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In the continuing saga of the TR6 restoration, I'm exposing some bare metal when I'm block sanding my skim coat. I'd like to get those spots touched back up to prevent flash rust before I go over everything with high build primer at some point.

Since, I'm a home gamer, I can't just run the panel into my booth, and spray the spots with 2k DTM primer. It's a bit of a process to get everything shuffled back around so the garage is in "paint booth mode".

Is there a smaller, less over-spray gun than my FLG4 that makes sense for this? When I finish a panel (every few days or a week depending upon work load), I'd like to quickly mix up a little DTM primer and cover the bare spots.

Thanks!

1. Iwata AZ4 HTE
Iwata quality even though made in Italy. I'm hard pressed to find any criticisms with this gun - for small jobs it is a pearler. Nice fan, awesome atomisation and runs on really low pressure (15psi) so minimal overspray, but not HVLP so air consumption is low. Super easy to clean and maintain. Midi size means my hands fit.



2. ANI R150T
Another Italian made gun that is professional quality at a sensible price. With a 1.2mm you can paint a whole panel if you wanted to. Good atomisation and fan and compact size with light weight make it great for small jobs.

Downsides? Seal behind the fluid tip can be a little fragile and cup lid locking design is a bit strange. I prefer the Iwata, but this is a good little gun regardless.



3. Star V3 Mini EVO-T
Sold as Astro in North America. Made in Taiwan, Star guns are probably the most popular brand with spray painters throughout Asia. Not quite Iwata at the high end but similar quality and bulletproof, simple design.

A bit more expensive than above but serious industrial quality. LVLP means low air consumption and overspray while small size and weight make it good to get in to tight spots. Nice spray pattern and easy clean design.



4 Star S710
A bit left field and a quite old, full size design but with 1.5mm tip mine can put down primer as smooth as glass and as narrow as a weld if I want it to. No good for big areas with small fan but maybe ideal for what you want. Side mount gravity feed pot seems weird but works really well - you can even spray with the gun upside down.

After more than 15 years of almost daily use I've only ever replaced a fluid tip, because I dropped it on the concrete floor.



These are all what I'd call mid-range priced guns. IMHO it's pointless buying cheap junk and the Devilbiss and SATA small guns are just ridiculously overpriced when they do no better, maybe worse, than these. Parts and service available for all three.

Only issue for you is that the biggest in any of the first three is 1.2mm which means you may have to thin your sealer a little. No biggie for just little rub throughs.

First two available from Sprayguns Direct at very competitive prices. The Star/Astro available widely in the US.

I use that Iwata with a hoser 3.0 tip for G2 FF poly unreduced, works great. But it seems like it’s a full size gun to me unless I am thinking of the wrong model

I also have the Ani and it is my main gun for medium sized projects.

If your sand through areas are small, you could also use an Iwata lph-80, great mini gun for small areas. DONT buy Iwatas on Amazon - they are crap fakes

I have had good luck with Sprayguns direct, they usually have their products to me in California in three to four days - plus you can get the Ani regulators from them cheap.

The Iwatas can be had from Megadepot

OldFatBald wrote:unless I am thinking of the wrong model

AZ3 HTE2? Full size gun, often promoted as a primer gun so it doesn't trample on the toes of Iwata's top of the line range. Goes good in 1.3mm - I use for bars where the extra fan of the Pro Lite is wasted.

The AZ4 is a new product - I did a review on it a few months ago.

Thanks for all the detailed responses. I should have been more specific, I'm looking for a gun (cheap) to paint a couple of small sand through spots per panel. Each spot is probably less than 2" in diameter. I'll eventually use my FLG4 to shoot the high build before I start sanding again. Something convenient where I can shoot a few ounces through it when I finish sanding a panel without causing a big mess of over spray.

As I'm currently in sanding hell, I'm not yet convinced I'll ever do this again. I really enjoy wrenching, sanding, sanding, and sanding hasn't reached the enjoyment phase yet.

Any reason not to go really cheap on this gun and just toss it after the project is done?

I have an older version of this: http://www.sharpe1.com/sharpe/sharpe.ns ... +Spray+Gun

Takes a little getting used to but it only has a 6 ounce cup and actually sprays quite well.
1.4 tip size so may need to reduce your DTM primer a bit.

There

wake74 wrote: Something convenient where I can shoot a few ounces through it when I finish sanding a panel without causing a big mess of over spray.

Any reason not to go really cheap on this gun and just toss it after the project is done?

You did, originally, ask for suggestions on a gun, without specifying a budget.

There are 1K, DTM epoxies available these days. Get a spray can of one of these. It will seal up the rub throughs until you go back and high build again, later.

NFT5 wrote:You did, originally, ask for suggestions on a gun, without specifying a budget.

There are 1K, DTM epoxies available these days. Get a spray can of one of these. It will seal up the rub throughs until you go back and high build again, later.

Yup, I clearly missed a key piece of info in my request. 1K DTM spray can sounds like just what I need. Anyone got a preferred manufacturer?

Apparently, I should have done some more digging. Eastwood even offers a 2K DTM spray can. That would seem to the ideal situation in this case.

https://www.eastwood.com/ew-2k-aerosol- ... 26898.html

But you'll need a new can each time since the activator is mixed with the paint and will go solid after a while.

wake74 wrote:...Apparently, I should have done some more digging. Eastwood even offers a 2K DTM spray can. That would seem to the ideal situation in this case.

https://www.eastwood.com/ew-2k-aerosol- ... 26898.html

Big problem with Eastwood is it takes so long to get stuff delivered.

You can get a 2K epoxy spray bomb at your local paint jobber, they are expensive (but cheaper than a gun), I "thought" that I paid around $26/can, don't have much in them as the propellant and hardener take up a bunch of room and like mentioned by NFT5 will only last about 24 hours or so after activating.

This is what I used to get locally. https://www.amazon.com/Spramax-EPOXY-PRIMER-GRAY-SPRAYMAX/dp/B07CVPGQGF/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=epoxy+primer&qid=1584550780&sr=8-4


So, it really depends on how much;
How much are you going to sand through? - I do it all the time and don't even worry about it anymore.
How much more are you going to keep painting after this project?

But you can take that Finish Line gun and crank it down to where it isn't putting out that much, not as nice as a small gun but it will do.