PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

also, verify that your compressor actually has the correct VOLUME of air at the given PSI.

most paint guns require more air than most small-average home compressors are capable of putting out. (pressure=/= volume)

SkulCracka

shoulda left her alone she looked good before LOL

Patsum

If I had left her alone I would have never learned a new lesson mate! That is what life is about =D Plus pictures are easy to hide blemishes....she was about a 6/10 paint job in my pictures I posted on here.
I have another car I want to paint if I succeed with this one so I can't back out now.

I will try the PSI drop trick. it made no sense why after the first coat the color looked blotchy even though the paint itself was smooth. I also will let the paint dry more before I start the base coat.

after some major thinking I realized an obvious mistake....

Pure Drifter you are very much so right.
I think my compressor is at fault here as well. 2.5 cfm at 150 psi with a 4 gallon tank
THAT is obviously not right...even though the gauge on my gun is showing a constant 30 PSI I know it is my main culprit not keeping up with the gun.

I knew that for my car I would rent a bigger compressor I would rent for a day or two but I thought my 4 gallon one would make due for the small trunk lid I bought to play on. this seems like I was obviously wrong.

My gun seems like an average one being the $90 kobalt one from lowes with some good reviews from people using it on cars
http://www.lowes.com/pd_301337-47120...ductId=3360950

That gun with the SW paint and me...it seems my culprit is my air compressor

I also realized I really messed up by not putting the little air filter piece into my gun. I don't know how I could have missed two such obvious things.

I will try in the morning and nail this down! Stay tuned folks! Rookie at work here

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

if painting a car was easy and skill-less paintshops wouldn't exist in the numbers they do.

Patsum

touché PureDrifter...touché

deanshark

I just want to say good job so far. (prep, research, everything) I applaud anyone for trying something new for the first time. But paint....WOW....not for me, that's for sure. I usually like a monotone paint job but in those photoshop pics I really like the black and silver, it just looks so much more classy. I like how in the beginning you said "This cannot be that hard" and 4 days later....."but come on..this is really hard". But, every job is hard the first time. I'm very impressed with what I see already. Keep up the good work, hope it comes out good for ya. As long as you keep researching and putting your mind to it, you can do anything.

About the direction of your wheels; (got me thinking now, what's correct?) Pretty sure they're on right, to let more air in to cool the brakes.

Patsum

Defeat:

I ended up re sanding that trunk lid

Bought a compressor sized right for my air gun

mixed the paint better and gave it more time to cure

Still looks bad. Silver is damn difficult to do right. The primer looks amazing yet the silver just is not an easy color with its high metallic content.

So what have I come to? The end of my rope..I will take her to a local auto body shop and have her painted the right way. ~$800

I have attached pictures of my primed trunk lid...versus the best result of my three attempts at paint.

Total cost has been around $400 to try this....





primed. Looks good eh?



My setup for painting inside the garage. like a sealed Biodome.



final result...that is NOT shiny reflections on the left side..it is bad looking paint job...

By the way. The clearcoat is a god damn MESS. nothing else was as messy or as bad as the clear....it damn near ruined my glasses and everything it touched...

We live and we learn

-Pat

SupraRz123

I need a better picture of the silver before i can help with anything. And yea, clear can be a little messy, just make sure you have some thinner handy incase.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Props and this is a good learning experience.

deanshark

Sorry to hear it didn't work out for ya. I still applaud you for trying, but this is a hard lesson to learn. Some things ya just gotta let someone who knows exactly what they're doing do it.

As an example;
This past weekend, I had a guy try insulating his 1500 sq. ft. attic after I gave him a price of $350 for me to do it. He did 2 rolls (66 sq. ft.) in 4 hours then called me to finish. I then told him I can change my schedule to do it but it will cost another $200. Finishing the job took me 3 1/2 hours.

Moral of the story; some times it's cheaper and faster to let the pros do it.

Woody426

OK so you lived and you learned. but don't give up, try a different approach. Lets say you have never played poker, would you go to Vegas with your entire net worth and start playing ? I hope the answer is no. If you have never seen a football, would you expect success if you were aloud to start a game at QB in the NFL? You have the most rudimentary setup I can think of, and you can STILL achieve acceptable results. I have been painting cars professionally since 1984 and I can tell you it "aint" rocket science, you just have to practice. First things first, picking a metallic for your first attempt is a bad choice, it take practice to lay that stuff done and get it right, from what I can see in the picture (I am looking at it from my phone) those marks on the deck lid look like tiger stripes, your gun wasn't adjusted properly and your over lap was wrong. Consider this, go to a NAPA, an Advance Auto Parts, one those kind of places and buy yourself a couple of quarts of Duplicolor Paint Shop Paint, do not get a metallic, try the red to start with. This stuff is an acrylic lacquer, we use to use it all the time "back in the day" no mixing, no hardener, stir it, and filter it right into your cup. Experiment with adjusting your gun, get your atomization just right, the best way it was ever explained to was imagine your in a room, theres nothing in it just a floor, someone drops in a thousand bowling *****, that damn floor is going to be pretty lumpy with a rough texture, now imagine the bowling ***** are gone and they drop in a hundred thousand tiny ball bearings, that floor is going to slick, but SMOOTH, paint works the same way, if your gun is shooting bowling *****, friggin Pete Santini couldn't get that stuff to lay down. So you got your gun, you got your lacquer, start sprayin, spray light coats, several light coats. Ever heard old guys say "that things got 25 coats of lacquer on it" thats because they built it up to cut it down. The lacquer will dry almost as fast as it hits the body, get a run ? dont sweat it because your going to cut it down. spray four or five coats and let it sit over night. the next day turn on lights and look at your work, probably gonna look bad, guess what SO WHAT ! now the fun part, grab a bucket of water with just a touch of dish soap in it, start with a block and some 1000 grit, keep it wet and slowly work the panel, when you have the whole thing uniform, move up to 1500 then 2000, grab some polishing compound and start rubbing, I think you will be amazed (those in the know yet I skipped some grits, but its ok for now) Now I'm not suggesting that you paint your car red lacquer, but this will help you learn the fundamentals. You can do this, its not impossible.

McPierson

iTrader: (3)

Paint it white or flat black.

bauceLS400

iTrader: (2)

are flat colors easier to paint?

Patsum

I actually tried painting the trunk lid black and flat black. JUST like the primer, it turned out easy and simple. However I used no clearcoat and it is FLAT..not glossy... it turned out perfect. there is something about silver and the high metallics that really make it hard.

I am giving it a rest for a few days while I ponder what to do next. Even if I do not paint my car. I want to be able to paint other things so my items ( air gun and new compressor ) are not worthless for me to only sell.

For now I have a guy who is going to let me watch him paint a car at a local body shop so I may figure out what I am doing wrong.

Thank you all for the support

RA40

iTrader: (6)

A spray job done by a experienced person makes the task easy. When I tried it, getting the consistency, spray pattern set right, airflow and distance for the relative settings...man it was eye opening. I blew chunks to say the least. His help did wonders and he was able to clean-up after me so it wasn't a loss. I would have great difficulty now.

With enough practice you'll get it down. Being able to watch and talk with him during the process will help lots, then it is a matter of practice.