Im getting ready to strip down my 92 civic hatch for a new paint job and engine ovehaul. Ive done painting before on two other cars and kinda liked the results but want to try and do better. I got myself a new 60 gallon compressor and sata paint gun for the job. Does anyone on here have a link to a really good diy paint job with good pics? Thanks for your time

 

Are u in a booth or a garage, cause if u do it in your garage your gonna need the clear plastic roll they sell at lowes or home depot and hang it in your garage around the car leaving enough space for u to move around and you need a couple of fans to blow everything out so u can close the garage ll the way and leave it craked a lil so the fans can push out all the spraying your gonna be doing. If u have a booth your good to go lol. Preping the car is prolly the biggest thing. When your sanding it down make sure u dont have any lil dings or and waves in the car, make sure to get it as smooth as possible. U need to spray on some carboard so u know your distance when spraying, u need to have about 70 psi constant so u dont spray to heavy or to light. Go over lil areas at a time dont try to do the whole door in one big spray lol. Depending on how many coats your doing, most people do 2 or 3 let each one stand for about 15 mins before painting another one. your last coat let it stand for a couple of hours before u spray your clear. Then when u spary your clear usually 3 coats will do, let stand for about 15 mins also between each one then let your car sit for a couple days before u do anything else. THen after a month or so after the paint has dried in and settled, its on u how smooth and glossy you want your car. thats when the wet sand and buffing comes in.

 

70 psi is too much for your gun, make sure it's regulated. hvlp sata's like it about 29. rp's i belive likes it around 40 psi. any more and you will mess up the paint job. sunset kr3w is right, spray a piece of cardbord and adjust your pattern till its even about 6 to 8 inches. thats where i like to keep mine. always read the paint manufacture's label to see how long you have between coats. many are different. as for wetsand and buffing, you should be fine after a day or two. just take your time. to wet and squegee the floor before you start. make sure to tack between every coat and only before clear coat. DO NOT tack between clear coats, only before the first coat.

 

great advice thanks, is it possible to let the base coat dry for a day or two to sand out any runs or imperfections?

 

i highly doubt it. i use ppg products and out of all of their lines of paint it said not to let the basecoat go more than 24hrs without clear otherwise you'd need to scuff the entire car and re-lay another coat of base.

if you lay the base down you should be able to sand it not long after to get any imperfections out and still have time to clear it. when you purchase your paint ask them to print you out the spec sheet with the ratios, psi for different types of guns, and all of the times you would need to know.

 

flash time is usually what I wait for when nibbing out dust in base. I have a sheet of 1500 with me when I get rid of dust in base and just mist some base to cover up the scratches.

 

First off, before you start painting check your cfm rating on your compressor. Sata guns use 15 cfm and many 60 gallon compressors do not supply that unless you have a high end one. If you're painting a whole car you will need that cfm rating or you will starve your gun. You don't want to run low on air in the middle of a panel. If you're just doing small parts then you could get away with lower cfm compressors. Check to see if your compressor is at least close to that and if it is then you should be fine. Syzurs is also right about the psi requirement. I have a Sata 2000 digital 2 and a RP digtal 2. I use 29-30 on the 2000 and 40 on the RP.