Primed but not Pretty

The wind cooperated, but equipment less so.

The body was rolled out and wiped down before the sun had cleared the horizon. While the primer mix sat and did its thing for the recommended fifteen minutes, I got the HVLP sprayer hooked up with filter and pressure attachments, and air hose run outside.

I immediately had problems adjusting the spray pattern. The pattern would not spread as much as it should have, so there was a heavy spot in the middle surrounded by thin coverage, but I had to get started before the weather changed and the epoxy began to set. It worked t to a certain degree, but there were several runs due to the poor pattern, so that means more sanding. Nothing is ever easy!

Before I finished the first coat, it became apparent that I wasn’t getting enough air pressure and after playing with the pressure adjustments on the sprayer, I discovered that the line pressure was low. For some reason the shop circuit breaker had tripped and the compressor shut down. By the time I got going again, a breeze had started, but I still managed to apply two coats of epoxy. It looks like crap, but at least it’s covered!

When I disassembled and cleaned the gun, I found a tiny particle of dried paint stuck in the spray nozzle, so I suppose that was the cause of my problems. The last time I used that gun, I took extra care soaking all the parts in solvent and then blowing everything out, so I can’t figure where the paint particle came from. As usual, I filtered the each part when I filled the measuring cup, and then filtered the mixture again when I filled the gun, so I don’t think it got in there today.