WELCOME TO RIVER DAVES PLACE

A little help from the auto body & paint pros

SS-C

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2020
Messages
233
Reaction score
402
First off, I haven’t done any auto painting in years. How long has it been? Well, let’s just say it was way back when the Binks Model 7 was the go to gun for most... Lol. I still have the 7 gun along with my Model 18 & 19 from back in the day. I do have a cheap HVLP gun for small projects.

My question is: what would be a decent combo gun today in order to spray the waterborne auto paints we have now along with the low VOC clearcoats?

My project now is to refinish the roof of my F350 super crew. Unfortunately, the clear is peeling and the top rusting.

Any and all advice is welcome in this refinishing process as I am unfamiliar with the newer primers/sealers/paints & clears of today.

Thanks

F350 Roof.jpg
 

El Rojo

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2010
Messages
817
Reaction score
1,299
By the time you buy the tools and the correct paint materials it probably would have have been cheaper to have it professionally done at a good body shop...Paint material these days (especially waterborne basecoats) are very expensive. Decent professional spray gun like an Iwata LPH-400 are about 600$
 

rlemn8r

Let's go to the river..
Joined
Sep 25, 2007
Messages
1,503
Reaction score
159
I also do this for a living. Shop it around to some of your local body shops. You might be surprised it is not as expensive as you think. Paint materials are crazy expensive these days. Plus someone else can deal with the mess..
 

Riverbottom

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2007
Messages
2,338
Reaction score
2,510
By the time you buy the tools and the correct paint materials it probably would have have been cheaper to have it professionally done at a good body shop...Paint material these days (especially waterborne basecoats) are very expensive. Decent professional spray gun like an Iwata LPH-400 are about 600$

THIS ^^^^

It would be much cheaper to have it done. Been in Body and Paint my whole life , retired two years ago. Just painted a small pedal car, one of the two stage colors for a stripe in PPG water borne ( cost ) was $ 64.00 per ounce.
 

lbhsbz

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2010
Messages
11,667
Reaction score
28,518
THIS ^^^^

It would be much cheaper to have it done. Been in Body and Paint my whole life , retired two years ago. Just painted a small pedal car, one of the two stage colors for a stripe in PPG water borne ( cost ) was $ 64.00 per ounce.
Wow. Now I'm really mad that my 10 year old $80 gallon of Western Hi Glo white is solidified.
 

SS-C

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2020
Messages
233
Reaction score
402
By the time you buy the tools and the correct paint materials it probably would have have been cheaper to have it professionally done at a good body shop...Paint material these days (especially waterborne basecoats) are very expensive. Decent professional spray gun like an Iwata LPH-400 are about 600$
I also do this for a living. Shop it around to some of your local body shops. You might be surprised it is not as expensive as you think. Paint materials are crazy expensive these days. Plus someone else can deal with the mess..
THIS ^^^^

It would be much cheaper to have it done. Been in Body and Paint my whole life , retired two years ago. Just painted a small pedal car, one of the two stage colors for a stripe in PPG water borne ( cost ) was $ 64.00 per ounce.

Thanks guys I appreciate your feedback.

I too am retired, and have plenty of time for this project. I enjoy doing all sorts of projects and have plenty of tools/equipment. I have all the tools for this job, hand and pneumatic sanders, straight-line, block, orbital, disk, dual action etc, Milwaukee power buffer/polisher and my favorite tool in the garage to run it all, a Saylor Beall VT-735-80 compressor.

It’s not like I have never done this type of work before, just not familiar with today’s latest and greatest paint systems.

I’m basically just looking for suggestions on decent spray guns of today that perform well with good results, ones the pros like and would recommend.

rlemn8r & Riverbottom, would you mind sharing with me the make & model of your go-to guns you like using on a daily bases.

Also, a good primer recommendation for what I’m doing that works well with a waterborne base.

Thanks again
 

4Waters

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2016
Messages
30,218
Reaction score
75,064
You can still get urethane here in California so I'm pretty sure you can get it anywhere else in tge US.
 

Terminal Velocity

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2007
Messages
1,148
Reaction score
1,912
Is there a reason you want to go Waterborne? I'd go with a single stage or traditional base/clear. With waterborne, your going to need air movers as well to evaporate the water out of the color.
I'm far from a professional, but my Devilbiss Tekna ProLite has served me well. I got it off of amazon came with a 1.2, 1.3 and 1.5 tips as well as HVLP and TE20 Cap. I'm sure they've gone up but i believe I paid 450-500. I also had a Sharp Finex that sprayed really well, with any gun, settings and practice are what makes it.
Good Luck with your project, and congrats on being Retired!
 

Riverbottom

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2007
Messages
2,338
Reaction score
2,510
I would have to go to my shop building and see what model gun I have. I use an older De Vilbiss HVLP gun on newer material with reasonably good results. My two painters were hooked on Sata spray guns, and that is what most of the paint reps are pushing. They are very nice guns, and I have used them. If I buy a new gun it will most likely be a Sata.

As stated above, you don't need to use water borne material. Most of the major paint companies have compliant solvent based paint. I had a Matrix mixing bank which is solvent based and Calif. compliant.
 

Gelcoater

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 26, 2009
Messages
21,606
Reaction score
36,017
Thanks guys I appreciate your feedback.

I too am retired, and have plenty of time for this project. I enjoy doing all sorts of projects and have plenty of tools/equipment. I have all the tools for this job, hand and pneumatic sanders, straight-line, block, orbital, disk, dual action etc, Milwaukee power buffer/polisher and my favorite tool in the garage to run it all, a Saylor Beall VT-735-80 compressor.

It’s not like I have never done this type of work before, just not familiar with today’s latest and greatest paint systems.

I’m basically just looking for suggestions on decent spray guns of today that perform well with good results, ones the pros like and would recommend.

rlemn8r & Riverbottom, would you mind sharing with me the make & model of your go-to guns you like using on a daily bases.

Also, a good primer recommendation for what I’m doing that works well with a waterborne base.

Thanks again
Get a gun made by Sata.
If you’re used to a gun like an old 18, Sata is going to feel like a finely crafted, precision tool.
I’ve only sprayed that kind of paint a couple times. Used a Sata and was blown away by how fine you can dial it in.
 

SS-C

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2020
Messages
233
Reaction score
402
Is there a reason you want to go Waterborne? I'd go with a single stage or traditional base/clear. With waterborne, your going to need air movers as well to evaporate the water out of the color.
I'm far from a professional, but my Devilbiss Tekna ProLite has served me well. I got it off of amazon came with a 1.2, 1.3 and 1.5 tips as well as HVLP and TE20 Cap. I'm sure they've gone up but i believe I paid 450-500. I also had a Sharp Finex that sprayed really well, with any gun, settings and practice are what makes it.
Good Luck with your project, and congrats on being Retired!
I would have to go to my shop building and see what model gun I have. I use an older De Vilbiss HVLP gun on newer material with reasonably good results. My two painters were hooked on Sata spray guns, and that is what most of the paint reps are pushing. They are very nice guns, and I have used them. If I buy a new gun it will most likely be a Sata.

As stated above, you don't need to use water borne material. Most of the major paint companies have compliant solvent based paint. I had a Matrix mixing bank which is solvent based and Calif. compliant.
Get a gun made by Sata.
If you’re used to a gun like an old 18, Sata is going to feel like a finely crafted, precision tool.
I’ve only sprayed that kind of paint a couple times. Used a Sata and was blown away by how fine you can dial it in.

I’m in SoCal unfortunately, and last time I made a trip to the local paint/body supply to get some production clear which they do sell (low VOC), I was under the impression they only offered base in waterborne. I could be wrong though since at the time I was only after the clear. I’ll have to enquire and see.

If as you say they have solvent based Cali compliant base coat, then I would much rather use that as it would be closer to what I’m used to using.

Thanks for that information; I’m going to definitely ask them about it!

Sata you say, I will research this along with what Terminal Velocity and El Rojo mentioned regarding the Devilbiss Tekna ProLite and the Iwata LPH-400.

Thanks again for your recommendations; this gives me something to go on.
 

rlemn8r

Let's go to the river..
Joined
Sep 25, 2007
Messages
1,503
Reaction score
159
I’m in SoCal unfortunately, and last time I made a trip to the local paint/body supply to get some production clear which they do sell (low VOC), I was under the impression they only offered base in waterborne. I could be wrong though since at the time I was only after the clear. I’ll have to enquire and see.

If as you say they have solvent based Cali compliant base coat, then I would much rather use that as it would be closer to what I’m used to using.

Thanks for that information; I’m going to definitely ask them about it!

Sata you say, I will research this along with what Terminal Velocity and El Rojo mentioned regarding the Devilbiss Tekna ProLite and the Iwata LPH-400.

Thanks again for your recommendations; this gives me something to go on.
My go to gun on a daily basis is an Iwata lph 400. 1.3 tip will work just fine. Waterbase works just fine you just need a little air moving across it and it will dry rather quickly. Any modern day low voc clear will work great. Might be a little different than what you were used to as they have a little more body to them.
 

bocco

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 8, 2008
Messages
2,176
Reaction score
2,288
The roof and hood on my expedition looked the same. I took it to Miracle for their cheapest paint job. $900 plus about $800 for the extra prep and primer. It has the signature Miracle orange peel but over all the truck looks great. It's been 2 years so far.
 

4Waters

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2016
Messages
30,218
Reaction score
75,064
I’m in SoCal unfortunately, and last time I made a trip to the local paint/body supply to get some production clear which they do sell (low VOC), I was under the impression they only offered base in waterborne. I could be wrong though since at the time I was only after the clear. I’ll have to enquire and see.

If as you say they have solvent based Cali compliant base coat, then I would much rather use that as it would be closer to what I’m used to using.

Thanks for that information; I’m going to definitely ask them about it!

Sata you say, I will research this along with what Terminal Velocity and El Rojo mentioned regarding the Devilbiss Tekna ProLite and the Iwata LPH-400.

Thanks again for your recommendations; this gives me something to go on.
I painted my shell less than a year ago with urethane, shot it in PPG.
 

SS-C

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2020
Messages
233
Reaction score
402
The roof and hood on my expedition looked the same.

This tends to be a phenomenon with Ford. The clear coat seems extremely thin with not so good adhesion.

I took it to Miracle for their cheapest paint job. $900 plus about $800 for the extra prep and primer. It has the signature Miracle orange peel

I’m hoping to avoid this by flow coating my final clear. If not, a cut n buff will take care of any remaining peel or imperfections. Then again, the truck is tall, can’t see the roof unless you stand in the bed, or on a ladder… Lol.
 

traquer

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2013
Messages
3,675
Reaction score
4,869
I was going to say, the best part of this project is enjoying doing the work, why give it to someone else even if it's cheaper
 

jesco

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2007
Messages
1,840
Reaction score
2,001
Sand it, prime it, rattle can it, to seal it all..... and have it wrapped
 

SS-C

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2020
Messages
233
Reaction score
402
I was going to say, the best part of this project is enjoying doing the work, why give it to someone else even if it's cheaper

You nailed it brother!! 👍

Yes, this is exactly why I choose theses projects. I enjoy the challenge and working with my hands. I already have the tools/equipment, so why not?

For me, the projects are what keep me going; we old guys need to stay busy doing what we enjoy when not out boating 🍻
 
Top