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  • mad_machine

    Aug. 4, 2008 4:58 p.m. mad_machine SuperDork

    I got the first coat on the Saab. I still need to lay another coat tomorrow after I pick a few pieces of crap that fell onto the freshly coated car out and then sand those areas smooth. Amazing what finds it's way onto fresh paint!

    Next time I am buying a compressor! Honestly, renting it cost me twice as much as what all the supplies cost me. But I have to say, mixing 10% acetone into Rustoleum really seems to do the trick. Especially when you consider this is the FIRST time I have ever played with a spray gun.

  • mikeatrpi

    Aug. 4, 2008 5:12 p.m. mikeatrpi New Reader

    Looks good! Amazing how little overspray you had (judging by the paint on the paper in the last picture).

  • mad_machine

    Aug. 4, 2008 10:12 p.m. mad_machine SuperDork

    well, I have some sanding to do tomorrow. managed to orange peel most of the hood and roof... but that should not take too long to take care of.

    Tomorrow I sand and spray some more!

  • ignorant

    Aug. 4, 2008 10:14 p.m. ignorant UltraDork

    nice

  • carguy123

    Aug. 5, 2008 8:09 a.m. carguy123 HalfDork

    mad_machine wrote:

    but that should not take too long to take care of.

    Famous last words!

  • dculberson

    Aug. 5, 2008 2:58 p.m. dculberson New Reader

    mad_machine wrote: well, I have some sanding to do tomorrow. managed to orange peel most of the hood and roof...

    It's amazing how many factory paint jobs have massive orange peel.

    Looking good, though. What kind of primer (if any) did you use?

  • mad_machine

    Aug. 5, 2008 4:07 p.m. mad_machine SuperDork

    as this was a locost paint job using rustoleum.. I used rustoleum primer. No sense in mixing paints and primers.

    She now has 4 coats on her. Sanded down the first smooth, played with the gun to how all the websites told me.. looked decent on cardboard... shot the car and had more orange peel. Guess I am going to have to wait a month, sand her with some 1500 and then polish if I want to get a smooth surface on the paint

  • mad_machine

    Aug. 5, 2008 8:33 p.m. mad_machine SuperDork

    Honestly, I should have known better to use a harbor freight gun. In thinking back on it, a friend of mine used the same model paint gun and his car was covered in orange peel too. At least I put enough coats on to be able to sand her smooth with some 1500 grit so I can polish her up and get her all shiney!

    For now, A tease:

    Personally, I do not know why Saab didn't do more cars in white. They look really good painted like that!

  • mikeatrpi

    Aug. 5, 2008 9:53 p.m. mikeatrpi New Reader

    Don't be too hard on yourself, or the harbor freight gun. There are a lot of adjustments on the gun, at the compressor, and in the painter's technique. Just like buying a Ferrari won't magically make you a better driver, an expensive paint gun won't automatically make you a better painter.

    It looks good in your pictures, and when you wet sand / buff it will look that much better. You're definitely right to wait though, for the paint to harden up a little bit. Did you pick a buffing compound / buffer yet? I used meguiar's diamond cut on a yellow pad, DA cleaner polish on a white pad, machine glaze on a black pad, and yellow wax by hand for the last coat. It took me several weekends to wet sand (about 5 minutes per panel) and buff (hours and hours till I was satisfied). So, you've got that to look forward to...

  • Tighe

    Aug. 5, 2008 11:41 p.m. Tighe None

    Which Harbor Freight gun did you use? The sixteen dollarish HVLP? I may be picking up a Spitfire soon and it needs paint. I'm poor yet must jettison money in any way possible so I'm thinking I'll paint it if I end up buying the car. These low budget paint threads are very interesting to me as such. I figure I'll go with the Rustoleum and a cheapy (sub $75) HVLP gun. You mentioned using Rustoleum primer; Was it the spray can "Auto Primer"?

    I've also considered going with Duplicolor's "Paint Shop" line of paints as I've heard the drying time and requisite post paint sanding and polishing is much less. I should mention I work at a parts retailer and would get a decent cut on the price of the Duplicolor. The Rustoleum would still work out about $100 to $150 cheaper which is a significant amount to me. Anybody have enough experience with both to comment?

    Mike, did you machine buff or rub one out by hand?

  • Lennyseleven

    Aug. 6, 2008 3:26 a.m. Lennyseleven New Reader

    What level of compressor is recommended for this?

  • mad_machine

    Aug. 6, 2008 7:47 a.m. mad_machine SuperDork

    I used the "purple" gun.. about $40 dollar gun.

    I think another area where I could have done better was to use less than 10% acetone. I shot a filing cabinent I had laying around first and it came up smooth, aimed it at the car.. got orange peel.. go figure.

    And yes, the spraycan was "autoprimer" I did think about Duplocolour's paints that they sell at Autozone. Very tempting, but I am also allergic to a lot of airborne chemicals.. they knot my intestines up terribly. Even using a mask, I am still feeling the effects today.

    But I am not worried.. I get into a nice "zen" state with sanding.

    What I do find funny. I always thought the paint on my spider looked pretty aweful. I was mixing paint on the one fender that is beaten up and spilled some acetone.. it took the paint RIGHT OFF. I wonder now if the fiat was sprayed with rustoleum too.. from a can maybe? I saw no hints of any primer either.. just shiney metal under the yellow.

  • John Brown

    Aug. 6, 2008 7:58 a.m. John Brown UltimaDork

    Tighe wrote: I've also considered going with Duplicolor's "Paint Shop" line of paints as I've heard the drying time and requisite post paint sanding and polishing is much less. I should mention I work at a parts retailer and would get a decent cut on the price of the Duplicolor. The Rustoleum would still work out about $100 to $150 cheaper which is a significant amount to me. Anybody have enough experience with both to comment?

    I have seen the Duplicolor Paint Shop line used and it is decent, not great but decent. Seems easy to work with. The blues were not very impressive and the clear really needed work to gloss but that could have been the operator as well. The orange, white and black laid out very nicely.

    I would use them to repaint a race car or low dollar street car.

  • SoloSonett

    Aug. 6, 2008 10:26 a.m. SoloSonett New Reader

    HEY! Great job, all conditions considered.

    Wet sanding Will make it look 100% better.

    Go slow and take lots of time around edges. ( I use a Craftsman 5" ro sander on flat surfaces...)

    I've shot the Sonett in the home garage. And got the same results.
    Even a "pro " painter with an exspensive gun left me with the same finish. Just imagine the job you could do in a well lit , vented paint booth!

  • jikelly

    Aug. 6, 2008 10:51 a.m. jikelly New Reader

    Great looking paint job!

    Yeah be real careful around the edges when you wet sand and polish. I wasn't and had to go back and touch up quite a few burn throughs. It was tough for me because of the metal flake paint I went with.

  • mad_machine

    Aug. 6, 2008 6:30 p.m. mad_machine SuperDork

    She still needs to be flatted out and polished, but the white turned out better than I would have thought. Now why didn't saab offer them in white in the first place? I know the 9000 was popular in white.

  • Josh

    Aug. 6, 2008 9:11 p.m. Josh Reader

    Looks great, all that's left now is to paint the grill, wheels, mirrors and trim white. And grow one of your pinkie nails out really long.

  • pigeon

    Aug. 6, 2008 9:16 p.m. pigeon New Reader

    I hate cars in white, having owned one once that I cared about trying to keep clean. White tends to lose a lot of the character in the sheet metal too I think. That being said looks like you did a great job painting it, and so long as you're happy with white you can feel free to ignore my opinion!

    Scott

  • Josh

    Aug. 6, 2008 9:33 p.m. Josh Reader

    Well, white is always a great choice for a first paint job or "beater-quality" job because it hides mistakes better than anything else. Yes, it dulls the contour of the sheetmetal, but sometimes you want that :). I really like some cars in white, really dislike others. The cars I tend to really like in white seem to either be cars without much sculptural quality in the sheetmetal to begin with (E30s, this here Saab, my old Sentra SE-R), or cars that have a bit too much (Lotus Elise/Exige, Porsche Cayman, Bangle-era Bimmers). But yeah, a white Aston Martin or '60s Ferrari would probably be a shame.

  • Tighe

    Aug. 6, 2008 9:39 p.m. Tighe New Reader

    How many quarts did you end up using and how many cans of the primer?

  • mad_machine

    Aug. 6, 2008 9:45 p.m. mad_machine SuperDork

    three quarts.. not sure on how much primer.. the prep took place over several weeks.

  • Tighe

    Aug. 6, 2008 9:47 p.m. Tighe New Reader

    Thanks, and the car turned out great considering the price tag.

  • gamby

    Aug. 7, 2008 12:46 a.m. gamby UltraDork

    dculberson wrote:

    mad_machine wrote: well, I have some sanding to do tomorrow. managed to orange peel most of the hood and roof...

    It's amazing how many factory paint jobs have massive orange peel.

    Big issue w/ the newer, more eco-friendly water-based paints coming out of the factories.

    GM black is a NIGHTMARE. It looks like the surface of the moon.

  • April 12, 2009 8:55 a.m. marksatterfield

    Nicely done! I sprayed mine with Rustoleum and the Purple $10 (on sale) Harbor Freight gun, worked great!!!

    I noticed a thread speaking of using Duplicolor primer, I'd stay away from mixing the paints. For $5 or so, you can buy a Rustoleum primer spray can.

    Also, I wound up with orange peel on the first coat... but it was because I did not thin enough and did not set the gun properly.

    :: Orange peel * Thinned 2 oz Acetone : 8 oz Rustoleum (that is, 20% acetone) * Gun pressure to 50 PSI * High fluid flow rate (set to max flow rate)

    :: No orange peel * Thinned twice as much Acetone (4 oz Acetone : 8 oz Rustoleum) * Gun pressure to 70 PSI (max pressure for this 47016 gun) * Lower fluid flow rate (set somewhere in the middle)

    I've read that other people use mineral spirits with great success. I can see why this might help. I believe the acetone evaporates as soon as it leaves the gun, leaving a very thick paint mixture. Next time I'll thin with mineral spirits.

    --Mark

    http://www.marksatterfield.com

  • Supercoupe

    April 12, 2009 5:17 p.m. Supercoupe Reader

    Hahaha.....he said "rub one out by hand"

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