I want to buy a good HVLP spray gun for painting the sporty little car. Does anyone have any recommendations? I will be starting on primer, and painting the underside of the car. Is there a single gun that can shoot all they phases of coating (primer/base/clear)?

How much money do you want to spend? There are guns that will do all but I found it cheaper to buy one for each step or type of paint. In fact, on my last one, I bought 2 of the cheap swap meet guns for like 30 bucks each and used one for primer and the other one for the paint. I went single stage on the last one so there was no clear coat. This next one, I will just buy 2 more guns, I will use one of the first ones for the primer, and one of the new ones for the color coat and the other new one for the clear. The good guns are a couple of hundred bucks and you would have to thorougly clean it between each stage. If you dont mind doing that, then go for a Sharpe or a nice Binks gun. Prepare to pay though for a good one.

I guess for now, what I am trying to do is primer the underbody of my car, and engine compartment, followed by shooting single stage black over the entire underbody. Do I need 2 guns for that? Also, do those HVLP guns work shooting straight up? I have a traditional feed non-HVLP sears gun, maybe I should just use that for the underbody stuff.

What do you think?

They all work. Use the Sears to start and get some practice. That will also work fine for applying the primers etc. You will be block sanding all that stuff anyway. You may want to purchase a better gun for the finish coats. I'm not sure you need to purchase the most expensive gun on the planet for one car. The gun is not going to make you a better painter. The research you do prior to attampting the top coats and the experience you gain while practicing gun technic during priming. will be most valuable. Painting is a developed skill. I don't own an HVLP gun. I never used one for a complete paint. I perfermy old siphon feed Binks but I've used all kinds of different equiptment. Again, the gun will not correct lack of experience. Practice, practice, practice.

If you want the best get a SATA gravity feed. Otherwise Binks and Devilbiss are great. You should be able to pick up a Devilbiss Primer gun for pretty cheap. Do not shoot Primer, color and clear from the same gun if you can help it. I prefer to have two to three differnent guns. A primer gun will have a larger fliud tip, needle and air cap, something in the 80 range. A finish gun will have a much finer fluid tip, needle an air cap, 35-40. Atomizes much better than the primer gun.


Leave the HVLP crap for the government mandated shops. They just don't do as good a job atomizing the paint. Usinga gravity feed will insure full paint usage.

I am using a standard siphon gun for primer it is a Devilbiss PGA type. Great primer gun. I have shot clear with it and it left a good finish. I also have a China Type Gravity feed high pressure gun that I love. When I get another gun it will probably be a SATA or Devilbiss Gravity feed. Gravity feed is the way to go.