Thread: Spray Painting

your welcom to borrow mine to practice with to see if you want to undertake a whole car before you buy one.

I bought a set of 3 guns from Mitre 10 ....1 for primer , 1 for top coating and 1 for small tough up jobs . I paid something around the $130 mark and it has done a real good job for what they are . Just make sure you clean the guns properly after use and should last along time

For spraying small jobs, e.g. model aircraft, I use a gravity feed gun like this: http://www.autobodytoolmart.com/dent8.html

They also have the advantage of only needing small quantities of paint to be mixed.

Mine has an adjustable angle pot so it can be used in a variety of positions.

I'll use the same one when spraying the 2A as I'll be removing the panels and doing them individually.

(My guns are Iwata brand which I bought nearly 30 years ago when I did my Panel Beating Journeyman course at Granville Tech)

Ron

Something to always remember after you clean guns with gunwash is to leave a small clean amount of the wash in the canister. If you're after a good gun to spray excellent finishes with on a complete car try to get a gravity-fed gun as the suction type are really clumsy. There are only certain times you need a suction gun and it's not as often as you can use a gravity gun for better results and easier spraying. Although I am sure that a hardware spray gun would work well a few times, if you are going to do a job as big as a Land Rover you want a proper gun. So check out shops around your area that are connected to the smash repair shops, not Repco or Supercheap Auto of course but shops that supply smash repair shops with their needed products, all weights of MIG wire, stick electrodes, quality bog and aluminium 'race' tape, proper masking paper and painters tape for example. Example of what I mean is a store called KGP near me in Emu Plains, it has decent guns available.
How much info are you actually after? Aside from being able to look it all up on Wikipedia , it's an incredibly easy task once you know the basics. If you are dead set keen to paint your own car and save a few grand off labour costs etc then I can't recommend enough to get a proper quality spray gun. It'll cost more but last you twice as long, is easy to get needles and nozzles for, won't clog as much as a cheapy and will more then likely have proper air flow. For small jobs or just an offroad basher then a cheap gun is fine but for a decent finish, big job you don't want to compromise.

The secret to successful spray painting, as with any other type of painting, is preparation. This is where the work is as well, so it has a tendency to get skimped. But put the work in to it, if you really do want to get a good finish and a durable paint job. Mind you, some of the paint jobs that I have seen on restored Landrovers are far better than anything that came out of the factory! Remember that particularly the Series 1 was very much a utility vehicle with no pretensions to a good finish in paint or any other aspect.

John

Thanks for replys. So it seems a gravity feed gun is the way to go, what sort of pressure do these usually use? Appreciate your comments on S1's John. I agree, a few of the restored ones wouldn't look out of place at a Rolls Royce gathering. I will be doing only wheels to start with, after all, Leon is in good, used condition, which suits him and us admirably. Probably the first whole vehicle I'll be painting will be Castrol, and that will be Olive Drab, so again, nothing flash.
But you all know how it is, we've reached a stage in life where we can indulge ourselves a little, ie we can....so we do. That's why I wish to buy a spray gun.

in all seriousness see if you can try em before you buy em... the comfort factor of the gun can make the difference between getting it just so on the first run....

Ive got 2 i dont like and have relegated them to degreaser guns.

G'day All, Iwata make the best spray gun on the market, I swear by mine, not cheap by any means but damn good anyway cheers Dennis
PS Even for Dummies like ME!!!!!!!!