Baja Car painting and Rust prevention

Hi guys,

I was looking into getting a compressed air paint gun setup, similar to what is used in automotive body shops.  I have an idea of what I need, but was wondering if people had any suggestions of what gear they use for painting their car, or perhaps any products to avoid. 

Thanks,
Adam

Another thing to look for is companies nearby that make parts which are powdercoated from the factory. We had an offer once to just hang stuff on a line that was going through the powdercoater. Granted, you dont get a choice in color that way, but its free  

I too worked in an autobody shop. Try and use a self etching primer for getting better adhesion to the metal and for even color. so get a spray gun that can spray primers or base coats. If you want to paint this thing fast get a spray gun for clears. it lays the coats on pretty fast.

Make friends with a body shop in town.  We found a shop this year that is willing to donate any color paint they can mix, booth time, and all the professional help and advice we can stand.

I agree with most in saying that I would search for a body shop or powdercoater to do it for you.  We get all of our powdercoat and anodizing work done for free.  We just prep the parts and tag them with the process and color we want done on each.

You can definitely learn how to shoot it yourself and do a great job but why invest the time and money if you can find someone to do it for ya?

That being said, in 2008 our body panels were rattle canned.  We(me) were concerned with how the powdercoat would do on the thin, flexible aluminum body panels so we prepped, primed(rattle can), and painted(rattle can).  It's really cheap to do it that way and it can come out looking nice if you take your time with prep and spray it like you care about what it looks like.

Last year, we got everything powdercoated or anodized including powdercoat on the body panels.  It works great.  I am a big fan of PC.

Originally posted by tp I agree with the powdercoating as well. It's pretty easy to find a local custom shop that you can get interested in Baja. We were able to get all our stuff done for free. It holds up way longer than any paint job and looks nicer for a lot longer. A lot of times if you are willing to wait, you can get other colors besides black (like orange ). If you know how to rattle can, you can get it to last for a race. There is plenty of last minute stuff we do that you'd never be able to tell until after the race when its been beat to hell.

You will have to wait and see its in the works with some sponsors right now

for sure.