paint Gun

Im looking to paint my jeep back to it's original color, what do you guys reccomend as far as guns go and also tips? are the harbor freight ones any good? i know you get what you pay for but i would like to keep it somewhat cheap, also what do you reccomend as far as paint brand etc...... thanks guys for your help.

 

Links:
http://www.spraygunworld.com/Information2/FinishlineIIIBonus.htm
http://www.autocolorlibrary.com/cmg/mae.html
http://www.ifsja.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=11;t=000051

hth <argh - server busy>

 

I do alot of painting on aircraft, I recommend the better quality guns for better finished product. If you are going to paint it yourself, be sure to get a hvlp gun (HIGH VOLUME LOW PRESSURE) meaning any garage compressor will do the trick. I have a devilbiss, and a snap on, Virtually no difference. For quality paint equiptment those are the two names I trust.There are other good guality guns out there, but these are my picks. Hope this helps a little. If you need more info P.M. Me

 

(I'm with Chris)But a cheap gun will do ok it depends on your paint to.

 

Spend the $125. Gravity feed uses less paint than the old siphon style. I paid $175 for a good middle of the road Devilbis is 1987

 

There are cheaper HVLP guns than the DeVilbiss... http://www.spraygunworld.com/products/Astro/Astro Pneumatic - APHVLPDX5.htm
Note this comes with a regulator (unlike DeVilbiss), so you save a few more bucks. No personal experience with these.

You can get by with a single tip; choose the 1.3 (base/clear) or 1.5 (single stage) and then thin your primer a little more. This topic usually spawns some debate, but if you want something like the original finish, a single-stage paint will be easiest. Basecoat/clearcoat wasn't widely used until the 80s or 90s.

 

you guys are great, this info sure helps,I have had limited experience but have a friend I can call in as well, but so far you guys have really helped, Im looking forward to to a frame up restor here soon.

 

I'm a big fan of the single stage for these jeeps. Nice finish (better than original I suspect) and easy touch-ups. Spray gun is personal prefference. I've got a $25 no-name special that works just fine for the little work I do with it

 

Home Depot has HVLP sprayguns for around $70-$80. I can't remember who makes them. I'm going to pick up two of them tonight for the school. I can't wait to experiment with them.

 

Guess I am a cheap guy, because I used a harbor freight paint gun for about 20.00 bucks and had good luck with with it. Here is a picture of my jeep. http://www.earlycj5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7125&highlight=1956

It is not a professional paint job, but it came out fairly good. I painted it out side.
And with the cheaper guns, for that price, you can toss them away when you finish. If I painted more than once every year I would indeed invest in a higher priced paint gun. But for my use, cheap is good. Before you do paint, try and learn all you can from the web, and if you know or a paint and body shop man might ask him for some pointers.

The hardest work is the prep work on your jeep. For the jeeps I have painted, it was about 85 percent of the work. It is a great learning expirence. ANd really makes you feel good to see the end results.

I also painted mine the orginal color.

 

Below is from a post a few months ago about painting. Just wanted to pass along for your information.

Regards
Cliff

I am not a professional auto paint man. However I just painted my 56 Willy’s with the original “Comet Blue” color paint. I went to my local ABC auto parts paint store, and they called a color lab who interned looked it up and gave them the formula.


They had several grades of paint they could mix it in. I opted for a cheaper base coat. It was $56 per gallon. This along with the hardener and reducer kept my price to about $85.00 I used the recommend method of mixing in a hardener, and was extremely pleased with barn painting results. This is the 3 rd jeep I have done. It gets easier each time. And I would put mine up against a MECCO paint job any day.

Call any of the auto shops and see where they mix their paint. They should be able to get you the same color.



I know you didn’t ask, just wanted to offer a couple of quick painting tips. I remove my hood, fenders and grill and paint them separately. That way it is easier to paint the fire wall and the inside of the fenders. A quick and easy masking method for the motor and any other parts you do not want to paint is to use aluminum foil. I also painted my gear shifts and steering column gloss black before painting the jeep. I also covered them with foil. This is an old trick I learned from my antique tractor friends.

 

cliff some good ideas, min will be painted back to original color, president red, and nice to see that you had real good luck with the harbor freight paint gun looks like i might go that route, thanks guys keep the info coming if you can think of any more.....

 

The cheapest guns will not be HVLP and will waste more material when you spray. The HVLP guns are more efficient - at lower pressure, more of the paint goes where you point it. Harbor Freight has a HVLP gun for about $40; you'd probably save the extra $20 in using less paint, and you'll have a better tool when you finish.

Harbor Freight also has a complete setup with a dedicated HVLP compressor and paint gun for $85. I think these are mostly used by woodworkers, but might be good for car work as well. That is, if you don't already have a compressor or don't want to lay out the cash for a real air compressor.

 

I have the Harbor Freight HVLP gun, and it has been satisfactory so far. I would love to have a better one, but just haven't been able to justify it to myself yet.

 

So far that is my problem, justifing a expensive gun, I will only be painting the frame, and body with it, and possibly only the body im checking prices on having teh frame powder coated...