06 Ram rehab....I hate salt brine!

[Ron_J]

Back in the day, when I used to do this stuff.................repairs were made with a laquer, and you had to buff it out to match the surrounding enamel. I didn't know any OEM paints (or something that is supposed to be close to OEM) has to be buffed these days

I'm just not up with the times I guess.

I'd be interested to know just what you shot that thing with

I used a base coat clear coat system and just a cheap harbor freight gun.

I dont think it is necessary to buff it normally to get a shine, but this one will be. Ive painted different things the same way and they all shined just fine with no buffing. Not this time. I probably didnt put it on wet enough but i was worried about it running.

[farmersammm]

I used a base coat clear coat system and just a cheap harbor freight gun.

I dont think it is necessary to buff it normally to get a shine, but this one will be. Ive painted different things the same way and they all shined just fine with no buffing. Not this time. I probably didnt put it on wet enough but i was worried about it running.

When I started painting, shooting dry was hard to overcome. I MEAN HARD. Nothing sucks like a big ol' wet azz run on a door panel. So, I used to hold the gun too far from the metal, and it lost most of its thinner before it hit the panel.

I got over it, and started shooting 6" overlapping patterns. The gun is probably about 6-9" from the metal, and the overlap is 3". So.........you gotta 6" "fan", that overlaps the previous pass 3". It sounds slow, but it isn't. When you're close, and wet, you move pretty fast. The overlap isn't an issue. Most importantly.........the overlap gets rid of the banding problem. I still use an old school high pressure gun.........40psi minimum. And, I'm using the same gun as you are. The HF gun is an excellent reproduction of the classic Binks gun, and it works great if you keep the leathers oiled, and all the needles clean.

I found the key to shooting a wet coat is allowing the previous coat to flash properly. You can't follow a wet coat too soon, or it WILL run. Let it flash out to a pretty tacky consistency.

First, a mist coat to get a good "tooth". Follow it with the first wet coat. Let it flash, then keep on piling the coats on allowing considerable flash time. I like THIN wet coats, and a lot of them. Final coat is almost 50% thinner after the base coats get a good chance to get UBER TACKY. The final, mostly thinner, coat allows the entire set of base coats to level beautifully. Every damn step is an opportunity for an ugly run. The only coat I like is the primer coat............it's idiot (Sammy) proof)

I live in OK, and water can be a problem. To get around this, I spray with a very long air line. The moisture condenses somewhere along the way to the gun, and stays in the low part of the air line. When I'm taking time to allow the paint to flash, I disconnect the gun, connect an air nozzle, and let the air run to get rid of the condensation.

When not spraying, I leave the gun in the shade, and shake it occasionally. As the day wears on, I add thinner to the paint in the gun to bring it down to what the original viscosity was. For original viscosity, I like to mix the paint to the consistency of milk. Fill the gun, and shake it, then take the cannister off to observe how the paint runs off the siphon tube. It should run like milk.

[Ron_J]

Thanks for the tips. Unfortunately I don't see the need to be doing any painting in the near future, So I will probably have to relearn it all over again.

Kind of the story of my life. Welding seems to be the same way...by the end of a project, the welds start to look pretty good. Then I don't use it again for a while and lose the feel.