I plan on prepping my car to get it painted. I plan on taking it to maaco and getting the $530 single stage polyurathane. My question is I have done some body work and I need to prime it. I have never done any body work or priming befor this. I only have a small pancake air compressor (for roofing). Can I go out and buy a cheap touch up gun and do the hole car slowly. Prime a panel sand it and move on???? What kind of primer should I use that will work with the single stage polyurathane paint?? I would like to use something that will hide some imperfections.

Thanks
Carson

Urethane high build primer surfacer works great and it can be wet sanded after drying only 30 minutes. Its a two part system composed of 4 pts primer and one part activator. You end up with a thick surface that is great for covering minor sand scratches and imperfections. Wet sand with 400 grit and then paint it but if you do all of the prep work you've already done the difficult part. After that it doesn't take that much to shoot a wet look paint job using single stage acylic enamel with a wet look harder added. That type of paint is very forgiving and like the lacquers of old can be wet sanded and buffed to a very high gloss.

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Will the small compressor and touch up gun work o.k (besides taking a long time)?????

Nason sely 2K primer. you get 1 gallon of primer & 1 Qt of hardener ($ 56 ) enough to do 2-3 entre cars. using a Jam gun ? how many cfm is your compressor ? when you go to maaco or any of the franchised paint shops, you generally get the exact same paint from the same can, if you spend $200 OR $500. used to work for them. they'll tell you you get a Better "warrentee", sure, for the exra $300 they'll warentee it longer. & then It only covers peeling & cracking, not fading. just thought you might like to know ahead of time..

IMHO, if you are going through all of the trouble yourself to get it ready for paint, take some time out and search the links about painting the Fiero here. I know that there are several guys that are in the process of painting their own rides. Buy a cheap compressor, and a cheap paint gun. Then just do a bunch of research on how to paint. It will cost you less than the $500 to get the compressor, paint gun, and the knowledge. I don't know your gagage situation? So, that could be a limiting factor. Prepping the car is most of the work anyway. Good luck whichever route that you go. Pics?
This is the link to JimmyS' paint build. Well, he is painting his car, and has some great shots of his progress. https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/075096.html
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[This message has been edited by Tony Kania (edited 07-08-2009).]

THe problem I am in Is I do not I have a garage and I am running short I time I move in three weeks into an apartment and i cant work on my car there. I have been reading alot about painting my car just so i could prep it right. My compressor is very small just alittle pancake style one (not sure of the cfm) that is why I would use a jam gun if I could. Use a urathane high build primer check. But what about spraying would that compressor and gun work or should i really look into renting one. I am not sure if a place around her rents compressors.

Thanks

I have a small compressor, I went and bought another tank. 7 gallon portable air storage tank, used for inflating tires. I changed the air hose to a 1/2" " T fitting", increasing the volume of my air compressor. Now I have very good cfm's when using it. The cycle time is longer when the compressor does kick on. but I take it slow and when using air, during the duty time my air pressure is more constant for longer periods. I added a shut off valve and quick disconnects. It works very well with any size compressor.

I understand about the time constraints. I do want to offer up some more advice. I too only have a pancake compressor. I do remodeling. I also bought a 10 gallon tank to go along with it. What I find, when trying to run any airtool, is that it is great for a moment or two. Then, it just looses too much pressure to be consistent. Then, my compressor would just run, and run. I ran it too much while doing a project last winter. Polishing out some aluminum with an airtool. I landed up having to rebuild it.

Thanks for all the responses. I think I will just try to prime and paint it myself this weekend. I can rent a compressor for $45 a day. It is gas powered (does that matter). I beleive he said it was a 20 gallon and it puts out 14 cfm. I will go to the paint shop tommoro and get a gallon of of some cheap high build primer. And I will probably go with a single stage paint because it will be cheaper, but if Base coat clear coat isn't alot more I will just do that. I have read alot on hear about harbor freight guns working pretty good, but the closest harbor freight is like an hour away. Will a cheap gun from TSC (tracotr supply) or walmart work ok. Just to double check one last thing its 1.4 mm tip for painting the color and clear and 1.8mm for primer?????? If i can only get one size tip should I just get a 1.4???? Thanks for the help.

gas powered compressor will put oil in the air causing fisheyes. bad idea.

quote Originally posted by Lou6t4gto: gas powered compressor will put oil in the air causing fisheyes. bad idea.

You can always have the compressor running outside....
The BEST primer to use is PPG epoxy primer. If you have everything smooth (180 on a DA is fine), you can prime & paint 30 minites later. If you have imperfections to sand out, you have to wait AT LEAST overnight to sand the epoxy & preferably longer. The other hi-build primer is great for filling imperfections, but it dosen't stick as well as the epoxy - especially to the more flexible of our panels.
You've spent a lot of time prepping the car, right? Take the time (& money) to put quality materials on it. Even cheaper paints (I use Nason base/clear on my "daily drivers") last far longer with the epoxy primer under them.
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"

All that is nessasary for the triumph of evil, is that good men do nothing. ~ Edmond Burke

I just painted my car and used PPG DPLF Epoxy Primer. Just remember, there are two catalysts for that primer. You should use DP401, as it has a flex agent as needed for the bumpers. 402 (the more common catalyst) should not be used on the bumpers. The paint on the bumpers normally crack as they flex, so you should remove the paint from them. I wet sanded and started w/80 grit and worked my way to 600. I painted my car in black and bought the primer in also in black. I then used single stage PPG Urethane (DCC). It worked great and buffs out better than lacquer. This paint dries dust free in 30-40 minutes, much quicker than enamal.

Good luck!
Jim

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Jim
86 SE 355 Body Kit w/3.1 Auto (Sold)
87 T-Top Coupe 2.8/5 Speed new project