Car painting is an art and professional technique of work. Whether you yourself paint the car or get it painted, both are mechanical procedures. For doing good painting work, you need many hours to prepare the body of the car for the actual work.
It is often thought that car painting is a single-step process which is a wrong notion. It is a multi-step process that ultimately leads up to the actual process of painting a car.
For this purpose, the painter should have professional skills, good knowledge of work, patience, and the proper equipment for painting.
What Type Of Material Is Required To Paint A Car?
Whether you want to paint your car just for the change of color or your vehicle actually needs painting due to dusting, rusting, or spoiling the previous color.
In order to paint your car properly, you always need some necessary materials like;
- A power sander
- A paint sprayer
- Sanding pads
- An air compressor
- A cleaning solvent
- Enamel
- Newspaper
- Masking tape
- Paint thinner
- Primer
- Safety glasses
- A face mask
- A clear coat of lacquer
- And a rag, etc.
How The HVLP Spray Gun Is Helpful To Paint A Car?
The painting job requires a lot of time, techniques, and patience. Selection of the proper equipment makes your job easy and gives professional look to your work.
With many other tools and techniques, the use of the HVLP Spray Gun is a widely accepted way to paint a car.
It is very popular and preferred over other traditional techniques like siphon feed spray guns. The HVLP spray Gun enables you to paint a complete body of a car easily and speedily.
The HVLP Spray Gun is a very unique tool for painting work. In the modern world today, where industries are manufacturing a large number of vehicles for which painting work is necessary.
The traditional and conventional ways of painting those vehicles don’t work. So HVLP Spray Gun does the job with great efficacy.
Some pre-painting and important instructions
When you want to paint a car with HVLP Spray Gun, there are some important considerations before starting the actual work.
- #1: Collect all the supplies you need for the work as mentioned above.
- #2: The amount of paint you are going to spray depends on the car size and areas requiring paint. For small-sized cars, it is recommended 1 gallon of primer, 2-3 gallons of your clear coat, and 3 gallons of topcoat. For large-sized vehicles, you need at least 1 ½ gallons of primer, 3-4 gallons of clear coat, and 4 gallons of topcoat.
- #3: If the body of your car is too damaged, first cut off the damaged part and weld it adding the new piece of material.
- #4: If the body of your car is just broken, then weld it and grind it in a nice way.
- #5: If there are more rusting or dents on the body of your car, treat the rusty spots first and trim them to make sure that it is properly ready for paint.
- #6: Choose the type and color of paint you want to apply; it is waterborne or solvent-borne because they are treated separately.
- #7: It is a time-consuming and tough job, so choose the weekend or a few more days for the work.
- #8: Choose the workplace where you want to paint a car with HVLP Spray Gun. It should be free from dust, dirt, and debris. The covered shed is preferred for performing the job.
- #9: The workplace must be well-lit and well-ventilated. The supply of electricity must be ensured.
- #10: Don’t choose the residential garages as the fire-catching material may be there which is very dangerous.
- #11: The painting station should be cleaned neatly and there should be any dangerous things around.
- #12: If you paint your car with HVLP Spray Gun outside in the open sky, make sure the weather is conducive and supportive or not.
- #13: Don’t do the painting work under trees otherwise dust mixing with water may disturb you or birds’ excretion damage the paint.
How To Paint A Car With An HVLP Spray Gun Step By Step?
#1. Sanding The Surface
First of all, make the surface even and smooth for the paint. So sand your car in a circular motion to bare the metal for primer and make it ready for a new coat of paint.
#3. Clean The Surface
Use a rag, alcohol, or mineral spirits to wipe down the surfaces of your car thoroughly.
If there are some oil residues, try to remove them and make them ready for painting.
#4. Taping The Surfaces
If you want to leave some part of the car unpainted, use a newspaper or masking tape to cover the surface like window trim, glass, door handles grills, and mirrors.
#5. Prime The Surface
When you sanded down your car to the exposed metal, use a self-etching primer to the surface and make it ready for further coating. Removing the rust makes it smooth to apply the primer to the areas you want to paint.
#6. Sanding The Surface Once More
Before spraying the paint coating with an HVLP spray gun, sand the primed surface once more so that the extra priming material may be scratched exposing the metal surface again for the paint coating.
#7. Wiping Down The Surface
Now clean the primed surfaces with a thinner or rag to remove all the unnecessary material from the surface.
#8. Painting The Surface With HVLP Spray Gun
When everything is done and the surface is ready for painting coat, prepare the paint to spray with an HVLP spray gun.
#9. Using The HVLP Spray Gun Technique
Hold the spray gun just about 6 inches away from your car’s surface, use it moving side to side, and spray paint in thin and flat coats.
Normally, you need 3 to 4 coats to cover the surface completely. But before every coat, make sure of the drying time of the previous coat. It may take almost 30 minutes to an hour.
#10. Final Sanding And Wiping
Before spraying for the last time or applying the last coat, try to sand the surfaces once more so that the powdery residue should be removed. After this, wipe neatly with a clean rag.
#11. Applying The Lacquer
When all is done successfully, now spray a coated lacquer to make it shining, glittering, and eye-catching. It should be handled most carefully with the professional painting technique.
#12. Removing The Masking Tape
Now, remove the masking tape when the last clear coat is wet, and let the last coat dry positively following the instructions of the manufacturer.
#13. Buffing The Work
Now clean all the material mistakenly over sprayed or smudges on the surface if lying somewhere.
If you want more information about how to paint a car with the hvlp spray gun then watch below video! It will enhance your information about this topic; let’s watch!
Precautionary Measures
- #1: Choose the right place for painting away from ignition material
- #2: Make sure the cleanliness of the area of working
- #3: Take all necessary equipment before starting the actual work
- #4: Wear the face-saving mask to prevent the paint from entering the mouth
- #5: Wear glasses to protect your eyes and a cap to cover your head
- #6: Use fully covered shoes and tight clothes to avoid mistakes and ultimate damage
- #7: Keep the HVLP spray gun 6 inches away from the surface.
- #8: Clean the gun every time you start the work
Frequently Asked Questions
Can The Cars Be Painted At Home Or Not?
Yes, of course, the cars can be painted at home. But you must have professional skills and knowledge of the work.
Can Other Tools Be Used To Paint A Car Other Than The HVLP Spray Gun?
Yes, many other tools like the brush technique and siphon feed spray gun can be used to paint a car rather than the HVLP spray gun.
Is Sanding Necessary Before Painting The Coat?
Yes, it is necessary because the painting coat doesn’t grip the surface unless it is made smooth and rough. So first sand or rag it to paint nicely.
What Is The Difference Between Polishing And Buffing?
The finishing process of painting that uses rough belts is polishing and the process of using cloth wheels is buffing. The former generates a lined finish and the latter removes lines to make it bright.
All In Nutshell
In light of the above discussion, you can conclude the need and importance of painting work. If you want to make your vehicle beautiful and attractive you should know the art of painting.
In this technological era, many techniques are used for the purpose of all big and small industries. So painting a car with an HVLP spray gun is a very common and easy way of working perfectly and nicely.
