painting

I'm glad to see a post about the urethane paint... I've shot it myself before and it's good to do a little practice with your gun to avoid redo's... But a nice looking finish without base/clear hassles... PLUS... minimum prep... just can't beat that... getting ready to shoot my 359 this spring...

 

Rank, I use a tear off suit with a hood so my ears are covered. You can use a half mask. Just buy goggles and you can throw away when done. 3 pack for like 10 bucks, Isocyanates are nasty. That is what makes Imron so dangerous to spray. Low VOC's are what makes Urethane's and Base clear easier to spray. Make sure you have a good mask, I can spray a whole truck and never smell the paint. Rule of thumb is if you start to smell the reducer ( paint) through the mask, the filters are shot. You will smell the reducer before the filter will allow the dangerous stuff through, Chuck the mask and just put a new one on. The good disposable 3m masks are like 20.00 each.

Bob, I have an Iwata 904 with a 1.4 tip for base clear. I spray as a hobby, and do some hot roads, and old cars. I like to spray about 8 to 10 coats of clear, so I can sand the snot out of it, and have a no orange peel, mirror shine. Most people will not want to spend 600.00 on a gun though. Sounds like you sprayed a bit, so here is what I use for single stage urethane's.
Sharpe/Fines makes a great spray gun for around 120.00 on line. I bought mine with a 1.6 tip so I can lay the paint on fast for a truck. That is what I used to spray the Volvo above with. I also use the same brand gun for my touch up gun with a 1.2 tip. These guns spray very well, and are easy to adjust. 12 pounds at the cap is exactly double at the regulator, sometimes i will up it to 28 at the regulator and 14 at the tip depending on the paint.

I actually use my Sharp 1.6 for clear coat if I have a large area and want to lay it heavy.
I buy all of my single stage Urethanes from TCP global on line. about 120.00 for a gallon kit that includes the hardner. This stuff is durable as hell, and is very forgiving to spray. The above Volvo I had to color match, so I had to use PPG Del-fleet. 3 quarts with reducer and hardner was 450.00. It sprays no better, and is not any better than the TCP urethane's I have since spoke with TCP global, and they will mix there restoration line to a code if they can match it. It takes me about 2 gallons for a Cab on a 379, and that is three coats. I usually have a little over a quart left for touch up or whatever. You could buy the gun and 2 gallons of paint for under 400.00, pretty good deal . My local Kenworth dealer quoted me over 3k for the above hood repair and body work. Only reason I learned to paint in the first place. I am cheap...haha

 

I've heard of using scotchbrite or even sandpaper held into a socket with duct tape sticky side out, chucked up into a cordless drill for sanding of the rivets. Haven't done it personally though.

 

Easiest way I have done it besides hand is to just use the scotchbrite , and put a DA against it, and scuff and go. Than go over by hand what it doesn't get.

 

I really appreciate you all who have the tech info... I've come to find that even though my tax man says I'm foolish for giving away the tax deductions for labor... I'm still saving because I usually end up having to redo every mechanic's work afterward... Had a guy do a bearing set on a steer and when I told him it was too tight, he said "no it has to be that tight", as I watched him try to spin it. Three months later I'm at Sapp's in Omaha replacing brand new bearings, just short of burning up the spindle. I have a real problem with mechanics anymore, I watch everything they do, so I know when I have to step in and tell them the way I expect it done. I grew up on a dairy farm in western Mn. and have a serious mechanical aptitude. I really appreciate you all... Thanks, Bob

 

Bob, Not sure how much you have sprayed before, but if you should ever have any questions when you get close, let me know and I would be glad to call you to answer any questions. I usually have about 600.00 in a complete paint job with the primer.

You are correct that much easier and faster to prep for Single stage urethane's. I have a couple of friends that own body shops, and as they old saying goes, paint job only as good as the prep. So even though I spray urthane's i still prep and do my body work with air blocks, and final sand at 320 before I spray. The funniest part of the whole story is they all told me spraying is am art, and you can spray a good paint job with a good 120.00 gun as you can an Iwata. Boy were they right....haha. I am kind of OCD and stubborn, so I took old paint and anything I could spray until I had a good idea what I was doing. First trucks were still a little rough, but now I know pretty much where I want my gun settings for what I am spraying.

My first large car after driving old Ford gas pots with 5&4's and Mack's was a 78 Peterbilt. First year with the corvette dash. 400 BC 2 and a 13 speed. Thought I died and went to heaven. Mid 80's will probably be my next restoration project for truck.

 

Rank, You can screw up paint pretty good still. If you use a single stage Urethane here are some of the things that can happen.
1. Orange peel: Cause: Too far away, not enough air pressure at the cap, spraying too light. All of these cause what is called spraying too dry.
2. Overlap Patterns: Especially on metallic paint. We have all seen this, it looks like streaking in the paint. Especially noticeable in metallic's . Always spray per manufacture instructions for overlapping as they vary for paint type. Urethane's are 50% overlap, water based usually around 75%.
3. Fish eye. Usually caused by poor prep when going to paint. After sanding and body work, and again after priming wipe with alcohol, or better yet, prepsol. Wear chemical gloves when using prepsol. Cause is some waxes and oils where there are micro spots where the paint will not stick. In a single stage I use 220 , than paint. I spray over existing sanded paint in areas. It is very important to make sure these areas are clean. Also if you going to spray base / clear very important to sand with 320 minimum. Single stages are heavy enough where 220 will fill and ocver sand marks. Not so with base coats. You will see your sand marks
4. Solvent popping. This is usually not a problem on large trucks as much as cars. Read your reducer and paint instructions again. It will give you a flash time. This is minimum. Reducers are used to thin the paint. Hardners are used to harden and speed drying time.
Most of my flash times recommend somewhere between 30 and 40 minutes, meaning time between coats. Spray too soon and you get little bubbles in the paint. The reason for this is the reducers and hardners as they leave the paint and go into the air (evaporate). All of these chemicals must be completely gone or otherwise they will cause the bubbles under whichever coat of paint you are on. The gasses have no where to go, so they are trapped under the new coat of paint. Like I said larger trucks are not a problem. Start in one area, and than go finish truck, usually takes an hour to spray or more, so paint is ready for second coat.
5. Sanding. You can sand runs and orange peeled areas on solids pretty easy. You will most likely not get rid of all the orange peel though. Urethane single stage paints are very tough, so they do not sand well. Sanding metallic on a single stage can lead to problems. If you have a run, get it out and sand no more than you absolutely have too. If you sand too heavy you will blotches in the paint where the metallic is lighter than the rest of the paint. The hard part is learning to spray heavy enough as not to run the paint, but not so light as to create orange peel.
5. Last is Rivets. Make sure to spray evenly around the rivets. Paint likes to accumulate there, and you will see a bunch of little runs around your rivets.

Best way to learn your gun and spay patterns to paint is set your gun up on Paper or ply wood for spray pattern and thickness.
Once you do that, find anything that is metal, and learn your technique.Better to learn on something your not worried about. Look at the bright side, Gas cans and several things in your shop will be your company colors...haha.

When it comes to painting, you are always learning. Most body shops have body men, and prep people. The painters pretty much spray all the time. Wish you lived close, would love to spray that 359 of yours.

 

Hey brother, I blew up the pic of the Volvo you shot with the red urethane, I scrolled all over the hood and fenders to get a good look at your work... because I've shot metallic urethane before, and I know exactly what you're saying about setting up the gun, the prep, overlapping, and most important... getting it to flow on the surface. I'd love to have you shoot this old girl. I'm going to replace the doors with 379 single glass, and the bunk before I do the paint... and I'm sure the cab body work will take awhile. I live in west Texas, and wouldn't have a problem getting places as we book our own freight... I just don't do the northwest or the northeast anymore... and Cali isn't for trucks like mine. I'll keep in touch brother. Bob