Spray Painting

[RogerH]

Hi Folks,

Learning all the time.

Last week I painted the off side door of my TR4A. The as sprayed condition was excellent except for one item
It had a hjigh gloss, no Green fly, no runs etc. But it did have some mild orange peel which took a fair bit of work to sort out.

Today I had to spray a much smaller area on the front of the bonnet after sorting out some rust spots.
I added a bit more thinners than I normally use and the as sprayed finish was again excellent but the orange peel had been exchanged for a couple of runs.

So what have I learnt.  With thinners the paint will want to run.
So one needs to reduce the quantity coming out of the gun and don;t hesitate in one spot.
The orange peel was reduced to zero. It really gave a very clean shiny surface.

So my next spraying recipe will be 50% paint, 25% Hardener 15% thinners and 10% Kaolin and Morph (to thinken it up slightly)

 

Roger

 

[Ian Vincent]

Back in the dim and distant past I remember applying a finishing coat that was mostly thinners as a top coat - but that was with cellulose, not two pack.

Rgds Ian

 

[Charlie D]

3 hours ago, RogerH said:

...Kaolin and Morph...

I believe it was called "GI cement" by soldiers in Vietnam.

[stuart]

14 hours ago, Ian Vincent said:

Back in the dim and distant past I remember applying a finishing coat that was mostly thinners as a top coat - but that was with cellulose, not two pack.

Rgds Ian

 

Yes, with cellulose, 50/50 for the first couple of coats then reducing paint ratio and then finally, empty the gun but dont wash and add 100% best top quality thinners and if your brave bang a full coat over it. It will come out like a sheet of glass.

With 2k stick to the quoted ratios but spray just what they call a "Sticky coat" over first i.e. a mist coat then 2 full coats and flat and polish within 24 hrs. Look to the gun settings and needle and nozzle sizes and pressure if your getting orange peel. (Though if your painting a modern leave the orange peel in or it wont match current OE finish)

Stuart.

[Trev Good]

Roger, when I did the total respray of my Scimitar with two pack, I spent a lot of time between mixing the paint and actual spraying, on making sure that the air to paint mixture coming out of the gun was correct on a test flat upright piece of metal (an old door or bonnet is perfect for this). Only when I was satisfied that the spray pattern was correct by adjusting the gun needle and air pressure from the compressor, and after many practice runs, did I commit to the car! I still needed to then use Faracla compound to get the best results afterwards!

Incidently, I used three different moisture traps, a purpose built oil and moisture trap bought in, a homemade 10m long pipe trap with three returns and a final swirl pot on the gun.

[RogerH]

Clearly (with orange peel) a lot more to learn.

 

Roger