Tampamaximus

iTrader: (2)

Ok so far I have:

air compressor
pressure regulator
gravity feed gun
various sand paper
tack cloth
bondo

What kind of primer, paint and clear should I use and how much?

Michael

iTrader: (21)

I hope you have done some research as well and also you need to do some test panels before you go spraying the car.

I would recommend PPG paint. If you are wanting to go cheap get the PPG Omni line. I use it a lot and its a heck of a lot cheaper and is good stuff. 2 quarts unmixed color and its probably cheaper to just buy a gallon of clear than by quarts. You will have some left over but thats ok.

you really need to do more research on papers and what grits to use etc. I posted some good paint sites with lots of that info...you really need to read and check out the how tos on those sites.

you will also need a water seperator at least 50' from the compressor to avoid water spitting out...trust me you do not want this. If you have a tiny compressor you might as well just paint the car in 3rds. I have had to do this when I had a very small compressor. That is fine if you have a solid color but might look funny with metalics.

tripleGmax

iTrader: (8)

im just gonna throw this out there........

http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/...0&fpart=1&vc=1

http://photobucket.com/albums/d13/69martin/paint/

curious as to Michaels response....

DanNY

iTrader: (14)

how big is that air compressor? make sure it can keep up with the painting.
make sure you have a pressure regulator at the gun...also a filter right before it for the just in case something passes the main filter.
gravity feed...i assume HVLP?
sand paper and sanding boards are a MUST.
tack cloth...get the good ones.
bondo...get the glaze/finishing putty also.

other items...
respirator
shoot suit
quality masking tape
quality masking paper (no not newspaper)
plastic sheeting to seal off walls that you don't want paint on
prepsol (grease and wax remover)
disposal wipes (not a towel or a rag)

that's all i can think of for now.

whatever primer, base, and clear you use...stick with one system. don't start mixing brands and pray it will work. read all the tech sheets to make sure you totally understand what you need to do and mix.

Michael

iTrader: (21)

looks really bad to me. Very dull...go look at my paint jobs and see the difference in shine. I used base/clear on most cars I have painted but on my 92GXE I used a single stage. Still much shinier than that orange.

Scout

92 Maxima I sold


Toyota

another max I sold (single stage)...my first complete paint job btw.

hood and grille I did for my cousin (painted the black and cleared the whole thing).

Anyway I am not posting these pics to brag...well ok maybe a little...but mainly to see the difference in the shine.

I didnt read the whole thing because I am in a hurry (will read everything later) but I saw he painted it for $50 but unfortunately you get what you pay for and I would not like that low shine look.

Now if you want a daily beater to look better or maybe you want it to look decent to sell then yeah go to town with a roller and ss enamal...it is a lot easier the way he said but I think I would rather spray and have a really shiny paint job. I mean even look at the car he sprayed compared to the ones he rolled.

To each his own...just had to clerify...because people think there is nothing to this stuff and you can do it cheap and without research or practice can produce a perfect paint job. Its just not that simple...if it were there would not be any body shops around. You can do it cheaply but just dont expect the same results.

tripleGmax

iTrader: (8)

i totally agree Michael, there is a huge difference in shine, but for 50 bucks and 5 years down the road for it to look "decent" isnt bad. Not professional by any means but beater quality or what have you. And yes my uncle and a good friend both spray cars and ive seen what work needs to be done....its not quick and fast, time and quality are involved.

btw you did some great work there.

Tampamaximus

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for info everyone. I got a 2hp 125 psi 8 gal tank compressor. Probably will be painting in sections. I do have 2 HVLP guns with pressure regulator but i dont think i have a water seperator. Looking on ebay for primer, paint, and clear. So I need about 2qts primer, 2qts paint, and a gal of clear? This is the first car Ive painted and I will do some test panels first. I was thinking about puting a silver metallic flake in the black paint. Do you think it will be any harder besides making sure I measure the same amount for each batch of paint? Cant wait to do this and dont worry Ill take some before and after pics.

Tampamaximus

iTrader: (2)

Well for the update...I got everything i need now. Im going with a black mica and hok mini silver flake in the clear. I also got a pint of silver metallic and plan to do some stripes down the hood and a logo on the back. What do you guys think about racing stripes? for them against them? The one single down one side or the 2 lines in the middle?I think black with 2 grey stripes near the center would look nice.

ghostridden

iTrader: (2)

with it being a maxima.....no stripes.....keep it solid man, unless you intend on building a racecar.......but then again this is your car, so do as you will, not as we would, thats the key, its YOUR car

Michael

iTrader: (21)

not sure how I missed your previous post from the other day but anyway. Your compressor is way to small to do anything but a fender at a time or something.

I struggled painting with a 22 gallon tank (3 hp I think...peak that is). My SCFM rating was 8.8 cfm @ 50 which is really low and I had to have a special paint gun. I was still only able to paint a third of a car at a time. An 8 gallon compressor is going to run the entire time you are trying to paint even if you just paint a fender at a time. If the compressor runs the entire time you are going to have a lot of water in the line which equals bad paint.
I wish you well but I have a major concern about that compressor.

Also with metalics its hard to paint sections at a time because the metalic flow will not match up. Also be careful to paint evenly or you will get tiger stripes with metalics.

I dont like the sound of racing stripes but if you like it thats all that matters.

if you are going to tape off stripes be sure and use the good plastic 3M tape for the edges so they will be nice and clean.

let us know how it turns out.

Oh one more thing. When painting a section at a time you have to mask all the rest of the panels off. This means you have to wait a day to let the part you just painted dry in order to tape it off to paitn the next panel.

Also remember if you can take it off then do it instead of taping it. Its really hard to do a perfect tape job. Heck on the Maxima you can pretty much take everything off except for the black window trim around the rear windshield (on a GXE) and the very top trim around the front windshield.


I would really suggest you call some rental places and find out how much a large compressor would be to rent.

exub

iTrader: (4)

triple g did you ever paint your max? i have a few scratches and need to touch up mine and plan on getting the paint from paintscratch.

Tampamaximus

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for the advice again. I was thinking my compressor might not be big enough. It has 4.0 scfm @40 psi and 2.6 @90. I think I am only going to paint at around 40psi. My buddy has a 22 gal 3hp compressor that i might borrow to do the job. I have a filter and pressure regulator for the gun so I dont think water or pressure should be an issue. I have the good 3m green tape but what should I use to mask the other parts of the car. I have some 1 mil thick drop cloth that I can use that should be sufficient. Its too bad nobody likes grey racing stripes down the middle. Oh yeah and I have some 17" adr sokudo rims that are grey ready to go after paint. Any other helpful hints, suggestions, comments?? What psi do you paint at?

DanNY

iTrader: (14)

there's no way shape or form will your compressor keep up with painting. 2.6 @ 90? my compressor pushes over 5.X @ 90 and it BARELY keeps up with me painting a bumper and side skirts. (finishline 2 gun). your goal is to have a CONSISTANT pressure and air flow because once the pressure drop then your paint won't lay down right. your buddy's compressor won't do the job either. if you're looking to do the entire car then i recommend at least a 60 gallon compressor. the inline disposal filters are ok..just make sure you change them often but if you have a lot of crap in the compressor that filter won't do it. use automotive grade masking PAPER for the panels you want to mask. paint tends to pool on plastic and might drip or run on to other surfaces.

paint PSI depends on the gun..i think it's like 40 at the gun (mike please confirm)...read what's recommended and adjust your spray pattern BEFORE you think about touching a panel.

Michael

iTrader: (21)

Yeah it depends on the gun. Some guns require around 50psi at the gun to get the 10psi at the cap. Some only require around 30 psi. It should be listed on the gun though (ex...40psi max...set it to 40 to get the 10psi at the cap).

Now thats only for HVLP obviously. For conventional you need to set it at the recommendation for the paint. I think for conventional you usually run around 30-40 psi but again it depends on the paint manufacturer...always read the info sheet for the paint.

also the green tape will not be good for striping. Use the plastic tape that 3m sales. Its a thin plastic tape and makes great lines. Its what I used to do this hood and grille...see how clean the line is:


Just go to the paint supply store and ask for tape that painters use for graphics.

another problem with plastic that Dan didnt mention is that the overspray gets on it and doesnt stick very well. When this happens its a problem because when you go to spray in that area again and the gun air hits the plastic it will make the overspray fly which contaminates your paint. I had this problem once on a car I was painting but I think it may have been because I was using a conventional gun (30 psi at the tip). I have painted Maximas with my HVLP and used plastic to cover the rest of the car with no problems. I did however (and probably the main reason I didnt have a problem) use masking paper at the point I would be spraying...that way when I went past the panel I went onto the paper instead of plastic.



here is another tip I havent mentioned. be sure to use 1/2 overlap when you spray. In other words when you spray across a panel on your next run you paint where half of your sprayed paint is on that line you just painted. You dont skip down and paint another line without over lapping...that will get you a very messed up paint job.

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

you want to buy the 150 gallon horizontalwe got in storage

Michael

iTrader: (21)

na I got a nice 80 gal two stage Champion from a shop that went out of business last year. It flows way more air than I will ever need and is a true 5hp motor (I think...cant remember the HP for sure). I could have two people painting at one time with this thing and not run out of air.

tripleGmax

iTrader: (8)

my car was touched up on the rear panels and the drivers side rear door. perfect match...