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General Discussion. Make yourself at home...read, ask and answer!

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PostPosted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 4:28 pm
Okay now remember this is coming from a noobie to the auto painting scene so this could be helpfull or not. I just finished a b/c paint last night on my Teg and learned a couple of things. First thing I did was plug in my air gun into my dessicant hose to check if my compressor was going to cycle properly. I noticed a slight amount of moisture vapour coming from the gun tip which dissipated and stopped. So blow through your hose before plugging in your gun.
Second what I learned is after applying my basecoat I looked at my masking tape and noticed the paint lifting from the tape, of course when I started applying clear the air pressure from the gun hit the flakes and sent them flying into my fresh clearcoat. So if you see any signs of loose paint on your masking either mask over top or remove and replace.
The other thing I learned painting in the garage is lighting. You NEED a good light showing your spray laying down on your surface. If you actually see the texture of the paint or clear you are applying it makes a huge difference on the outcome.
Psalm 46:10

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PostPosted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 10:28 pm
the tip on spraying the edges first, is so much help!!!!

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PostPosted: Sun Oct 14, 2012 9:16 am
When cutting clear listen to your sandpaper . that screeching you may hear once in awhile is a grain of dirt that you'll want to flush away before it gouges your clear .
Psalm 46:10

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PostPosted: Tue Oct 16, 2012 7:33 am
Make smaller batches of filler. Mixing less filler will give you more time to apply it and perfect spreading it, before it kicks off.

Mixing large batches of filler tends to kick off faster, are harder to spread properly, and ends up making more slop that needs sanding.
Squeezing the filler into low spots, using pressure on the spreader is a good way to ensure proper adhesion and force out any air bubbles. This leads to less pinholes and less chance of needing a 2nd coat of filler or icing after sanding.



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PostPosted: Tue Oct 23, 2012 7:16 pm
I made a stencil to use to replace the lettering emblem on my Ford Escape after my B/C, C/C . Of course I did this before removing the lettering. I made the stencil out of cardboard, and marked some reference points on the stencil that coresponded to points on the tailgate. The tip I am sharing is: For spacing between the letters I had the idea of trying toothpicks. And they were the perfect size.
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 12:41 am
If you sand through your primer in a few spots just used some over-reduced epoxy on that spot and you shouldn't have to re-sand

You can get out noticeable dust boogers out of base by lightly hitting it with 2000 before clear. The clear will not show the scratches.

The guy I used to work for did this....if he got a run mid panel or below he would keep laying clear on the run and 'run' it off the panel lol

Keep a paper towel in your back pocket to dry your face/head/mask to keep your sweat off your paint. I sweat a lot and learned this the hard way. You can also blot dry sweat on base without an issue.

If a panel has a deep recess be sure you can get to the back of it and make sure base is covered inside the recess first.

You can make an easy jig for small pieces. Some particle board and some 2x4's and 2x2's and go to town. Put that on your bumper stand or saw horses and make sure you have 360 degrees of access if needed.

If your evercoat poly flex still feels sticky after a while put some fast reducer on a rag and wipe it. When the reducer flashes your poly should be dry helping it not gum up your paper.

Need a tricky body line or curve sanded? Put some filler and hardener in a ziplock bag and mix it well and press it against a perfect part of the curve and when it dries you have molded your own sanding block

On plastics cut a piece off and put it in water. If it floats it can be plastic welded AND if it floats promote (use adhesion promoter)

If you put a couple ounces of hardener in base coats of front bumpers and hoods it will not chip as easily.

ALWAYS do a walk through as if you were painting before you shoot. You never know what might get in the way. I failed to do this once and was doing a fender. Blended out the door and when I went to clear I hit the mirror with my hand on my first pass and got a run. sometimes you can fold mirrors in, sometimes you can't.

Don't be afraid to get down or in weird positions when clearing. Make sure you see fluid hit the panel. It will turn out much better

ALWAYS spray a test pattern before shooting



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PostPosted: Thu Nov 08, 2012 12:28 pm
Sorry if its already down but...

When using rattle cans - as well as shaking really really well, inbetween shaking put the cans in a bowl of hot water, warm the can right up consistantly, so when you shake the can dousent go cold again.

this helps thin the paint down so it mixes better and also keeps the presure up so it sprays nicly and dont spitt, it works so well... you'll never use a rattle can without doing this ever again.

Also when ever your done with a rattle can, take the nozel off and leave it in a cup of thinners, do it before the paint dries, then give it a blow off with the air line before putting it back on the can.

NEVER start your shooter up on the panel allways aim it on the masking to see its comming out ok. So many times I've seen guys start their up shooter up on the panel and its spat something out.

allways pull masking tape away from your paint, encase there is build up you dont ripp the clearcoat.

allways put your tack ragg in your pocket... dont get it coverd in over spray... they last along time when you look after them.

never use standard tack rags with water base, waterbased base isnt compatable with the oil in the ragg, use water based tack raggs.

If you get something big in your wett clearcoat, double up a piece of masking tape and very carefully see if you can fetch it out with the glue side of the masking tape

If youv got a run or sagg... wait for it to go ever so slightly tacky and as before with the sticky side of the tape, remove what excess you can very carefully, I've managed to remove many runs/saggs like this enough to burry them with your next coat of clear.

Dont waste your time flatting out silicones/fish eyes, repaint it... but clean the panel properly this time...

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PostPosted: Sun Nov 11, 2012 11:15 am
Great stuff in this thread.

I like to keep my shoot suit in a 1 gallon ziplock bag. Keeps particles out

Cleaning clear coat spray off my gun is a chore and I hate taking a long time to do it. Recently I took cooking saran wrap that has a tacky side and wrapped my gun. Starting at the cap and working backwards. Takes me 1 minute to prep my gun and i've saved 15 minutes clean up time. I call it, "The Gunn Bag". <-- because last name is Gunn... Get it? Har har.

Sometimes masking tape is too sticky for what I need so I stretch out the length of tape i'll be using and lightly press it against my shirt/jeans to soften the glue side. I accidentally ripped clear coat from an edge one time and learned this trick.
Travis
I-CAR certified
Lynch Body Shop and LDV

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PostPosted: Sun Nov 11, 2012 12:24 pm
billj wrote:I made a stencil to use to replace the lettering emblem on my Ford Escape after my B/C, C/C . Of course I did this before removing the lettering. I made the stencil out of cardboard, and marked some reference points on the stencil that coresponded to points on the tailgate. The tip I am sharing is: For spacing between the letters I had the idea of trying toothpicks. And they were the perfect size.



Or you could just take a picture with your phone :)



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PostPosted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 9:46 am
Lots of great tips! I bought a static eliminator http://www.ionixtechnologies.com/ one of the things it says is to use low air pressure to final blow and tack. Like 20 psi. The thing seems to make a difference. Or maybe it is just because I'\'m blowing with less pressure. If your blowing high pressure do it before the booth, in the booth, keep the air pressure low. :knockout: remember this is coming from a guy who has more specks than a lepoard.
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