Hey guys,

My name is Kyle, I'm 35, from NJ. I'm just getting into auto body paint and found this forum helpful.

I'm not getting into bodywork, just painting. I would like to learn about the best processes for surface prep, primer, small quantity gun options, and clear coats.

I own a business making custom car badges out of metal and I want to paint them myself, instead of relying on powder coat shops to do subpar jobs with false lead times.

I've heard that touch up guns would be best for my scenario, and I'd like to pick some of your brains for advice and info. Thank you in advance for your time!

Cheers,
Kyle

Be sure to read the sticky posts and the articles in the Info Section.

Given any thought about doing some powder yourself? Eastwood kits are pretty reasonable and will give pretty decent results. They are not quite as good as some of the more expensive commercial guns out there, but they will get you going. And usually you can find a kitchen oven for little or nothing that will work to bake the smaller parts like I imagine you have. Painting is good. I love learning the art of it all, but powder has it's place, and to me, the powder coating is way easier than painting...and powder is way cheaper than base and clear paints, which would give you a nicer profit margin on your parts...just my $.02

Thanks. I read a lot of the stuff from the info pages, but not the stickies in the sub-forums. I'll be doing that this weekend.

I have thought about doing powder myself; I have an oven already set up for it, but I want to use paint instead. A few of the backer plates on on my family's badges, powdered gloss black, have faded over the years. They get matte and hazy. For that reason alone I want to switch, but I also want to learn the trade some so I can fix stuff on my car myself. Thanks for the tip though.