I think I'm giving up...

[crvc]

I'm embarassed to say how many times I've sanded then painted this part. What I've found is the paint doesn't 'mist' the way rattle can paint sprays. Instead it comes out in clumps. If I keep adding more paint, the clumps sort of meld together but at the same time runs begin to form. If I stop before that point then I've got orange peel.

The paperwork from Napa says keep the psi around 11 at the gun. I did so but also tried with it pressure cranked up to 40ish. The only difference is at 40psi the clumps form more quickly.

I've played with the settings on the gun and found what gives the elongage oval spray pattern recommended in most books. I ordered a new gun from Harbor freight but I think it's same model I'm using now.

I'm guessing I'll have to sand the orange peel with 600 then 1500 grit paper and use wax to get the shine I wanted.

[doc]

Painting can be frustrating!

I can see from the pics that you're paint is not atomizing properly. Start at the beginning. Resand - much easier now since the body work is done and all you have to do is get back to smooth. 600 grit is fine.

Before spraying your part again, clean your gun like crazy. Take it apart and clean til shiny. Get down in the inside with brushes. Leave it full of thinner overnight, then clean some more. Blow thinner through the gun and check spray pattern on a piece of paper or scrap.

I believe your spray pressure should be 30-35 psi at the gun with the trigger pulled.

Test the paint and gun on a scrap piece and adjust pressure and paint volume til you get a consistent, even, light spray. You should not be able to cover in a single pass.

When you start painting, put the first coat on very quickly, not trying to cover, but just getting a light coat on. Let it flash off for 10-15 minutes. Now go back and add subsequent coats - light coats. It should look perfectly smooth after every coat.

Painting, as shown on TV, looks easy. It's not. Keep trying. Practice on small pieces before you shoot your finished part.

You can do it!!

doc

[david58]

Very good advice doc. I don't paint so I am no expert, but it looks to me like you are trying to paint the car in one coat. The nicest paint jobs require several or more coats. So you don't want to really cover up the primer on the first coat. This is where you get fish eyes, runs and orange peel from. Use light coats on the first coat you should still see the primer bleeding thru the coat of paint and maybe still a little on the second coat. Applying light coats and letting it dry before applying another coat gives the paint time to bond to the primer and then bond to itself. Look at a car that has paint that you can peel off. It peels off because it didn't make this bond to the primer.

[crvc]

I spent last weekend sanding then VERY carefully spraying. After three sprays I could still see the undercoat. After eight sprays I couldn't but I had lots of orange peel. So I quit.

Around 18 years ago I restored a Porsche 914. I stripped the paint then primed it. I towed it to the body shop where they charged me $1100 to spray paint it. No fancy coatings, just plain paint. And within a year I had rust bubbles. That was why I decided to do it myself.

So the bug is still in pieces. My daughter and I are arguing daily over who gets the Subaru. Lately our compromise is she drives me to work and keeps the car all day. At this point money is secondary. It's more important to get this thing on the road. There's a small body shop behind the mall a few blocks from my office. I'd never been there. They have one booth for body work with a separate painting operation at the far end.

I walked in and said, "Hi, I need a car painted. I have Napa Crossfire paint already, I've painted the hoods and fenders but they all have runs or fish eyes. I've primed everything else. So what's it gonna cost? I was hoping not much more than $1500. The guy scratched his chin for a long moment then said, "Oh, I reckon about $300."

$300???????? If I'd known it was that cheap, I would have done in weeks ago. I probably spent that much on sandpaper already. I don't expect a show quality job; I gave up on that dream a long time ago. I'll settle for a decent looking bug that gets me work every day.

He said to go over everything with 220 grit wet/dry paper then go over it all again with 400 grit. Hopefully I can get the runs and fisheyes gone without taking off too much paint. His plan is to shoot the hoods and fenders on one day and the body the next day, probably the 15th and 16th. So I've got a week plus two weekends to get everything ready. The biggest problem will be borrowing a flatbed to haul the body over.

kevin

[Sneaks]

Screw the ego, for $300 you can't really go wrong. Maybe he'll let you 'observe' and you might see what you've been doing wrong.

[Stuggi]

Yeah, since the dude seems to be very nice, ask if you can watch from a distance, as nothing beats seeing a professional do stuff. And as the guy is still in business, he seems to know how to paint cars.

Painting is otherwise a real hassle, I gave up when painting my Bug and just bought bigger and better of everything, 50 liter 3HP compressor, semi-good overhead gun, the most durable polyurethane paint I could find (costs 65€ per liter), another water separator, etc. All in all I think I have 3 times more invested in my painting equipment than in my car, but then again I like to work with my hands, the compressor does other jobs as well and then again my welder cost 4 times as much as the car...