Base/Clear Basics, Got 'Er Done, Thanks!

[quapman]

OK, I bought my engine bay paint, but haven't had gun in hand in 15 years. I got NAPA's mid-grade Martin-Senour base, ACME clear, GB5 blue metallic.

A few questions.........

How many coats of base?
How long between coats?
How long between base & clear?
Do I scuff the base before applying the clear?


Thanks. Any other advice appreciated!
If the engine bay comes out OK, I may tackle the whole car.

[shawge]

Did you get the P-sheet for the paint?  It'll answer most of your questions.

[wagesofsin]

OK, I bought my engine bay paint, but haven't had gun in hand in 15 years. I got NAPA's mid-grade Martin-Senour base, ACME clear, GB5 blue metallic.

A few questions.........

How many coats of base?
How long between coats?
How long between base & clear?
Do I scuff the base before applying the clear?


Thanks. Any other advice appreciated!
If the engine bay comes out OK, I may tackle the whole car.

got a booth?
tack cloth?
degreaser?

no silicone anything anywhere.


make sure you remove contaminants.
base is up to you, start light, wait about 10 minutes,( the actual time will vary by the area you are painting. if your doing the whole car, start at one end, and just go around, no delay.) and blow progressively heavier coats. you dont need to do it all in 2 or 3 coats, but 4 is most likely fine.
do 5 if you like. hell paint till you run out. 

unless you have some serious issues, like fisheyes, or massive orange peel, you can just blow the clear on. do it a bit heavier on the first coat then you did your first  base, youll see it going on.couple or three coats will do, cause its going to be subjected to heat.and dont go to heavy or it will cloud, and look like azz.


and again make sure you dont spray anything silicone anywhere near your paint area, and i mean like within 50 feet!!
i dont know what kind of set up you have.

hope that helps, theres alot more to it, but doing the bay will be a perfect exercise.

post pics, and good luck, im sure youll do fine. just take your time. paints all in the prep.

[quapman]

Did you get the P-sheet for the paint?  It'll answer most of your questions.

I must plead ignorance here. I don't know what a P-sheet is. 

Thanks, John. Just doing the bay for now so I can get the engine wired back up and get 'er driveable. Motor is already pretty blue (similar to nacy-boy blue). Will probably do the underside of the hood, jams, fender insides, etc. next. That's assuming I don't totally screw up the bay.

Nope, no silicone, silicon, guar gum or saline implants anywhere near. No booth, just me and the garage.

Forgot to mention I'm using a DiVilbiss StartingLine gun. It's the small touch-up unit....I don't have all the specs handy. I'm trying to make-do with the little I have in hand. My hours got cut at work, so there's no extra cash for goodies like a REAL compressor, etc. I'm just going to be as careful as possible.

I DO need to post pics soon. I have lots from initial purchase last November until now. 

[Matt]

  I have been water sanding runs out of  various body shops cars for about 20 years now.. I use to paint as well..not the best but good enough to know
   Spraying that base will give you a false sense of security..Be careful under that hood and the jams etc.. ..you have some weird angles and it makes it tricky to get enough paint(base on) and then some times too much...fortuneately base is very forgiving and almost impossible to make run...but this poses a bit of a problem with an inexperienced painter...he lays the base on so easy  and is pretty confident with himself..the clear is another story(runs will occur far easier)..I suggest you do as you said and try under the hood first(but not on a flat surface..you need too know how that clear will run when too much is applied ..it is going to happen best it does in a spot that will not be noticed).. ..you also could use a faster hardener in the small areas(but not the big ones ..car will dry before you get around to the other side)...would help out with drying time..let me know how it is going!  .....Matt

[shawge]

I must plead ignorance here. I don't know what a P-sheet is. 

A P-sheet is the product data sheet
http://www.martinsenour-autopaint.com/pds/martin/mspds.pdf

[txchallenger]

Check out this forum...... Good source of info for body work and painting

http://www.autobodystore.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=2

[quapman]

Thanks for all the tips. I hope to give it a try Saturday.

Just to clarify....how much time between the base and clear again? My CRS is kicking up.

[Matt]

10 MINS IS PLENTY but if you are putting on the base try tinted primer. first...you will have to spray far less base to attain the cover you want.(base has alot of thinners in it and it bites into body work if you apply too much)..
..but it is important to use a tack cloth between  base coats ...this smooths of the base....Base dries so quick that it gets rough...if the surface is rough the clear will not flow and will look bad and rough itself...also>>>>>>.everyone finds imperfections in their final stages....the car is usually in the booth or in your case the garage where you are going to squirt it... it is not uncommon for guy to do some spot fixes with the spot putty and blow it off...that dust will float around for hours and will end up in the clear...the tack cloth is super sticky type of wax cloth that will take any dust and debrit off the car...do not worry about how dirty that tack cloth gets..it is doing its job.you can use it over and over .let me know how it is going.. ...regards.. ...Matt

[Chlngrcrzy]

 

[cwestra]

The Starting Line gun may do the trick for an engine compartment, but if you were doing a body you would probably want to step up to at least a Finsih Line gun.  Also, the HVLP's go through a bunch of air.  Not sure if you are using a single stage or dual stage compressor, but if single stage, watch the pressure at the gun, as the compressor may have trouble keeping up with your spraying. 

[quapman]

The Starting Line gun may do the trick for an engine compartment, but if you were doing a body you would probably want to step up to at least a Finsih Line gun.  Also, the HVLP's go through a bunch of air.  Not sure if you are using a single stage or dual stage compressor, but if single stage, watch the pressure at the gun, as the compressor may have trouble keeping up with your spraying.

I was kind od afraid of that. Ballpark figure....where should I set the inline regulator (PSI) ?

What are the major differences between the StartingLine and FinishLine series?

Thanks again. Hope to be at it in a few hours, though the low humidity that was predicted earlier this week will not be making an appearance. 

[Topcat]

You can always find good videos on You Tube to help you whenever you might be in question or in doubt about something.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=clear+coating+car&search_type=&aq=f

[cwestra]

I was kind od afraid of that. Ballpark figure....where should I set the inline regulator (PSI) ?

What are the major differences between the StartingLine and FinishLine series?

Thanks again. Hope to be at it in a few hours, though the low humidity that was predicted earlier this week will not be making an appearance. 

FinishLine is supposed to be a better quality gun.  Probably still on the low end of what you would want to use to spray an entire car decently but I've heard of people doing it.  StartingLine gun probably doesn't atomize as well.  You may end up with a little more peel.  I wouldn't hesitate using it on the engine compartment, though, particularly if it is a solid color. 

Adjust it out on a test piece to be sure you have the desired pattern first.  As stated above.  I would watch the runs.  You may not see them right away but when you go back to shoot a second coat, there they are. 

Good luck.

[quapman]

*** DONE!!! ***

I set the reg. to about 10lbs. for the base and it went on great except for a couple spots that crinkled. I'm thinking there was oil or water or some other gunk under those spots....oh well. No issues with runs as far as I can tell. It was GB7 metallic blue, by the way.

Took more umph for the clear and I had to wait for the compressor to pump up several times. I hope I used enough hardener in the clear since it's been about 1/2 hour and it's still tacky. Will post results and pics later.

I was VERY happy that I remembered to buy a couple inline water filters. It's about 99% humidity here today. I really need a compressor and a nice filter setup if I do anything bigger and/or better.

THANKS again for all the pointers. I think it was more luck than skill.