Technical PAINT, Shootin' a Track "T" (garage painting 101)

Beautiful day in North Dakota for painting-69 degreesF-light winds-(fire danger index in the HIGH category)-TomH has his shop set up for painting-the "T" roadster is primed, blocked, sanded, and the pieces are hung and ready to be shot!! WHOOPS-- WRONG GUN!!!

 

There, these are the supplies and tools set on the bench. Lots of cans of "methyl-ethyl-bad-shit". We're doing a "Fun Quality" NOT "Show Quality" job here, although Tom's workmanship is really top notch.

 

Tom's shop has a large work area and a separate stall adjacent to it on one end of the building that he uses for his "air make-up". We opened the door and let the sun shine in on his black "suede" 29 roadster which absorbs heat and is forced in the shop area with a squirrel cage fan.

 

Sorry, I had to leave for a fire call before I could finish the first part of this thread.---Anyway-here's the inside of TomH's air make up system. It provides a positive pressure in the shop area, and by opening the door at the other end, forces the overspray out.

 

Here's the roadster "heat induction" system. Sun shines on the black "suede" and heat is transferred by the fan.

 

While Tom wets down the floor and tarps covering the walls (and other neat stuff) with a garden pump sprayer, I get the sealer and paint ready to mix. The humidity from wetting down the floor helps dissapate static electricity in the air and on the parts which acts as a magnet for small airborne dust particles.

 

Most paints and primers have at least three components-paint/primer-thinner/reducer-hardner. They need to be mixed in specific ratios, like 4 parts to 2 parts to 1 part. This can get confusing and you need to use some basic math. Most compaines have mixing sticks that are graduated with lines to help make figuring how much of each component to add. I have acquired several over the years, but in a pinch I take a wood paint stick and use a ruler to make marks at 1/2 inch intervals and use those lines to make the mixing ratios. You can make smaller batches by using a smaller container with the same lines on the stick. Just make sure the container doesn't have radically tapered sides which can make your mixing ratios way off.

 

I use a disposable cartridge mask that comes in it's own zip lock bag (about $10-$15) and usually lasts for about 8 hours of exposure to solvents. If you can smell or taste solvents with your mask on-IT'S SHOT! I also like to have some tweezers (fine pointed) a tack rag (preferably a little used), some fish-eye killer (compatible with the paint system), extra grades of thinner (in case I need to adjust), paint gun cleaning brushes and supplies and some extra stir sticks.

 

Here I'm using a refillable pressurized spray can to apply the wax and grease remover as I wipe it down with clean disposable paper wipes. Notice Tom's jig for holding the "T" doors with hinges on and bolted to the stand. This allows me to swing them open and closed to get the inside of the hinges. After wiping the parts and body down we will rewet the floor and leave some time for the static electricity to dissapate from the wiping process.

 

Tom used newspaper to mask off areas of the grille shell and inside of the body. If you take newspaper and hold it up to the light coming through a window and shake it, it is like a small snow storm of small lint particles. These little particles will blow all over when you make a pass with the spray gun. Good quality masking paper is better but since this a garage paint job I used a cheap can of clear acrylic to seal off the paper and eliminate at least a big share of the lint.

 

Yes, Tom is cheap.........please continue.

 

Here Tom is tacking the body and parts off with one of my "used" tackrags. Tack rags are usually a piece of cheesecloth impregnated with beeswax. They are NOT scrub rags!!! I unfold them completely and bunch them into a loose wad and ever so lightly glide them over the surface to remove lint and dust prior to spraying. I have seen many painters rub vigorously with them which of course leaves streaks of beeswax on the body and shows up as a "fish-eye" like streak with the first pass of the spraygun. I like mine slightly used so the beeswax is not quite so sticky but will still do the job.

 

Tom had a lot of the parts hanging on a pole strung between to step ladders. For small parts that will blow around easily when I spray them, I sometimes add a stiff wire "handle" on the backside (like this cowl vent). This way I can spray both sides and still control them.

 

Here we sprayed DP epoxy primer as a sealer before paint. Normally we would use a color closer to the finish we are using, but this was left over from spraying some other parts and the color we used was a good "hider" so it made for less expense. Also the dark color of the sealer gives you one last chance to "check" your bodywork. NICE JOB Tom!!!

 

ya wanna sell me that tommygun?

 

Well, after letting the sealer dry for about an hour, I mixed up the "School Bus Yellow". Before shooting color, I lightly wet sanded some small specks on the top of the cowl with 600 grit. On with the paint suit, filled up the old Sharpe 775, adjusted the pattern, fluid, and pressure--and here we go. TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW. overspray

 

I can't wait......

 

looking nice

 

great, great post

 

Well thank you Tman, next time I'm at the HAMB drags I'll let you stay in my AC motel room and I can camp at the track.( ya I know you had to cook the pig) ha ha

 

CONTINUING ON--Here's the disposable spray mask I use .https://www.amazon.com/Reusable-Res...hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583589115538778&psc=1 When I'm done I put it in the bag til the next job. It lasts the same as a set of cartridges, costs just a little more, but when it's SHOT, I throw it away and get a whole new clean mask. (It's also better than putting on that scrungy old filter mask we've all had laying around for years--yeah-- the one laying in the corner that probably is a home now for some multi-legged critter!) Also, here's my moisture trap (Harbor Freight copy-cat of a sharpe unit about $35) .https://www.harborfreight.com/air-filter-regulator-unit-68247.html Moisture traps DO NOT work right next to the compressor. They need to be at least 20 feet from the tank. I use a 20 ft. section of air hose- then the water trap then my supply line--or if you have permanent air lines in your shop, keep that distance in mind when doing your plumbing. These units, big or small, work by letting the air cool down in the chamber so the moisture condenses out. On hot humid days they are not efficient at all and cannot cool the air enough to condense the moisture. Here's the "garage tech" solution: Take a 5 gallon plastic pail-coil up a section of airhose directly from the compressor tank ( 2 or 3 loops will do)- put the loops in the bucket-fill with cold water/ice (beer optional)-then attatch your moisture trap to the air exiting side of the hose in the bucket. This acts as a pre-cooler and cools the air down precipitating the moisture out and leaving it in the trap. Of course before you do this always drain the moisture out of the compressor tank first.

 

Here's the "GUNS" used to shoot the "T" project. First, my old Sharpe model 775 with a number 10 aircap and a 70 thousandths tip( about 1.5 to 1.6 mm). Then my favorite little made in china copy cat IWATA gravity feed with a 40 thousandths tip (1.0 mm). I actually have 3 of the little gravity feed guns. When I worked in a production shop I would use it at least 8 to 12 times a day for everything from jamming parts to spraying complete small jobs (fender-door,etc.) It atomozes very well at very low pressure and I could get by using very small batches of material. Tom used it to paint small parts and the frame on the "T". They run about $50. I used it to spray the "DP" sealer before painting.

 

Here's a close-up of the aircap on the sharpe. I've had real good results with this set-up. It seems to break up the material very well and has a good adjustment range. For this project Tom had purchased PPG Concept single stage urethane enamel, medium reducer and #61 hardner, (See Tman, He's not that cheap--Well he's still cheap, but he "put up" for the good paint) Tom had the product information sheets for both the primer/sealer and the Concept paint, which I read thouroughly. I started on the small parts which gave me a chance to check my "wet out" and to see if I needed to make any adjustments in reducer--more-slower-faster. I added a little more faster reducer for this mix and used a little more pressure to get a flatter texture by breaking up the spray into smaller dropplets. Tom was thinking I might get runs, but I assured him that, A PROFFESSIONAL PAINTER DOES NOT GET RUNS---THEY ARE CALLED---FLOW CHECKS!!!

 

Here's my little IWATA copy cat and the "black ball" thingey is a little inline air filter that screws right on the gun air inlet as a little extra precaution (about $3.50 for a couple of them.) This little gun also has an air regulator valve in the bottom of the handle. VERY HANDY!!

 

Now we are really getting YELLOW!! This Concept color was nice to spray and the color covered good, which is unusual for most yellows. When you are shopping for paint ask the paint mixer if the pigments used in the mix are good "hiders" or translucent or "poor hiders". Some colors will even have a "caution" listed on the label to use multiple coats or a like colored undercoat. This information relates to how much paint to buy and how many coats to spray on to get coverage. Now, even though this is "FUN QUALITY" and not "SHOW QUALITY", we still were looking for a nice job. These single stage solid colors can be sprayed and run as they are, or we could let the color cure--check if we need to do any more work (or repair "assembly nicks") sand it down with 600-800 grit wet-make any spot repairs to the color-then clear coat-and even sand and buff the clear. These are nice options to have for a "garage paint"---just add as many steps as needed to get the results you want.

 

It's getting foggy in here!! This was actually a 2-man job. Tom followed me, as I sprayed, with a portable light to give me better indirect lighting on the parts. A painter needs 3 eyes. 1 looks ahead to see where you are going--1 looks at the spray area-- and 1 looks behind to see if it's flowing and wetting correctly. Also with hoses and light cords and parts hanging everywhere--always be aware of your position and where you step. It's like a coordinated ballet. Moving and swinging the gun even the best Ballerina will drag her TU-TU through the wet paint.

 

Fortunately (or unfortunately) my "TU-TU" isn't that big (maybe I should take what "Smilin' Bob" uses) and I was able to avoid any collisions with the wet paint. Here the air is starting to clear. Even after the air clears we let the fan run to keep fresh air moving and help the solvents that are still evaporating leave the building.

 

The fog has cleared and though still soft, the paint has skinned over and is curing nicely. Gas tanks and Volkswagens are the easiest things to paint and get a real smoothe finish-- they are shaped like eggs. This color flashed nice and fast-so I was able to put on a wet coat using horizontal passes then re-wet the panel using verticle passes almost immediately. Going from side to side to up and down helps me get a wetter coat without applying exactly on the same pass--which is a good way to get those "FLOW CHECKS". Overall, the flat surfaces came out real smoothe and the verticle surfaces have some fine texture--Looks Good! (I think only a couple spots were wanting to be "FLOW CHECKS".)

 

PLEASE feel free to jump on this post with more "garage tips". I wanted to get it started because Tom and I were at this point on the project and there were a lot of guys looking for this information. I'll add some more when Tom starts to assemble the car--and, yes there are still more parts to paint(the clothesline only holds so much). overspray

 

Yet another Tech O'Matic for overspray. Thanks. Great info. We were sqawking a bit about the respirator gig on another post yesterday, thanks for the follow up. The postive air flow system is slick. Thanks.