[HBjeff]

if anyone does it......how hard is it to learn?

im thinkin it would be cheaper to buy a sprayer than get my truck all matched up. i plan on doing all the sanding myself anyways, should i think about buying a gun and trying?

 

[bcubed]

if anyone does it......how hard is it to learn?

im thinkin it would be cheaper to buy a sprayer than get my truck all matched up. i plan on doing all the sanding myself anyways, should i think about buying a gun and trying?

If you're talking about colormatching stuff, I'd suggest you just get a touchup gun .. smaller, easier to handle, and less to clean up .... thats the thing about painting. The painting is not that hard, but all the prep before the paint, and all the cleanup afterwards is the pain in the ass.

 

[fullthrottledan]

bill is right, the better the prepwork, the better it will turn out. Buy a really good gun, that will help out too.

 

[HBjeff]

sweet so this sounds like something i could actually do :thumbsup:

nice idea on the smaller gun. i only wanna paint plastic for now. then move onto the tailgate in the future :naughty:

when you paint plastic peices and such, do you just do a bunch of even light coats? or what?

thanks guys

 

[Steve]

Bill is right, get a touch up gun. I have the smallest auto paint gun that lowes sales. I bought a cheapie to begin with (little over 50 bucks) and I honestly love how good of a job it does. It puts out just enough paint to do the little pieces such as doorhandles and the like.

The most important part of painting anything is prepping it properly...i couldn't count how many painted pieces i saw at showfest that just looked like absolute :crap:

The thing i do is...when I think i'm through sanding, i'll wash the piece off, put it down, come back in 20 minutes and notice how much I actually missed. After i do this two or three times the pieces are smooth and pretty paint ready. Alot of people will say to use 1000 and 1500 grits before painting, to me this is a complete waste of time. I typically use 100 to knock the texture down quick, then 220 followed by 400 and sometimes i'll finish it up with 600, but 400 wet is usually a good surface to paint over. Those 1000-1500 grits are great after you spray your clear to wetsand the paint to get rid of imperfections.

I didn't know if i could do it when i started either, but just take your time and the pieces will come out great with the proper prep work. The key is the prep, i cannot stress that enough.

Also, before you paint you'll want to use a good plastic cleaner and an adhesion promoter, especially on the plastic pieces. I've personally never painted metal, only plastic, so i cannot help you there.

Here are some pieces i recently painted for a friend of mine

Tomorrow I am spraying his bezel and a few more interior pieces for myself, i will admit, once you learn how to do this it is very addicting

 

[Mudder]

hey steve, how much you gonna charge me to paint my handles and tailgate handle hehe, cmon, you know you wanna, ill provide the paint and supplies :read: :shake: :worship:

 

[Steve]

Hey Steve, you wear one of those things called a mask when painting? :read:

Yes, i have a 3m Dual-Cartridge Respirator :read: When i paint it smells like i'm in a hospital room :head:

 

[HBjeff]

I had spent around $600-700 and hadn't even bought the paint yet. .

good lord what did you buy????

thanks for the info steve. would a touch up gun be suitable for the bumper cap?

 

[Beyond Static]

Painting is the easy part. The prep work is the hard stuff. I paint all my stuff. My tailgate and rollpan/rear quarter panel was painted by myself. A small gravity feed gun is what you want to do small stuff. You waste no paint by using a small gravity feed. Since paint is expensive, you want to save all you can. When painting plastics, make sure you spray it with a good coat of primer first. If you spray just the plastic with base coat, you can see the plastic's color through the base. After about 5 coats, it will start looking good. Save some money and prime them first. Buy a gravity feed for about $100. You'll love yourself for this.

 

[Beyond Static]

Something like this would work good. You could always upgrade the cup to a larger one.http://www.toolpeddler.com/m705.htm

 

[Nicholas]

hmm...i might have to look into doin that sorta stuff myself...i know i could use my buddies garage and turn that into a paint booth since they have a 3 car garage at their lake house so they are hardly ever there...and i would just have to buy the gun and everything...and since i can prep everything myself and do some body work and all, this may work for me...something to think about i guess...

 

[Beyond Static]

word of advice-always wear a mask. I painted some parts for a friend of mine. I blew green boogers for 3 days straight.

 

[Nicholas]

a mask is a very good idea...i wouldn't wanna be breathin in all that paint and shit...can't be good on ur lungs...

 

[Beyond Static]

its not, and you get lightheaded as a fool. The clear coat makes your boogers get very hard. haha. I always wore a mask after that.

 

[LftdBlue04]

I took a paint and body continuing education class at a local community college and learned a lot. The thing I like about the class is the access to all the tools and 2 badass baking paint booths. I just finished completely repainting my dad's truck about 3 weeks ago and after 30 mins in a baking booth I was able to drive it home. :head: :head: I have a gravity feed gun and a compressor at home, but without a way to control overspray and dust, stuff just does not turn out as good. For the best results I would find a booth that you can use or make a really good setup in your home garage.

 

[Slammedchevy01]

:worship: but yuck a hospital :crazy: I need to get to sanding! I get my truck back today :drool:

 

[OrangeCrush]

I made a SICK booth in my garage with 3 fans, and plastic hanging off the walls, so ill say that i Can be done well in the garage.

 

[Beyond Static]

Make sure to spray the concrete down with water. That way debris doesnt get kicked up, and overspray doesnt stick to the floor.

 

[Nikolai]

Painting is expensive, I think I'm up over a grand now just for the compressor system. I have lines all over the garage so no matter where you are you have air.

If you're gonna start from scratch, I'd sudgest a 2 cycle compressor, much smoother and quieter.