Tedro951

If you've removed all of the oils, a grey scotchbrite pad will work. Just scuff until the shine is gone and a nice dull finish is left. No primer needed, unless you get down to metal.

Rattle can is the cheapest way. If you think you'll be painting exterior stuff down the road, now may be the time to get a gun. Guns go from $35 Harbor Freight to $600 and up Iwata/Sata/etc. People go nuts over guns. I've had 10 diff guns in 25 years. I'm down to using 3. HF has a smaller HVLP gravity gun with I think a 1.0 or 1.2 tip. It will do an underhood fine.

Here's the problem. The solvents are sold in odd quantities. You need a pint of paint, but you'll have to buy activator and reducer for larger paint sizes. You can check out prices, but it will probably go north of $100 really fast, and thats using value line paint like Nason single stage.

ehall

^^AND you have to create a paint booth of sorts. Seems like a bit of a pita.

adwolfe12

Thats was a PITA for me and I was only painting a miata.

Chris White

The paints available for a paint gun are much better than the rattle can paints. You can get a touch up style gun that has much more defined pattern than a regular gun.

Euro951

I painted my old miata with a Devilbliss gun with Wanda base coat clear coat. I used a 1.3 tip and painted the car in my garage with no plastic. Prior to painting I cleaned every surface of the garage and misted the floor with water. The paint job came out great. It had some small amounts of orange peel in certain areas where were quickly wet sanded and buffed out. Painting is not hard you just have to prep correctly. I think I painted the Miata for approx. 250-300 dollars in paint plus another 100 for misc. sand paper ect....

DrZ1

That is what I was thinking, I have a pad in front of the shop that I can paint on, wetting the ground sounds like a good idea.

The more stuff I removed, the less the spray can seemed like a viable option.

I am not that concerned since I am just planning to paint the engine bay at this time. I have seen differnt style guns, some w/ top feed, and some with a resiviour underneath. What would be the best type to go with?

Thanks
Steve

Tedro951

I prefer gravity fed. I wouldn't worry about a booth, but a fan or two to evacuate nasties will be mandatory. Just know the costs if you aren't set up to paint, especially since you don't seem to have a need for spraying in the future.
BTW, rattle cans can be mixed to include activator/hardener, and are basically as good (single stage) as what comes from a gun.

DrZ1

Well, actually I will eventually be needing to paint the entire car after I finish w/ all the mechanical. I would imagine the paint should be good for a while. If I feel confident w/ the engine bay, I may try the rest. either way, I can put the paint to use.

Is there a differnt paint used on the engine bay, then the exterior or just the base then clear?

Does the spray tip size matter?

STeve

Tedro951

The paint is the same. The ideal gun for shooting under the hood wont be the ideal gun for all over, but this changes things a little. Again, if budget is an issue, I'd look at the Devilbiss finishline guns. You can pick one up for $150 and it comes with 1.3, 1.5, and 1.8 tips. This will do base, clear, and primer from one gun, and do a decent job. It'll be a little tight in the engine bay, but will work well for all over. There are better guns, but a hobbyist would be wise to buy some extra paint/clear with the $$ saved and practice on some old body panels, etc.

Tedro951

I almost forgot. YES! The tip size matters a great deal. You cant get primers through a 1.3, and clear shot through a 1.8 will be a wild time. I use a 1.4 gun for base, and 1.3 for clear. It has to do with atomization, and after some practice, you'll know why. Clear can be sanded and buffed for a great finish, but it's much more fun when you dont have to, or can give a quick 2500 grit scuff and buff.

joe_951Turbo

I'm in the same boat. I love my 951 but the paint job on it is absolutely nasty.
The car was painted before and the job was pretty bad. I'm pretty sure they didn't sand and buff out the paint because it looks like orange peel.

Is that all you need to take off a clear coat or do you have to use sandpaper to get it off? Can I use an dual action orbiter with some fine grit sandpaper to smooth out all the paint?

Tedro951

Joe, without knowing how much clear, or even if your car is clearcoated, it might be a little risky for you to attack it. If you have nothing to lose you could try. Google is your friend on this, but basically you'll wetsand using progressively finer grits (1500, 2000, 2500) then buff with progressively finer compounds/polishes. There's a hell of a lot more to it then that, but you'll get that info, and many opinions from the web.

joe_951Turbo

Ted, that is so true. There is a ton out info out there on the topic and each person has their own opinion on how to do it. Most say stay away, but I really don't have much to loose because soon it's going to need to be painted and I figured I might as well start now. I do know that it has a clear coat because you can run your nail underneath it and it'll chip right off, leaving the paint underneath. I'm going to probably do some wetsanding and some buffing to see how it comes out. I was just wondering if you can use something powered to get it off but I guess if you wet sand it that it doesn't take a lot of force to take the clear off.

Tedro951

You can use a DA with the same grits. Just more $. Am I understanding that you want to shine it up, or literally take all of the clear off?

joe_951Turbo

I think I want to take it off because the car has been painted previously and I need to do some work on it to smooth out the rough areas.