ok... so my teacher suggested it, and a few friends did as well.
Im going to buy a 4-10 gallon air tank with compressor and a paint gun. And paint my car myself.
After looking at the job I did with my spoiler... they all think I could do a great job with real auto paint.

So what brand air tank do you suggest? What brand paint?
How many pints to paint a Fiero? How long does it take for it to dry?
My teacher suggested doing a coat of white base coat to make the red even brighter... is that a good idea?

If I do do this and do a good job... I just might start painting for friends and PFF memebers.

I just rattle-canned my car and will post pics after this weekend when I can get ahold of a good camera. From the research I did before the rattle-cans, everybody seemed to be really determined that a gravity fed paint gun was the best way to go. Costco seems to have a good combo set of 4 paint guns for like $100, Home Depot apparently has a really good gravity fed for $40 alone. Hope that helps.

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-Brady

no more suggestions guys?

You have good intentions but the bad part is a 4-10 tank is not going to work as the air capacity is not enough , you are going to need a filter to take out the water that the compressor generates. Get your paint and supplies or just rent a paint booth in a shop about a $100 for a day maybe cheaper on the weekendthat way you will have a dirt free enviroment and good air supply.

quote Originally posted by Master Tuner Akimoto: You have good intentions but the bad part is a 4-10 tank is not going to work as the air capacity is not enough , you are going to need a filter to take out the water that the compressor generates. Get your paint and supplies or just rent a paint booth in a shop about a $100 for a day maybe cheaper on the weekendthat way you will have a dirt free enviroment and good air supply.

My instructor said Id need at least a 8 gallon tank but that a 4 could work... so was he lying to me?

What size tank do I need?

I thought It didnt matter what size the tank was but what PSI it put out... my instructor said somewhere in the 110psi range is what I needed.

[This message has been edited by dezie36 (edited 07-13-2005).]

Iwould not say he is lying to you but as an instructor he should know better ,for a small thing like a spoiler ....yes that is not a problem but a car it would run out of air while painting and you would have to stop to build up air pressure again thus leaving uneven paint distribution and imperfection in the final result.

Couldnt that be solved by painting one section at a time?
like do the prime the hood, then the fender, then the nose... ext?

What size tank would I need to do one coat on the fiero?

I have painted a number of cars over the years in my garage, with great results. You will need a 4-5 hp compressor with about a 10-12 gallon tank. If you want to go bigger than that on tank size, let's say for sand blasting, you can get a 29 gallon tank with a 5 hp motor from Harbor Frieght for about 400 bucks. Look for one that will put out about 8cfm @ 90psi or better. Find one that will run on 220v as you will save some on your electric bill. Stay away from the permanently lubed compressors, and go with one that has a real crankcase with a cast iron case. I see all the time good used compressors in the local paper. As one of the other responses said, you need a dryer in the line. I use one that I bought from a tool supply house, cost is about 30 bucks, it uses a roll of toliet paper (don't laugh, it really does the job with very little loss of pressure). Buy a decent, like DeVilbis or Binks or Sharpe HVLP gun, forget the cheapie high pressure guns because you'll have dust glitches all over the place. You'll also need an air pressure adjustment gauge attached to the gun handle. Use a good repirator, not just a face mask. With this set up you can paint a car. Next is just time and practice. I use Dupont or Sherwin Williams 3 part paints. But remember, preparation of the surface to be painted is 75% of a good paint job. Good luck.

For starting out, you could get a decent 5 HP 10 gal compressor, it should be able to provide the CFM (Cubic Feet per Minute) you would need to run a spray gun. It's not the pressure that you should be concerned about, (most types work between 30 and 60 PSI) it's the compressor's ability to deliver the required volume of air. An HVLP (High Volume Low Pressure) is going to use more CFM than a regular suction or gravity feed gun. The difference between HVLP and regular is the amount of overspray and wasted paint, HVLP producing less overspray. As stated above, you will need a coalescing filter and a decent pressure regulator (the one that comes with your compressor may be good enough).

10 gal tank is nowhere what you need. If you paint it one panel at a time and wait for it to catch up, you will have a very dull and rough finish. My HVLP gun will go thru that in just a few short minutes. You prob cant even get a coat on a hood alone with it. I have an 80 gal tank with 7 hp compressor and it barely keeps up. 10 gal would be fine for small repair, small parts, or airbrushing.

Im hearing a couple of different things as far as size of tank goes...

You all cant be right.

What I dont understand is why would painting it one part at a time cause a difference in color or finish... If im using the same kind of paint, masking each side off as I paint it as to make sure there isnt any spray... I dont see why that wouldnt work. I mean ya it would take an excedingly long time.

Ive been in the auto painting and aircraft painting business since 1960s. Yes you can take the same can of paint, mix it the same, use the same gun and at 2 different times end up with a mismatch. The way a manufacturer can do it is have a preprogramed robot paint it, with exact same temps, same exact humidity, same exact air pressure, and same number of coats and overlap. Impossible to do by hand. Im not saying it wont match, just the odds are very stacked against it. Also depends somewhat on the color. ie/ black will always be black unless it has metallic. Gold or silver.....forget about it.

I'm not going to say Roger is wrong, however, I would be very suprised if you ran into the problems he is talking about.

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Huh?

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[This message has been edited by Firefox (edited 07-14-2005).]

Roger knows what he's talking about, and so does MTA. If you have to wait for the compressor to catch up, you AREN'T likely to be pleased with the final result, especially if you're spraying metallic paint.
IIRC, the spoiler you did was in metallic, and you planned on painting the rest of the car in that nice gunmetal as well...

"What I dont understand is why would painting it one part at a time cause a difference in color or finish... If im using the same kind of paint, masking each side off as I paint it as to make sure there isnt any spray... I dont see why that wouldnt work. I mean ya it would take an excedingly long time."

The thing with metallics is, just spraying two panels from different directions WILL cause it to look different, because the mica flakes in the paint will be oriented differently. The same applies for having to wait for the compressor to catch up. What you're proposing CAN be done, but it would take an experienced painter to make it come out in anything close to a uniform color, much less achieving gloss. If you're a novice painter, you'll do a much better job using equipment that doesn't work against you. As far as your choice of color, keep in mind that light, solid colors, such as white or bright yellow will hide a multitude of painting sins if it's your first paint job. And remember, prep is everything. If you get impatient and rush the prep, I guarantee it will show in the final result. A bodywork or sanding flaw that looks very minor when the car is still in primer, will be glaringly obvious when the clearcoat is shot.

[This message has been edited by Vonov (edited 07-14-2005).]

quote Originally posted by John Boelte: I'm not going to say Roger is wrong, however, I would be very suprised if you ran into the problems he is talking about.

Roger is absolutly correct in his description of what can happen when painting parts sepparately......temp, humidity, and even atmospheric pressure can cause color mismatch. The only thing I would disagree with is that it can also happen with black.....also 1 of the most difficult colors to work with while maintaining true consistancy.

I didn't notice any mention of what you plan to use for a gun........pay the extra, and get a good 1. Thers many good guns on the market with various price ranges, so do some research. A couple of good brands are Sato & Devilbiss, although there are a number of others that are good as well.

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