I'm thinking about taking a shot at painting. Its the only aspect of building a car that I've always been hands off about, and therefore the only thing reventing me from being completely self sufficient.

So I think instead of buying parts for awhile, I'd like to start assembling a paint rig, working from the compressor out. I don't need anything super fancy, Im not going to be doing this professionally or even often.

I've got a 6cfm (@90psi) Porter Cable compressor that I'm going to plumb a 20-30gal tank to for some extra capacitance. From there, I need some sort of dryer/filters, a gun or two(duh), and some sort of mask.

Anyone care to help me fill in the blanks? I don't know much about painting aside from doing a lot of airbrushing when I was like 14-19 and could really use some pointers and some suggeestions for decent budget gear minus the b.s....

TIA

 

Nobody?

 

I might be able to help you out

 

THe better your equiptment the better ur finished product. I wouldnt suggest any gun sold at hardware stores or chain stores. Go to a paint store and buy a good gun 200~300 ur gunna get a good gun. Ur tank is a little small for spraying with but itll work if ur ttank cant keep up with you ur gunna get uneven spray (thin to heavy thin to heavy). Make sure your bleeding ur tank to get the water out the bottem of ur tank before u spray. Keep ur gun clean, dried paint will kill ur gun and its ability to lay good coats. Prep makes or breaks a paint job. Make sure your using the rite mix ratios and hardeners for the temp and humidity. Do it rite when u paint rmove ur window trim door handles and moldings cutting corners here and taping around molding and door handles will cause the clear to fail prematurly and will look like crap. If you take ur time and do things rite even the most unexperienced painters can do a decent job most backyard painters cut corners and skimp on pre and this is why they turn out crapy jobs goodluck

 

Your compressor is too small. It would be ok for small parts but for a whole car the 6 cfm is not enough. You could do it but you'll be waiting a lot for the compressor to catch up. You don't wanna run out of air in the middle of a run. I have Sata guns and they require 14 cfm. I'm also using an Ingersol Rand 60 gallon air compressor rated at 15 cfm at 175 psi. If you're also doing bodywork and using a DA sander 6 cfm will kill you and waste a lot of time waiting for the tank to build back up. I suggest you buy the right equipment for the job or it may cost you a lot of headache later.

 

Thanks for the input, this is the kinda stuff I'm lookin for! I have no plans of getting a hardware store gun, except for maybe a harbor freight deal just for primer.

I'm also starting off small, I just have a couple mini projects I'd like to do to break myself in (a lip, mirrors, moldings, and a bumper redo). Eventually I'd like to work up to doing a whole car though.

 

You gonna spend alots of money trying to re-paints your vehicle. The Air compressor and spray guns are most commone expensive equiments to buy. Don't foget the paints too. Those are not cheap depend how much paint you want. I don't like noisy compressor then it gonna cost you a good one. I don't know much about painting so that why I'm here trying to see if i can get help. Peoples told me that learning to do stuff it major difficult, but practicing with someone who knows about paint would help alot.

 

if your going to be painting and doing bodywork your going to need a 80-100 gallon compressor, or larger. Anything smaller is going to give you a major head ache while sanding and spraying. What i have learned with buying equipment, if you buy cheap stuff you get cheap results and stuff doesn't last. Go to a local auto body paint store and ask them about guns and DA sanders. You will learn quickly that some people have the touch for bodywork and painting and some people don't. There are a ton of ratios and different products out there so make sure you know what your doing before you waist money on materials that weren't mixed or applied correctly.