What type of paint to use for DIY spray painting?

[scotshaggis]

I've been soaking up tuition just now on setting up and doing my own spray painting at home with an LVLP spray gun. To spray primer base and clear, for a car project.

What I'm not seeing much info on is what type of paint I might be best off using. Anyone help me a bit on this please?

All I've gleaned is it is was nice and safe to use acrylic. This advice was also using acrylic clear coat I think but surely you'd want to use 2k clear coat..

Thanks

[J4CKO]

scotshaggis said:

I've been soaking up tuition just now on setting up and doing my own spray painting at home with an LVLP spray gun. To spray primer base and clear, for a car project.

What I'm not seeing much info on is what type of paint I might be best off using. Anyone help me a bit on this please?

All I've gleaned is it is was nice and safe to use acrylic. This advice was also using acrylic clear coat I think but surely you'd want to use 2k clear coat..

Thanks

2k is pretty unpleasant stuff, you need breathing gear.

[Baldchap]

Buy an old bonnet and a couple of wings from a scrappy and have a practice before going anywhere near a real car.

Spraying to a good standard is far more difficult than it looks.

[steveo3002]

2k if you want decent chance of it lasting /looking good - but it needs airfed mask

1k is safer (still dont want to be breathing it in ) but weathers easily , not resistant to fuel etc

for primer you could use epoxy 2k , its non isocyanate

[scotshaggis]

Thanks for replies. Yes, some practice essential. I can see that setting up the gun/compressor and mixing the paint with reducer and that sort of thing takes a bit understanding.

Prep and then things like de nibbing and polishing I’m comfortable with so it’d be good to be able to do the paint. My project is a 90’s Mercedes SL so there’s big wide lower body mouldings x6, sill covers, A pillar covers, 6 bits of wing mirror parts, a hardtop, the bumpers AND the main body of the car. A lot to paint but I’m hoping I can hone in my practice on a lot of the bits and pieces.

Is it not the case that a lot of painters these days don’t use air fed masks but are actually always spraying 2k clear?

Edited by scotshaggis on Monday 15th July 13:54

[Sebring440]

scotshaggis said:

Is it not the case that a lot of painters these days don’t use air fed masks but are actually always spraying 2k clear?

No.



And where are you going to do this spraying?

[steveo3002]

scotshaggis said:

Is it not the case that a lot of painters these days don’t use air fed masks but are actually always spraying 2k clear?

Edited by scotshaggis on Monday 15th July 13:54

americans seem happy to wear a face mask , some sellers claim thier non air fed mask are good to use , its not something i would reccomend , but yeah it happens

[Bluevanman]

steveo3002 said:

americans seem happy to wear a face mask , some sellers claim thier non air fed mask are good to use , its not something i would reccomend , but yeah it happens

It happens a lot, I know many painters who don't use an air fed but they also have good extraction which mitigates it somewhat.
You don't really want to be spraying in a garage at home,it was bad enough in the old days when we used cellulose

[scotshaggis]

Good point on good extraction mitigating fumes around. I’d just be spraying without extraction of course, in garage type premises. I’ve got a quantity of excellent plastic sheeting I plan to use to do my best to keep the area clean.

There are a lot of good YouTube videos with information/tutorials. Most seem to not be wearing air fed respirators hence my question.

From what I understand LVLP guns are quite good on the less overspray/excess paint spray front.

I have been wondering if I could fashion something up regarding a bit extraction.

Regarding clear coat then, harm wise best to use acrylic but if I’m so inclined, use 2 pack clear.

What type of paint would you generally be using (safely) for the base coat?

[Bluevanman]

2k clear is acrylic too
Honestly 1k clear is terrible stuff,yes it's easy to spray and buff up but 3 months down the line the gloss will have dropped off substantially and a year later it will look like it's covered in scratches.Don't waste your time and money on it .
You want solvent basecoat
Extraction is absolutely essential !

Edited by Bluevanman on Monday 15th July 17:59

[steveo3002]

epoxy primer

solvent basecoat

2k clear would give a nice long lasting job

im a bit of a weekend warrior and tbh i wont use 1k clear , its rubbish for cheapo cover ups on cowboy car lots , not for cars you keep a few years

[scotshaggis]

Bluevanman said:

2k clear is acrylic too

Edited by Bluevanman on Monday 15th July 17:59

Thanks, you can see how the type of paint is quite confusing. So that would be two part clear acrylic, but safer than solvent 2k?

[NRG1976]

Make sure you have a large air compressor !

[Bluevanman]

scotshaggis said:

Thanks, you can see how the type of paint is quite confusing. So that would be two part clear acrylic, but safer than solvent 2k?

2k means 2 part.
2k acrylic clear is usually called 2 pack clear.
It's all the same thing .....clear is solvent,the only non solvent paint you'll come across is waterborne basecoat and you don't want that

[rev-erend]

Is cellulose paint still available?

[steveo3002]

rev-erend said:

Is cellulose paint still available?

yes

[Bluevanman]

rev-erend said:

Is cellulose paint still available?

Yes but not for a 90's Mercedes

[scotshaggis]

Bluevanman said:

2k clear is acrylic too

Edited by Bluevanman on Monday 15th July 17:59

Thanks, you can see how the type of paint is quite confusing. So that would be two part clear acrylic, but safer than solvent 2k?

[scotshaggis]

I appreciate the input above but it hasn’t really helped all that well for me to know and understand what I’d be best off using.

I will be mindful of harm from the paints and be conscious of trying to extract air if possible or make sure areas are ventilated quite well. Also of course wearing a respirator with the correct type filters for vapours.

[Bluevanman]

No,any 2k paint will contain isocyanates, whether it's clear coat or solid gloss colours or primer filler,the only exception being epoxy primer which is still a 2 part paint but doesn't contain isocyanates.