Anyone paint vehicles for a living or hobby?

[crusin93]

I'm a mechainc by trade but as of late I've turned to auto body work and fabrication to fill idle time. I know, not often do you do both but it's a fun and challenging set of skills to master. I enjoy a challenge, or a little bit of a beating.

I'm almost finished with final blocking (320) of my 98'. Normally, at this point I would be scheduling a date, with my painter, to have the vehicle sprayed. This time though I'm thinking of tackling the application myself. This is not my first rodeo but I am by no means a veteran painter. Anyway, it's not a customers vehicle. I own it. I gotta live with the results.

I'm curious to see what you guys would recomend as a good, professional hvlp gun. I'm looking at a used SATA 2000 right now. I'm not sure if I need all this gun for what I do. I need an all around decent gun. Something I can spray sealer to clear and everything in between (Metalic Base). I don't think I have to spend $450-500 on a gun for the results I'm looking for.

 

[crusin93]

Well Sata jet 2000 it is. The more I read, the more I convinced myself that I needed this gun.
God awful expensive as it is, It should lay down just about anything I shoot through it.
I'll have to get some scrap peices of sheet metal to shoot first as the adjustments seem infinite. I'll post some pics as soon as I get comfy with the new toy.

 

[Hopman]

Life is too short to spend money on cheap tools. You did the right thing by doing your homework.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

two words speed&feed

 

[adsm08]

Better to lay a lot of light coats than 1 that is too thick.

 

[Hopman]

Better to lay a lot of light coats than 1 that is too thick.

Paint is like salt in food: it's easy to add but damn near impossible to take out!

 

[r1hatman]

Let me know what you end up with, cause I'm gonna tackle my truck this fall or spring and It will be my first rodeo with paint too. If I do good enough, I will plan to paint the mustang when I get her done. I just don't like paying other people to do something I can do myself. The mixing is the only thing that is tricky to me. I actually can do wonders with a rattle can and make it look professional. I painted a 90 mustang GT front end with rattle cans and it turned out beautiful!

 

[feellnfroggy]

Better to lay a lot of light coats than 1 that is too thick.

x2 and no you dont have to live withthe results. Your not paying a pro 800 bux to do it, so if you dont like it. Wait a while and do it again. Thats the perks of having a skill set at your disposal. Now when you go to maaco and they botch it up. That you have to live with,unless you can afford to pay someone else to do it 3 x.

 

[crusin93]

x2 and no you dont have to live withthe results. Your not paying a pro 800 bux to do it, so if you dont like it. Wait a while and do it again. Thats the perks of having a skill set at your disposal. Now when you go to maaco and they botch it up. That you have to live with,unless you can afford to pay someone else to do it 3 x.

Yes, very true however it is a lot easier to do it right the first time, and a lot less expensive. I've found that if your using the right material the results show. I've seen some amazing paint jobs done with a $40 hvlp gun from Harbor Freight. I've also seen some so-so jobs with the same gun I just bought and generic sprayables. I plan on using almost $300 worth of PPG product. I'm aiming for as close to factory quality as possible. No candies or heavy graphics, at least not yet.

Edit: R1hatman, I plan to lobby for a small space in the tech section about chemicals and mixing. It is a subject most know little about, unless you have a pro explain it to you. I'm fortunate enough to have access to the information provided by PPG and Dupont.
I'm learning as I'm going, so by the end of the summer I should have it down.

 

[xkotyx]

I painted a 90 mustang GT front end with rattle cans and it turned out beautiful!

pictures?

 

[Akimbo Rangers]

I work at a dealership that is a little behind the time so i am a combo body tech and painter. most production shop will have a seperate paint shop and body shop, but this way the me and the other 2 tech can put out many more hours flat rate. Ive been doing this for 5 years and can run with the big dogs pretty well.

as far as tools, x2 on what hopman said. good tools = quality results. i bought a sata 2000 digital when i first started and it is still one of the best guns i have ever used. i bought a couple other cheap guns for primer, sealers, and cut-ins.

your going in the right direction by blocking the truck with 320. but you need a smoother surface or you will see all those 320 scratches in the finish. i always follow up 320 blocking with 800 on a DA with an interface pad (foam pad).

base coats you can get away with putting more lighter coats on but you dont want to do that with clear. you want to lay the clear out smooth so it will be easier to wet sand and buff later. you dont want to make it too orange peely and risk sanding through the clear trying to smooth it out. one medium coat then one heavy coat is what i always do.

also look at your products and environment . you need to decide how fast of a hardener and reducer you need. and use a tack rag before and after you apply base coat. dust nibs always find there way on to a panel and a tack rag is the best way to keep your panel clean.

i just painted my friends camaro... black... in his garage and other than a couple dust nibs and a mosquito that landed in the hood it came out beautiful. my other buddy did the wet sand and buff and she shines like a piece of glass.

 

[crusin93]

I work at a dealership that is a little behind the time so i am a combo body tech and painter. most production shop will have a seperate paint shop and body shop, but this way the me and the other 2 tech can put out many more hours flat rate. Ive been doing this for 5 years and can run with the big dogs pretty well.

as far as tools, x2 on what hopman said. good tools = quality results. i bought a sata 2000 digital when i first started and it is still one of the best guns i have ever used. i bought a couple other cheap guns for primer, sealers, and cut-ins.

your going in the right direction by blocking the truck with 320. but you need a smoother surface or you will see all those 320 scratches in the finish. i always follow up 320 blocking with 800 on a DA with an interface pad (foam pad).

base coats you can get away with putting more lighter coats on but you dont want to do that with clear. you want to lay the clear out smooth so it will be easier to wet sand and buff later. you dont want to make it too orange peely and risk sanding through the clear trying to smooth it out. one medium coat then one heavy coat is what i always do.

also look at your products and environment . you need to decide how fast of a hardener and reducer you need. and use a tack rag before and after you apply base coat. dust nibs always find there way on to a panel and a tack rag is the best way to keep your panel clean.

i just painted my friends camaro... black... in his garage and other than a couple dust nibs and a mosquito that landed in the hood it came out beautiful. my other buddy did the wet sand and buff and she shines like a piece of glass.

I'm soooo afraid of black. I will avoid balck at all costs. As you know it shows EVERYTHING. So awesome job! Thanks for the advice on the 800 mechanical. I was going to go to 600 over the large pannels and hood. I will adjust my final sanding according to your recomendation.

 

[r1hatman]

I was thinking of using that new lacquer paint from Duplicolor that's VOC compliant now on my ranger, but I'm just not sure. I have heard good things about including the price $200.00 for primer, base, and clear! and it looks good as a finished product, but I talked to a lot of people who swear by PPG? Still deciding that one.

 

[gwaii]

the thing about that duplicolor paint is that it doesn't use a hardener-this means that it won't chemically set into an impenatrable layer-it simply dries by evaporation of solvents.this means that if solvents(such as gasoline)are to come into contact with the paint,it will revert to it's liquid state.this does no favours for the finish.ppg is simply a brand name,they have many products,including lacquers.the industry standard is a urethane base/clear that uses an uncatalised basecoat to provide the color,and a catalised clear urethane clear to give gloss and provide the protection of an impermeable layer on top.you can spill all sorts of solvents(even lacquer thinner)on this with no problem.i use mostly dupont paints,but this comes down mostly to availability.ppg paints are also very good,and i have used them extensively as well.as for costs,i am paying around $200 for the average quart of base(much more for specialty colors),170 for it's reducer.clearcoat i pay $250 or so per gallon,190/quart for the hardener,180 for the reducer.these are cdn$.my prices are a bit higher because of where i am,but good paint costs money.

 

[ZMan]

finish that truck out with 400, you'll see the 320 straight line scratches.

As for the gun, good choice, but I have a coworker who has used tons of cheap guns in the past and had no problems, hes a good painter, he uses some better guns now, but swears up and down $20 guns get the job done.