Archive for the ‘automotive paint’ Category
How To Paint Your Classic Car Like A Pro After the finish body work is done, and your primer has been sanded to 600 grit wet, you can mask your classic car, and get ready for paint, if your lucky you can rent a paint booth for a day to paint the car, if renting a paint booth is the plan, you should wait to mask your car, until you get there.
I always suggest that you rent a fast cash booth, unless you have a garage that you can clean, blow out, and hose down until it’s absolutely dust free, if there is any dust around your car, it will be in the paint in the end, where if you rent a paint booth, they are usually kept clean, all you have to do is water the floors.
Now that you ready to paint your car, no matter where you have chosen to do the work, you need to be sure that you have all of the supplies that you need, because once you start to paint, you can’t just stop and make a run to the paint supply store, below I’ll add a list of the supplies you need. Supply List
1) Paint 2) sealer 3) reducer 4) Catalyst 5) Tack Cloths, preferably designed for clear coat 6) Measuring Cups 7) Stir Sticks 
Measuring Stick 9) Strainers 10) Respirator in working order 11) Paint Prep Cleaner
The list above is a list of the supplies that you’ll need to paint your classic car, you cannot skimp on this list to save money, you will need every item on it, so be ready to spend some money on it, on average your supplies will cost between $600.00 and $2,000.00 depending on what you use to paint your car.
Now that we know that the car is masked, we’ll prep clean it, this will clean any contaminants off of the surface of the primer, after you have done this you can tack cloth the car, this is done to remove small dust particles from the surface of the car.
Now I will give you a few things to think about, when painting with metallic paints then you must pay allot attention to the settings on your paint gun.
Metallic paints will tend to get lighter if the pressure goes up and darker if it goes down, your fluid flow and fan on your gun will also effect this.
Now I will give you a basic mixing chart, most paints will follow this chart. Instructions
1) get your paint ready to pour.
2) make sure that your mixing cup is clean.
3) Get your strainer and sticks.
4) Put a strainer in the top of the measuring cup.
5) Now pay close attention to the level of paint in the cup. Paint Mixing Table.
Always be sure to read and follow the paint manufactures mixing guide lines.
These mixing ratios are just a basic idea of what to do, things will change with different manufactures.
Recommended Air Pressure At Gun Head.
Paint Mix Ratios.
Paint Product.25-40 PSI Mix 4:1:1
Base Coat 25-40 PSI Mix 4:1:1
Sealer 25-40 PSI Mix 4:1:1
Clear Coat 25-40 PSI Mix 2:1:1
Primer Coat When using a spray gun, you try to achieve a certain spray pattern of spray coming out of the gun, this is done by adjusting the air pressure at the tip of the spray gun, also the fan of the paint, and fluid flow of the paint, all of these factors will make, or break your paint work.
What your looking for in a perfect spray pattern is very simple, it will consist of a fan 4-6 inches wide, that has no dry spot in the middle, or heavy spot on either end of the spray fan, once you achieve this type of spray coming from the gun, your ready to go.
Remember do not test you spray pattern on the paint booth wall, or on your car, take a piece of masking paper, and hang it on the wall of the booth, and use that to test your spray gun, if you rented my booth, and sprayed on the wall of it, I would charge you to remove the paint from the wall.
You should always follow the manufactures recommended paint mixes, and spray pressure, the manufacture know more about their product then anybody else does, if you follow what they sat to the letter, your paint should look great.
Modern day paint booth manufacturers have a significant number of types of such booths. The reason for this is to cover the entire spectrum of customer requirements. You could want a booth to paint an automobile or an aircraft or a very tiny intricate part in large numbers. All of these different samples would need different types of booths. Because of this reason the various types of paint booths are:
Automotive paint booth
Truck spray booth and
Industrial spray booths
Truck and Industrial Spray Booths
The truck spray booths are further categorized into the full; side and the semi-down draft varieties besides the reverse and front flow types. Similarly the industrial spray booths are sub-divided into the airplane booths and the production tunnels.
Automotive Spray booths
The automotive paint booth could be sub-divided into the premier variant, the insulated variant and the full, semi and side down draft variants besides the reverse and front flow types.
The Premier Spray Booth
This spray booth has white powder coated panels that are double walled and fully insulated. This results in considerable saving in energy, ease of maintenance and increased durability. The panels are punched with precision and made of heavy gauge galvanized steel for protection against corrosion and long life.
The paint booth has uniform airflow due to the full ceiling air intake filters. The surplus spray is forced out of the vehicle by the central flow exhaust system.
The direct-fired heat system scores by 20% in efficiency terms over the indirect fired heating system. Recirculation of preheated air from the baking cycle effects greater energy savings.
Electronic monitoring of filters, energy saving motor drives and an auto shut down system all help in the further saving in running costs.
The lights are strategically located and have access from the inside. This means that the exterior is flush and clean. The lighting is well focused in order to eliminate shadows. The lights have also been selected with the saving of energy costs in mind.
The provision of tri-fold doors and a 2-meter pit under the central exhaust system further enhance the utilization of the automotive paint booth.
If you have decided to do some repairs on your car perhaps in preparation for painting then you will need to know how to remove the old paint.
To begin with, you will most likely want to use a paint stripper rather than hours of sanding. There are many commercial paint strippers on the market. One thing you must bear in mind is these are chemicals, and most certainly must be treated with respect.
You must put all of the safety precautions in place before you begin to work. First of all, you will want to work in a well ventilated area. The fumes of some of these paint strippers can be pretty strong, and dangerous to breathe for any period of time. Perhaps you may want to consider wearing a mask that is applicable for fumes. In addition don’t bypass the safety goggles, If any of the solution were to splash in your eyes it could cause blindness.
Although there are many commercial strippers on the market, they all will have their own individual instructions on how to use it. Be sure and read the directions carefully before starting.
Ok so now you are ready to start. If possible, remove the body panel so it will be easier to work with. Put it on a stand if you have one and make sure the floor area is protected in case of drips. Now apply the stripper liberally with a brush unless it came with an applicator.
Once you have applied the stripper cover the piece with plastic. This will help to contain the fumes. In addition, it will help the stripper to work faster. Leave it this way for about 20 minutes.
Now remove the plastic and discard carefully. With a putty knife or a scrape start to remove the paint. Once you have scraped off all of the paint you can, rinse the piece with cool water. Be sure to wear you gloves. The cool water helps to neutralize the paint remover.
Once you have reached this point you need to assess the piece. If there isn’t too much paint still there you may want to sand the remainder off. On the other hand, if there is a fair amount still to be removed you may want to re strip it again. Either way you want to be sure, all of the paint has been removed. It wouldn’t hurt to give it a light sanding once you are finished with the stripper.
We have given you the basic steps here on how to work with strippers. One thing you must remember though is to follow the instructions exactly as they are outlined on the product. If you are not sure what you should use, then check with the store where you are buying the product. There may be various types that are used for specific jobs. You want to be sure and get the one that is best for you. Once you have completed the job, make sure everything is disposed of properly.