Earlex HVLP

[Sidney Rough-Diamond]

Hi all.

I have a few parts I'd like to paint. These are all non body work bits, such as suspension parts, fuel tank and several sets of wheels. Given that most places are looking at nearly £50 per wheel, the temptaion is to give it a go at home with one of these HVLP kits. I know it's not going to give pro results, but as this won't be body work, I guess you must be able to get a decent result for what is just a fuel tank ?
So has anyone got/used one and have any advice on using one ? I'm guessing that Cellulose paint is the only real option to use at home in the garage ?

 

[pedrobedro]

They don't just paint the wheels for £50 do they ? Round here they are blasted, any kerb damage repaired, and primed before spraying for that much. You can buy aerosol wheel paint for £2 a tin enough to do 4 wheels just to tart them up. I used an earlier model of the Earlex to do a whole car years ago and it was very efficient. The gun was dedicated to the unit on that one with a wide hose like a hoover pipe and the results are as good as anything you will get if you take your time and do the preparation. Cellulose or alkyd enamel type paint are both suitable for your purpose I would say, it depends how quick you want the stuff after you paint it.

 

[Sidney Rough-Diamond]

Hi, £50 is for a full job as you mention, but mine need next to no work other than the paint. I could maybe get it down to £40 for painting or around £35 to have the whole wheel blasted and powder coated. I also have the center parts of some BBS 3 part split rim wheels which need painting. These have been bead blasted and are ready for paint, but the local wheel place still wants full price even though they are ready to paint and half the area of a full wheel. It's not so much just for the wheel, I have a car that's just a bare shell to rebuild, so there would be a stack of parts that need paint.

 

[tux]

For parts that don't require a "show standard" finish, I'd say you have little to lose. As you say, fuel tanks and running gear etc need paint more for protection than aesthetics so go for it.
A couple of decent coats of celly or as pedrobedro says alkyd enamel is going to provide much better protection and finish than rattle cans.