Travis - sflraver

I am restoring this 84 NA and I did some body work on it. Nothing bad but there is a little putty and primer on just about every pannel. I came across this auction on ebay and it turns out one of the colors they offer is guards red. I think I am going to turn my garage into a paint booth some time next week and give it a shot. Worse come to worse I would have to have it painted someplace anyway so I figure $39 is a good investment. He said its 2K paint but I'm going to clear coat it any way. I will take some pics and let you guys know how it turns out.

Here is the auction : <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1864657184" target="_blank">Paint your car on Ebay</a>

Perry 951

Save your $39.00

A gallon of paint and hardner.. that is worth spraying, is well into the $200 amount. Worst case scenerio.. you apply this paint over what you have and it lifts the origional guards red. That means you spend the next month stripping the car down to primer, and possibly damaging the zinc and galvanizing on the body.

Mike B

I think the phrase, "Buyer Beware" comes to mind...It may be a great deal but I believe you get what you pay for...Have you done autobody work and paint before? Either way, best of luck!

Travis - sflraver

I have looked into it and consulted with a paint and body guy I know and he said go for it. I have already primered and wet sanded the car. It's Preped and ready to go so I figure the worse that can happen is I would have to resand it if it comes out bad.
Like I said this is my project car so I am not afraid to try just about anything on it. I have the sprayers and air dryers so it should not be that big of deal.
If it turns out to be quality paint and everything goes well with it I will post my results. I am going to practice on an extra fender I have around first just to see how it comes out. I will post those pics to see what you guys think.

At the least it will be a $39 learning experience if it turns out bad.

Danno

Too bad you're way over in Florida. Or else you can just hop down to Mexico and get your car sprayed with DuPont Imron for about $100...

The Al Show

I painted three cars with this paint and was very happy with the results. If you read it carefully you will see that it is "modified acrylic enamel". what they mean by this is it's already thinned to spraying consistency. A larger car will need two gallons for good coverage. however I think one gallon should be enough for a 944. I did add a small amount of thinner to make it flow better. The hardener may not be as good as what I normally use. The fleet white that I used on one car seems to be oxidizing. It needs to be washed every couple of months when left outside.I prefer the Martin Senour hardener #8850 but it will cost more than $39.99. A clear coat over the red should prevent oxidation. Be sure to wear a respirator as the fumes can do some serious lung damage. A dust mask won't protect you. Post some pictures when you're done so we can tell you how great it looks. <img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

Mike B

It's obvious you've done your homework...I've never done any painting so I would be interested in your opinion of the experience...Also please post some pics when you're done...Good Luck!

Travis - sflraver

The auction just ended so when it gets in I am going to do a practice spray on the extra fender I have. I am not going to clear coat it but I just want to get a feel for this paint. I will post that as soon as it gets done.

I dont want to get into painting stuff for a living, its not what I do, but I think its somthing everyone should at least know how to do. At least do once in there life. Anyway, like someone said above, I have done my homework and feel confident aobut this project but if there is any sugestions anyone that knows more than I can give they would be greatly apriecated.

ELLSSUU

[quote]Originally posted by sflraver:
<strong>I am not going to clear coat it</strong><hr></blockquote>

Good b/c GR isn't clearcoated from factory.

Peckster

I painted water skis many years ago. The most important thing I learned was to prevent runs by always keeping the gun in motion while you are over the item. Don't stop and reverse direction while the trigger is depressed. Spray from one side to the other, stop spraying, and then reverse. Always make sure the gun is moving before you pull the trigger. If the gun stops moving over the item for even a second, you risk loading up the paint too thick and creating runs.

You'll get the hang of it pretty quickly.

The Al Show

I painted two or three cars a week for several years for local used car dealers. Now I only do two or three a year. My labor rate is out of the dealers price range now. Here's a few tips based on years of quickie paint jobs. I stapled a cheap plastic dropcloth to the rafters over the car to keep bondo dust from falling on the fresh paint. Wet your floor down with a hose. Any toolboxes or welders etc. should be covered with a dropcloth if you can't move them out of the garage while you paint. I usually take off the hood and hang it from the boom on my engine hoist or the rafters and paint it that way instead of laying flat. It's much easier to get a good smooth finish. There's less chance of getting dust or bugs in it before it dries. Be careful painting around the mirrors. It's easy to get runs in that area because you have to shoot them from several angles to cover everything. Also being in Florida you probably are a lot warmer than up here in Maine. Don't do it at the hottest part of the day. 70 degrees is the Ideal temperature. Get everything ready the night before and spray it early in the morning. You won't need much thinner with that paint but what you do use should be the slow or medium evaporating reducer. The fast reducer is for colder temperatures. Peckster explained how to handle the spray gun so good luck. <img src="graemlins/a_smil17.gif" border="0" alt="[blabla]" />

Travis - sflraver

how important is it to keep the air powering the gun dry? Being in florida I get a lot of moisture in my air system so I have a few filters inline. Do I need to hook up my acutal dryer or should the filters be enough? The dryer actualy warms the air so it may cause more problems than it helps. What should I do?

951Gary

I would recommend that you talk with your body shop friend about acrylic enamels and their fade rate. As I recall, my friends that are pretty good with this stuff told me that ALL the enamels fade/oxidize rather quickly. I don't think that they'd put it on a Pinto even if given to them for free. I think that it was urethanes that were recommended to me.

Consider paying a lot more for the paint and enjoying it looking good for a lot longer. Rather than learing how to paint on your 944, how about buying a chunk of sheetmetal and a quart of enamel at your hardware store to practice with?

Good luck with your project
Gary

The Al Show

I have been using acrylic enamel for almost 30 years so I have first hand experience with it. The white paint job that I did with the $39 paint was the only one that oxidized. The other two were dark blue and candy apple red (Ford mustang color). They haven't faded or oxidized. I have an Econoline pickup out back that I painted in the late seventies that still looks as good as it did when I put it on.(except for the rust) I never buffed it or waxed it. It got some scratches when I took it out through the woods during hunting season but they rubbed out with rubbing compound. I did an experiment with two 40 Ford truck cabs. I painted one with hardener and the parts truck without hardener. They both looked the same for a few months but after a year the junker faded and oxidized. The good truck still looked great after 12 years when I sold it.I have seen a lot of urethane paint jobs that are peeling or oxidizing on the clear coat so I'm sticking with acrylic enamel.I think the hardener was responsible for the oxidation on the white car. I just called NAPA and they said a pint of #8850 is $48.84. The hardener that comes with your paint is Mar-Hyde #2622. It's in the catalog they sent with the paint for $10.75 a pint. If I use their paint again I'll throw out the hardener and buy some from NAPA. Most body shops only use urethane now so they haven't had much experience with acrylic. They don't recommend what they don't use.The paint company reps want everyone to use urethane so they don't do seminars on acrylics.
As for the humidity I dont think heating the air will cause moisture to form. I'ts when it cools off that it condenses. I use a filter on my spray gun and wrap a paper towel around the quick connector and tape it in place.Sometimes water can escape there and ruin the paint job. Or you can hook it up without a connector.
Forget about the clear coat. It's just one more chance to screw things up. The Guards red that you bought is a GM color #70. I have paint books that cover 1958 to 1987 and I couldn't find it. GM used #70 code on several different colors but none were called Guards red.It must have been after 1987. The only Porsche color available through the auction is Canary yellow #117.

Travis - sflraver

so I should invest in some #8850 at my local NAPA right?