Paint and Body Fox Body Painting 101

Dave, can I use a two part type epoxy (like pba) to repair some damage /scrapes and a little cracking on a fiberglass bed?
Kind of. I wouldn’t though.

Cracks will need a regular fg repair.

Fg is just a pita, you’ll have to accept it. There aren’t really any good shortcuts.
 
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Ok, follow up on the cordless buffer.

It took a little to get used to at first. I was so used to having a chord to balance the buffer that it felt kind of awkward at first. This said, I can say now that I’m used to it, I absolutely love it. I can take it anywhere and not have to deal with the hassle of a chord. Excellent.:banana:

I bought an additional battery, I went aftermarket. It cost just a little over a third of the cost of a dewalt battery.:nonono: I also got an aftermarket dual battery charger, it was slightly less than half the cost of the dewalt.

Let me tell you, both of them work great. I don’t notice any difference between the dewalt batteries and the aftermarket one. They have roughly the same run time and charge time.

The charger charges seemingly just as quick as the single dewalt charger that came with the buffer.

So nothing crappy to say about the cheap stuff.

If you use a buffer regularly, you’ll want a third battery. I haven’t had a day that I completely used up the third battery. It came close once or twice that had me thinking four would be a better number though.

On the painting front, I paid off the first Sata 5500’s and mini jet. So I bought one more 5500. This completes my set of guns I use for daily painting. The price came down $75 for my newest gun. It cost me $875. It has the 1.3I tip. It will be my new pearl/metallic gun.
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Hopefully these will be my retirement guns. I intend to paint till I’m roughly 72ish. So 14 years. Sata’s are quality enough to make it.:nice:
 
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@Davedacarpainter, Let's say I was foolish enough to consider painting something like a decklid or fender, what would be your suggestion for a decent spray gun for a novice?
The best way to get a good gun is to go on eBay and buy a good used one.

Paint your car, clean up the gun and sell it for about what you paid for it.

It’s hard for me to recommend something from say, HF. They really are crap guns.
You get what you pay for. That’s why I recommend the eBay route and get a good gun you can turn around and sell.

Brands? Sata, iowata, some devilbiss.
 
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The best way to get a good gun is to go on eBay and buy a good used one.

Paint your car, clean up the gun and sell it for about what you paid for it.

It’s hard for me to recommend something from say, HF. They really are crap guns.
You get what you pay for. That’s why I recommend the eBay route and get a good gun you can turn around and sell.

Brands? Sata, iowata, some devilbiss.
Would a Sata 5500 work?
 
I'm a total novice so keep that in mind, but I have successfully painted hoods, fenders , bumpers , ground effects etc.
I've gotten some really good results using a Finex Sharpe FX3000 w/1.4 tip , used for basecoat and clear.
Like I said just a hobbyist but for the money I can't complain.
Amazon product ASIN B00US4LO4EView: https://www.amazon.com/Sharpe-FINEX-FX3000-1-4MM-SHA-288880/dp/B00US4LO4E
Sharpe makes some ok guns. I still hold to my earlier advice though. In the end you end up with a decent paint job and get your money back on the gun

A 1.4 tip is good for heavier viscosity materials like clear coats. I would recommend a 1.3 for things like base coats and even sealers.
 
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