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Boosted on a budget

3rd brake lights weren't mandatory until '86

That makes sense. I wonder if a cop would write a ticket based off that...

^ This ^

Dude. This is so good. I love painting and body work and this is (judging on pictures alone mind you) the best looking single stage I've seen pretty much ever. Please tell me you used a $9 gun from harbor freight! That would just make my heart sing for all the "must have a $1,000 gun if you want it to look good" people.

So I will try and give you an idea of what I chose and why without trying to teach a class that I have no degree or right to teach.

With that being said, Paint guns have some things to do with a good job. Then there is the actual paint you use and mixture and also the equipment (air compressor and filters etc...)

When I painted the bay, I used a Nason paint which at the time was considered Duponts entry level paint. It was a good cheaper paint so it held the gloss and flowed nicely through that harbor freight gun with no issues. With the correct mixture, that is key!!
The compressor has to meet a certain standard of cfm so you have enough volume of spray. For a smaller project this may not have a big impact but for an all over, you definitely need something with higher cfm. I used a smaller Craftsman compressor painting the bay with no issues at all and the finish looks great.

When I painted my car I used a cheap single stage urethane from TCP global. Its the Restoration Shop series. I will not use this again because of the issues I had with the run not being able to be sanded out due to the color change. I have never witnessed that and I have researched and researched and spoke with professionals and that was considered weird. Next I used a larger compressor. I also built a 50 ft copper tube moisture deal-e-o to reduce the heat and moisture traps in the bottom so I have moisture free air. There is also a incandescent trap that catches the last of the moisture and dirt etc. This is the other key to a decent job. Notice we havent talked about guns yet...

Lastly the gun itself. Like stated before, as long as you are using a decent paint, compressor, and equipment, IMO the gun doesnt matter much!

I used this gun:

9FgJHGY.jpg


Its made by 3M. I paid $250 on Amazon and it came with a few nozzles and liners. The reason I chose this gun is because of the versatility (primers, base, clear, texture, spot repairs down to the size of a quarter), the wide spray fan (17"!!) and the NO clean up involved.
This gun has the 3M PPS system which is a cup with a liner in it. You pour the paint in it and put the lid on it. When you are done painting, you take the liner out and throw it away with no cleaning involved. In addition to that, the paint tips are removable and throw away tips. You can reuse them with a very minor clean up but they are cheap enough by the box to just throw them away. If you want to keep the nozzle just run some thinner through the top and shake it around and repeat until the fluid is clear again. That easy and uses hardly any thinner so it saves money. After that you just wipe the needle down and its cleaned!

Now the atomization on the 3M gun was about what I expected for it to be (amazing). Harbor Freights gun with the same 1.3 tip sprays pretty much the same. The key was to get the pressure set right where you need it for the amount of reducer used if any is used.


So after all that jabbering, lets look at some pics:
Harbor Freight $9 gun

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3M $250 gun:

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Orange peel still exists but the clarity is better.
At the end of the day, I think all you really need is practice to lay paint down. Practice mixing, adjusting settings, and actually spraying. Speeds and distance matter as well.

Practice and a cheap gun and decent paint will do just as good. :twocents:
 
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I bought the 3m kit when I did the primer on my truck conversion. It's really slick, and the PPS cups are super nice to work with.

I did the color in my 242 engine bay and underside of the car with the purple HF gun and agree, it's certainly capable of a good finish.
 
Pure gangsta.
Thanks mane. Your ride is alive again! Great seeing you guys. We need to meet up more.
 
Though I do miss the thought of rain gutter side skirts, this ride is insane.

Maybe we can trade, your 850 front valance and gutter skirts (fitted) for my splatter GT spoiler. Should probably swap bumpers too. I suppose you'll have to wait till someone else bags a 245 on Daytons though;)
 
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