Hi there,
I want to buy a small compressor to use for a total respray. There is a wide choice available on the UK market. Any recommendations or advice on minimum specs please?
Also, what is the correct colour for the engine bay?
regards
Martin B
Hi there,
I want to buy a small compressor to use for a total respray. There is a wide choice available on the UK market. Any recommendations or advice on minimum specs please?
Also, what is the correct colour for the engine bay?
regards
Martin B
Martin?small compressor and total respray don?t really go together with modern paint systems. If you?re spraying with cellulose, it?s not a problem stopping and starting if using non-metallic paint?the results will look patchy, but with fine rubbing down, compounding and polishing, the end result than can be achieved is amazing.
Two pack paints are a different matter, They are a lot harder and it is a lot more difficult to ?integrate? the different bits to make it look as though it was done in one go, and impossible if using metallics. Most importantly, you can?t (or shouldn?t) use 2 pack without the proper clean air system?it will kill you. You will also need an extraction system, as the two pack ?mist? in the air will come back onto the panels and ruin your work.
The final painting takes very little time?90 + percent of bodywork is preparation. For preparation you can use a small compressor and gun to make good the repairs and prime to ensure you?ve got it looking good. Then take the car to a bodyshop for the final paint job. It will only cost you one day of labour and the paint, if you?ve done the prep properly and stripped out the car.
The size of the compressor you will need is dependant on the gun you use. For a ?spotting? gun used for small areas, then a very small portable compressor is fine. For proper paintwork, you will need to get just about the biggest compressor you can find that will run on single phase. Google ?compressor? and you?ll find many sites giving advice.
The engine bay of Elans is Black?some say matt, others satin. I think that the matt side of satin looks about the most original.
Mark
Can you still get two-pack? I thought it was all water-based nowadays.
Two pack still available but will only be available from a limited number of suppliers soon ! best get yourselves a litre or two of colour as becoming harder to get hold of…
Lots of confusion about paint at the moment…
It is basecoat which will soon no longer be solvent based but will all be water based, that is, the base colour over which 2-pack clear laquer is applied to obtain the final finish.
Conventional solid colour (not clear over base) two pack which is paint activated by an Isocyanate activator is and will continue to be available.
Both the solid colour 2-pack paint and 2-pack clear laquer (for use over base coat colour) have been formulated to be “compliant” in that the levels of V.O.C. (volatile organic compounds) have been reduced to what are considered acceptable levels but they remain solvent based.
So if your Lotus is not a metallic finish “Don’t Panic” as Corporal Jones used to say.
And, if it is metallic you still need not panic …I have resisted water based basecoats so far (my supplier still has solvent based available) but others in the trade tell me that water based basecoats are OK but do not cover so well and can be a b*gger to dry - really needing to be force dried.
Hope this helps
Hi Martin -
As always Mark makes some good points-
To some extent its not the compressor its the gun ! you need to supply the gun with the amount of air it wants - and amount usualy means Volume -
My gun will work with a 5hp/35 gallon tank - But … its about the only gun out there that will ( LVLP vs HVLP) - the elan is a very small car - so sizing for “pannel work” will be acceptable if you paint loti and race cars - I use different gun for differnt paint BTW - I use a moderate effic. HVLP guns for primers
A lot of advise is floating around with the jobber or production shop in mind - so the intention is to recommend what to do if you are running a business, again think volume - the want is to move a lot of cars through in a gvien amount of time - 3 phase two stage compressor, Sata HVLP, base/ clear - spray base dry, add gloss with clear, bake to flow - minor cleaning with glaze , get it out the door and bill-em…
The paints I use may not be available to you - but i have found that using urathanes work quite well for the home paint job - ( base coat/clear coats may be more sensative to climate , I have not tried to spay them in the home yet)
You need to be hermetic in you cleanliness and put down enough paint to color sand out any trash that gets past you .
Prep will be key - stay with in a system - use all sikkens, all BASF etc. I use PPG - I start with epoxy , then 2k, then use DCC concept.
Give it a shot - its fun and the satisisfaction is immediate -
I use PPG DP90 LF epoxy for the engine. boot and fender wells . drys to a satin/matt black finish.
Martin,
I have successfully painted several cars using 2 of the small compresors you can buy for around ?70 each linked together, they are typically 25 litre tanks and 4cfm delivery.
I use cellulose which is still widely available (just look on ebay)and will continue to be for classic cars.
I tend to paint the cars in 2 or 3 hits (ie front, then back, then closures or front and one side then rear and the other side) this is ideal if you only have a single garage as I do.
With cellulose the finish out of the gun is not that important but the key is to put plenty on and then spend a great deal of time cutting back, it’s also ever so easy to touch in scratches and repairs.
kevin