Paint question

[454Man]

What's a good type of paint I can spray with a harbor frieght gun set. I want to do a section at a time/ day. Feder, hood, roof, etc...
I'm thinking of scrapping parts them priming and painting them. I here Sherman willams demension line is good. I saw the episode of muscle cat when they used the duplicolor stuff you can but in the store and it didn't look shiney at all. Thinking of going a lighter gray.

[81_Chevy]

are you looking at a single stage paint, two stage, three stage?
i asked my dad that was a body man back in the day for 15 years he says that: sentari, dupont, duplicolor, dulux (sp), chromo one, are alot of good brands he used back in the day.

also what are you looking at for cost wise?

[454Man]

If I can get the shine of a two stage with a single then single it is... But Idk if that is possible. I'm thinking two stage. There is a guy here in Dallas that post on CL providing cheap (under 1000 bucks) paint jobs. He says he uses Sherman Williams two stage paint. I like the shine his work has. That is why im interested in Sherman Williams paint.

[454Man]

Idk about the cost of the paint, just nothing to expensive

[mikek20]

If i may jump in: I dont recommend a single stage paint unless its a work truck or something you dont have a whole lot of interest in putting time into. If your wanting the DIY paintjob that looks like a $5000 professional job, then prepare yourself.
Definitely look into a BC/CC ( thats base coat/ clear coat ) or 2 stage paint. As a beginner and especially if your only doing a piece at a time or all the pieces apart, then stay away from 3 stage (tri stage) paint jobs. these wont look right when you put it all back together.
As far as brands or types go, I prefer PPG and D-BASF paints. For starters and low price i would suggest PPG OMNI line of paints. they will have all the primers, base coats, and clear coats you will need. Its a good place to start out.

Now with the BC/CC (2 stage) your going to want to take a few measures before spraying.
- Body work is a must for rust and dents, do your best getting rid of all imperfections
- then move on to priming your body panels.
-after priming, you will want to wet sand to smooth out the orange peel look in the primer with a medium grit (400-600) wet or dry.
-once your panels are smooth and just as you would want them to look minus the paint, then you are ready to spray base coat
- prep your panels with a fast evaporating degreaser to remove fingerprints, wax, residue, oils etc..
-now spray your basecoats, allowing flash time between coats
-within 24 hours, now spray your clear coat overtop.

[454Man]

If i may jump in: I dont recommend a single stage paint unless its a work truck or something you dont have a whole lot of interest in putting time into. If your wanting the DIY paintjob that looks like a $5000 professional job, then prepare yourself.
Definitely look into a BC/CC ( thats base coat/ clear coat ) or 2 stage paint. As a beginner and especially if your only doing a piece at a time or all the pieces apart, then stay away from 3 stage (tri stage) paint jobs. these wont look right when you put it all back together.
As far as brands or types go, I prefer PPG and D-BASF paints. For starters and low price i would suggest PPG OMNI line of paints. they will have all the primers, base coats, and clear coats you will need. Its a good place to start out.

Now with the BC/CC (2 stage) your going to want to take a few measures before spraying.
- Body work is a must for rust and dents, do your best getting rid of all imperfections
- then move on to priming your body panels.
-after priming, you will want to wet sand to smooth out the orange peel look in the primer with a medium grit (400-600) wet or dry.
-once your panels are smooth and just as you would want them to look minus the paint, then you are ready to spray base coat
- prep your panels with a fast evaporating degreaser to remove fingerprints, wax, residue, oils etc..
-now spray your basecoats, allowing flash time between coats
-within 24 hours, now spray your clear coat overtop.

Thanks! Ths is the kinda info i'm looking for. wonder what the price difference is between the Sherman Williams and ppg products.

[mikek20]

First find a basic color you like. Then call each place and price check and compare the 2.

[firefighter]

All this talk about single stage and BC/CC paints and what's the best manufacturer of paints ect..... and you're talking about using a Harbor Freight paint gun?

I had this thought too (about using a HF paint gun) when I first started thinking about doing all the painting on my truck. In fact, to practice I started by spraying primer to the hood. It was a disaster.  I could't get the air flow/mixture balanced on the Harbor Freight gun for the life of me. I ended up just getting frustrated. You're mileage may vary of course. 
I ended up buying a bit of a nicer gun that actually came as a kit. One gun for priming and one gun for top coat. I couldn't believe how much of a difference it made and how I could actually adjust my spray pattern and density of material.
It all depends on what you're looking for.
If you don't mind a bit of orange peel (and if you've never painted a vehicle before, you will most likely have some), and you're not planning on making it a show vehicle, just shoot it with a single stage paint and be done with it. You'll have it in one color in no time.
Just prime any needed areas and shoot paint on it. Done.

I'm no paint pro but I did do all my painting for my truck rebuild project.
It wasn't going to be a show truck but I did want it to look nice since I had all new sheet metal and I was doing everything "right". I was super happy with how it turned out.
From what I understand, base coat/clear coat takes multiple steps in each segment. I just didn't feel that I wanted to take that much time, especially since I was painting in my heated shop, during the winter, with a suction fan in the doorway, in a makeshift paintbooth.

Don't rush this step. Take your time and ask questions like you did here. Do Google searches, watch YouTube videos and even stop at your local paint shop or body shop and ask questions.
I think that between primer, reducer, paint and supplies, that I had about $600 in materials (not including the new paint gun kit).
P.S. Don't forget the resporator !!!

This is just information from my experience for you to evaluate.
How much money do you want to spend?
How nice of a paint job are you trying to achieve?
What will the truck be used as? Farm truck? Work truck? Daily driver? Show truck?
What's the weather like where you are? Will you have to heat the shop while painting?
How nice of a paintbooth set up to you have?
So many things to think about.

Good luck, and post results !!

[audrima]

We use almost exulsively PPG when we paint cars here at home.

[Edahall]

If you want to save some money and you're willing to use one of their premixed colors, you might consider Kirker and a top quality clear such as SPI.  Below is the a photo of how my Suburban came out and I have yet to color sand it.

Here's what I used.  The colors come already mixed.  You save a bunch of money this way.  I also used single stage paint but used a converter to change it to basecoat.  It's cheaper doing it this way and has more UV inhibitors over buying already mixed basecoat.  Not many people know this but I talked directly to the representative to find out this information.  The disadvantage of this is it requires additional mixing in of the basecoat converter.  I used a digital scale to do all the mixing.

The most important aspect for the job turning out good is taking the time with the prep work.  I completely sanded off the old paint and basically started off from scratch.  I also removed everything I could.  The next important thing is to have a good air compressor.  You've got to have good constant airflow.  I used a 2 stage 5 hp air compressor.  The next thing that is important is some experience but you have to try first and make some mistakes before gaining experience.  Autobody101.com is an excellent site to read up on it.

Quantity 1, Dark Jade Metallic
https://www.autobodytoolmart.com/kirker-ultra-glo-acrylic-urethane-enamel-dark-jade-metallic-ua-31252-p-14597.aspx

Quantity 1, Silver Metallic
https://www.autobodytoolmart.com/kirker-ultra-glo-acrylic-urethane-enamel-silver-metallic-ua-61231-p-12634.aspx

Quantity 2, Urethane Activator
https://www.autobodytoolmart.com/kirker-ultra-glo-urethane-activators-p-12632.aspx

Quantity 2, Basecoat Converter
https://www.autobodytoolmart.com/kirker-ultra-lock-metallic-control-additivebasecoat-converter-ua-2400-p-16829.aspx

Epoxy Primer
https://www.autobodytoolmart.com/kirker-enduro-prime-epoxy-primer-p-12620.aspx

Epoxy Primer Catalyst
https://www.autobodytoolmart.com/kirker-enduro-prime-epoxy-primer-catalyst-p-12621.aspx

2k primer
https://www.autobodytoolmart.com/kirker-perfect-prime-2k-primer-gray-up732-p-12618.aspx

2k primer catalyst
http://www.autobodytoolmart.com/kirker-perfect-prime-catalyst-upc73-p-12619.aspx

For the Clearcoat
http://www.southernpolyurethanes.com/

Item
2100-1, 2.1 VOC Production Clearcoat 4:1 Gallon, $55.99
2104-4, 2.1 VOC Production Very Slow Activator, $28.00

[Edahall]

What's a good type of paint I can spray with a harbor frieght gun set.

There are a few Harbor Freight gun models that you can get decent results.  If you give me the Item # of your gun, I call tell you if it's one of them.  I've also found that these guns need lots of pressure and air to do a good job atomizing (on the order of 40 psi).  Hope your air compressor is sufficient.

[454Man]

All this talk about single stage and BC/CC paints and what's the best manufacturer of paints ect..... and you're talking about using a Harbor Freight paint gun?

I really don't want to spend alt on a paint gum i'm only going to use once.thanks for your insight:-)

[454Man]

If you want to save some money and you're willing to use one of their premixed colors, you might consider Kirker and a top quality clear such as SPI.  Below is the a photo of how my Suburban came out and I have yet to color sand it.

Here's what I used.  The colors come already mixed.  You save a bunch of money this way.  I also used single stage paint but used a converter to change it to basecoat.  It's cheaper doing it this way and has more UV inhibitors over buying already mixed basecoat.  Not many people know this but I talked directly to the representative to find out this information.  The disadvantage of this is it requires additional mixing in of the basecoat converter.  I used a digital scale to do all the mixing.

The most important aspect for the job turning out good is taking the time with the prep work.  I completely sanded off the old paint and basically started off from scratch.  I also removed everything I could.  The next important thing is to have a good air compressor.  You've got to have good constant airflow.  I used a 2 stage 5 hp air compressor.  The next thing that is important is some experience but you have to try first and make some mistakes before gaining experience.  Autobody101.com is an excellent site to read up on it.

Quantity 1, Dark Jade Metallic
https://www.autobodytoolmart.com/kirker-ultra-glo-acrylic-urethane-enamel-dark-jade-metallic-ua-31252-p-14597.aspx

Quantity 1, Silver Metallic
https://www.autobodytoolmart.com/kirker-ultra-glo-acrylic-urethane-enamel-silver-metallic-ua-61231-p-12634.aspx

Quantity 2, Urethane Activator
https://www.autobodytoolmart.com/kirker-ultra-glo-urethane-activators-p-12632.aspx

Quantity 2, Basecoat Converter
https://www.autobodytoolmart.com/kirker-ultra-lock-metallic-control-additivebasecoat-converter-ua-2400-p-16829.aspx

Epoxy Primer
https://www.autobodytoolmart.com/kirker-enduro-prime-epoxy-primer-p-12620.aspx

Epoxy Primer Catalyst
https://www.autobodytoolmart.com/kirker-enduro-prime-epoxy-primer-catalyst-p-12621.aspx

2k primer
https://www.autobodytoolmart.com/kirker-perfect-prime-2k-primer-gray-up732-p-12618.aspx

2k primer catalyst
http://www.autobodytoolmart.com/kirker-perfect-prime-catalyst-upc73-p-12619.aspx

For the Clearcoat
http://www.southernpolyurethanes.com/

Item
2100-1, 2.1 VOC Production Clearcoat 4:1 Gallon, $55.99
2104-4, 2.1 VOC Production Very Slow Activator, $28.00

this is very interesting! What would you say you spent on materials? That paint looks awesome!

[454Man]

Let me go though my boxes and find my fun. I know its the gun set that is in the red case with two guns , a large and a small paint gun with all the filters and cleaning materials.

[454Man]