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Re: DIY painting

To: spitfires@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: DIY painting
From: "Tom O'Malley" <tomomalley@meganet.net>
Date: Wed, 04 Jul 2001 12:32:57 -0400
Fred writes:

>After pretty good success at repainting my old utility truck
>with acrylic enamal, I'm tempted to try my Spit tub as a DIY
>project.

I had the same temptation and this is the week of the great
experiment. :-)

Acrylic Lacquer is great for amateur paint jobs.  It dries very fast
and it's intended to be color sanded so dust in the paint is much less
of an issue.  And if you buff it properly the gloss is show-car like.

But...It's not particularly hard or durable.  And it's becoming much
harder to get in some areas...VOCs I think.  And unlike enamel it more
labor intensive.  You still have a lotta' work to do after you hang up
the spray gun.  And you could ruin it by careless buffing.  :-(

So this week I'm spraying my Spit with Acrylic Enamel.  And yes, this
is an amateur paint job. <g>  I'm spraying the car in one of those
portable garages <tent> sold by Harbor Freight.  Now,  because the
odds of me getting dust free result are virtually nil, I've decided to
paint the car in sections.  I figure I can get away with this because
Spits have convenient "seams" everywhere!  Even the bonnet can be done
in three paint sessions if you don't mind a tape line in the fender
seam.  I figure I'm more likely to control dust/dirt in a small area
than in the whole tent.  And the tent is really too small anyway for
me to walk around easily and manage the hose.

The paint I'm using is a standard opaque red.  I see no way this would
work with metallics.  You'd get light and dark shades for sure.  Can't
comment on the base coat/clear coat types...no experience.  

So if the paint gods happen to be frowning on me when I shoot the
color <this has happened before> I should be able to confine the
rework to one panel,  and hopefully,  take corrective action.
BTW...if you use the hardener with the paint you can re-shoot the
following day.  Not so without...you'd hafta' wait weeks else the
paint will "lift".  

Cheers!
Tom O'Malley

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