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Wagner Power Painter to Paint a Car?

50K views 44 replies 26 participants last post by  nekkidhillbilly 
#1 ·
Ok, this may seem crazy but is there a good reason why I shouldnt use a Wagner Power Sprayer to paint a car? Hey now, dont laugh right away. They make some pretty nice ones. We sell a middle of the road one where I work that puts out 1300psi and has multiple speeds and spraying paterns. I know it wont do the best job, but would it probably turn out better than Macco? I am trained in paint and body, but I have no access to an air compressor nor do I have power in my garage to use one with.
 
#4 ·
I used to work for Wagner, so I know what you want and need. The lower end cup guns will do the job if set up properly.
1.Find a Fan pattern or V pattern nozzle if you cannot a small diameter nozzle.
2.They make a Swirl valve for petroleum based products, you MUST use one of these.
3.Solid colors are the easiest to spray and less likely to blush,zebra stripe or mottle.
4.All components need to be cleaned before you start mixing paint.
5.PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE
When I worked there I used to paint cartoons on the side of a building they owned. I also worked in R&D testing all types of materials to spray.
 
#6 ·
Skip any of the guns with electronics, you don't need it. The low end guns will work the best as they have a smaller motor. The smaller motor and tip will help you keep from running paint. Solid colors will work best and plan on wet sanding. You will need masks and ect, they will create overspray. Biggest thing is practice!
 
#7 ·
but I have no access to an air compressor nor do I have power in my garage to use one with.
If you don't have power for an air compressor, how do you have power for a paint sprayer?

I would think that by the time you buy a power painter and the tips to go with it, you could rent a 3-5 HP compressor and a gun for the weekend and do the job (semi) correctly.

Several years ago, a friend of mine thought he would paint his old 4x4 with a Wagner...he mixed up his whole gallon of paint with hardner and accelerator, clipped on the "suck from the gallon can" attachment and painted for about 3 minutes before the gun seized up...spent about 15 minutes cleaning and another 2 painting before it seized again. About that time, the whole gallon of paint went ballistic because of the heat generated by the hardner/accelerator. Not a pretty sight!

I know he probably didn't have the proper parts in the gun. I also know they make parts for latex and parts for oil based paints but (maybe daveseitz knows) do the parts for oil based paints stand up to the hotter solvents like xylene and toluene found in automotive paints?

If it were me, I would say why not do a decent job to start with and spend the time with the details instead of on getting the paint to look "OK".
 
#8 ·
I'd have to run any power off an extention cord. Before we moved into this house the power to the garage was cut by a lawnmower and the land lord refuses to fix it and says that we are not allowed to fix it. I would'nt feel safe running an air compressor off a 100ft extention cord.
 
#10 ·
I agree on using the gas powered compressor, that is what I used for years when painting cars. The gas powered ones recover faster and can keep up better than similarly sized electrics. I have an emglo 5hp and it worked great for painting.
 
#13 ·
Originally posted by Moloko:
Im painting my Daytona. My friend can get me free PPG paints, so I figured it might be worth trying myself, if I screw up I'll strip it down again and take it to Macco and use the powerpainter to paint my garage.
If you get free PPG paint, why not do as others suggest and rent a gas compressor and do it right? Its not like you are having any cash outlay on materials, right? I've seen a Wagner painted vehicle and it SUCKED. IMHO, even with the "proper" setup with a Power painter, it still wouldnt be as good as a half assed REAL spray gun job.
 
#15 ·
but would it probably turn out better than Macco?
I have seen a few cars up close that were painted at Maaco-type shops (competitors)... There were not that bad...

In fact, I had a 66 El Camino, that place 2nd in its class (out of about 15-20 cars) with a $350 paint job, and that cost included painting the stock wheels, bed and door jambs (okay, it was 10 years ago)...

But with proper prep on your part, I think you can get a decent job from these places...

As for the compressor, gas is a good choice, but why the worry about the extention cord? Buy some HD Romex, etc and some ends and make your own Heavy Duty cord... I'd figure which compressor you'd rather have in the future (when you do have the proper electrical), and think about that one...
 
#16 ·
I cant re-wire the garage, the landlord wont let me. All that it would take to fix it is 3 wire nuts and a water proof box. the wires were just cut where they come out of the in-ground conduit and into the garage. The garage is fully wired with circuit breakers and metal conduit.
 
#17 ·
Around here they have laws about landlords repairing electrical problems. You might want to check into that.

Tell him to either let you spend the $5 and fix it yourself, or you'll hire a licensed electrician and send him the bill or deduct it from the rent.

In fact, even if you spend the $5 or so on the box and wire-nuts, deduct the cost and a little for your labor from your rent (for your kindness in not hiring an expensive licensed electrician).
 
#18 ·
They said the garage is not suppose to have electricity and is not included in the rent of the house; but when we took a tour of the house the person giving us the tour showed us the garage, and we saw all the lights and electrical outlets and assumed they worked. We've lived here over 3 years and they absolutey refuse to fix the power because they dont want me working on cars.
 
#19 ·
Move!

But seriously, as Tony suggested, a box of Romex is a inexpensive way to run power longer distances than extension cords.
If hooking up the existing power to the garage is as easy as you say then just perform a temp repair until you are done with it then disconnect it. Your landlord would be non-the-wiser... unless they are your neighbors??? :(
 
#22 ·
I would hook up the electrial and tell them to kiss my a$$. What they gonna do - tell someone you can't fix something they won't? You pay your rent they can't kick you out. I say nothing will happen to you if do fix it and just keep hush about it.

I had an extension cord running to my shed for a year. I could not run some things in my shed. I ran some romex from an outside outlet to the shed and gave me full power for all my tools. Nothing to it and less than $10. Build you a HD power cord out of romex, plug it in where you want to and go for it if you still don't want to hook up the garage.
 
#24 ·
WHOA GENTLEMAN!!!!!!!!

Do not ASSUME that romex is any better than a similar sized extension cord.....10 ga. extension cord has approximately the exact same safe working ampacity as 10 ga. romex. It is the Length that is going to kill this project. Length of wire equals higher resistance equals reduced ampacity at the garage. If, let's say you wanted a 30 amp 220 volt circuit in the garage, the best thing to do is to bury some 1.5" Electrical PVC 2 feet underground (minimum code in most states i think) and pull in 3 #8 ga. wires for your 2 hots and a ground......and if your landlord does not like it then....I guess he will have to dig it up.....

Was there something in your lease that restricted the use of the garage?? Like "NO WORKING ON CARS TO SAVE YOU MONEY"...I know there are rules like that at apartment complex's.

Good Luck...and talk to a good electrical guy, like some you can find at Home Depot, for the "right" way to install this stuff....

Mike
 
#25 ·
Im not sure if there is anything in the lease, but everytime he sees me even so much as checking my oil we get a letter in the mail reminding us major vehicle repair is not allowed on the properly. BTW, we live in the farm country where there is a house ever mile or so, not in the city. The wire is already run in the ground in conduit and Im sure its to code just by looking at whats inside the garage. He simply said we arnt allowed to reconnect the wires because that garage was never meant to have electricity.
 
#26 ·
I only ran mine 60 feet. Was a large improvement over the lightweight extension cord. 150 feet would be a different story.
 
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