Looking for a good PAINT How To...

How did you find a rattle can color to match the oringinal color on the tank so well? Or did you paint the tank too?

 

One question that was never answered about this project was whether his 2hp 6 gallon air compressor was enough to do a small job like a set of bodywork. I have an a/c that puts out 3.8 cfm @ 40 psi. Would this be enough to paint the bodywork since it is such a smaller area?

 

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if im rattle canning my bodywork and want to merge the front number plate on the windscreen, do i have to scuff up and prime the windscreen also, and do you shoot the white number plates over your already dry base coat?

 

I'm bumping this thread for some new info, and for some more of my own education.

Last year and the year before, I painted a frame and a set of vintage bodywork, with pretty bad results. I could never get the gun to do anything but dump out tons of paint, no matter what adjustments were made. I think I've fixed, and indetified several problems:

I was painting in about 50 degree temps. (single stage acrylic enamel).

I had a small 26 gal compressor that could not keep up.

Little to no ventilation led to paint overspray hanging in my crappy temporary booth.

No filters led to water in the lines.

Here's the new setup:

80 gallon compressor, hard lines plumbed with moisture drops, a regulator and filter in-line, as well as a gun-end filter. I have plans for a new booth with a box fan and furnace filter setup (google it, very common)

I had pretty much given up on painting my own stuff, but I feel ready to try again. I have a couple questions though.

What is the best gun cleaning agent? I was told mineral spirits, but those left a film the color fo the paint on everything. I have used laquer thinner with good results... what should I be using?

What should I use for final whipedown of surfaces before painting? Before I was using acetone.

Is it okay to paint when the temp is 65, but it may dip into the 40s at night? Does the paint have to be in a 65 degree environment during the curing process as well?

What are the FIRST adjustments I should make to the gun to get it close, and then what knobs should I turn to dial it in?

If I was to make the switch from single stage to 2 stage base/clear, what do I ask the guy at Napa or the paint guy for as a base coat?

What else am I missing? Any other tips? Good gun cleaning procedures would be a huge help. Previously, I dismantled the entire gun and soaked the small parts in laquer thinner until there was no paint color residue.

Looking forward to giving painting another shot once the temps get into the right range.

 

what is a furnace filter?

BTW a 23 gallon tank is more than enough if your just painting bodywork. I used a 10 gallon at 5cfm and it was just enough to doing all the plastics for a coat before it would need to re-fill. Even if it had to refill just wait a minute and let it fill.

I am sure the 50 temps were a problem, but for me water in the line was the biggest issue. An inline filter fixed it for me as well.

I am also interested in knowing what is best for the last wipe down of the surface.

Good luck man!

 

Use surface prep cleaner, usually comes in spray cans now. Or, for you hardware store types, use 3M Adhesive remover in a red/white spray can. Spray on and keep wiping until dry. Will not harm primer.

 

I have years of paint and body experience so here goes...
Compressor size - think about this guys, a tank with 100psi is going
to blow so much air, period. Bigger lines(hoses) increase delivery,
smaller lines and filters decrease cfm. Now, the specs on your pump are just that, what the pump puts out against stated head pressure.Say 6.5 at 90psi and 8.3 at 40psi. Note when the pump
is pushing against more pressure it produces less cfm. So what?
All this means is a higher output pump will fill a tank faster than
a smaller pump. You are going to be using what's in the tank. If
the pump is too small, you will be waiting a lot for the tank to
have sufficient air to paint with. A lower rated gun(less cfm
required) will get more down with what's in the tank than a big
gun. Take a Binks #7 or Devilbiss JGA, both big, production,
quality guns for auto paint, connected to a little compressor, pull
the trigger and you'll get a nice big fan... for about 3 seconds. It
will drop till it's spitting and dribbling, until you let the tank fill
up again. So, bigger tank means longer to fill, longer to spray
before having to wait for it to fill up again. Bottom line, a pump
that's rated equal or greater cfm than the gun will keep you busy
with less waiting, but any compressed air and spray gun will work
to let you know what you've gotten yourself into.
Prep-sol(Dupont), Pre-cleano(R&M) and similar are pre-prep
cleaners. Use before sanding, lay on wet, wipe dry. Do not allow
to dry before wiping it off. The point is to remove the contaminants
not move them around and leave them there when the solvent
dries. Pre paint use 3812 enamel reducer(Dupont) or similar.
I use a wipe and compressed air before paint. I use solvent only if
I think something has gotten on the panel that needs a solvent
to remove.
Finally...definitely use a water trap and filtered air. Strain your
paint... you don't need to strain your paint until you need to...since
you don't know when that will be... strain your paint. You can paint
when it's cold, royal pain, runs, bug tracks, metallics mottle and
sag, clear may wrinkle, you get the idea. Better to wait or heat the
garage.

 

Wow blast from the past. I have not seen any of those in 15 years. Or at least when they became illagal. 3812 was some good stuff.
I think its funny to hear the old timers talk about the #7. lol my how things have changed.

 

I have a question. I painted my bike last year with a gun and a silver metallic urethane enamle. The paint came out great, the only problem was I got the color mixed as a single stage and the color was a metallic. So while I had no runs/orange peel, it was metallic and reflective, but not shiney. Also, becuase it was a metallic single stage, you can not wetsand/buff it. I then shot the number plates with a rattle can enamle.

My question is, I am thinking about having a pint of the metallic mixed and re-shooting it as 2 stage bc/cc, (just scuffing the paint, and giving a light 2 coats of base and then clear). Can I clear over the spray can enamel number plates, or do I have to sand those down to the original silver metallic base and re-shoot them with a proper 2 stage yellow?

 

Once upon a time, there was nitrocellulose lacquer in any
color you wanted as long as you wanted black. The
chemical engineers soon came up with solid colors and
eventually metallics. 12 coats of lacquer, hand rubbed
between each coat! Sure... my point is metallics could be
a pain to get right, but lacquer dried fast so you could
scuff it quick and shoot more, playing with the thinner
or spray pattern to get it to look right.
You could color sand and buff it. You had to buff lacquer
to get it to shine.
Then they came out with acrylic lacquer, man made
instead of tree sap. Same deal, color sand and rub to get
a shine. Then we got acrylic lacquer clear topcoat,
durable enough to last a few years before crazing or
turning yellow. It was great, get your color looking good
then clear it, never touch the color again with a buffer.
There was Dulux synthetic enamel, a good shooter could
lay it on wet and look good, but it took months to fully
cure. Acrylic enamel helped a lot, more forgiving, more
durable and you could lightly color sand it and buff to
get a great shine.
The urethane, acrylic urethane, polyurethane, and others
are further improvements in paint tech. Color sand and
buff the color coat was still SOP. Europe got America
scrambling when they introduced 2 stage paint that
looked so good it made cars here look like they just came
from high school shop class It changed everything...
enough color to hide, then 2-3 coats of catalyzed clear and you were done... well almost. No field repair or
paint job could compare to factory robot applied and baked
base coat/clear coat. Color sand and buff, then you really
have something.
All this to let you know you can buff single stage paint.
Just go lightly to get the shine but not get into your color
too much.
If your paint is sound and holding up(not peeling or
chipping real easy) you can scuff with 600 wet and shoot
your base/clear over it. I use 400, but lots of guys will tell
you 1000 so I say 600. Those super fine grits are for
color sanding your topcoat, whether it's color or clear,
followed by machine compounding(buffing). Take a small
nice brush, dab a little paint on your number plate and see
if you get a reaction. If not, you can scuff and paint over
them as well. Or, use the grey scotchbrite over the plates
lightly, tape off the plates, shoot the base, pull
the masking off the number plates, tack cloth, then clear.
Oh yeah... when shooting metallics don't set the gun
down, smoke a cig, talk to your buddy or what have you,
then grab the gun and start spraying. Get some marbles,
or bearing balls,(hey, I said get some balls... and put
a few in your cup and swirl the gun around to keep the
metallic in suspension, and keep doin' it till you are done.

 

When I sprayed mine this year I used a high flex paint and similar clear coat.
Single stage paint really is a pain in the ass. It was about $135 for a quart but it painted the whole bike. The clear was a little less.

 

Thanks for the advice man. Like I said it came out great, except for the fact that I didnt know you should never use a single stage metallic. But otherwise, no runs, fisheye, orange peel...etc

Here it is. I painted the upper, the cowl cover is factory.

 

any advice drew has i would take. i had a couple questions for him when i painted my streetbike and he helped me quite a bit. turned out amazing too, better than i expected for being only the 2nd or 3rd time i used a gun. good prep and patience is key.