Mad Dirt In My Paint!!!

I haven't taken any pictures yet because I just got done painting half my truck (bed, fenders, and doors) but I am sick and tired of all the damn dirt my paint jobs attract. This is the 3rd vehicle I have painted with a lot of misc. parts here and there. I do a decent job for my age on body work and painting, but I think my problem is I do my body work in the same shop I do my paint. No matter what I do how hard I try I end up with a SHIAT LOAD OF DIRT!!!! I dont even know if I'll be able to buff it all out, it's not a show job but just something I wanted to be proud about, now I have to spend a week buffing this...

I cleaned my entire gauge (dont have water out there so I was unable to wash it down) I wiped down my gun before use, my air hose and all the rafters I have my parts hung from. I have two side windows, the wind comes in from the right and out the left (making it like a draft system)

On top of having dirt in my paint job, my first few coats seemed to be acting like I had oil all over my parts. The paint would run around some areas acting like it wouldnt adhear. I used CrossFire products (I know napa crap is CRAP) but I used grease and oil remover, then tacked everything. I changed my water seperator (at the gun) to one that was more expensive (has cyrstal like things in it) I dont know if that had something in it or the cleaner I used cause it, but I went back to my old style water seperator and it all worked out.

So now I shared my expeirence, does anyone else paint out of their same shop as they do body work? Have any of you all had these things happen? Seems like I attract problems...

your first problim is doing it in your garage using you windows as a side draft when the wind blows all that shit is coming in the windows right on your truck close the windows and open the big door and put filters across the bottom and open the side door if you have one and put a box fan or two there to make a side draft make shift booth i dont paint in my garage i use a booth so thats all i can really help you with

do you have an oil seperator to? also what pressure are you spraying your basecoat?

Edited: 5/21/2008 6:15:48 PM by Maz2low

Do not bring age into bodywork skills .

I have never been a fan of those tack wrags a little to much pressure and you will leave some oil on your panel that is about to be sprayed which most likely caused your Oil problem . I usually like to use the alcohol based wipes .

I sprayed my blue truck in my profile in a shop the same spot I did my bodywork . It is all on how you clean the place before spraying . I will clean the shop out with water 2-3 times before I spray . I will then wet the complete floor to stop any dirt I missed from moving while spraying .

Opening two doors to draft through is asking for dirt all over your painted pieces .

Mistakes will always happen , Are you using a base/Clear or a Single Stage . I always recommend a Base/Clear for garage sprayers If you have any question feel free to send me an IM only have a couple of posts left this month

another tip... get a paint suit... it deffinatly keeps down dust... but if that not possible... keep a clean set of cloths and put on b4 spraying.... somthing that small makes big difference

Bro i have my own custom paint business and do show quality stuff in my garage so its not that.
it could be a number of things when you do the body work do you make sure to go around the entire truck with a air nossel and blow every crack and crevise out because if you dont each time you pass with the gun w/ air and paint its going to losen that dirt then blow every where.
The spots that dont seem to take to the paint can be caused by temperature or even if you use wax and grease remover it can still cause "fish eyes". Also this could have to do with the paint you are using. Go to your local Paint Supply shop and look into Single Stage Paint such as Omni or Centuri there really cost mild quality but cheap!
Im not sure what gun your using but go to a Auto BOdy Paint Supply shop and get some "Disposable inline air filters" they go at the base of your spray-gun they are orange and look like a ball with air fittings at each end.
Good luck bro

Might be the prep work, because me and my dad do all the body work and paint in the same garage, barely any dirt. We blow off the vehicle, wax/grease, wait till its completely dry, then tack rage it

Okay, the gun I have is a MAC TOOLS gravity feed, pressure at the compressor is 140 and my water/oil seperator (which I paid almost 500 for so I'm hoping it's one of the best) is showing 90, my gun has 40-50 psi. I dont have water so I didnt get wet the flow down, I didnt get to REALLY get the shop super clean. I think all my problem started when I opened the side windows and had large amount of wind coming from one side causing what dust on the rafters and such to fall onto my work... I do have a disposable inline filter by the way. I'm using basecoat/clear coat crossfire (napa paint)

I wasnt bringing age into body work, just saying I'm 18 and I dont have a father, so I've tought myself everything from welding, body work, and painting (well still trying to learn that one! haha) I started when I was 13 on a 1991 cavalier, now I have body dropped two toyotas and bagged a ranger...

I'm going to go take a snap shot of the dirt, maybe you all can tell me whether I can buff this out or not....

go to walmart, get you a couple of those $2 sheets of plastic from around the spray paint and some duct tape. trape some of that down your walls and over head, i do that in my garage and it helped alot. I found alot of my dirt came from the walls and the ceiling (which is all fiberglass insilation for me). I also use a pump spray jug and wet the floor.

ok now thats 1 of your problems. Your spray gun should be 8-10 psi at the aircap....So roughly 30 psi into the gun. Every gun is differnt. My sata requires 29psi into it, to obtain 8-10 psi at the aircap.

If your spraying it too high your going to disturb more stuff. I also love single stage paints for garage use. By the time youve sprayed your first coat, anything you have disturbed will be stuck down to the paper, and floor, and you can bury over it with your second coat. With base clear, you have 3 coats of colour to stir up dirt, then 2 of clear, to stir crap up.

As for your dirt, unless its big ass rocks, you should be able to rub it out. Cut it real good with some p800 grit wet, 1000, 1500 then take it down to 2000, then compound it. Ive seen some real bad dirt, orange peel jobs, that come out fine.

-Brad