Fujispray HVLP

[madcorgi]

The last time I painted a car was 30 years ago, and I swore I'd never do it again. But, after spending one too many late nights staring at the faded clear from a crappy repair on my 911, I decided it had to go.

After watching a lot of videos, I bought a mid-level Fujispray HVLP setup (about $900). Instead of 50-60 psi at the gun from a compressor, this thing runs at 8-9psi, from a series of turbines--no compressed air from a holding tank is involved. So it just sort of barfs up a huge gob of paint, which reduces overspray and the like.

Practiced a bit on my truck, and had real problem with paint running, but after a lot of experimenting and consulting with painter friends, I finally laid down a decent couple of coats on my 911.



The key seems to be to dust on a light coat first, then follow up with a fairly heavy coat just after it flashes. The sticky light coat "grabs" the heavier coat and holds it in place. Even still I got orange peel, which had to be wet sanded with 1200, then 2000, then compounded, then polished. I started remembering why I swore off car painting all those years ago. But the result was passable.



Also used the Fuji to paint a room in our house, this time with latex. It worked great for that--we were able to get by with about half as much paint as usual, and it left a nice finish.

Overall, I'm really impressed with the setup. It's relatively inexpensive, the gun is high quality, the whole thing is super small portable, and with turbines you don't have to worry about water in the lines from compressed air. If you've painted with high pressure systems, it will take some practice, but it's really good once you get the hang of it.

[Bill Douglas]

Good skills!

[dad911]

Nice!

Now that you've got the technique, pick up a can of white rustoleaum, and shoot those cabinets.

My go-to gun is actually a HF cheapo HVLP conversion, or a Wagner Flexio if I'm away from the compressor.

[Por_sha911]

And paint those BMW banners and put something else on them.
(you could paint them red and put a political slogan on them) - please don't be offended, just a joke

[madcorgi]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

And paint those BMW banners and put something else on them.
(you could paint them red and put a political slogan on them) - please don't be offended, just a joke

No offense taken. I get jokes.

I love BMWs. My favorite DD of all time is the E92 M3.

[Norm K]

Pics probably don't tell the whole story, but it looks pretty good for not having laid down paint in 30 years.

Good on you for giving it a go.

_

[Bob Kontak]

Nice work.

Just painted the cab on this 65 International single stage with hardener. Some orange peel as well for me. Not near what I have experienced in colder weather. The long passes like on the back seem to create the most of it. Maybe an overlap % thing. Doors came out better.

What I have found is 1200 is not enough to then cut with wool and polish with a foam pad. You need 1500 and/or 2000 to remove the haze. There's some real estate with this bad boy so I have a couple days of grunt work ahead of me.

I righted this picture from my IPhone before posting. Really?

[edgemar]

which model Fuji?

[madcorgi]

Originally Posted by dad911

Nice!

Now that you've got the technique, pick up a can of white rustoleaum, and shoot those cabinets. SmileWavy

Man, I hear ya. Maybe oak will come back in style again. Plus . . . they smell. You know the smell a common-area microwave gets after about a year? That's what one of them smells like. Sort of a rancid butter/vomit smell. I thought for sure all the paint chemicals would drown it out, but they're all gone and it's still there. I have a feeling it will be there long after all mankind is gone, and only Keith Richards remains.

Originally Posted by Norm K

Pics probably don't tell the whole story, but it looks pretty good for not having laid down paint in 30 years.

Good on you for giving it a go.

_

Thank you, Norm. Frankly I was nervous, given how OCD/anal I am about my car, the new technique, and all the expense--a pint of PPG DCC 2-stage urethane was a whopping $188!

It came out pretty good--no runs or the like. But a good painter would have not had to spend two days wet sanding and polishing out orange peel caused by poor technique. My painter friend did the rear bumper and mirrors on the car, and they were absolutely flawless right out of the gun.

I paint the way I weld. You don't have to be a good welder, you just have to be a good grinder with a lot of time.

[madcorgi]

Originally Posted by Bob Kontak

Nice work.

Just painted the cab on this 65 International single stage with hardener. Some orange peel as well for me. Not near what I have experienced in colder weather. The long passes like on the back seem to create the most of it. Maybe an overlap % thing. Doors came out better.

What I have found is 1200 is not enough to then cut with wool and polish with a foam pad. You need 1500 and/or 2000 to remove the haze. There's some real estate with this bad boy so I have a couple days of grunt work ahead of me.

Cool project, Bob. What are the specs? I'm sure you have an exquisitely detailed spreadsheet of the project--I've seen your posts.

Yeah--you'll get real tired of sanding that. Did you use DCC with by chance? I was pretty pleased with how easy it was to sand the next day. But I probably wouldn't wait too long---after about a week, the hardener cured everything fully and it's now really hard to get the last little bit of gleam out of it that I know is possible. So I'll stop rubbing on it like a teenager.

Originally Posted by edgemar

which model Fuji?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D4NPMJO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[dad911]

Originally Posted by madcorgi

Man, I hear ya. Maybe oak will come back in style again. Plus . . . they smell. You know the smell a common-area microwave gets after about a year? That's what one of them smells like. Sort of a rancid butter/vomit smell. I thought for sure all the paint chemicals would drown it out, but they're all gone and it's still there. I have a feeling it will be there long after all mankind is gone, and only Keith Richards remains.....

This stuff works: Back-a-zap

Originally Posted by madcorgi

........

I paint the way I weld. You don't have to be a good welder, you just have to be a good grinder with a lot of time.

Same here.

[madcorgi]

Originally Posted by dad911

This stuff works: Back-a-zap

I'll try it. The clothespin hurts my nose.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by madcorgi

Yeah--you'll get real tired of sanding that. Did you use DCC with by chance?

I did not use DCC. I used LIMCO single stage. It's BASF's economy urethane but with some study found that it (the urethane w/ hardener) receives high marks for more industrial applications but the BC/CC gets pretty bad press. The guy is going to drive the truck in the woods.

I did follow your recommendation and am hitting the hood with 1500 today after spraying it yesterday. I found a sweet spot with the gun (touch more pressure) and was able to lay it down with far less orange peel than the back of the cab. It's going better than I hoped. I will follow with 2000 today but will not polish until the middle of the week.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by madcorgi

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D4NPMJO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Man, I'm glad I bought a mid line HVLP back in '90. The prices are much higher now.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Man, I'm glad I bought a mid line HVLP back in '90. The prices are much higher now.

That turbine unit is pretty slick. I have a nice Tekna but all the wrong rubber hose which swells and runs the pressure 20psi higher than when the trigger is pulled. I paint a panel with the trigger depressed enough to bleed off the bloat pressure but before the paint is released except when covering.

[RANDY P]

Originally Posted by madcorgi

The last time I painted a car was 30 years ago, and I swore I'd never do it again. But, after spending one too many late nights staring at the faded clear from a crappy repair on my 911, I decided it had to go.

After watching a lot of videos, I bought a mid-level Fujispray HVLP setup (about $900). Instead of 50-60 psi at the gun from a compressor, this thing runs at 8-9psi, from a series of turbines--no compressed air from a holding tank is involved. So it just sort of barfs up a huge gob of paint, which reduces overspray and the like.

Practiced a bit on my truck, and had real problem with paint running, but after a lot of experimenting and consulting with painter friends, I finally laid down a decent couple of coats on my 911.



The key seems to be to dust on a light coat first, then follow up with a fairly heavy coat just after it flashes. The sticky light coat "grabs" the heavier coat and holds it in place. Even still I got orange peel, which had to be wet sanded with 1200, then 2000, then compounded, then polished. I started remembering why I swore off car painting all those years ago. But the result was passable.



Also used the Fuji to paint a room in our house, this time with latex. It worked great for that--we were able to get by with about half as much paint as usual, and it left a nice finish.

Overall, I'm really impressed with the setup. It's relatively inexpensive, the gun is high quality, the whole thing is super small portable, and with turbines you don't have to worry about water in the lines from compressed air. If you've painted with high pressure systems, it will take some practice, but it's really good once you get the hang of it.

Looks pretty good.

rjp

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Bob Kontak

That turbine unit is pretty slick. I have a nice Tekna but all the wrong rubber hose which swells and runs the pressure 20psi higher than when the trigger is pulled. I paint a panel with the trigger depressed enough to bleed off the bloat pressure but before the paint is released except when covering.

The hose is the key. Too long and you lose some of that volume of air that makes it work. Too short and the air is hot and doesn't play well with some paints. I'd run the firs part of the hose through an ice chest, maybe one loop. Gotta keep the turbine fairly close by when you don't have 25 feet of hose. Then the thing sucks up overspray even though they are supposed to have much less OS.

They work but are less than ideal. From a Graco airless to ancient cup guns and everything in between I must have 20 spray guns.

[madcorgi]

I was surprised at how much overspray the system had, and how well it adhered to other surfaces. My garage floor has a white haze on it that I'll probably have to scrub off with thinner if I want to get it back to looking new. Never had that problem when shooting lacquer back in the day.

[Bill Douglas]

Originally Posted by madcorgi

My garage floor has a white haze on it that I'll probably have to scrub off with thinner if I want to get it back to looking new.

Mad, see it you can get some spray gun cleaner. It seems a bit more mild, but still does the job, than thinners. Thinners may take the gloss/surface off the floor. Don't ask me how I know this :blush:

And the sooner you do it the easier it will come off the floor.

[madcorgi]

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

Mad, see it you can get some spray gun cleaner. It seems a bit more mild, but still does the job, than thinners. Thinners may take the gloss/surface off the floor. Don't ask me how I know this :blush:

And the sooner you do it the easier it will come off the floor.

Thanks for the tip. Bill. I'll check at the paint store.

As pretty as the floor is, I don't stress overly about it--the place was built as an operating garage, not a showroom.