Paint Mix-Up

[Catbox_95]

I'm not sure how many of you painted your own car, but I am currently painting mine (not a newbie with painting cars), and I was going to go with 3 colors - black on top, "titanium" for the main body color, and "graphite" on the bottom. I painted the top first, then painted the main body color, only to realize that the main body color was "graphite" as well as the bottom color! The PPG paint store mixed the paint wrong! Has anyone ever encountered this? It's a good thing I'm a nice person or I could really make a fuss. I'll just paint the bottom black now. Check out my picture gallery and let me know what you think...

 

[1gen2genLaser]

beautiful.

 

[Phat95Talon]

I really like that graphite color. Why did you wanna do 3 colors??

 

[lasteclispe]

i have one question. what kind of air compressor and paint gun did u use?...i am looking for tools to paint my own car right now. but not sure what kind of compressor to get. do u and a like to the compressor and pain gun u have?....ty

 

[Thomas91169]

why not just leave the whole body 1 color.

or get some titanium and do some sick ghost flames in the front.

 

[miteclgst]

If you would like to tackle a full paint job you will need at least a 2hp compressor with a 30 gallon tank. You will want to make sure that you have air driers inline from the compressor to the hose that you will hook your gun up to. The air driers simply look like an inline filter, they have a chemical in them (usually in the form of small balls the size of peas) and they collect any moisture that may be created from the condensation that occurs in the air compressor.
For a gun I would suggest a Devilbiss Finishline 3, they are realtively cheap at around $180 each and they are an exceptionally good gun for the money. You don't want to go to a auto parts store and pick up a syphon feed gun because they are simply less efficient, meaning much of your paint will end up as overspray rather than getting transferred to the panel. If you decide to go a different route when it comes to a spray gun I would make sure it is a HVLP gun with a tip between 1.4mm and 1.5mm. HVLP stands for High Volume Low Pressure. These sorts of guns usually require a small amount of working pressure say around 27 - 35psi. Anything else will probably cause you to overrun your compressor. I know that many people will swear by SATA guns but when it comes down to the do it yourself-er at around $400 per gun (for their basic model) is just too extravagent. I painted quite a few things with my Devilbiss and even let the painter at our shop use it for a while. He has a SATA and after using my Devilbiss he bought two of the same for his home shop.
I hate to be the one to say this but tackling a full paint job as a first timer probably isn't in your best interest. I say this because when you paint for a while you learn things, mostly how to accomidate when unsuspected things occur. If you paint your own car for the first time in a place that isn't set up for painting, meaning it dosn't have the air flow, the lighting etc. , the results will probably disappoint you. You can read all of the books in the world yet none of them will replace experiance. I have been painting for over 2 years now and still to this day I ask my co-worker to give me his advice. If you are dead set on painting a car yourself see if you could go to a local collison shop and ask them if you can "rent" some booth time maybe at night or on a weekend. In a paint booth correctly set up for spraying cars you will have all of the equipment you need at hand. Plus painting in a booth with explosion proof lighting fixtures and some kind of down or cross draft design will make the outcome of your painting that much better and safer. Whatever you decide to do Good Luck.

 

[Catbox_95]

I used a Craftsman 33 gallon 5 hp air compressor and a gravity-fed gun. The gun required a minimum of 8.5 cfm @ 40 psi, and the compressor delivered 8.6 cfm @ 45 psi, just right. I have used siphon-style guns in the past and they simply do not compare to the gravity fed ones.

The 3 colors were to be black on top, Titanium for the main body color, and graphite on the ground effects. As it turns out, because of the messed up paint mixing, it will be black on top, Graphite as the main body color, and black on the ground effects. I will update my picture gallery as soon as the black is complete, probably Tuesday.