Paint time :)
 

This is exciting..https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...69a65e4658.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...5848cc3f20.jpg

Will post more pics as progress comes :D

Nevermind. First round was a failure. Time to sand again..

:rofl: best thread ever

Engine bays are especially challenging, as I've learned the hard way.

Do you have much experience applying paint?

None with a paint gun so far. :facepalm:
The gun was just spraying WAY too much which caused runs everywhere. Quite disappointed. Expensive paint gone to waste.

Don't be afraid to show us what you did. We will make fun of you, but we can help you adjust your setup or technique.
Did you do a test spray on a piece of cardboard first?

A significant chunk of a good paint job comes from knowing how to adjust the gun properly. Like Monk is alluding to, spend some time doing practice shots on something you don't have to spend tons of time fixing or doing prep work on.

You also need to do some research if you haven't done this before.

Sometimes a small paint gun is best for tight areas like an engine bay.

I just want to see pictures

Pics..
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...4b06d55f57.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...7152ff0d66.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...c24924d3cc.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...f1f6c7beb9.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...f58cbd617f.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...82b1eb0f07.jpg
I ran out of paint in the gun once and was like, "Wow that ran out quick... better turn the air pressure down." Turning the psi didn't help. I didn't realize there was a knob to control how much paint comes out. I eventually ran out of paint a second time and was pretty stressed out.. so i stopped. Its dry now.. not sure what the next step would be. It's epoxy primer, so it's pretty thickish, it may be thick enough to fill in the orange peelness. Just not too sure about the runs. What do you guys recommend? It looks good if you squint all the way.

You can always call it the new "textured" look.

Spraying more doesn't do anything for the orange peel. Reminds me of an old jeep I repainted. Outdoors. In the wind. :giggle:

May have to get in there and sand it by hand then. I had it professionally sandblasted before; cost me $140. That's part of the reason messing this up hurts so much. :bang:

You've got a lot of FLA going on.
​​​​​​As you have figured out already, you put it on too thick.
Make sure you use the right ratio of paint, thinner, and hardener for the temperature you are painting in. If you aren't sure what that is, just ask the paint guy at your local Napa.
When you get the mixture right, make some practice sprays on a pice of cardboard or something to test the spray pattern.
Never stop the gun! All of your passes should be steady and even.
​​​​If you pause your hand during a pass, you will get runs.
You will need to make multiple passes with time to dry I'm between.
As far as fixing what you've done so far, I'm afraid the answer is just to sand it down, and apply some fresh, light coats.
When I painted my first truck, I spent days just on wet-sanding before the clear coat.
It just takes a ton of patience, prep and elbow grease.

Epoxy primer is much more forgiving of applying too thick than top coat. It is soft enough to get it down to the proper thickness without too much fuss.

Sand down the the orange peel and any other imperfections. If you get down to bare metal or the previous finish, you will need to spray primer again. Once you have a nice clean and straight finish of primer, you are ready for topcoat. Be sure to scuff all primered surfaces with sand paper or scotch bright pad before going with top coat.

You may consider just doing the primer coats and prep and let a pro do the final finish. That way you get some experience tackling a paint job, but have better results in the end.

I think I'll give it another go.. I'll just be more mindful next time of all the settings. Started sanding again a bit ago. Seems nearly impossible to get all the orange peel off with all the cracks and crevices in this bay. https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...53da6e1e79.jpg

Looks like you've got some splattering going on in addition to the runs... As noted, learn to adjust the gun, and practice on some old cardboard. Keep the gun moving while the trigger is pulled.

Another thing is to be sure you have the correct fluid tip and needle for the material you're spraying. Primers are generally going to require a larger fluid tip and color coats a smaller one.

Also make sure the fluid tip is tight.

A touch up gun would be easier to maneuver in there, but you'd have to refill the cup more often.

Your paint is WAY too thick. Causing spattering, and to lay it on too heavy. Thin it out - however much thinner you added was about half what you needed.

Hmm. I checked all of those things. The tip is the right size. The ratio was right according to the paint shop and a few other sources. Not sure why it was splattering so much. I cleaned the gun well too beforehand. This has been a crazy experience so far. :td:

I've sprayed paint with no thinner at all. It's all about adjusting the gun and choosing the right tip.
The paint should be coming out and laying in droplets as small as a needle.

So, I am finally looking at the pics on a computer and not my cell phone. So much wrong going on there. Next time, you need to stop as soon as there is a problem. Things are not magically getting better if you keep spraying.

What equipment are you using? Did you properly strain the paint as you loaded the gun? Looks to me like there is debris in the gun preventing it from spraying properly, or you are spraying at like 140 psi air pressure.

Also, how warm was your shop? If it's colder in your shop than the temperature range of your hardener, you are going to have a bad time.

I do need to adjust the gun. Used the nicest one from harbor freight [the one where the gun and can are separate] and a 30gal compressor. I did clean the gun thoroughly before painting and did strain it when putting it in the can. I set the pressure to 50 on my compressor and verified on the gauge on the can. It was a warm night when I painted it. That's why I chose that night. I THINK my problem was mainly not adjusting the gun. I tested it out on the plastic that I hung up and called it good. I suppose I should test it out on something a little more realistic. I couldn't tell so much that things were going bad until it sat for a few minutes. Next time, I'll iron out all the kinks on something a little easier to sand down if I make mistakes. Anyone in northern alabama want to help paint a car xD?

50 psi! Try 15.. at least that's what I remember using from my short stint painting in high school

The manual for the paint gun said 55psi.. I put it at 50 just to be safe. :confused:

Which gun?

Now, I love me some Harbor Freight - and I just finished my paint job, still need to do the cut n buff. I used SPI epoxy, 2k primer, and clearcoat. I used the HF hvlp purple gun for the primer, a $30 gun for the 2k Primer (1.8 tip) and the "professional" 68843 silver gun for the base and clear. Some things I've learned.

A. Fuck the purple gun. My base laid out so smooth with the HF 68843 that I won't touch the purple gun again - unless it's for painting a trailer.
B. Air pressure - 60-90PSI at the wall, 20-25PSI at the gun inlet. Make sure you have a spin filter in there as well.
C. Gun Setup - This is where you need to watch Kevin Tetz on youtube. - He has lots of videos, watch them all. Initially on the purple gun I ran the fluid in 3 turns from "full fluid" to be the sweet spot. I also found adding a shot of reducer helped the epoxy lay out flat - but once I used the silver gun and found out how badly the purple gun atomized.. it just spurts out everywhere. It'll lay down paint for sure, but it won't lay it glass smooth like the silver gun.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/gA...20-h1200-rw-no

As obvious as this should have been... the gun used was intended for home or commercial use [http://m.harborfreight.com/air-tools/paint/professional-spray-gun-kit-93312.html] Not sure if this would mess much up, but...
I can't stop laughing. :rofl: