OK, I know I'll get a lot of comment from people of varying levels of knowledge and experience about this, but I want you to lay what you think you know aside.

My question: What would be the reasons why I could not use an airless gun to paint my car? I understand that it would entail a lot of block/color sanding after laying down a coat. That being said, the vette is not a daily driver, and I am able to invest more time than money into it. I would be keeping it black.

I recently bought an airless paint sprayer to do some work around the house. I was impressed by how well it worked, compared to one I used many years ago. As long as I prepared the paint properly, it worked very well. Easy to control, and I was able to lay on a pretty even coat.

I ended up experimenting with some poster board and then some sheet metal that I had laying around. I was using exterior latex, and there was some significant orange peel, but...it wasn't bad.

My car needs paint, and I can't justify spending money on a good paint job, or buying the equipment to do it "professionally". (two kids in college and other commitments) I painted my 18' fiberglass boat using professional grade equipment and facilities a few years ago, and I was very pleased with the way it turned out, (metalic teal on pearl white) but I don't have access to that facility anymore.

Other than a lot of extra sanding and buffing, why can't I use an airless sprayer?

 

My understanding is auto paint needs to be atomized.
However: there were a couple of girls in High school that painted their car with house paint and a brush. They were both good looking, but the car wasn't.

 

I shot the primer coats on my '68 with an airless sprayer (Wagner). No complaints, but I wasn't willing to shoot color coats with it.

 

Hard to say. Ive shot lots of cars, to include my 68 (see "my corvette photos"). I keep a fairly close eye on new paint and body work products, and either airless doesnt work well, or it does, and I have missed it so far.

Airless would be great. Seems that would be the way to cut down on waste (overspray). Even HVLP guns have waste, although compared to the generation of guns before, the waste is almost minimal in comparison

Years ago, a "turbine system" came out that used a self contained unit that put dry, clean air into a turbine compatible only gun (no compressor here. Yes, the air was clean/dry, but myself, could never get the orange peel out of it. The system ran about $1200, which includes the turbine only gun and turbine unit. There was little material waste, but not much better than a good ole, HVLP compressor driven gun does now

Be aware though, whatever typr delivery you utilize, automotive paint when applied must be virtually flawless. You can get away with orange peel on the house, furniture, patio stuff, etc, but on a car, you cant get away with it unless you really want to wear yourself out on wetsanding/buffing

Also be aware that automotive paint is more expensive than house type paints, and not getting any cheaper. So if you screw up house paint, it aint exactly cheap, but way, way cheaper then auto paint, especially when you add the price of hardeners, reducer, etc

 

I've owned an Apollo airless unit for about 25 years and have painted at least ten cars using this system including my '69 Corvette. You will get some orange peel but that can easily be block sanded out. My unit comes with several metering valves and as long as I do my part and get the viscosity correct, the paint job looks every bit as good as any show car you'll ever see. With high pressure systems, most of your expensive paint will go up in the air and not on the car. At $400 per gallon...and up....this is a waste. With a good airless system, 98% of the paint winds up on the car. Find yourself a nice scrap and experiment. If you can get the scrap to look good, the car will look good too. Good luck.

 

i sprayed my second car a 1960 ford econoline van with an airless sprayer back in 1977....it was a disaster..... the paint came out all splotchy ....it didn't really matter cause i was 19 yrs old and it was "a love machine with wooden bumpers" but if you were to do this for real it would take a lot of sanding.....to make stuff smooth....

 

the orifice on airless guns are designed for latex, hence large when compared to std paint guns...result will be a very thick coat and lots of orange peel. Also the mix would have to be heavy, not thin, else you will have runs after runs.

ONly thing, experiment, and if you can lay a good coat without too much orange peel....great

 

Your paint looks fantastic in the picture. I would imagine you get a lot of disbelief when you told them you did it with an airless sprayer!

Like everyone says, a good paint job is 99% preparation. Theoretically, I suppose you could brush it on, if you were willing to spend countless hours and recoats trying to get it smooth and even. I wouldn't try that!

Thanks for the reply.

 

They have different orifices available. Mine came with three orifices, one of which is designed for super thin and watery wood sealer.

You are correct though, experiment!

I repaired a lower door panel on our old Explorer and painted it using one of those little aerosol setups that are sold in some paint shops. It worked incredibly well, but it would not be a good way to do an entire car.
Thanks for the reply .

 

I can't see why you can not. I sprayed a car years ago with airless and it came out OK
If you are willing to wet sand and buff almost anything can be taken out.
Try it.. What have you got to loose.
I spent about 40 hours wet sanding and buffing my paint after spraying and all orange peel was removed.
I would give it a try.

 

Here is another thought.
If spraying base coat/cleat coat, you DO NOT Have the luxury of extensive wet sanding or buffing to get out orange peel. If you make a mistake, and sand thru the clear, which can be very easy to do, you must paint that panel over again. The clear is what give the base coat under it the gloss. The base, or color coat, is not gloss. It is dull in appearence

With just one step paint (like acrylic enamel) you can sand and buff all day as long as you dont thru the color coat

Seriously consider getting a good quality HVLP gun, and an air compressor that will push it while painting a whole car (at least 12 cfm at 90 psi)

Look at it this way. With an HVLP gun and the above air compressor, you can run any air tool with it as well