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Idiots guide to spray painting


studmuffin

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I have no real experience of spray painting and will be spraying my rear door when I re-skin/replace it early next year. Take it that I will have a compressor etc... by then and sheet metal for practicing is a given for me -----

Looking for any tips/guidance. As always any help gratefully received.

Cheers

Barry

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Yes, cold = bad.

You after perfection or just land-rover-good-enough?

I would like to get a really good finish as the bodywork on the rest of my truck is very good.

The only reason to do the door is the galvanic corrosion is getting worse.

Thanks for the heads up on temperature. I can spray the door at work where we run the factory heaters on default 24/7/365.

Cheers

Barry

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I resprayed the back end of my classic and I was really happy with the finish I got paint wise, unfortunately the colour match was pretty poor, I put it down to the other half of the car being 25 years old, and the panel work wasn't good enough for a road car but fine for an offraoder.

Any imperfections you can see will be 10x more visible when you spray so take your time with the prep. Make sure everything is clean and dry (including your air supply) including whats around you as you'll kick up dust when you spray. For this reason try not to lean things against walls or put them on the floor as this can kick up dust and leave an edge if your painted surface is touching anything. Same with masking, you'll get an edge so take care where you mask and the overspray seems to travel miles so cover everything else with paper. Use the proper primer and if you can see any imperfections in primer they'll be 10x worse in colour so sort them before carrying on. Use really light strokes and thin layers. It's frustrating but if you layer it too thick it'll run. Especially if you put lacquer on, I found that runs like crazy and makes the colour go dark if you use too much.

If you look at mine you can see where I joined the rear panel as I didn't spend enough time blending and you can see the colour difference on the roof and again the join. The colour match got a bit better after a polish as it got a bit more shine but as i know it'd end up wrecked I didn't spend any longer on it than I had to. If you saw it now you'd realised what I did was a waste of time :hysterical:

460BD97D-0973-4DF8-9795-B539906E1C36-497

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What Cynic-Al said, and:

1. You need lots of ventilation

2. No dust (or insects) anywhere nearby

3. The paint needs to be really thin when it goes in the gun

4. Most of the solvent should evaporate before the paint hits the workpiece (which is why it needs to be warm)

5. Keep the gun moving whenever the trigger is pulled

6. Let go of the trigger before you stop moving at each end of the run.

7. Wear the recommended respiratory protection

8. Don't smoke. Even if the solvent isn't flammable, the combustion products once the vapour has been through your cigarette will be more poisonous than the vapour.

9. Do not do it in any kind of confined space

10. Strain the paint as you mix it. Old stockings are ideal.

11. Clean the gun carefully after each use. Professional guns (deVilbiss etc) are designed to be easy to take to pieces and to avoid corners where paint can get trapped.

12. If you want a good finish then the spraying is only half the story, you'll also need to know what to do with the paint when it's dry.

Of the above, 7 is the most important. The only safe paint solvent is water (which you are unlikely to be using) - all others are at best unpleasant and at worst can kill you. Slowly.

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What he said.

Keep the gun at a 90 degrees angle of the bodywork and move horizontally & vertically

We did the 110 ourselves. Me the sanding etc. & the 1stLady did the actual spraying.

Base vehicle

2011-01-07%20%20Chassis%20ziet%20er%20nu

110%20HardTop%20LA.jpg

2011-10-16%20%20Blanke%20Lak%20Spuiten%2

2011-10-16%20%20Blanke%20Lak%20Spuiten%2

The final result :

2013-05-11%20%20LR%20110%20HT%20met%203-

Can't thank her enough - she did a great job.

And being a working vehicle, I'm not too worried if the finish is not perfect.

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Great advice everybody. Thanks.

My truck is a 90 in Caledonian Blue, and I can spray the door off the vehicle in a reasonably clean warm factory.

What base coatings would you suggest? Team Idris suggests 2 pack is easier than 1 pack. Do I need lacquer top coat for a top finish?--- and approximately what ratio of paint to thinners by volume would work for a beginner?

Barry

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Start with 5 to 1 thinner/paint and see what it looks like. It needs to be as runny as water.

Two pack isocyanate paint is the worst for causing long term breathing problems. The pictures posted by Arjan show the 1stLady using an absorbent cartridge type respirator. These work fine for some type of solvent but not for others. There are different types of absorbent cartridge and you need to make sure you get the right one to match your solvent. The cartridges are usually designed to last for one working shift but read the instructions which come with each cartridge and it will tell you how long you should expect them to last. If the cartridge is working properly then you should not be able to smell the solvent when you've got the mask on.

An air fed mask is a much better option but they are much more expensive and you need a clean air supply.

Sorry to labour this point but occupational asthma is not funny. HSE's website has some good stuff on it.

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Start with 5 to 1 thinner/paint and see what it looks like. It needs to be as runny as water.

Two pack isocyanate paint is the worst for causing long term breathing problems. The pictures posted by Arjan show the 1stLady using an absorbent cartridge type respirator. These work fine for some type of solvent but not for others. There are different types of absorbent cartridge and you need to make sure you get the right one to match your solvent. The cartridges are usually designed to last for one working shift but read the instructions which come with each cartridge and it will tell you how long you should expect them to last. If the cartridge is working properly then you should not be able to smell the solvent when you've got the mask on.

An air fed mask is a much better option but they are much more expensive and you need a clean air sup

Sorry to labour this point but occupational asthma is not funny. HSE's website has some good stuff on it.

I appreciate the warning Nick as I already have asthma. Will get the mask for the job.

Thanks

Barry

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I used an air fed mask with some filters that you wear on a belt, worked well as I used the same air supply for the spray gun so the pipe was tee'd off my belt rather than dragging along the bodywork. Can't remember where I got it from or what I paid but I wonder if you can hire them?

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I sprayed the whole of mine...inside/outside etc. I made a purpose built booth from a gazebo frame and fitted it with inlet filters for air circulation and a large outlet filter. I bit the bullet and bought a full air fed mask and an external triple set of coalescing filters for breathable compressor fed air as well as a pro spec devilbiss gun.

Ensure everything is clean, degrease and tack rag prior to painting, preparation is everything here. As for mix ratio...ask the paint supplier/manufacturer...they can be different from maker to maker. Gun tip size also makes a difference, you don't want to use a primer tip (1.8-2.0mm) for top/base or clear, again the paint shop or manufacturers data sheet can tell you suitable tip size and spraying pressure. My clear gun has a 1.3mm tip and requires 3bar at the gun. 3M and Gerson supply suitable cartridge type filter masks, I used these for my isocyanate free hi-build primer layers. Also ensure your compressor is up to the task, I ran two 3hp compressors with storage of 200litres, fed into a pipe system with filters and water traps/drops. Most small compressors won't keep up with the demand of a decent spray gun. Heat the area and panel too as mentioned previously.

It sounds like a lot of faffing about but the details help give a pro finish, I did lots of research as a) I wanted to learn to do it properly and b) the amount of work I put in to my 90 I didn't want a bodyshop to make a mess of it! If I wasn't happy with the finish then I flatted, re prepped and repainted.

You can get a bodyshop finish, I have been asked who painted mine and it's met with some disbelief when I say it was done by me in my shed. It is actually better than some pro jobs I've seen.

Les Brock's build thread in the members section gives a great step by step guide on painting with 2k paint

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Thanks v much. All good stuff.

Need to find Les Brocks thread.

I should be OK for air because if I need to I can switch to our factory trans-air system which is a 7.5 bar HPC screw comp/fridge drier with 340L receiver tank. Will be painting evenings after all our machines are off.

Barry

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  • 4 months later...

The final result :

2013-05-11%20%20LR%20110%20HT%20met%203-

Looks really great. Can I ask what soec kit you used? Gun, compressor, etx?

I ran two 3hp compressors with storage of 200litres, fed into a pipe system with filters and water traps/drops.

You can get a bodyshop finish, I have been asked who painted mine and it's met with some disbelief when I say it was done by me in my shed.

Is that how much air you need? Where you using devilbiss gun? Seems a minefeild out there in terms of how much you can pay.

For intermittent/infrequent used I guess it being a sod to clean is manageable, but if its also a sod to use that's obviously an issue!

Daniel

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