For the DIY painters

[ir3333]

Have any of you guys tried the Astro Pneumatic EVOT-14 LVLP spray gun?

 

[mopowers]

I bought one to paint my '66 Dart. So far, I've only used it for the jams and trunk compartment, but it's performed well. I would never call myself a painter, but I think it turned out okay with the single stage solid color white I used. Since I've only ever used HF guns in the past, I don't really have a good frame of reference, so consider that. I did notice it produced a lot more overspray than the HF purple and green guns I've used in the past.

 

[rmchrgr]

Can I ask why you are looking at a LVLP gun?

For the trunk and engine bay of my Duster, I used the Astro EUROHV103 which is a HVLP with a 1.3 mm tip. It's what they had at the auto body supply store and they said it would be good for what I was doing. The gun was easy to work with and not real expensive, I think it was $100. I am a total novice and got good results with it. I do have a decent compressor though - a Champion 80 gal. so no problem with having enough pressure at a particular volume.

BTW, I used a single stage paint. EV2 is slightly metallic.

 

[ir3333]

5 hp 60 gal compressor and small shop...LVLP seems like a good fit. This will be my first paint job.
I plan on panel painting the '68 in single stage. I did my priming with an HVLP w/ 1.7 tip. You have to move
pretty quick with the 1.7 tip. Nice work mopowers..what pressure did you use...26/28 psi at the gun?

 

[mopowers]

Nice work mopowers..what pressure did you use...26/28 psi at the gun?

Thanks! To be honest, I don't recall exactly. I did have a regulator at the gun though and I want to say I end up spraying with it set around 25-ish psi (with the trigger pulled). I set it where it was spraying well and forgot to write down where it was.

 

[rmchrgr]

5 hp 60 gal compressor and small shop...LVLP seems like a good fit. This will be my first paint job.
I plan on panel painting the '68 in single stage. I did my priming with an HVLP w/ 1.7 tip. You have to move
pretty quick with the 1.7 tip. Nice work mopowers..what pressure did you use...26/28 psi at the gun?

I used my friend's primer gun with a 1.7 mm tip for the underside of my Duster. Stripped to bare metal and coated with PPG DP 90. Loosely replicated factory over spray. Came out awesome. Clean and smooth and won't fade due to UV exposure.

Here's the radiator support I painted.

 

[ir3333]

That looks great rmchrgr!
Thanks mopowers. Even though the instructions say19-21 psi i have seen videos that say about 26psi works best.
I have some old doors from a body shop to practice on.I'm gettin' close.

 

[harrisonm]

After working on it together for about 6 years, I painted my friend Mark's 56 Studebaker Power Hawk. I was going to use my Iwata Super Nova, but Mark wanted to try the new HF Black Widow spray gun. So he got one on sale for less than $200. It worked GREAT. I would highly recommend it. Here are a few pics of the results. This is Base clear, and the paint has not yet been polished in these pictures. I have since wet sanded and polished the clear, and it is like glass.
And by the way, the hood was really bad. It has no bracing underneath; just around the edges. We spent at least 40 hours getting it perfect.

 

[dmopar74]

I got an inokraft d1 lvlp, and it seems to like higher pressure around 40. I had to run 2 20g compressors in parallel just to kind of keep up. The biggest thing is practicing and experimenting, I had to paint my car three times and think I got the hang of what the gun wanted when I painted the hood, which was the last panel I painted. I highly suggest getting an extra hood or something to practice on till you get it right. I've seen beautifully paint jobs from a $10 purple gun and horrible ones from a $1000 gun, it just takes experience with the gun your using.