Spencer

That gun will treat you well, how much for tips? cup should be nothing.

Sweet good work. The solvents in nail polish are usually acetone or even isopropyl and usually pretty mild. Wax and grease remover will do the same thing with a much lower cost per litre. Pretty much if things wont come off paint after trying soap then you move from mildest solvent through to stronger ones, clay bar can also be a life saver to mechanically remove contaminants. There is no other magic products for the job, just soaps, solvents and mechanically removing it. Other cleaning products may use acids or abrasives but you don't want these near paint obviously.

If the paint is stained after a good cut and polish is probably in order.

Just start with a mild solvent like wax and grease remover and move to more aggressive if you need. Common single part super glue melts pretty easy. Acetone is fairly serious and will damage/stain some paint so start mild and your your way up. The clear on those is pretty hearty and should be fine though, a clay bar lubed with wax and grease can do wonders for the last stubborn bits.

Its tough, not all $150 guns are created equal. The sweet spot is buy overseas and spend like $400. My mate gummed up my good gun and it needed some parts so I painted my tailgate with a $40 bunnings Ozito gun, It was a pile of shit but I spent the time and got the clear laying down as flat as I could on a test piece, came out OK (still needs a colour sand, but hey). Because how thin basecoat is it lays that shit down like glass. I think once you have learned all the variables that go into getting a smooth finish then the gun is the finishing touch to make a real good job. Most DIY guys (me) will spend their first couple paint jobs spraying the clear too think or no idea what pressure to run, you kind of follow the data sheet and wing it. You need to just test, test, test and use that feedback to get it right, the setup takes ages to do this testing so most people don;t do it.

What have you used in the past? just use that? you can paint almost anything over that epoxy you have. I'll guess 1. You can paint over that high build no prob. Most poeple use a surfacer to change colour to suit the base, some people use a epoxy surfacer as a "sealer". Just bang it on the high-build, that shit wont shrink etc and is generally the shit. You won't get a straight answer here from a shop or salesman. 2. Who really cares if there is a better base coat, it will be great. The base just looks pretty, as long as it sticks its good. (kinda) 3.Standard clear will be fine, most systems have several clears for different types of jobs usually made for production style body shops (high volume panel beaters are their main audience after OEM's) Read the datasheets dog.

Not much they could do, they had to have a % of local products in the cars to be able to sell them.

Order online and wait? I end up doing that for lots of shit because most retailers don't put any effort in.

All the way.

If you rinse and repeat that method you can deal to some pretty heavy corrosion on chassis and things (you can wire wheel first). Just takes lots of acid and elbow grease. For remove able panels with no real seams you can immerse them in diluted acid for excellent results. Great for bolts and shit, just not hardened ones or spring steel, they will fuck out.

Most instructions say to paint over the pickled acid, I don't agree, it's yuck. It only works if you apply it perfect and you get a nice even dull grey steel from the acid (slow acting ones like vinager and critic do this better) best to convert then sand it back.

Sorry what I meant man was use wax and grease remover (a mild solvent, buy lots if you are painting a bit) if you get a little container of it and dip a green scotch brite in it and polish the panel it will really make the metal glow shiny and white before paint. After you use phosphoric acid you usually get left with a pickled surface, bit of white acid and some black converted rust. I find its best for adhesion if you really polish it up after, you may have to use the converter again if you find you there is still rust around after you clean it up, that's normal.

I don't know what it is but I would bare metal it.

You'll be fine man, the differences between brands/types are subtle. Some sand better, some lay down smoother (well easier to get smooth). If there are differences in adhesion etc you won't ever notice once you have 10 other coats of shit on there, it will stick well if its a actual brand. The only bad side to phosphoric acid is that you don;t want it trapped in seams, where it can reactivate and cause rust when water gets in. Otherwise don;t be scared to wash it with fuck loads of water (if its a exterior panel) don't let the product dry on the panel (keep applying if needed). The rust will vanish, just rub it down like crazy with scotch brite(with wax and grease as lube) after, you want the panel to be clean white steel before paint. Its a great method, no real draw backs, don;t use it on hardened steel.

Do that, get a 4L kit with thinners. Buy some bulk wax and grease & gun-wash while you are there (its much more economical in 20L lots, always gets used)

Go to bunnings and buy some phosphoric acid (its cheaper elsewhere but bunnings is easy) its called Rannex. Rub it in with some scotch brite and let it work for 10min, clean with water to nuetralise then I rub it down with wax and grease and a green scotch brite. Should end up with clean white steel good for epoxy. For epoxy maybe just visit a few paint stores and get prices. If you have a Protec supplier in your area they should be close to the cheapest (but still a good entry level brand, owned by PPG)

So lush man.

Its also worth while to spend a bit extra and get something that can data-log against RPM and a couple other things. Much easier than watching a gauge and guessing.

So the normal method that many car resto places will use is epoxy on bare metal, block and do bog work on this, seal bog work with epoxy. Then next step is 2K urethane primer, it sands better than epoxy, lays down flatter with my small gun (IMO) and builds thickness better (again IMO), its cheaper here also (maybe by like $20-30) it also has the same excellent adhesion and non-shrink properties of epoxy (when applied to the correct surface). Pretty sure it is also designed to be the layer you paint base coat on where as that particular epoxy you have is designed as a industrial metal coating (although I use it like you in engine bays etc wet on wet). Although the last few I have done I bought a more expensive epoxy that is made for wet coating and it worked better than being a jew and getting the cheapest (that epotec is like $120 for a kit here). I have done 3 cars so far (Buick could almost count as 2 lol) , done countless engine bays and other bits and pieces though. 2k urethane primer is pretty standard fare, it sands so much better and also fills better. I also like having the green under layer when doing my block work as a guide. I imagine your painter will want to put his own surfacer/primer before he paints anyway? probably just a wet sealer coat?

Na its all good man, it will be that epoxy. I was meaning urethane 2K primer, sands like a baws and lays down flatter, I use 1.4mm and can cheese it on. It is the normal thing you lay down after epoxy for blocking. That green stuff sands pretty shit (I still do initial block in it), use like half the sand paper using urethane and its cheaper. Not being a dick, everything you have done is spot on, it just makes things easier next car lol

You mean that green epoxy? or you have a 2k urethane primer that is the same green?

Dude you are putting on a crazy pace, have a rest. I would need a new back and forearms by now. Why you no use high fill 2K primer? so much better to sand and obviously fill.

Have your arms fallen off yet?

You only get a few weeks/months in NZ to test the car out on real hot days so it's good you found that out Alex. You should dump that hot fuel back to the tank for sure. I also think a cooler on the return is a excellent idea, something I will do on any EFI installs in the future as I have had hot fuel issues in the past.

Man everyone trys to use the wrong gas to save on bottles/cash, just buy the right gas for the welding method and it works better.