Hi,

I hope someone would be kind enough to help me. This is my first post as I have just bought a vintage Vespa for restoration and am looking to paint it once it has been stripped, the rust treated and I have sorted out the dint etc.

I have done a lot of research into prep and paints and how to get different effects I will be using Acrylic 1k for ease of application, cost and safety. I have seen some good results online. I have sourced a 2HP compressor from a friend that I hope should be enough for the smallish job I am looking to do.

My question is what sort of gun should I be looking at? There seems to be a huge amount of choice ranging from £10 into the £1000's. I am not too concerned about cost although I am on a budget as most people are. I am willing to spend a bit to get it right as I will be using it for further projects in the future. Does anyone have any recommendations for a gun suitable for vehicle painting to obtain a high glossy finish, that is easy to use and set up and also doesn't cost the earth. From research HLVP seems to be the way to go with a smaller compressor like mine. Correct me if I'm misguided.

Thanks in advance for anyone's advice.

Ryan

Full sized HVLP guns will bring your compressor to its knees. If it had knees.

You are going to either need to look at mini guns or LVLP or RP guns. Hard to say for sure unless you know the CFM capacity of your compressor at some reference PSI (say for example at 40 PSI).

We've got an Iwata LPH80 with a 1.2mm tip which we use here for jambs and small parts. It is very low air consumption and would be fine for painting a Vespa. I would never want to paint car with it though.

Devilbiss SRi Pro. Star SMV1000. Iwata LPH80 (as Chris mentioned).

There are others (Sagola have one) but I'd think those 3 are the pick. All should work with a small compressor, atomise well and are well made with parts backup.

I have the Star and very happy with it. Ideal for smaller jobs but it was a tough decision between that and the Devilbiss/Tekna.

cheers guys, much appreciated.

This is the compressor that I will be using.

http://www.airsupplies.co.uk/abac-o15-p ... essor.html

Has a PSI of 115 so should be able to handle a relatively small project, I hope.

I have been looking at this gun which is slightly more in my price range.

http://www.spraygunsdirect.co.uk/produc ... ts_id=7985

From the technical information it says the recommended pressure usage is 29PSI. With the compressor able to work up to 115 PSI should be no problem. Is that how is works?
Has anyone had any experience with this gun? Does is deliver good results. I obviously am aware that I am not going to get a 100% professional finish, especially as this is the first time that I have attempted something like this. but I would like to produce an 'acceptable' result.

cheers again

PSI isn't the important figure when looking at compressors for spray guns. Much more important is the ability of the compressor to deliver enough volume of air. That compressor is quoted at 6.3CFM which is fairly low.

The specs for the gun you linked don't seem to give any air requirement but I had a couple of Starting Line guns some time back and they used a lot of air. They were also the biggest pieces of junk I ever wasted money on. That one looks a little different to the ones I had, though, more like an old FLG. Maybe they've changed/upgraded?

Also, that gun is a full sized gun, which isn't quite what you were asking about.