Auto Air Paint

[TnBlkC230WZ]

I'm looking for a paint system that is safe to spray in a garage and doesn't have specific recoat times. I'm a rooking, so I'm looking for easy and decent looking. I don't have a lot of color choice with the duplicolor bodyshop paints. I ran across the Auto Air paint which is water based and doesn't have a recoat window. Is this paint any good? Has anyone used it and is there anything to watch out for? I noticed they don't have a high build primer and I didn't see a clear. Just primer sealers and base coats.

[MonzaRacer]

Water borne really need some special attention to technique and equipment.
Ok as fo shooting paint in your garage if you make a temporary down draft booth out of your garage and actually purchase a decent respirator that uses fresh air you can use almost anything ( I dont recomend Imron or Chronar as they are cyanide based.
BUT actually if you have a NAP local that mixes paint just look through the boocks and see if they sell it as Tec/Base.
I do prefer to use a decent etch agent on bare metal, then shoot on a couple of good coats of PPG DP series etching epoxy primer, then scuff it up with 320-400 paper (after its dry) do any boddy work on the car IE body filler, I prefer using a the Bondo(Dynatron)
Fiberglass Resin Jelly as its basicly thick resin and is water proof, then after your big stuff is fixed then hit it with a couple more coats of the DP primer, then scuff and do your wetsand primer work, seal it up and do your base color.
Now I do like to work up to my last coat of base, first I will do a thinned (50/50) coat of base, let it dry, do 2 more straight as can recomends, then do a color sand on the base. Then at least 2 more coats of color base.
Dont forget your base clear window.
On the first coat of clear I like to use some of the color in the first coat of clear (and I really like the performance/build of a high solids clear)say pint to enough to do 1-2 decent coats, then hit it with a coat o straight clear thne reblock/we sand and then 2 more coats of clear. And in last add a touch of hardner too.
Sounds like alot but I can shoot a car in 2 days with right place and equipment and thne after the paint settles/dries you can do the wet and dry and claybar and then buff it out.
Or just use the DP epoxt primer to seal it, do your body work, another coat of epoxy primer.
Do some primersealer to let the paint have omething to hook to.
Use the Tec/Base system and 2-3 coats of color, do the first coat of clear with some color in it and then 2 coats of clear on top. You can wetsand between the color coats just follow recoating instructions.
I am lucky my uncle is a bodt man so I can ask questions.

[danbob67]

Ive used waterbased base coats and primers the base I used was super user friendly, the primers I didnt like and the bases really required a lot of airflow to dry within a reasonable time frame and we had a special gun cleaner that basically produced really hot water to clean the guns out. That base was by PPG. as far as I know there are no waterbased clears available. I dont think I would want to use them even if they started to make em. If I were you just go to the local auto paint store and use heard of products You will probally be better off in the end.

[TnBlkC230WZ]

Thanks for the input guys. I plan to make a booth in my garage out of plastic sheet and high quality furnis filters to keep the dust out. I need to find a fan to pull the air through. A used furniss fan with a good filter should work.

I'm really looking for a paint that has liberal recoat windows once I start my base and clear coats.

[MonzaRacer]

If you can do all the work relatively together take a good long look at NAPAs Tec/Base system, and pretty much any collor is doable in a garage. Now if you are looking int osuper custok stuff look at House of Kolor.
also if you have dealer around NAPA is same as Sherwin-Williams.
2 others that i like in small areas are RM/Ditzler and PPG.
Havent had any good luck with anything from Dupont and got several lame excuses from Dupont Rep,, and my uncle likes using Dupont stuff.
But he was the one who taught me to shoot Tec/Base.
Shoot the color for uniform coverage and then do your clear coat. I prefer the high solids clear overthe regualr stuff. My first qt/gal of top coat of clear I always added some of the base color too especially on the bottom of the body. Gave the owners something to protect the finish some. Most chips would touch up with paint brush and sand/buff out a lot better.

[pist0lpete]

One of the AutoAir reps came by the bodyshop I was at one day and did a demo. Pretty neat stuff especially if you are going to use it for airbrushing. That being said the guy swore it would hold up as well as any paint to uv exposure as well as any other environmental factor and he showed us pictures of cars that had had their paint on them for a couple years. The trick to it is you use basicly a hair drying to speed up the drying time between coats and if you mess up you can just wipe it off with a wet rag and start over. The biggest downside I could see was it is a bit pricy. Also you mentioned the safety factor which would be great with the color but you would still need to spray over it with a typical clearcoat which contains many dangerous fumes not the least of which are isocyonates. If you make sure to use a full face mask (isocyaonates can get in through your eyes) and cover every inch of your skin as best and comfortably as you can when you are mixing/spraying you should be fine. Just make sure you have some good ventilation involving both fresh air coming in and bad air going out.

Note: The is at least one company making isocyonate free clearcoats but I can't say I would trust their longevity or durability.

[frog_spud]

Auto Air stuff is great if you're worried about fumes and stuff. Plus it's super durable, as long as you don't get it wet you can wait for a really long time before you clear it. Most manufacturers highly recommend clearing within 24 hours on typical 2 stages I've encountered (PPG, Spies, Standox, Dupont) so if you get side tracked or have to walk away from your work for a few days you won't have to worry about re-basing. Doesn't work too well in high humidity areas though.


Don't plan on trying to match factory colors, Auto Air is mainly for the custom paint crowd. You won't find water-based clears anywhere, that's a nut that hasn't been successfully cracked yet. If and when they do, you can bet everyone goes to it, both paint and auto manufacturers.

Oh and also, if you've ever sprayed before you'll have to completely change your technique, it sprays and lays down totally different than solvent-based stuff. Just don't get in a hurry or heavy-handed.

Good luck either way you go, bro.

[danbob67]

Havent had any good luck with anything from Dupont and got several lame excuses from Dupont Rep,, and my uncle likes using Dupont stuff.
My first qt/gal of top coat of clear I always added some of the base color too especially on the bottom of the body. Gave the owners something to protect the finish some. Most chips would touch up with paint brush and sand/buff out a lot better.

wondering what kinda problems you had with dupont? and is the tec/base stuff some type of single stage paint? I know if you added base coat to the clear with dupont you wouldnt be happy with the results if that is what you are doing. I have never heard of anybody trying that one before maybe single stage and clear but not base coat. It would dye back and cause color issues among other probs.