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help: Painting the interior with 2K epoxy

flyingbeaver26

flyingbeaver26

Active Member
I can do anything with a little time, but under the tick-tock of epoxy paint kicking off, my first shot at painting interior parts with a 2-part epoxy paint was a blunder. My gun sputtered and parts have orange peel everywhere. Lots of sanding for 20 minutes of shotty painting. Is there any videos or set-up steps I can read/ watch? I'm new to this stuff and clearly need to read up a lot more before I proceed. Where should I be looking to gather this info? I have a harbor freight HPLV gun, but should I use a gravity fed version? what size nozzle?

Thank you.
 
Search YouTube and you will find lots of useful videos that demonstrate how to set up your gun to spray a nice pattern. Those cheap Harbor Freight HVLP guns will do a decent job on primer if you get it and the pressure adjusted right. I like to have a couple of them on hand and buy them for $9.99 with a coupon. Just toss when they get nasty.
 
flyingbeaver26 said:
I can do anything with a little time, but under the tick-tock of epoxy paint kicking off, my first shot at painting interior parts with a 2-part epoxy paint was a blunder. My gun sputtered and parts have orange peel everywhere. Lots of sanding for 20 minutes of shotty painting. Is there any videos or set-up steps I can read/ watch? I'm new to this stuff and clearly need to read up a lot more before I proceed. Where should I be looking to gather this info? I have a harbor freight HPLV gun, but should I use a gravity fed version? what size nozzle?

Thank you.
Click to expand...

The HF guns work fine. What you need to do is sacrifice $20 in primer on test spraying before you spray parts with a new material. That $20 investment will save you a lot of money and hassle later.

The normal recommendation is to go to an auto junkyard and buy an old fender to practice on. If you don't wanna do that, any of your home construction stores will have aluminum flashing you can bend into different shapes and practice on.

There are several big variables to master in gun set-up. Fluid control, air control, spray pattern, air pressure, and material viscosity. Personally, I thin epoxy about 10% to make it less viscous.

Google HVLP gun setup and you'll get some good stuff. There are a couple of Eastwood videos that are helpful and brief.
 
HVLP

No tips on the paint but a couple on an HVLP gun.
I too prefer paint thin.
You need a good regulator at the gun along with a water/oil separator. HF plastic disposable one works ok. I prefer an RTI mini regulator. Set it up so the regulator is closest to the gun.
Use the biggest hose you can. It's High Volume Low Pressure. Run full pressure to the gun filter/regulator
Try 22 psi at the gun regulator
Start at manufacturer recomendation for flow. Probably 1 turn out from seated.
Same with fan.
Experiment with junk parts.
Try the disposable cup systems. Very nice.
 
Also, consider base coat and lacquer.

The base goes on as a 1k thinned product which dries quickly, can be re coated so you are happy with colour density, then choose either a matt, semi matt or gloss 2k lacquer and shoot over.

Advantages - the lacquer sprays super easily, you can recoat where you need and the colour underneath is really dense.

Disadvantages - another process, takes longer.

Having sprayed 4 interiors now, I will be using base and clear every time, both inside and outside. After all, that's what the auto industry has used for years and years.
 
Mike,
I'm intrigued with your advice. I'm currently using a 2-part Imron 2K epoxy paint. Its hard as nails, single coat, but also $100 a pint. So practice with it is $$$. Is the base coat and the clear coat both 2-part paints? But this, I'm asking do you mix them with an activator and a reducer? For both the base and he clear?

What brand names would you suggest for this type of paint? Using a clear will be good when I get to my panels and want o seal in the "rub-on" decals.


Also, I watched about 4 hours of youtube last night to educate myself. Tonight I ordered a new gune wih a 1.4 mm zozzle with a gravity feed. My current Harbor Freight gun is 2.5 mm and the paint can is slung below which is cusing issues I believe.

I've only painted my two seat backs at this point and could consider changing paint materials.


mike newall said:
Also, consider base coat and lacquer.

The base goes on as a 1k thinned product which dries quickly, can be re coated so you are happy with colour density, then choose either a matt, semi matt or gloss 2k lacquer and shoot over.

Advantages - the lacquer sprays super easily, you can recoat where you need and the colour underneath is really dense.

Disadvantages - another process, takes longer.

Having sprayed 4 interiors now, I will be using base and clear every time, both inside and outside. After all, that's what the auto industry has used for years and years.
Click to expand...
 
flyingbeaver26 said:
I can do anything with a little time, but under the tick-tock of epoxy paint kicking off, my first shot at painting interior parts with a 2-part epoxy paint was a blunder. My gun sputtered and parts have orange peel everywhere. Lots of sanding for 20 minutes of shotty painting. Is there any videos or set-up steps I can read/ watch? I'm new to this stuff and clearly need to read up a lot more before I proceed. Where should I be looking to gather this info? I have a harbor freight HPLV gun, but should I use a gravity fed version? what size nozzle?

Thank you.
Click to expand...

I am no expert on paint but I have sprayed many of gallons of epoxy, 2k primer, base and clear. I would advise a small tip with epoxy ( in the range of a 1.2-1.4) and turn the fluid nozzle in almost all the way. When I spray epoxy I induce for 30 minutes minimum and have induced over night on occasion. I spray with a data jet 500b-rp (reduces pressure) with a 1.4 tip and I start with the fluid nozzle 1 turn out and the fan wide open. Pressure is around 25 psi and I adjust until I do not see stripes on the top and bottom edge of the fan pattern. Make sure you have a minimum of 65* in your shop before playing with any epoxy.

For base coat I spray pretty dry and I spray multiple coats. I do not spray a ?wet coat? I spray it just to the point of wet and then I let it flash for 30 minutes. I also activate all base coat. Activated base with be more tolerable to repairs and heavy solvents in the future. Yes it has ISo?s But for repair factor it is worth it in my book. Base coats are very UV sensitive. The cheaper the base the less solids or pigment it has in suspension.

Clear coat I only mix what I am going to or can spray in the allotted pot life time. Base is your UV protection for the base coat and I now always use a high solid clear. High solid clears are much harder to spray with a factory orange peel finish but they have more solids that are harder to get flowing. I have sprayed cheap clear and they will look like a million bucks with minimal effort but they do not have the UV inhibitors or the solids.

I have to say I have never sprayed an airplane as I have only done old vehicles. This is not an advertisement but I have had great success with Southern Pulyurethanes or SPI. I have used their epoxy (the only epoxy I use), base and clear. I have used their universal and euro clear multiple times. The euro is easier to spray but the euro is pretty darn nice. The bonus about SPI is that the product is cost effective, the tech support is 24/7 and the shipping is unruly fast. They stand by their product.


That said I have been thinking about using duke sikkens epoxy when I finally get a decision as to what I would like to build. The reason I would use sikkens is that is has been proven in aviation. I will only use it internally as I would use SPI in all exterior surfaces with sikkens base and SPI universal clear.

Again I am no expert and not a professional but this is what I would do
 
flyingbeaver26 said:
Mike,
I'm intrigued with your advice. I'm currently using a 2-part Imron 2K epoxy paint. Its hard as nails, single coat, but also $100 a pint. So practice with it is $$$. Is the base coat and the clear coat both 2-part paints? But this, I'm asking do you mix them with an activator and a reducer? For both the base and he clear?

What brand names would you suggest for this type of paint? Using a clear will be good when I get to my panels and want o seal in the "rub-on" decals.


Also, I watched about 4 hours of youtube last night to educate myself. Tonight I ordered a new gune wih a 1.4 mm zozzle with a gravity feed. My current Harbor Freight gun is 2.5 mm and the paint can is slung below which is cusing issues I believe.

I've only painted my two seat backs at this point and could consider changing paint materials.
Click to expand...

A top feed 1.4mm nozzle is fine.

The base colour is a single part paint, thinned down to suit. YouTube is your friend here and you will glean lots of hints and tips.

The topcoat is normal 2k paint, just without any tints and pigment. This makes it easier to shoot, you can overcoat and buff up or flat back later. The heavily pigmented 2k paints can be tricky, especially white - you think you don't have enough on..... shoot another coat and it runs. Doh !

The base coat colour is as easy to shoot as ordinary primer.

Brand names - search your local auto paint shops. I am in UK, so our brands tend to be different.
 
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