I've been looking into spraying my new project the conventional way. Someone at work asked me "why not just use spray cans, the cost will
be about the same and if you buy 20 or 30 400ml cans you can get them fairly cheap, maybe £4.00 each"
So what about spraying with cans? Is the finish OK? Is the paint hard and durable enough?
The cost of paint, a spray gun and all the thinners and things adds up to a fair amount. I don't know the coverage of the cans but you could buy
a fair few for the same price, and they don't contain iso-cyanates.
I estimate 14 - 15 square metres of panel to cover. What do you think?
My mate did a Vauxhall Nova this way and looks pretty good, took a very long time though and lots of layers > rubbing > layers.
You can get a decent finish but is it worth the time and effort?
I’ve got really good at this now and can get better than factory finishes without much work. Actually very easy once you have got things in the write
order and always spray very light coats. I now use a lacquer finish all the time as it is far quicker and more durable than just the straight paint
finish. I sprayed the Falcons wings with cans, their about 11ft long and very curved. Got a mirror finish totally delighted, 2 cans or red primer, 3
cans of colour & 1 large can of lacquer per wing plus a few sheets of sand paper. Works out a damn site cheaper than the £1100 quote I got from a
body repair shop to spay the car! cheapest quote I ever got was £500 but even still I'm well cheaper than that too 
Btw, the finish is rock
hard and as good as a new car.
you need to use a good etch primer, then a filler primer before the colour primer. What colour is it going to be btw, I think metalic Purple would be
right up to date.
Don't sand the bare bodywork finer than 400 grade w&d otherwise the etch primer won't have a good key
You've done a great job btw, already looks very smart, nice styling
front of bodywork
[Edited on 10/2/09 by Mr Whippy]
do you not think this would be a trendy colour for the little car?? 
[Edited on 10/2/09 by Mr Whippy]
Rescued attachment 112.JPG
quote:
Originally posted by Mr Whippy
You've done a great job btw, already looks very smart, nice styling
i too think the fieta hot magenta looks great. is it the same colour purple that was used on the earlier model of fiesta?
my 200sx i had was pearlescent purple, very similar to the hot magenta colour. on dark overcast days the paint looked very dark, and dull, but on a
bright sunny day it looked amazong as all the pearlescent colours sparked though. it looked a completely different colour
The filler primer will fill any pin holes left in the surface, even then it may take a few coats. The etch primer is simply there to chemically bond
the primer to the GRP (I had to do this with the Falcons wings). Only ever use light coats, light meaning you don't actually fully coat it in one
pass.
It's worth spending plenty of time just getting the surface right as the subsequent coats are quite quick to do but rely totally on the finish of
the first. Once you have flattened the colour coat (metallic or not) it should have an even matt finish with no sanding marks, pinholes, patchiness
etc. If thats done then the lacquer will go on perfectly.
Wear latex gloves when ever you are spraying or handling cleaned panels. Don't worry about the gloss of the lacquer coats after spaying as they
will go shiny once dry, the more coats the shinier it gets. Its good fun really
[Edited on 10/2/09 by Mr Whippy]
"The colour was called Hot Magenta. Ford didn't intend it to become a production colour but pressure mounted and that's what
happened.
Creating it is complicated and involves a special kind of metallic base coat and a coloured, instead of clear, lacquer on
top. Getting it consistent enough for mass production was a challenge but it was met."
Perhaps I'll pass on this one for a first paint job.
Incidentally, publicity photos of this sort are a composite of many images. They light a certain detail of the car and shoot it, then light another
detail and shoot that. They then cut the bit they want from each photo and blend them together to make a very shiny publicity pic. A friend of mine
does it for a living and he showed me the before and after shots from a piece that he did. It is very clever.
[Edited on 10-2-2009 by smart51]
used cans for mine after the paint reacted and had to be stripped off, this has been durable and took some knocks in the garage.
[Edited on 10/2/09 by kj]
yep doable but will take long and more expensive. you may get splatter when the propellant is running low and/or drips.
... but all that means is more work it cutting it down with finer grades of wet'n'dry.
Once it starts dripping, it just puts you off. I bought a spray gun.
You'll need a decent mask/respirator. The paint is still toxic - just not as toxic as 2 pack. I made myself quite poorly by spraying in a
confined space a few years ago - it attacks your central nervous system.
quote:
Originally posted by Memphis Twin
You'll need a decent mask/respirator. The paint is still toxic - just not as toxic as 2 pack. I made myself quite poorly by spraying in a confined space a few years ago - it attacks your central nervous system.
It seems that most of the 300ml in a tin of spray paint is propellant. They claim that a can will cover 2 thin coats on 0.5 to 0.75 square metres. I'd need a million billion cans to paint the car. Conventional spray seems the way to go after all.
Also have to watch that some cans are slightly different colours than others.
Best bet is to just buy a cheap gun and rent a compressor/filter. Might be able to rent a spray booth too.