Garage preps for respray

[martinbrowning]

Hi folks,
I have followed with interest the various threads regarding home resprays and costs of professional work.I have almost convinced myself to do it myself.I understand all that is involved in body preparation but can somebody who has done it advise on preps required in the garage.For example,poly sheeting to make a tent,heat,dehumidifiers etc.Garage space is not an issue-I have a very large double height garage with approx 700sq ft floor space.A steer on minimum compressor specs would also be of help.

Thanks

Martin B

[neilsjuke]

Have a look here

http://www.mckennasgarage.com/xke/jag_25.htm

Neil

[bill308]

Hi Martin.

The last paint job I did was on my racing sailboat and I used a setup much like you propose.

I hung ploy sheeting on strung lines near the ceiling and sealed the bottom using weights, creating a virtual tunnel. I'm not sure poly sheeting is the best as it tends to hold dust and overspray, loosely. It is what I used though. I placed several box fans under garage door, lowered the door to seal on top the box fans, and lightly sealed all remaining perimeter openings. The inboard end of the poly tunnel was left partly open. The adjacent garage door, outside the tunnel, was opened to provide a path for makeup air. This arrangement provided flow through ventilation thru the tunnel to evacuate overspray mist and sanding dust. With the fans on, the poly walls tend to bow in, so take this into accout when planning for working room.

This arrangement worked pretty well for the epoxy based primer surfacer and the epoxy based top coats I shot. It also helped keeping the dust down during the sanding of the primer surfacer prior to the top coats enabling clean up with a blow gun.

I used a 5-hp, single stage compressor with a 60-gallon tank. Tank size is imprtant to provide smooth air flow. Output air was routed to a quality regulator and then to a water vapor and oil trap. I use a new air hose when painting. This ensures clean air reaches the spray gun. This setup is about the minimum I would recommend.

The results I had were very good.

Note that if you shoot a polyurethane based paint, some of these are highly toxic and will require a full mask with an outside air source. A normal canister mask will not suffice for some of these paints and too bad because they can deliver a beautiful, tough, and flexible finish. I may be wrong but think the original Elan top paints were polyurethane based.

When I next do my Elan, I'll probably do the priming and surfacing but have a pro do the top coats, as someone who does this for a living will have much better technique than I.

I hope this helps.

Bill

[cabc26b]

Martin,

The gun you buy will require specific volume/pressure under which it will work best , so this will drive the compressor sizing. There are some LVLP guns that work quite well with a 5 hp 30 gallon set up - Anest Iwata is one I can recommend for a smaller compressor , the SATA'a are also nice but will require more CFM that the Iwata. Be aware the the paint systems will also "like" certain guns as well ( some paints even have gun specific set up guides like PPG & DevilBliss) Lastly painting an elan is closer to panel work by size than an actual car so when people guide you to huge tanks and multi stage compressors ( production environment) tell them you are shooting panels...

George

[Lotus fan]

I've just sprayed (well it took 27 months) my plus 2
And all I did was put up a polythene booth and use a 1.5hp compressor for my mask and a 3hp one for the gun.
see this thread :-

elan-f15/spraying-questions-t14753.html#p104494

The guns used were from machine mart.

This one for the primer :-
http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/produ ... ir-brushes

And this one for the top coats :-
http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/produ ... ir-brushes

Well worth the effort !!!!

All the best.
Ian.

[TeeJay]

Hi All,
I am in a similar position as Martin B and have followed and searched these Home Re-spray threads with great interest.
Most, but not all of my garage equipment for spraying was purchased many years ago about the same time as I purchased a new Lotus galvanized chassis.
Finally I?m now 2 years into a complete nuts & bolts restoration

Currently I have just started prepping the body and will carefully remove all the paint.

I own and have read the 2 books by Miles Wilkins, ?How to restore Fibreglass Bodywork? and ?How to Restore Paintwork?.
Also I obtained a very informative Club Lotus article, ?Paint your Elan the Mick Miller Way?. This article has a section on equipment and discusses the pros and cons of suction and gravity spray guns.

It has to be said that the paint has moved on since the writing of these books, partially driven by the Government to make them EPA compliant.
I have yet to finally select the paint system, but it will possibly be ?Nexa Autocolour? acrylic urethane system. But see comment below.

To date I have equipment similar to Ian (Lotus fan), 1.5hp compressor for mask and 3hp for gun, both with the various in line filters. I hope to learn from Ian?s experience but via this thread.
elan-f15/spraying-questions-t14753.html#p104494

My Spray gun is an old (20yrs) but unused DeVilbliss JGA suction gun with a 1.8mm nozzle, and from what I have gleaned from this forum, this is best used for the Spray Filler and Primer.
Also it?s preferable to have a separate gun for the colour, although gun wear will not be an issue for me, but any paint contamination would.

Selection of gun for colour?

Ian, I note you selected a Gravity fed 11cfm 1.4mm nozzle.
Is there any reason why you did not select a Gravity fed (HVLP- high volume low pressure) 9.5cfm 1.4mm nozzle, available from the same supplier?
See http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/produ ... ir-brushes

Sorry to gate crash, but thought it best to keep to this thread.

Any comments from members?

Thanks

[cabc26b]

Trevor -

I typically use 2 guns, I have used up to 3 - I use only gravity feed guns - the 1.8 should be ok for the K36 Prima 2 pak you mention else where. I like to shoot PPG DP epoxy as a first layer, then K36, I have also used a DP epoxy-K36-DP epoxy sandwich. For top coats on fiberglass I use the PPG concept product.

I may be wrong but does you compressor support the volume requirements or the gun ? check this out before proceeding , I don't think that it matters for primers but topcoats and single stage metallic might not lay-down like they need to .

Good luck on the job -

George

[TeeJay]

Hi George.

Thanks for your constructive comments and good wishes.

With reference to the spraying compressor, the spec states:-
Air Displacement @ 14cfm.
Max Working Pressure 10 bar (145psi).
Air Receiver 50 ltr (13.2 gal)
Motor 3 Hp

The supplier stated that this was OK for the DeVilbiss JGA 1.8mm (suction) gun for use with the spray filler and primer.
It is not OK to also connect the face mask, hence the additional 1.5 Hp - 8 bar - 24 ltr compressor.

Originally I only intended to complete the spray filler and primer and see how successful I was.
I am now warming to the idea of also completing the final colour but have not yet purchased the spray gun for this.
If I do decide to spray the colour coat it would be a gravity spray gun and hopefully one that suitable for compressor and still to be decided paint system.

It is of vital importance to me to get the equipment selection correct, thus minimising any issues I get to settings and technique.

Again I welcome any comments on the above.

Many Thanks

[Lotus fan]

Well done Trevor
You found my unfortunate mistake regarding the spraygun I used !!

I did indeed use the HVLP gravity gun:- http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/produ ... ir-brushes
and 'NOT' the normal gravity gun that I said I did !!
Bit of brain fade there.................must be down to all the paint fumes

Regards
Ian.

[TeeJay]

Hi Ian.

Thanks for clarifying that.
I am currently in North Wales (Dolgellau), not far from you, infact the locals here use Wrexham to shop.
Came to cut the lawns, but guess what, its raining.
So ooo I'm researching the paint systems, and my brain has fazed, too much data to much detail, need a strong drink.
Must be the paint fumes drifting over.

Oh, for some reason the Smilies won't work!!

Regards