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Amateur paint tips?

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TR4nut

TR4nut

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I'm contemplating getting back into body painting (auto-body painting that is) after about a 20 year absence.

Can anyone point me to some good web resources on the topic, or offer their thoughts?

My last work was 'the old way' - lacquer, multiple coats, lots of block sanding. Now I'm looking at working on my TR4 where I have a few patch areas to touch up. I think the car is currently sprayed with a more modern catalyzed system.

My main concern is personal safety with the new paints. Do I need the full body armor/gloves/external air source if I am doing small touch up work in well ventilated areas? My guess is yes, but I don't fully understand the toxicity issues of the newer paints.

I'm also interested in filler/primer/topcoat recommendations for patch work.

Thanks!
Randy
65 TR4
 
I haven't done any painting in 7 or 8 years either but hope to in the next year. Everything you read says you do need all that protection but I know a couple of pretty good painters who just don't bother with it. They just try to ensure good ventilation. Also, they both make enough money from painting to afford proper protection.

Any of that stuff has to be bad for your lungs. I don't know about the hazmat suits and such but clean air makes a lot of sense. One thing I have learned is that iso-cyanate (apparently a major component of the catalyst for all urethanes) molecules are smaller than air so they can't be filtered. Any filter that would catch the stuff would also block air. The result, of course, would be worse that the toxin or at least more immediate. That's why you need the supplied air respirator. Last I knew that system costs less than the paint for a single car.

For small touch up work, things may be a little different. Spot painting, however, you will find to be a whole new game as compared to what you remember with lacquer.
 
I've never been a car painter like yourselves so all I know how to do to repair patches or "touch ups" may be considered primitive, but here's what I did recently as follows:

1) I bought touch-up paint in spray cans from https://www.paintscratch.com

2) I masked the car and the area around the bad area very carefully. Overspray goes far so don't overlook any area.

3) I started sanding the area using whatever is required to
remove rust or whatever.

4) then I primed using generic primer from auto parts stores. (I used DupliColor primer).

5) then I sand, then I prime again, then I sand, then I prime again, on and on for days, allowing the primer to fully cure, until the area looks "filled and leveled and smooth" (since I do not want to use fillers).

6) then I remove all the masking tape, I re-mask about 1" inch away from the repair lines/area, and start to "feather" the repair area which will be about 1/16th" higher than desired.

7) when all that is satisfactory, I start to spray very thin coats of the paint for days, sanding or "scoring" each coat lightly, until a semi-final coat is sprayed.

8) then I remove all the masking around the repair area and use a masking tape trick which was shown to me by a painter:

Let the masking tape "curl" upwards around the repair area,
and spray one final coat, spraying near the masking tape curled area, but not under the masking tape.

allow to dry for a few days then remove the masking tape. the result is that there is no need to feather with sandpaper where both the old and new paint meet, only with polishing compound, and then there is no visible "stepped" line. The blend line is invisible.

As to repainting the entire car, which I will need to do later, then I want it done by an experienced painter.

And no clear coat for me. I want paint only.

Ex
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]Everything you read says you do need all that protection [/QUOTE]

I'm assuming you mean respirators & such to protect you from paint fumes?

I've been spending lots of time in the body shop lately while we're reassembling my TD & I can tell you I'm affected by the fumes.....the bodymen don't appear to be & I've noticed they don't use respirators until they go in the booth...for priming & small jobs, they just shoot!
 
Don't forget two new options 1. roller painting your car https://rollyourcar.com/default.aspx with enamel and 2. the new water based paints available from Eastwood etc. Here in LaLa land we have fewer and fewer choices with which we amateurs can paint with.

Paul
 
Thanks for the comments and link -

For what I want to do, even a roller technique may work - small repair areas, and I am used to block sanding and polishing.

Main question I think I had is due to my lack of familiarity with the catalyzed paints. I don't know how paranoid to be if I used an isocyanate system.

I live around Houston, so I don't see myself doing major paint jobs simply because of the typically humid weather. I definitely don't want to put on a hot spray suit if I can avoid it.

Randy
 
As someone who would love to paint but has no real location, if I did I would go the HVLP route as it seems the most amateur friendly
 
I'm not sure about amateur friendly but it does save a lot of expensive materials. If you have ture HVLP equipment (fairly expensive turbine and matching gun) it probably is easy to do. Most of us with limited funds just use a conversion gun with our existing compressors. That can be a little tricky getting the paint to atomize right. It is a whole new learing curve to master. Still though, the only way to go.
 
I founs a gravity feed gun and increase the pressure to what would've been "silly" pressures (45~55PSI) works great with the catalysed materials.
 
Generally, a cartridge respirator is adequate protection for single stage paints. The ones I use have two disposable filters, one of which is activated charcoal. You can get more information on safety concerns from this web site: https://www.ppg.com/cr-refinish/phase1/frmHome.asp. I have absolutely no connection with PPG but I use their products and get advise from their local distributor.

At a minimum, use the respirator (it is not expensive) and wear a hat, long-sleeved shirt or overalls and nitrile gloves when mixing or spraying. It is my understanding the danger of cyanide poisoning from single stage paints is low. The major risk is that the paint enters your airways and cures in place (in your lungs). Because it is resistant to about everything, it will never leave your body.

I started out many years ago using multiple coats of laquers. The "new" technology of acryilic enamels is a lot easier to use to get a good result.

Read the paint manufacturer's instructions. Get advice from the dealer. Good luck.
 
Both martx-5 and I have done the roller paint job, but with different paints. I have posted in the thread "Paint Job on a Budget - TR4 Version", which gives links to the MOPAR forum that started it all. He did one "Progress on the $40 Paint Job".

It's for drivers, not show cars; although some people have put the time in to get exceptional results. I still have some work to do on it, but I am taking a break and just driving it.

NearlyDone1.jpg
 
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