I am new. Need help with spray guns.

[TedBull]

Hey Guys. I am new here. I have always been a rattle can painter. I have some fenders to paint right now and later will be painting a 69 F250 and a 74 Baja Bug inside and out probably this year. So I decided to look into a spray gun. I picked up a set of spray guns at NAPA. The kit has three sizes of guns with the following tips - 1.0, 1.4, and 1.7 and cost $110. http://www.amazon.com/Amstar-4000-10PK-Deluxe-Spray-Aluminum/dp/B009TC8J4Y

I was planning on spraying the fenders tomorrow. But now I am having second thoughts about the cheap kit. Should I even bother with these guns? Will they give decent results? Anyone use these guns?

Or should I take the kit back and get a single gun priced around $150 to spray my single stage base/clear on these fenders, and then pick up a larger gun with a 1.8 tip for primer/sealer when I paint the other vehicles? If so what would be a good gun in that price range that will perform well and last? I would like to end up with a good finish, but im not painting show cars. Also I have some touch up work to do along with the fendors, that why the kit was appealing since it had the three sizes.

I could use some advice for sure.

My compressor is an older campbell hausfeld 20 gallon rated at 5HP. Will this keep up with painting an entire vehicle? Its all new to me.

 

[TedBull]

Well, I just did some more searching on this forum and elsewhere. I looked at my compressor again. 20 gallon, 5HP, It puts out 8.1 SCFM @ 40 PSI, and 5.3 @ 90. With such a low SCFM can I even use the cheap HVLP guns I have? The guns have a MAX inlet pressure of 21 psi, with 10 PSI at the tip, and recommends 45psi max in the system. There is nothing that states how much SCFM they need or use. Cant see any point in buying a better gun, since they usually have a higher SCFM right? What about LVLP?

My setup is pretty weak = Small oilless portable compressor with 20' of hose, Just a simple ball filter, kit regulator and cheapo guns. Wish me luck!

 

[TAZ]

Possibly you can do all your prep and bodywork at your home.
Then you can possibly find somewhere locally that rents out a spray booth. You'll only need it a full day.

You 'might' be able to paint your truck with that setup, but like you said, it's pretty weak. Hard to find any good gun for around $120. Also the compressor will not have enought SCFM, so you'll be fighting it all the way though the paint job.

 

[TedBull]

Possibly you can do all your prep and bodywork at your home.
Then you can possibly find somewhere locally that rents out a spray booth. You'll only need it a full day.

You 'might' be able to paint your truck with that setup, but like you said, it's pretty weak. Hard to find any good gun for around $120. Also the compressor will not have enought SCFM, so you'll be fighting it all the way though the paint job.

I did talk to a local shop a while back. He was going to rent me his realy nice big booth with the use of his hanging fixtures for the weekend for $500. Come in Friday night and roll out sunday night. That was for the Baja Bug, which needs primer sealer, and then base/clear. My Neighbor has a good gun that I was going to use. But that was a while ago, I re did some cage work so the painting got pushed back.

The truck is big. Figured I would have to paint it in panels? Is that a good option?

Given the cost of compressors I wont be buying a larger one in the foreseable future. So Is buying a lower SCFM gun a good option? Or going with LVLP? Anything is better than a rattle can right!

 

[TedBull]

I am taking the kit back.

Napa has an Iwata AZ3 air gunsa 1.4 HVLP thats in my price range. And supposed to be close my compressors SCFM's

WestCo auto body shop has a Warwick 904L LVLP Spray Gun 1.4mm that runs at 8-10 SCFM in my price range.

Anybody use either of those two guns? I am going to head out there in an hour or so. Could use some feedback.

 

[tomsteve]

not sure about the guns. i a devilbiss guy,but havent hear anything bad about iwata.

as for your truck, painting it in panels is possible if it is a solid color. if its a metallic,kandy, or pearl, yer gonna want it all together and paint it all at once ( with some surfin, you'll find out why).
even with the solid color, it would be better to paint it all at once.

with that compressor,though, you can get the primer work done before rollin it into the paint booth.
if you can get primer/sealer, base, and clear done in a weekend and have great results.....you rock!!

 

[TAZ]

I agree, really only paint your truck in panels if it's a solid color. I did this with my lime green 66 Chevy truck you see on this forum, and it came out great, but definitely not something I would suggest doing.

You should get it completely ready at your house, then rent the booth. I rent one of my booths out for $125 a day during the week and a little more during the weekend. So for $125, this I feel is a great deal considering all the other things that you will need to buy before painting your truck. PLUS you can let it sit overnight and pick it up the next AM.
So hopefully you can do this and find someone to work with you like that.

Never used any of those guns so I can't give you any input. realistically, you're probably just going to beat your head against the wall trying to decide on what to go with on the cheap spray guns.
they will also have their pros (not many) and cons until you get to the higher priced guns.

 

[TedBull]

Thanks for the replies guys. The baja bug will get painted in my garage since its so small, its completely disassembled already so I can paint everything seperatly and that will probably be a big plus with the small compressor.

The truck will be painted in panels in the driveway or I will see about a booth.

I decided on the Warwick gun. I had the local body shop order the Warwick 904 with the 1.4 LVLP cap. If the specs are correct my compressor should be able to keep up with a continous spray, but the heat and water condesation of the compresser will surley come into play, so I will deal with that next after I spray the fenders. The gun wont get here untill friday, or monday. They had the Warwick 904 with the HVLP cap in stock but to order the LVLP cap would have been another $60, and a 4 or 5 day wait. The gun gets realy good reviews over at Autobody101. If it works as good as people say then it should be a great gun for my needs.

 

[herrybiold]

There are some factors which you guys should know before Buying LVLP Spray Gun like
Type of Material Can be Used
Overall Weight
User-friendly Application
Reviews
Estimated Performance Delivery

The overall performance delivery of any air spray gun is calculated in Pounds per Square Inch (PSI). The PSI range is usually low for the popular and most-sought models.