MGB & GT Forum

i was looking at paint sprayers on home depot.com - you know, the kind you don't need a large air compressor for, usually used for around the house painting. i don't remember if/when i've seen this discussed before, but i started to wonder WHY couldn't you use one of these sprayers to paint your car? there's gotta be a reason...anyone know?

i guess it's more than just changing the tips, huh? i wonder what results someone would get using the Rustoleum Topside or Brightside paint? you could play with the ratios a bit. might be less wet sanding than the rolling method though...?

just wondering why not. OR, if you've successfully done it before, let's see it! or tell us a disaster story of an unsuccessful attempt your aware of.

See recent post from 1999
http://www.tptools.com/Showtime-90-HVLP-Turbine-Unit-with-2-ProLine-Paint-Spray-Guns,2992.html
this be what you want. Auto paint is far different than house paint and need different pattern and atomization.

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Curtis,
It is not only very possible it is a doddle, I have painted cars for years with what used to be called in Australia a "little beaver" an airless sprayer made by CIG, I bought it in 1984 and it's still in use you may see my undercoated MGB GT on my personal page...well that was done with that old airless sprayer, now days I use it only for undercoating or filler as it's nearly worn out, but when I used it for colour acrylic application - I found the main thing is preparation and finishing after painting you may have to wet and dry a little more but it is quite possible to get a finish just as good as a air system after some extra work, I am a fussy painter and none of my jobs are crap even those that did not know what I had used to paint a car complemented me on the finish, I would estimate that I have painted upwards of 20 cars or other vehicles over the years and never had a problem have only gone to air very recently ...December 2013 ..for other work like grinding and cutting and seeing that I now have air I may as well use it to paint, good luck don't be discouraged by using airless as either system is only a vehicle to apply paint before the thinner evaporates it can give just as good as finish, just play around with the settings and practice on an old panel to get it right and you'll find it actually easier than an air system as there is less to adjust.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2014-02-17 11:25 PM by warrington.

Mate, with all respect, that is just not true. Anyone with half a clue, some modest gear, patience and an eye for detail with the prep, can get a very respectable paint job done at home. There is no need to use urethane and clear coat. Dulon and enamel can give you 95% of the result of urethane and clear ( clear over base ), for a lot less $$, and you can do touch ups a lot easier with Dulon and enamel, no need to repaint the whole panel as you do with clear over base.


It doesn't matter who paints the car, you, your mate, his dog, or a "professional", the result will only ever be as good as the prep. Painting it is the easy part. There is no need to pay a "professional" to paint your car.


Again, this is just not true. a Clear over base paint job will turn to **** in short order if it is not looked after, just as a Dulon paint job will last for years if looked after properly. This applies to anything in life, look after it and it'll last you for years, neglect it and it'll fail quickly.


I'll agree with you on this one.


30 years ago when money was tight with a wife, 2 young boys, and a mortgage, Dad couldn’t afford to get his car painted, or even take it to the shop for mechanical work. So he bought a workshop manual for the car and read it. Each time something needed attention, he’d do it step by step following what the manual said, and before long, he’d taught himself to be quite a competent home mechanic ( he’s a desk jockey by day ). When the car needed painting, he went to the local library and borrowed a few spray painting and body prep books and read those, bought a Wagner electric spray gun, some paint, and started “having a go”. Before long he felt confident enough to prep and paint the car, and it came out well. As time progressed and more funds became available, he upgraded his gear to a compressor and air spray gun ( cue another learning curve ) and now after 30 years he has some nice gear ( for a home spray painter ). Although when we buy paint the shop guys always ask what we’re spraying with, and then tell us we won’t get a very good job with it and try to sell us some million dollar spray gun. So Dad always makes a point of taking the finished car back to show the guy the result with his “cheap” gear. That’s how you earn respect, and it’s quite funny sometimes how all of a sudden the paint shop guys are a lot more helpful and then we are given access to all sorts of other stuff that before they “don’t carry, out of stock, trade only” etc etc.

Dad has lost count of the number of cars he’s painted now. He wins trophies at car shows and concours events, people are always asking him which shop painted the car, and most don’t believe him when he says he painted it at home in the carport until he pulls out the photo album and shows them. We see plenty of “professional” paint jobs on other car club members’ cars that have cost a fortune, and honestly some of them a quite average, and you cannot choose between the best professional ones and Dad’s “carport special”. Dad prepares his cars very very well, which is the key, and we take our time painting them – the weather tempreture, humidity, and barometric pressure must be within certain parameters otherwise we won’t paint, but when it’s right ( usually around Easter in New Zealand ) on goes the Dulon. He’s started doing 2K lately too ( air dry 2 pak, no clear ).

He used to do the outside in Dulon and the engine and inside the boot in enamel, and the underneath with enamel over the underseal, but now he does the engine bay and boot in 2K. Yes we bought a proper underseal spray gun too so that sprays on nice and uniformly and looks factory.

Dad sprays silver metallic on steel wheels, he touches up my brothers dark green metallic clear over base on his race car, and no one can pick the touchup. WE paint the motor, driveshaft, all the suspension, dash, seat frames, everything on the car that is painted we strip and paint. Yes it takes a lot of time ( which is why the shops charge so much, it’s hours and hours of labour ), but the end result is worth it. See my race car in my signature for some painting-in-progress shots.

He rebuilt his Escort in 1993, stripped back to the steel and painted in Dulon all over. He repainted it again last year, only because it had a lot of rust repairs and more than half the car need repainting, not because the pait was worn out / getting thin / dull or whatever. It still looked as good as the day he painted it 20 years ago, because he prepped it properly, put plenty of paint on, and looked after it over the years.

Another thin to be aware of with clear over base, is it looks different to Dulon when it’s on the car, we can pick it a mile away. It just doesn’t look right on old cars, the shine is not correct for old cars because it looks “wet”.

So to the OP, if you can't afford a compressor and all the gear, go the airless for a start. Borrow some spray painting for beginners books, read them all several times, and then take them to the garage with you and have a crack. It’s really not hard at all, it’s one of those things in life that people think is all smoke and mirrors ( just like Ducati cam belts and valve shims – they’re a piece of cake too if you sit down and read the book and have a go ). Don't listen to all those people who will tell you you need this $$$ gun and that $$$ compressor and some other $$$ gismos and gadgets, of that you can't do it at home, or you need a spray booth or a bake oven. You can get excellent results without any of that gear. When you’ve painted your car, you’ll be able to go and buy all those extras for it you always wanted with all the money you saved by painting it yourself. One thing you won’t be able to buy though, is the satisfaction and pride you’ll get when people compliment you on your nice car with the nice paintjob and ask you which shop you paid to paint it ☺

I'll try to find some more pics for you and post them here.

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1973 MG BGT - Harvest Gold / Black interior

1974 MG BGT - Bracken / Autumn Leaf interior - http://forum.britishv8.org/read.php?13,11702

Good post Andrew. And, do you need supplied air for a painting mask? Possibly, and depends on what you're painting, but for the most part, no. You do need a proper mask, make sure it is fitted correctly. It should be rated for iso cyanates, etc. Don't go to the hardware store for this mask, go to your local paint and body supplier. They have the right one and they are not expensive.

Ours cost around $16 and have a set exposure-to-air limit of how many hours the filters have after removing the mask from the sealed pouch. After that they are only good for dust protection. Supplied air is preferable but not required for most DIY painting projects. If you are using water-based paint, the proper mask is critical.

Thanks Wray, and your post is equally good - informative and based on the unemotional facts from experience by the sound of it, not what some guy told your mate down at the pub

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1973 MG BGT - Harvest Gold / Black interior

1974 MG BGT - Bracken / Autumn Leaf interior - http://forum.britishv8.org/read.php?13,11702

I'm fortunate to have been involved with the local autobody class that our club supports for a number of years. I've taken it so many times that the instructor sometimes has me teach part of it. I doubt I will ever have the experience he does, he's the pro, but but I do enjoy it. Accurate safety information is important.

Of course you want a nice still day too ( no wind ) when painting at home in the carport ☺

Don’t just think you can go down to your local paint supplier and get a gallon of whatever brand paint he has. All paints are not created equal. We used Dulon ( brand, not the paint but it is the paint too if you know what I mean – nitro-cellulose I think the Poms call it? Lacquer anyway ) for years. One day some big shot restorer guy told us he only used Spies Hecker, it makes the rest look like rubbish. OK so we got some and tried it. One word for it – ****. It didn’t seem to spray as smoothly as the other paints we had used, and when we went to sand it with 1500 wet and dry before cutting and polishing it, it balled up into little balls than got stuck under the paper and scratched the rest of the paint. No matter what we tried, water, soapy water, and every other magic potion known to man, we couldn’t get it to stop balling up. That car is getting stripped as we speak. BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You may find Spies Hecker to be the best paint in the world. It depends on you equipment, what else you are using in the way of etches, primers, fillers etc etc, you must remember that some paints don’t care what they are going on top of, but other paints are extremely sensitive to what is underneath them. That’s also why you need to talk to you local paint supply shop to make sure they have the full range ( etch, primer surface, highfill primer , paint in which ever style you choose lacquer / enamel / 2K / clear over base, and thinners ) in the one brand, or compatible brands.

When you get around to mixing the paint, the weather conditions on the day will affect it. The tin will say mix it 4:1 say ( 4 parts thinner to 1 part paint ), but depending on the size of the nozzle on your gun, how hot or cold it is, the humidity, and even the pressure of your air supply if using an air system, you’ll need to adjust that to suit. We always have a small test board to fine tune it. Hot days need less thinners, cold days need more thinners so the paint will atomise properly and flow, but the more thinners you have the more chance of runs. Speaking of runs, you want to spray the paint on almost to the point of it running, otherwise it’ll dry all powdery and look like ****. This is called dry coats, looks kind of like undercoat, with the nibs all over it. No amount of cutting and polishing will ever get a decent shine on a “dry” paintjob. Wet coats are what you need. If you do get a run here and there, no problem, that’s why you’re spraying it in lacquer ( as original, none of the clear over base stuff ) because you can sand the run out with wet and dry on a sanding block and it’ll be perfect. Then “colour” sand it with fine wet and dry ( wet, never sand it dry, you’ll scratch the hell out of it, and never let the paper load up either, keep “cleaning” it in the water ), cut and polish, and take the trailer to put all the trophies in ☺

When you are prepping it, wipe the car down with wax and grease remover / all purpose thinners. We used to use all purpose thinners to thin the paint, but the last few cars we have used the expensive thinners for the paint, and just used the all purpose thinners to wipe the car down prior to painting, and to clean the gun out. No point wasting the expensive stuff. Cleanliness is your friend, dust is your enemy. If you do get dust in it, you may be able to sand it out if it’s in one of the top coats and not big lumps. Again, that’s why we use lacquer, it’s much more forgiving and amateur / learner -friendly.

Anyway all of this will be in the books you read before getting started.

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1973 MG BGT - Harvest Gold / Black interior

1974 MG BGT - Bracken / Autumn Leaf interior - http://forum.britishv8.org/read.php?13,11702

You are fortunate to have those classes available to you Wray. We don't have them to my knowledge, far to small a population to justify anyone running them. You can never get too much practice at painting. Never has the mantra "practice makes perfect" been so true. Having a pro looking over your shoulder will speed up your learning, we've always had to work it out for ourselves, which no doubt took longer and cost more with the occasional stuff-up for unknown reasons

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1973 MG BGT - Harvest Gold / Black interior

1974 MG BGT - Bracken / Autumn Leaf interior - http://forum.britishv8.org/read.php?13,11702

Here's a true story that you might find interesting and helpful. Maybe.

Way back in 1971 while I was stationed in the UK I saw an MG TC sitting outside an old country garage/petrol station. As I drove by it on my way to work one day I noticed an old guy painting it with a brush. The body and bonnet were dark green and the wings were black. On my way home I stopped out of curiosity to ask him about this method of painting. His reply was something like, mate, it don't matter what you use to get the paint on the car. It's nitrocellulose, you can polish out all of the brush marks later. The car looked better each day until it finally looked very nice. It must have been a lot of work for him because he never used any power tools. He just and sanded and hand polished it.

Having said this, if you use an enamel based paint you will not have this option unless you put in a hardener. And then the paint is real hard. You will also find metallic paints to be much more difficult to get looking good in your early attempts.

Have a go at it and learn something. Pass on what you learn.

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Si Vis pacem, para bellum

Moral of all of the stories; "Necessity is the mother of invention." When I decided that $14,000 was too much for a paint job on my vette, I decided to take a night tech course on auto body work. Can tell you that the prep is DEFINITELY where the all the finesse and work lies. I told myself, never again, but now I'm doing the "B". Have about $600 in the "B" and about $1800 in the vette paint jobs. If using a BC//CC, make sure that you don't go cheap on the clear. The cheap clears will look good, but not last in the ultraviolet light. You may get 2 or 3 years. The better the clear (and more expensive) the longer you will have a great finish.

Here's a cute article, that I found was both interesting and humorous - worth sharing: http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/body/hrdp_0707_1962_ford_falcon_budget_paint_job/

Regards,
CJ

We can't use nitrocellulose lacquer in most parts of the USA. If you are caught you get fined and sent to Environmentalist Prison. All you get to eat there are veggies and organic stuff. No candy. Can't wear fur. Have to step in the gutter if a dog or cat wants to walk by on the sidewalk. Have to hug trees but only lightly so they aren't hurt at all.
And anything you normally use otherwise can't be used in California or you will get cancer. It says so on the label.
My government makes me feel so secure, healthy, warm and fuzzy too.

There's at least one forum member here who purchased car paint and used a roller to apply it, then wet sanded and buffed out the finish for a VERY respectable paint job in the end! Yes, it took a LOT of elbow work, but it really does look nice!

I've painted a few cars, which means anyone can paint cars! An airless sprayer will be difficult to spray a finely atomized mist, but it may be possible if you use more reducer in the paint and spray additional coats.

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jeff@advanceddistributors.com

i used that method to paint my B!
http://www.mgexp.com/phorum/read.php?1,1941827,1941827#msg-1941827 (journal)
and
http://www.mgexp.com/phorum/read.php?1,2405871,2405871#msg-2405871 (article)



knew that article existed, but hadn't seen it. thanks