Paint - Can I do it?
 

Ok, I want to paint a car, specifically the LeManiac. I know I'm a ways off from it, but now is the time to prepare. So I have a 8.6 cfm at 40 psi compressor, and no gun yet. I rent my house, so I can't add a 220 V outlet, and I have the higest flow 110 compressor that I could find. So given my equipment and restrictions, can I actually paint a car?

Not a pro, but I would look at the tech sheets of the paint you plan to use. Those sheets tell you tip size, cfm at compressor and gun tip. Example from a House of Kolor tech sheet:
GUN SET UP
• Conventional Gun = 45 to 55 PSI
• HVLP Gun = 10 PSI at the cap
(Refer to spray gun manufacturer's recommendations)
• Needle/Nozzle = 1.3 to 1.5
(Depending on the size of object being painted)
• Trigger Pull = 50% to 75%
• Air Brush: Follow gun manufacturer's recommendations

The paint gun will have requirments also I think. The cfm advertised on air compressors are based on short intermittant(sp?) use, and not extended use I think, but someone may correct me.

Ok, well, if anyone can suggest paint and guns to be able to use what I have, I would like that muchly!

Anyone know about water based paints?

Of course you can paint the car! The real question is how well can you paint the car. :lol: I've wondered how good of a job I could do. Please post pictures as you do this. Crossing my fingers for you. :thumbsup:

yes you can ! the biggest problem would be what color you try to spray .and how patients you have .
your compressor is fine . i would not recomend you go buy a 600 dollar gun to spray with . if you were doing alot of painting then buy a nice gun . you can shop for a sata look-alike and do just fine .

what color do you want to spray ?

:lol:

I've got patience, for sure. I just worry about the requirements. This month, all the car mags have their paint and body specials, and they're calling for a lot of cfm.

I rest easy knowing my purpose for this build is a drivable car, not a weekend show circuit car. I want it to look nice, for sure, but I don't need a flawless paint job.

I was considering black, with some form of accent stripe. But I'm thinking maybe a yellow with black stripes of some sort. I've never had a yellow car.

Or maybe orange....

i would not recomend painting yellow unless you can have it in a booth and have painted yellow .
black you can paint in your garage because you can paint it in panels , then color sand and buff .
orange is a little harder than black but easier than yellow .


this is for a street car , you will have flaws , you will have dirt in the paint .you probally have runs . all this can be fixed .

Yes you can!
I painted the bottom and frame of my car last summer and I am very pleased with the results. Don't get me wrong here, to do a near perfect job takes a pro with many years of practice...that's why I didn't shoot the rest of the car. But for a driver there's no reason you can't do it...no better time to learn! :cheers:

But can my 2 HP 26 gallon compressor keep up with the painting? :willy:

Nope. Color maybe and single stage maybe, but when you get to spraying clear you don't have the equipment to make it lay down correctly.

If your looking at black just do a single stage black you can poor it on and if the compressor is running out of juice stop and wait for it to catch up and keep shooting.