I am anything but a great painter. The area I'm using to paint the car in is dusty and I can make a "plastic" room to shoot the paint, but it will definitely have debris in the paint. What paint should I use that dries quickly so that I can sand the debris out and then mechanically buff the entire car. Not planning on using clear. So what type of paint should I use......Thanks guyz.

Phil

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87 FIERO GT 2.8 5spd

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If you hose the floor down before you paint, it will help keep the dust down.

Lot of people do that, but i prefer not to wet floor down. You always have the risk of water splashing up on paint, or dripping off the hose. Any urathane clear will b e dry enough to sand out defects the next day, followed by buffing. I do it almost everyday. I even wet sand them now with special paper the next day with a DA sander. Sand a whole hood down in 15 mins as opposed to hand doing it for a couple of hours. An old painter trick when your painting is to throw an old piece of chain over the frame to the floor before you blow it off and tack it. It will ground the car so static will not attract dust, your only left with whats floating in the air. Another is to do all the blowing and wiping, then let it set overnite, then just tack it off in the morning and paint. That gives the dust all nite to settle before you do the final tack and spray.

First, I'd suggest cleaning the area if you can. Making a plastic 'booth' will certainly help, as the plastic will have a static charge to attract dust and other airborne particles. If it's a dusty area, I try to wet the floor down and then let it dry for a while. It'll help clear the 'booth' area and if you still have airboune stuff, mist the floor before you spray. It does help sometimes. Don't soak the area, though, as you don't want it to splash as you drag the air hose around, as Roger mentioned.

Second, I suggest using the clear. You can keep your color coat clean by tacking between color coats, but once the clear is sprayed, you can't touch the paint until dry. But, small imperfections can be wet-sanded and buffed out. If you do make a mistake, usually just a re-clearing is all you need.

Mark

I would clean the entire area the best you can. Also spray off all the plastic walls and ceiling, let it dry obviously. I kept the floor wet when painting mine, I dont have any other jobs to compare it to but I came out with very little dust nibs.

If its your first time painting I would pass on the clear simply because it is your first time painting. If you paint it once you will most likely do it again. No since in wasting money on something you will probably remove in a year anyways. I layed about 5 or 6 coats of paint on mine and you could never tell it wasnt clear'd. Its beautiful, deep and didnt cost much.

Thanks for the info guyz! It's not my first time painting, but the last cars I painted were lacquer and acyrylic enamel......long time ago. So I should REALLY use base/clear coat paint huh. Ok. Will let you know as time flies.

Phil

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87 FIERO GT 2.8 5spd

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Phil, I have done some really good paint jobs... in the front yard, early in the morning during warm weather with no wind. I tackycloth off the car and immediately go to spraying with a HVLP gun. Using 2 stage paint (color then clear) I can always fix anything that comes up. This is much easier than building a whole plastic booth and dealing with static, dust dropping, flopping plastic, water etc. The key is to adjust your HVLP gun to spray properly with little wasted paint and not too much pressure. Practice on a sheet of cardboard at the start of the job just to make sure that it is correct. Use DuPont paint, as it flows very well and is realy easy to apply. Gary

[QUOTE]Originally posted by yosemitefieros:

Phil, I have done some really good paint jobs... in the front yard, early in the morning during warm weather with no wind. I tackycloth off the car and immediately go to spraying with a HVLP gun.

I find it very hard to believe that you can get a good paint job outside with now protection from anything. I mean, unless you are living in a neigborhood made completely of concrete that has no trees and no wind and no anything. But I do not believe there is any such place. Remember, if you get dust nibs or dirt in your paint you CAN cover it with multiple layers. HOWEVER when the atmosphere begins to change (cold to hot and vice versa) that little bit of moisture that is inside that single grain of sand will begin to expand. Remember the ice experiment in elementary school where your 2 liter cracks apart... Anyways, this will cause unsightly bubbles in your paint and noone wants that.

Yes use bc/cc urethane since you have experience painting, the results are unbeatable and the paint itself is excellent to work with. I hear dupont is a really good paint, especially when painting in unconventional areas. I used sherwin williams and I must say, I was very impressed. Just something to look into. Dupont will be more cost efficient however.

quote Originally posted by GTDude: It's not my first time painting, but the last cars I painted were lacquer and acyrylic enamel......long time ago. Phil

If you sprayed those before, the acrylic urethane will be a breeze. You spray the color like laquer and the clear like enamel. It's rather simple and you'll do just fine. Just mix properly.

Personally, I use PPG Deltron. I've had many years of success with it, but there are others here that don't like it.

Mark

Base coats are very close to being laquer, so their fairly goof proof. The clear is a little different, took me a while to figure out. You have to spray it wet enough but not too wet as to run. For me, it seems to look a little dry when i spray, but smooths out perfectly after 5 or 10 mins. If I try to get it smooth and wet spraying, it tends to run pretty easy. If you do get a run in the clear, block sanding with wet paper will get it out fine the next day.

As a matter of fact on really small repair jobs, i use the same basecoat and top it with clear laquer instead of the urathane clear. I can paint it right beside another car, and take it outside in 15 mins. With laquer clear though, it does have to be taken care of unlike urathane. Ive had jobs i topped with laquer looking still good after 10 years, so they are compatable. ie/ i did a hood on a 64 Corvette thats a top concours winner at Bloomington Gold. He didnt want urathane because all the other paint was still original factory laquer. Those judges have never detected it as being refinished and I did that back in the early 90s. Still looks brand new.

[This message has been edited by rogergarrison (edited 12-20-2003).]

Thanks Roger..........I love knowledge and it's even more fun when you get a reason to use it!

Phil

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87 FIERO GT 2.8 5spd

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acrylic laquer tacks off in minutes and if you are using a solid color(not metallic) you dont need clear coats.ive painted some great jobs in the yard..just do it when its still morning preferably.acrylic you can rub dust back anyway before you polish.