Sanding Marks After Buffing

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



Top Contributor
Posts: 6738
Joined: Tue May 19, 2009 7:10 pm
Location: OREGON COAST
PostPosted: Sun May 12, 2019 11:46 am
'68 Coronet R/T wrote:Most of us are not professional painters as we only paint a car once or twice a year. We started out just as you are but realized this was more than a one time paint job or repair.

The advice is not meant to discourage but to open newbie's eyes to the cost involved to do things the right way.

I too thought I could get by with a smaller compressor and wasted a few hundred dollars on what I thought would be adequate. I also bought a cheap spray gun thinking one is just as good as another. In both cases I was wrong and ended up buying a bigger compressor and better spray guns. Of course the crap I bought to start with had no resale value so in reality I bought two compressors and 4 spray guns before getting set up properly.

Wanting to help others avoid the costly mistakes I made when starting out, I wrote an article: https://www.autobody101.com/content/art ... ould-know/

There are all kinds of "how to" Sticky Posts and articles in the Info Center. They are there because we desire to help.

What becomes a bother at times is when we give someone advice because they asked for it and then they disregard the advice they received.

You were told to seek a professional because you had already tried your way and failed. Thinking this was a one time repair, you were told it would be cheaper to have someone do it for you - that's good advice.

Now if you plan on getting into this as a hobby or you want to do a full restoration on a car yourself, the advice is buy good equipment the first time so you don't have to buy everything twice. That's also good advice.

:goodpost: :goodpost: Great Post
Jay D.
they say my name is Jay



Top Contributor
Posts: 6738
Joined: Tue May 19, 2009 7:10 pm
Location: OREGON COAST
PostPosted: Sun May 12, 2019 12:36 pm
DON'T be discouraged! as a kid of 13 or so I was involved in anything mechanical and had things I wanted to paint. that was almost 60 years ago yep they had spray cans then. I painted everything with them, bike, model cars, lawn mower and so on, and I learned a lot. fast forward to 22 years old and married with a home and small shop. I had a vw Baja and wanted to paint it, my mom worked for Sears so she got me a good discount on a 3hp compressor and a spray gun. I went to work on the VW and sprayed it Corvette yellow it turned out great the years of experience with the spray cans helped. when I rolled it outside my neighbor saw it and said wow can you paint mine. its snow balled since then. I now have a large fully equipped shop at my home and I've done over a 100 cars plus hundreds of other things form refrigerators to airplanes to tugboats. oh and I have made a boat load of money, its not easy work but I enjoy it.
pay attention to these guys here they are experts and the discussions usually produce excilent results.
if this part is the only thing you think you'll ever want to paint then take it to someone who knows how and have them do it. I'm not saying a hi- priced autobody shop but maybe Mako if there's one close. there also must be independents like me and most on this forum close buy that could do it.
If you think you would like to do more then then invest in a GOOD air compressor, this is the MAIN tool in your work shop. as for spray guns shop eBay for a name brand old school suction there cheep. millions of cars were painted with them with excellent results. I still use them and also have several gravity guns I use. if you thinking of buying a used suction gun contact me first there are some things to watch for. if you get into it good enough and produce good quality work you can pay for your equipment in no time.
good luck
Jay D.
they say my name is Jay



Settled In
Posts: 31
Joined: Tue Jul 12, 2016 12:44 pm

Country:
USA
PostPosted: Tue Jun 11, 2019 2:52 pm
Well I wound up getting a compressor that would fit in my garage ( larger one wouldn't physically fit) and I got a cheap LVLP spray gun.

I also fabricated some cooling pipes out of black pipe. Basically looked at several designs people had done and copied that.

Added a dryer and coalescing filter as well.

All in I spent probably 600 bucks for the equipment and then another 90 for the paint, thinner, and hardener.

So I wound up paying a lot more than I would have to get someone else to do it, but I learned a lot in the process and for my first time I think it turned out great.

I had a little too much orange peel on it. Not sure if that was my gun setup or not but I was able to wet sand and buff it out and it matches perfectly to the rest of the car.

I'm certain I wouldn't want to paint an entire car with my setup because the compressor just isn't large enough, but I wasn't looking to paint an entire car in the first place.

I also wound up using/mixing WAAAY to much paint and unfortunately wasted a lot of it... but again learning experience.

Thanks to you guys that offered encouragement.

Image

User avatar

Board Moderator
Posts: 9878
Joined: Fri Oct 20, 2006 12:40 pm
Location: ARIZONA
PostPosted: Tue Jun 11, 2019 4:02 pm
Hey, it looks real good from here!

One tip on paint mixing. When shooting primer take a moment and calculate how much you use for one complete coat. This will help you with how much color and clear you will need.
1968 Coronet R/T


ACTS 16:31



Settled In
Posts: 31
Joined: Tue Jul 12, 2016 12:44 pm

Country:
USA
PostPosted: Wed Jun 12, 2019 9:47 am
Thanks for the tip I'll try that next time.
Previous

Return to Body and Paint

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Drew and 111 guests