Ok I gonna do it....paiting for the first time....

[Steve Sears]

Rob,
I have no idea why you would pait when you can paiNt with all of that
equipment you have got....sorry, I have been just as guilty in the pat ;-)

Anyway, years ago I was trained by a Gigantic Motorvehicle Conglomerate (heh
heh) as a painter for my summer job.  Yep, hour after hour of standing
between robots, painting the edge of the passenger side doors and door well.
We'd get about one two door a shift, and the huge doors would freak you
out.....
Back to the question.
Check out The Panel Doctor's web site:
http://www.paneldoctor.com/FAQ/faqpaint.htm
and go to Chapters/Borders and get some books on Automotive Restoration
Search the web, hang out at a local restoration shop.  Find your local
Sherwin-Williams/Dupont/etc. automotive refinish dealer and ask questions
(some paints are best or "right" for the job, but are also illegal in some
states)

Now, the basics, you'll need to deal with the old paint surface first -
either strip it (yeah, right), or clean it and rub it down with steel
wool/fine sandpaper to roughen the surface (hello tennis elbow).  It'll be
pretty easy to fix rusty/bent areas now, don't plan on bending anything
after painting.  Use a tack cloth to remove dust.  Cover the rest of the
car, mask everything you don't want paint on.  For the paint, first, is the
system you are using a HVLP system, or just regular siphon-feed paint gun?
The HVLP will reduce the amount of overspray - putting more of the paint on
the car and less in the air.  Second - use a proper respirator, and make
sure you are covered head to toe - some really nasty chemicals in
paint/thinner.  If you can rent a downdraft spray booth, do it (there's one
that advertises to local car buffs here) - otherwise, be prepared for angry
neighbours when they notice their patio furniture is covered with bonded-on
paint dust.  Hold the gun perpendicular to the surface to be painted, 8-10
inches away (yeah, I have seen an engine bay, try your best), if the gun has
a 2 stage trigger, start the air flow,begin the gun sweep motion (easy
motion, not rapid and not slow) and trigger the paint flow.  Stop paint flow
before the gun sweep end.  Monochrome paints will need more thin coats than
metallics, as they tend to develop runs quicker (there aren't metallic
flakes to add structure).  If you disturb the wet metallic paint, the flakes
will re-orient and screw up the finish.  Too thick a coat results in "orange
peel" (the thinners bubble out from deep within the coat of paint, leaving
the surface looking like the skin of an orange.  Clean the gun after each
paint application.  If the paint needs clear coat - well, let's hope it
doesn't, cc is horrible stuff (I was in base coat - we used to pity the
students in the clear coat, you could hear their sticky boots coming a mile
away)
Cheers!
Steve
(PS - if you've ever owned a Ginormous Motorcar made July 26, check under
the carpet - the one in our booth at 11:59pm July 25 got an interior coat of
pink paint at no charge- the last thing I did as a "stupid teenager")
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