Ivan280zt Posted February 15, 2004 Share Posted February 15, 2004 So i got my engine bay sanded down (first time this kinda of work), hooles welded (jb weld hey it works) and now i would like to go and put the primer on but dont know what to get but i would like it to be in spray can. i am not looking for anything special because i am going to spray paint it anyway (spray cans) and since this is my first time doing it it dont have to be show quality but i still want it to look somewhat nice . any sugestions? Thanks, Ivan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
love-my-V8-280Z Posted February 16, 2004 Share Posted February 16, 2004 Dont use a spray can,,,, If you can borrow a spay gun and air compressor its a piece of cake! Primer is the best way to learn. If you run it so what. you sand it out before you put on the top coat. just set the gun so the paint just starts to come out and go to town, you will turn it up some as you get tired of waving it around and it taking for ever to get a spot covered. but start real low, I did my motor area first and was surprised how well it went. I had the color all done and put the clear on, looked perfect, than though gee I have a lot of extra clear in the can so I bumped the sprayer up a little and proceed to make a big run after it was done and perfect! thought a extra layer of clear would look good ya know... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivan280zt Posted February 18, 2004 Author Share Posted February 18, 2004 Well i just figured since i have spent so much time stripping everything down and cleaning up i might as well go extra step and get it painted right way. Now it looks like i will be boroving my uncles air compressor and friend of mine has brand new paint gun so it looks like it all might happend as soon as this sunday. RacerX i have some pictures and i will post them tonight but here is it looked when i started http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/439204/5 Ivan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivan280zt Posted February 21, 2004 Author Share Posted February 21, 2004 Racerx Yes i will still use the same wheels . To get them to fit required five lug conversion (standard way of course) small spacer up front (about 1/4 inch thick) and front wheels are 40mm offset. Back wheels are 20mm offset 8" wide and all i had to do was to trim the fender weels some but that was just for an insurance and piece of mind that i wont mess brand new tires. Friend of mine has rest of my engine bay photos and as soon as he emails them to me i will post them. So far we got the compressor and brand new paint gun (not sure what kind but if it matters i can find out). I would like to ask you few more questions so i can continue my journey lol. Ok where should i buy the primer, which one to get, and how much of it? Second thing. When i get it applied how long should i wait for it to dry and how many coats to put? also what grid of sand paper to use to smooth it all out. Finally i am going to paint it black so which black to get and again how much of it (quart???) and is that all i would need (i dont know anything about clear coat and such do i need that?). I appologize for such a long post but it just seems like when it comes to paint and body EVERYONE ask's (bothers lol) you so i guess that i am not an exception . Thanks alot, Ivan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
love-my-V8-280Z Posted February 21, 2004 Share Posted February 21, 2004 I have just painted my transmission black, so I can help, First you have to deside on what paint system you want. The new 2 part stuff is called urathane paint and you have to urathane primer, which is the best, you can primer your car with it and not worry about the primer absorbing water as it sit for years as mine has... The other choice is arclick, I know I have spelt this word wrong, anyway its one coat. there is no reason you can not paint the motor bay with the arclic and if you ever want to paint the car with with 2-part you can. So I would by 1 qt urathane primer, black... and you will need 1 qt reduced. you mix them 2 parts paint and one part reducer. I bought some cheap measuring cups that stack 1/4 1/3 etc... And one thing I keep forgetting is a screen, they sell very cheap paper funnels with a screen on the bottom use them once and than toss. Anyway they catch any lumps so that they dont go into the gun. Also Before you paint, spray the dust off very good and wet the floor down, you will start spraying and blow the dust up with the paint gun and it WILL be in the paint,,, its almost a given if you paint a car with out taking a lot of prep work some dust and sand will ended up in your paint. So again, I would buy 1 qt black Dupont Centarri paint, if your primer was 2 to 1 you will still have enuff reducer and should not need to buy more. Buy everything at once and buy it from someone that knows what they are doing, I just bought and sprayed 1 qt of the centarri glossy black, It cost $40. I bought 1 qt and you have to also buy a small 1 pt bottle of hardner for the paint, I had reducer so if you have to buy more of that it will cost more. I think the reducer is about $8 a qt. You have to run your air gun at about 40-50 PSI so make sure it will hold up before you start, with a empty gun spray air and watch the qauge make sure when the compresser starts it keep the gauge at 50. Paint on a very thin coat of primer, than let your gun sit on the work bench wait a 1/2 hr for the paint to flash.. Go back out and spray a sec coat you can be done or do the 1/2 hr wait and do a third coat. You know what, I would only mix 1/2 that qt, at the most 3/4 because Im sure you will have a lot left if you mix the whole thing. Also when you mix the paint and you will see the hardner is going to be impossibe to get exactly 1/2 the little pint if you do only mix 1/2 the qt, the guy at my paint store said not to worry about it, if you dont have the exact amount of hardner it will be fine... If you were going to be painting your cars body I would not be giving my advise right now, You would want to get some books from a libery because the smallest mistakes will make you so mad, the engine bay is a great chance to learn.. Also you need to understand that these paints are extremely-emtremely! bad for your body, you must cover up, it will be absorbed thru your skin., and as for breathing they sell a disposable mask for $20 that works great. I dont recommend it, but after 2 masks I ran a garden hose out the back door and held it with my teeth, you can get good at sucking thu a hose and exhalling out you nose If you have not guessed Im no pro.. and it don't take long to get comfortable painting. As for sanding, you want a ruff surface for the primer to stick too, like 80 grit on the bar metal, (dont worry about it much if your done and did not use 80 grit). sand the primer as smooth as a babys butt! work up to 400 grit, you will see that the primer comes off fast and easy, lots of people like to use a pad called scotch brite, they are soft pad that you use like sand paper and come in the correct grit, just a couple bucks... just remember your first coat is the one that does all the sticking, so very thin! let it flash for 30 mins, set your gun at a minimum fan and minimum paint, make sure you have a gallon of laqor thinner to clean up with, $8 at menards... Fill the cup 1/4 full with the laqor thinner and spray that so you can understand the fan button and the paint quanity button.. You dont want a big fan you want a round shot, its very hard to paint under the battey pan, I would start their, the gun works best when you start tipping it sideways and such and it has a pretty full cup... send me your email address and I will send you a pic of my engine bay before and after, as well as my transmission that that I just painted black last weekend. Make sure you have plenty of time, you will enjoy yourself if you are not in a hurry,,, as for telling you it was pretty cheap well as I type this and add the mask, laqor thinner etc, it starts to add up. But I dont think you would be very proud to show off your car when it would pretty noticeable that it had been painted with a spray can,, Good luck, if I missed anything, and I probably did email me... steenhagens(at)triton(.) net.. Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
love-my-V8-280Z Posted February 21, 2004 Share Posted February 21, 2004 I forgot to warn you about over spray, I have a 3 stall garage and just moved the other cars out, and as soon as I was done painting I open a garage door 2 feet and the back door to let the mist blow out, and I still had a light color of black on everything, it was not stuck it liked dried in the air but dont trust it, my boss painted a car at work once useing laquor and there was a perment yellow all over the floor! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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