Paint and Body Fox Body Painting 101

Time for a new paint gun! This is a Sata minijet 4400. It’s the latest and greatest for smaller guns.
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I bought the green minijet in ‘96 and have used it consistently over the years. It works well still, but the new minijet works so much better. Technology seems to improve everything.
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For those that care, it has a 1.0 tip.
Greetings, what type of material are you spraying with a 1.0 tip?
 
Greetings, what type of material are you spraying with a 1.0 tip?
It’s pretty versatile, anything from base through clear.

It’s great for spraying primer over smaller repairs as well (1’x1’).

I was trying out a friends 4400 that has a 1.2 tip, it is a hoser, you got to be ready to move fast with that one.
 
I'm guessing you use a mini gun for mainly small repairs, spray-ins etc ?
Would they be good to use on a full panel like a hood or bumper ?
It’s just for smaller repairs like spotting in a repaired jamb and such. It gets into tight areas real easy.

minimal overspray compared to my full sized guns too.

This would suck like hell for a big panel, lol.
 
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Let’s talk pinholes.

Everyone gets pinholes in their bodywork, so, what’s a pinhole?

A pinhole is a void in your bondo that can be caused by various things like, Using old bondo that has dried a bit and is very thick, using an inappropriate amount of hardener for the environment, whipping the bondo and hardener together during mixing allowing air to combine in, etc...

You'll see the pinholes clearly when you spray your primer, you’ll have small holes in your primer that you’ll have to fill somehow.

What I want to show today is one way of filling those stinking little holes.

This is a product called 440 Express. It’s made by Evercoat. It’s a wonderful product designed for the small voids everyone gets. It’s not meant for the craters that you can see real easy, but for those little itty bitty suckers you don’t see until you spray primer over the bondo. For larger pinholes you should use a glaze. This product is too thin for the larger voids.
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So, let’s say you’ve finished doing the mud work and are ready to primer your vehicle. When I use this stuff, I prep the surrounding area with 320 and mask it first. No real reason to take these steps first, it’s just works for me. You could use the product before the panel prep and masking as well. It’ll look something like this, just in more of a mustang shape. :D
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Evercoat has fancy little sponges that they call applicators that you can pay extra for to “apply” this stuff if you want. They work very well, but I also found a clean paper towel applies it just as well. Which one’s cheaper? I’ll let you guess:ohoh:. So, put a little on the “applicator” and then you’re going to rub the f*ck out of your bodywork with this. Seriously, rub it into your bondo like you really like it, like it was getting ready to make you bacon and bring you a beer.
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So, rub a dub dub you get it all rubbed in. You want to be sure to go back over it with a clean cloth to remove any extra chunks you have on there. You should be able to feel the bodywork without any scrubs from the 440 express. This product doesn’t need any sanding.
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In the end it’ll look like this. The darker areas are tiny little pinholes that we’re filled with the 440.
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There you have it, get rid of them dang pinholes!
 
Interesting....it looks like it filled all the sand scratches from prepping the primer, but doesn't cause adhesion problems.
I wonder if this could be used as an extra insurance (probably not practical) to prevent sanding scratches from showing through
base coat ?
 
Interesting....it looks like it filled all the sand scratches from prepping the primer, but doesn't cause adhesion problems.
I wonder if this could be used as an extra insurance (probably not practical) to prevent sanding scratches from showing through
base coat ?
It does help with that unless your priming over 80 grit scratches that the idiot body man finished his work in. Then it’ll die back regardless to what you do outside of glazing it and blocking it with 180.

This isn’t a catalyzed filler though, so it dries and shrinks. But it is outstanding for very small scratches and voids.
 
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Dave, what's your opinion of Surefinish? I have a 90 7 Up car with paint ranging from okay to dull to dead. This was suggested as a polish to tide me over until I either sell or repaint.