy with what HF sells... chances are, cheapish guns of any brand up to about $150 are probably the exact same thing as HF models.

Couple other tips for success with purple guns is to pull the needle out, put a drop of air tool oil on the tip, then put it back in so that it oils the seal that it rides on. Wipe off the excess and then use a small screwdriver to tighten the needle seat...not too tight but that'll help prevent air leaks. I do this every time I use the gun. Also put a drop of oil on the little rod that is actuated by the trigger, there is an O ring that gets dry.

If you are going to buy something else from HF, I think the Spectrum guns are decent. The Black Widow ones are way overpriced and way overrated... I bet you would be pretty happy with the normal Spectrum ones. I would AVOID the silver "Professional" central pneumatic one (about $75) because it's basically the same thing as the purple guns at a higher price... and avoid the green gun too, it's all plastic on the inside.

I decided to turn to youtube and bought a budget gun Brain from Paint Society recommended.

The gun was about $95.

I know I didn't have issues with the first purple gun, but the second one I bought for paint certainly didn't feel right. The trigger wouldn't rebound all the way and cut off air. This was after cleaning of course.

Instead of playing the lottery with that decided I would get a little better quality gun and keep it around.

Here is the video for anyone interested:

 

[ford4wd08]

Got my gun and stuff in. Going to wet sand either tomorrow or Monday after work.

Just handling the gun, it definitely feels much better. Trigger pull is nice and smooth.

With the time change I can paint it after work now. Plan is to paint it on Thursday. My driveway will be in shade in the afternoon. Temp outside is supposed to be 71 degrees with no wind.

I also bought a infrared thermometer to check panel temps.

I just checked them in may garage that is insulated and attached to the house. With it being 27 degrees outside, panels were 62 degrees.

I know for a fact they got to hot in the sun now, that was 99% of my problem when I painted a week back. That and me not knowing any better.

I'm confident I can get a much better job now. I'll check panel temps and make sure I have shade and spray on Thursday.

Wish me luck, again... LOL

 

[ford4wd08]

Had a quick reminder of how powerful the sun's rays can be.

Pulled the Bronco out of the garage where it's panel temp was 62 degrees. Quickly climbed to 88 in the sun.

So I believe my paint issue was from hot panels and the sun. Ambient doesn't equal panel temp. It was only about 65 degrees as a high today. Makes a lot of sense. You sort of want sun when you're in the Rust-Oleum realm of paints, but a hardner does all that work for you.

So chock that up to lesson learned. I know it can have the same dulling effects on a clear coat.

Also where there was no sun on the panels and temp was cooler paint finished much better and has gloss.

Nothing a little wet sanding and more paint can't fix.

 

[Shran]

It's a good learning experience! It's amazing how much hotter the body panels can get in a short period of time. And sometimes having a little extra paint plus wet sanding the previous coat can result in a smoother final coat (covers some scratches in primer, etc.) Looking forward to seeing it finished!

 

[Jazzer]

Good job!

Shade is less solar energy, not no solar energy.

Glad you’re making progress.

-Jazzer

 

[ford4wd08]

Well... I think shade and new gun helped tonight. It is not perfect by far, but it is all one color and shiny. It will look even better after some wet sanding and polishing.

I have a good block and wet paper that goes up to 3000. Thinking I'll start at 1500 and work my way up from there.

So that brings me to a question.

How do you guys polish? I know there are rotary and DA machines.

I'm sort of leaning towards a DA as it is more user friendly and I've read that it can do almost as much in the hand of a novice.

I don't need show room, just something to polish it up a little.

Thoughts?

 

[RobbieD]

Looking good!

A DA polisher would be my choice, and let the paint dry as long as you can before sanding and polishing.

 

[ford4wd08]

Looking good!

A DA polisher would be my choice, and let the paint dry as long as you can before sanding and polishing.

Thanks Robbie, the manufacturer claims you can polish after 24 hrs, but I'm going to give it a few days.

 

[Shran]

Frickin' sweet!!! Yeah, I would use a DA polisher... the one I have is a corded electric one from Harbor Freight. It is one of the rare HF gems that works really well. You can get various foam pads for it (or swap out the velcro backing pad for an adhesive style one.) You can also get what's called an interface pad, it is basically a piece of foam that's about 1/2" thick that goes between the velcro backing pad and your sandpaper - commonly used for Trizact pads, it gives you some cushion for contours on the body and helps prevent sanding through on body lines.

I would be really tempted to try hitting it with rubbing compound on a foam pad first, and then a polishing compound, and then wax. Try that on a small area first before you sand it and see if you are happy with the results.