car painting tutorial - guidance needed

[spyghost]

hi,

its easy to say a well prepped surface offers the best finish, however, the statement is too vague specially for someone new and trying to learn.

a good detailed surface, no matter how good the product is will be **** on a crappy painted body panel. (period, no buts, no howevers)

now, how do paint for a mirror finish?

assuming a bare metal panel, the sequence is
- 400 grid cross sanding
- clean with solvent
- etch primer
- flash off
- 2x high build primer (dry in between) and knock down with 400grit using guide coat (repeat when necessary)
- base coat
- clear coat

now, the ambiguity comes in the base coat/clear coat.
- in between layers, is it still necessary to color sand in between layers of base coat and clear coat?
- would it be more beneficial if a mirror finish is in between layers of base and clear?

[Eddie6th]

Re: car painting tutorial - guidance needed

What is the project that you are working on?

You don't sand bare metal. If you are meaning filler,400 is a bit heavy.Starting with 800 would be better.

What kind of equipment do you have for painting?
Where are you doing this?
Have you done this before?

[spyghost]

Re: car painting tutorial - guidance needed

What is the project that you are working on?

You don't sand bare metal. If you are meaning filler,400 is a bit heavy.Starting with 800 would be better.

What kind of equipment do you have for painting?
Where are you doing this?
Have you done this before?

thanks for the notes... not sanding bare metal and starting with 800 for fillers.

as for the painting equipment, i don't have a compressor yet, i am still on the look for it. is 1 hp enough? it would only be for home/garage use. btw, will the "roll and tip" method of painting be also applicable for automotive finishes?

i have a sealed garage with an exhaust. i don't have problems with local laws regarding this and i can paint anytime i want in the convinience of my own home. i live in a tropical country, so the weather won't be much of an issue

i have done spray painting before in school projects (not the aerosol types), but a compressor type.

[Lasthope05]

Re: car painting tutorial - guidance needed

If your using any type of filler you will need to use 40 or 80 grit to start of first depending on if you lay it down heavy or not and progressively go up to 120, 180, 320. If your just using a glaze you can start off with 120 since its very soft. After you would prime, block with 600 to make sure its good. Next is the sealer coat and after you would shoot the base and clear. Usually there is no need to sand the base coat as it lays down pretty good. Follow the manufacturers instructions to a T. Dust coat, wet coat, flash times..etc. Do the clear the same way but spray more layers if your going to heavily wetsand afterward.

Your going to need at least bare minimum a 80 gallon 7hp compressor.

You should give SHYNEMAN123 a pm since he does bodywork. You should take a look at his thread too.

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35983&highlight=mud

[Eddie6th]

Re: car painting tutorial - guidance needed

You can get very acceptable results DIYing. There's obviously limits to what is capable though,depending on what you are looking to get out of it.

First,One consideration is your own health (and others around you..if applicable?). A full respiration kit is not practical for DIY,but there are masks which adsorb chemicals,specially for spray painters. Apart from the chemicals,there are hardners which are bad for you.They will harden inside your lungs as they do on a car.
Small compressors are a problem,because you lose continuity while you are working. A larger twin compressor would be better.
The piping normally found for compressors(coily,springy stuff) is a bit small in diameter aswell.
A cheap gun can do the job reasonably well,but has a lot of wasted product(quite high loss). I prefer a gun which has a cup on top rather than underneath,to aid in the flow...(gravity).
You'll have to drain the compressor regularly to get rid of moisture.I don't think you'll have an air drier?

The best person I think could give you advice on this forum,that i know of is 'Shyneman123'. He does a lot of repair and spraypainting and will be able to better advise about a home set-up. I only spray furniture,doors etc. So I have much less concern.

My reference to starting with 800g paper was assuming a ready surface that just needed tweaking,progressivley getting finer.

[Lasthope05]

Re: car painting tutorial - guidance needed

I forgot to touch on that subject Eddie6th brought up. Definitely go with a gravity feed HVLP gun. The advantages are less over spray and less product waste with high coverage. You'll want to get an inline air filter for your compressor also for water and what ever dust particles.