I am in the process of painting my '68 with house of kolor paint. I am trying to determine which paint gun to use for this task. I will be painting in my garage...a non-professonal paint booth.

The local HOK supplier recommends a SATA RP. about $ 500.00. he also sells them

I am also looking at a Devilbiss GTI about $ 200. or a Devilbiss Finishline 3, about $ 139.00.

Any and all recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Steve

 

Naw, they didnt recomend a $500 paint gun! Imagine that. My personal opinion, get a decent mid range gun and use it. There are actually guns less than $50 that will work.

 

I concur with wombvette - you can get awesome results with el-cheapo guns.... I did mine with a 39 dollar harbor freight deal, and just made certain I had the right needles and tips, and kept it clean and adjusted. My last 2 paintjobs came out so good that people couldn't believe I did them in my garage.

disclaimers - I don't paint cars for a living
- I'm only cheap because I'sa broke

 

Same here, spent less than $50 on a Harbor Freight HVLP gun. Even with a compressor that was below the reccomended CFM @ PSI rating, the paint turned out great aside from a few errors on my part.

All I can say is, make sure you have plenty of lighting... otherwise it will look like you're all done, but once it's under some sunlight you'll realize you didn't have enough coverage in some places.

Besides that, good luck! I kept my budget below $1200 and despite my own constant criticism of the finished product, I have been told numerous times by friends and strangers that it looks great.

 

I agree with the comments above. The "pros" may need the expensive guns, but us hobbiest can get by with less. I have a collection of Harbor Freight guns and they work great for me. Also, it's not the gun, but the user. Practice some before getting serious on the Vette.

Ralph.

 

Some of my best paint jobs on the trucks I restored was with an "Alltrade" bought at Home Depot..

 

These guys are EXACTLY right.
Don't buy a $500 Gun unless you are going into the business professionally.

First off, buy a HVLP (High Volume, Low Pressure) gun.
They cost a little more, but you make up for the extra money because they waste much less paint - more goes on the car, less goes on the floor. Even Home Depot and Northern Tool have some packages with pressure regulators, etc. for less than or about $100

Second, a moisture seperator between the compressor and the gun is a must. You don't want rusty water in your paint job from your compressor tank. Don't buy terribly expensive ones, one company used to make one that you screwed off the top and dropped a whole roll of toilet paper in - I don't remember the name.

Third, you want your area clean, clean, clean, clean, well ventilated, and well lit. I once rigged up a garage with the garage door closed down on a ceiling fan that was stood up on end in the opening and the rest of the opening next to the fan closed off with a sheet of plywood. Taped up the door opening into the house with a "door made up of home heat pump filters". This allowed constant clean ventilation. I kept the garage floor constantly wet down with a garden hose.

Lastly, wear a good respirator. and a cheap throw away paint suit and gloves.

After the paint gets too tacky for a bug to mess it up, roll the car outside to use your solar-assist paint dryer.

It helps a lot to have a helper.

Filter the paint mix as you pour it into the gun.

You will have stories of this experience to tell friends for years.
Have fun,
Mike

 

The Finishline 3 HVLP gun is a great gun. I just bought it (Ebay) including 4 tips, water separator/filter , regulator, hose and case for $300. You need different size tips for primer/base/clear. If you buy the tips separately, they're about $35 each - get the package deal

 

You say your using HOK paint, what type, a base/clear or a candy or a pearl?

I would agree that you dont need a $500 gun, but for custom paint, you do need a gun with good atomization and good build quality.
Trust me, you will kick yourself if that cheap gun drops a spot in the middle of a candy coat!
Cleaning the gun after use is just as important as any step in the paint process.

Don't limit yourself to 1 gun, you can use a cheap gun for primers or basecoats (get one with different size tips, primers like a larger tip as do heavy flakes) Eastwood do some nice "sharpe" brand guns that are HVLP and reasonably priced.
For candy's and top coats get something like the Devilbis Finishline, you can get them for around $130, very nice gun, very well made.
When your at the paint store, get an air line filter, you can get th e small disposable ones that fit in the air line or the larger ones that fit at the compressor.

Mask (an air fed hood is better), gloves and a paint suite are also important.



Nick

 

Craftsman.

 

Thanks for the info.
I am spraying the Kandy. Which gun atomizes best with HOK is where the question arises.

The basics of painting I know.

I am beginning to think the Devilbiss Finishline 3 is the right choice. At about $ 130 I feel comfortable with that. Anyone know which tips to use for which stage of the process?

Thanks again for all of the input. It is ALL greatly appreciated.

Steve

 

Well all I can say is SATA RPs are sweet but the Finishline and the offshore SATA copies for around $125 work great too.

If you are shooting metalics, the 1.2 tip is easier for a novice. If you are shooting solids, the 1.3 tip is best. For primers, the 1.6 or 1.8 tip is recommended. I'd use the cheapy Harbor Freight HVLP purple gun with the 1.8 tip for hi build primer, you can get them on sale for around $20 and it can actually shoot pretty well.

 

The Finishline HVLP only comes with 1.3mm, 1.5mm 1.8mm and 2.2mm tips. There's no 1.2mm or 1.4mm.

I used the 1.3mm for base and clear and it works great - I am a beginner and I say it's easy to use. Maybe pros prefer a $500 gun and use different tip sizes, dunno...

The 1.8mm tip is good for primer, I have not used the 2.2mm yet.

 

Definitely get a good gun if you are spraying kandy. If you get a stripe you have to start all over with base and kandy again. I use a sharpe platinum that is great. Problem is they don't make them anymore. I believe the titanium replaced it. My gun was about $350 new.

 

Bump