Need Advice: Painting my '76 Corvette with Fuji 5-Stage

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PostPosted: Wed Aug 10, 2022 11:46 am
Hello,

I'm getting ready to paint my '76 Corvette with a Fuji 5-stage turbine that I just purchased.

I plan to use Nissan's OEM paint: Monarch Orange Metallic.

I know that spraying clear coats can be a challenge with these systems. I was curious if there's a "best choice" as far as brand/type for my application since this will be my first project.

Any advice on tip size, PSI and amount of reduction would be helpful.

Also, I purchased some epoxy primer and urethane 2k primer from Eastwood. I will be spraying these first. Fuji had a promotion of getting a "free gun," so I added the 7001 M-Model gun with has the bottom-feed, large metal canister. I thought I would use this to spray my epoxy and 2k primer.

I have the T75G gun for my base/clear.

Thanks for any info that would help me in this endeavor.

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PostPosted: Wed Aug 10, 2022 10:21 pm
Okay, good turbine, good guns, looks like a plan. Let's tweek a few things...... using the 7001 gun for the epoxy and 2k primer is okay. That gun usually comes with a 1.3 tip/cap which should work for the epoxy (might need a splash of reducer) but I'd rather see a 1.8 or larger tip for the 2k. You will also need to watch your timing with 2k so it does not overheat/kick and harden in your gun. Really look at your product sheets. Remember here, any hardeners/reducers should be SLOW....
The other gun is perfect for base and clearcoats with it's included 1.3 tip/cap. Since you have a nice powerful turbine and a good gun design I would go with a high solids clear like Tamco's...... here is the link.... https://tamcopaint.com/products/hc2104- ... learcoat-2 That is there Euro Clear. You will need the slowest hardener and also get slow reducer for it as well. So here is the deal.... you should mix it to their factory spec. and do some sample sprayouts. If you think there is too much orange peel do another set of spray outs with about 5 to 10% additional reducer added. Now one thing we find with turbine systems and high solids urethanes like Tamco is they will quite literally keep flowing up to 24 hours sometimes. So, the point is don't assume that you have an orange peel problem if you've checked on it in less than 12 to 15 hours..... LET IT FLOW.....
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 11, 2022 10:48 am
Thanks Darrel! I appreciate all the info.

I already purchased a 1.8 tip for shooting the 2k primer, so I should be good to go.

I will make sure I have the slowest hardeners/activators for the primer and clear coat.

Do you think a gallon of clear will give me enough to do 3 coats on my Corvette, as well as have a bit to "practice" with before spraying my car?

Lastly, most of these paint manufactures recommend between 25-40 PSI to spray clear coat. How is it that a 5-stage turbine rated at around 9.5 PSI is able to spray clear effectively?

Thanks again!

Jerry

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PostPosted: Thu Aug 11, 2022 2:18 pm
Jerry, a gallon will probably be close.....
Okay, so the pressure thing.... this is an apples and oranges comparison of two devices which do not operate in the same manner. A regular spray gun must have that kind of pressure as it is only putting out 6 to 15 cfm tops. Turbine sprayers operate nowadays in the 6 to 10 psi range but will put out 100 to 130 cfm. Also, that low air pressure is maintained through the entire gun all the way out to the air cap. Take a look at almost any HVLP regular air gun and you will notice the air flow is limited at the cap to 10 psi. In other words that 25 to 45 psi is not maintained through the gun. Final cap pressures are actually similar but the turbine is moving massive amounts of air volume.
Another huge factor is that compressed air guns work on the principles of a refrigerated gas. The idea is supposed to be that as that air is released at the cap it rapidly expands as it warms and breaks up the liquid for atomization. Unfortunately, the reality is minor amounts of moisture are also thawing and distorting the atomization somewhat. This tends to cause sags and runs in the coating. You don't get that with a turbine system because the air is alwasy warm and naturally dehumidified.....
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2022 10:33 pm
Darrel,

Do you have any recommendations as far as gun settings and turbine settings? Do you normally spray with everything wide open with the Fuji? Or, is this just trial and error to see what works the best?

Thanks again, I greatly appreciate the help.

Jerry

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PostPosted: Sun Aug 14, 2022 7:55 am
I would recommend "opening" up the gun all the way on air and fluid. What you will probably find is fluid 3/4s of the way out for fluid and almost full air, this would be your epoxy and primer settings. Basecoat (kind of depends on who's basecoat) will be 1/2 to 3/4s all the way out and almost full air. Clearcoats (again this depends on middle to high solids prodcuts) could be almost wide open on fluid and wide open on air.
So these are all just "starter" settings.... you should have gotten a viscosity cup with you system. For a newbie turbine shooter that is as important as the gun settings themselves...
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 04, 2022 1:18 pm
I spent the last couple of days spraying Eastwood's epoxy primer. Overall, I was really pleased with the results.

I found that the primer sprayed best with the 1.3 tip, fan setting almost all the way open and the fluid 2 turns from closed. This produced a smooth finish with little to no orange peel.

I also tried to spray with the fluid "wide open." However, that resulted in large droplets and orange peel.

I need to spray the 2k urethane primer next. I know that I may need to reduce this a bit, as it's thicker than the epoxy.

My guess is that spraying any of these primers wide-open will likely yield orange peel?

I plan to spray the urethane 2k with a 1.8 tip. Based on what I saw with the epoxy, I will likely use "2 turns" open on the fluid as a staring point.

I know these turbine sprayers are not the best for spraying primers. But, I don't have access to a traditional compressor setup. So, I need a "one size fits all" approach for this project.

Darrel, any further advice/suggestions are greatly appreciated. I will post my next series of results once I've sprayed the 2k.
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 04, 2022 2:24 pm
Blew up your pic.s and that's near textbook standards as far as turbine spraying goes. You have that dialed in about perfect. Okay, so these high builds (either urethane or polyesters) don't get too hung up on getting them to lay down as well as that epoxy you just shot. You have to remember if you are using them as intended most of those products should be sanded off and laying on your shop floor. Your guide coating/blocking process is going to blow right past orange peel. Also, keep an eye on the dwell time in your gun and how warm your gun is getting especially with anthing like the polyesters (SlickSand, Featherfill, GR2, etc.) If you are using urethane 2k it will be more forgiving but could still kick in the quart if warm enough within 30 to 45 minutes.....
Metal, wood, fiberglass, we work it all... www.furniturephysicians.com We can restore the irreplaceable!

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