Panel Painting Advice Needed

[c0rsa_gsi]

Hey guys,

My wife had a shunt in her car the other day
She's in need of a new wing and bonnet with some small touch up to the bumper.

It's being done without getting insurers involved due to not much damage on the other partys vehicle, so I'm looking to get her car fixed myself.

I've found suitable replacement parts very reasonable and have been looking at getting a 9.5CFM compressor for spraying, as it would be useful to have for other work anyway

So, my question is - there are many different types of paint available 2 pack, waterbased etc.. what type should I be using to do 2x panels ?
The car is very dark in colour and only a few years old so I'm hoping that fading won't be a problem - it is metallic though.

I've done spraying using a compressor previously (a smoothed boot) but only solid colour which was paint mixed by halfords.

2 Pack paint seems to require lots of other items (hardeners etc..), cellulose doesn't appear to be an option since the car is metallic, waterbased looks very reasonably priced and is ready thinned - are there drawbacks to using this type ?

Also what type of laquer would I have to use over the top ?

Thanks guys!

[ardenvxr]

waterbased will be a nightmare to paint for a novice, get 2 pack, very easy to use if you take your time and mix correctly, so buy a mixing stick

best to find a local paint/bodyshop suppliers

you will need basecoat and basecoat thinners, when mixing this its usually around a 50/50 mix

you'll also need clearcoat, hardener and thinners

just find a local paint/bodyshop suppliers and they will be able to tell you everything you need to know

[c0rsa_gsi]

Thanks for the info, I was hoping there would be an alternative to 2 pack as from what I read while researching it sounds like really nasty stuff - do I need to use a respirator fed by the compressor for 2 pack ?

I was thinking about getting my paints from here; www.auto-paints.co.uk as they seem well priced and heard very good things about them.

To confirm I've understood correctly, I'd need;

Primer
Car Paint from AutoPaint St Helens - TWO PACK HIGH BUILD PRIMER 1Ltr (Powered by CubeCart)

Colour Coat
Car Paint from AutoPaint St Helens - BASE COAT & PEARL 1Litre (Powered by CubeCart)
Car Paint from AutoPaint St Helens - BASECOAT THINNERS 1Litre (Powered by CubeCart) <--- (they also have one listed as two-pack thinners - what's the difference, do I need that instead ?)

Clear Coat
Car Paint from AutoPaint St Helens - TWO PACK LACQUER 1 LTR (Powered by CubeCart)
Car Paint from AutoPaint St Helens - TWO PACK HARDENER 500ML (Powered by CubeCart)

Plus all the ancillary bits like measuring sticks and cups..

[ardenvxr]

they are only up the road from me and they are who i get all my paint from, really good guys there and very helpful and very well priced

i always use basecoat thinners in my base coat but you can use standard 2k thinners

for your primer you will need hardener and thinner aswell as the primer and you'll need thinners for your clearcoat aswell

also you'll need more thinners to clean gun out

2 pack can be very nasty stuff, in a well ventilated garage/area you can get away with not using a respirator but paint the panels and leave the garage/area you are painting in and only go back to do the next coats but get a really good filtered mask, its the isocyinides in the hardeners which you mix with the clear that are the nasty bits, basecoat isn't really harmful when you use a good mask

[c0rsa_gsi]

Thanks mate that helps loads, good to hear someone else who has experience with auto-paint

If I got a 5L container of the 2K Thinners could I use that for all three (ie. basecoat, primer and to clean the gun ?) or do I need different stuff for the primer and cleaning?
Also, the primer I linked says it includes 'activator' is that the hardner or do I need something else to go with it ?

Thanks for the help!

[ardenvxr]

ye 5 litres would be fine to use with the primer, the base and the clear coat, aswell as cleaning your gun, i buy the big 25l drums from them and use it for everything, i only use basecoat thinners with my base because thats what i prefer but normal 2k thinners is fine to use in basecoat

ye the primer comes with activator which is hardener, with their litre of primer you get quarter litre iirc of hardener, could do with abit more but you'll have to buy hardener for your clearcoat anyway

[c0rsa_gsi]

Great thanks.

Just been looking at respirators on ebay, there are some on there specifically for 2K paint spraying for £20 so I may grab one of these to help save the lungs!!

[ardenvxr]

i know they are recommended, i've never used one, just got good masks and good booths in work, have check ups every year for work

to run a respirator and a gun at the same time you need a large volume compressor around 150-200L

[c0rsa_gsi]

Ah I've probably used the wrong terminoligy.. it's not fed by the compressor just a mask with filters and what not for the paint particles - one of these Gerson 2K Paint Spraying Respirator Half Face Mask on eBay (end time 16-Jan-11 09:05:03 GMT)
Unfortunately I can't fork out for a 200L compressor aswell
I'm currently eyeing up a 50L 2.5HP 9.5CFM which hopefully will be upto the job of painting these couple of panels if I do them one at a time..

[ardenvxr]

ye thats pretty much what masks i use

50L compressor will be fine for just painting panels, for a long time i used a 25L compressor at home to paint panels and that was fine

[c0rsa_gsi]

Great, got the compressor on order this morning so should be able to get cracking on it soon

Just need to find a decent gun as the one that comes with the compressor kit is a 2.5mm suction fed, which I guess is too much flow ? and I read that the gravity fed ones give a much better finish - so got to do a bit more research on that later when I have a moment!

[ardenvxr]

you can adjust the airflow through any gun so thats not a problem, suction fed are abit crap though, it can be very easy to hit the part you paiting with the paint cup and your always going to have some waste paint/primer in bottom of cup, i use one for high build primer but thats only so i don't fook up my good gravity fed guns

[Liam_GSI]

very useful thread ... will add this to my fav's

[ardenvxr]

if anyone needs any advice or anything, feel free to pm me