Go to Harbor Freight. They have one gun they usually have on sale that works great for primer, then the sell a real nice set in a case, its just a tad nicer and it works great for base/clear coat. THey also sell some disposable cups that I really like that fit the things, especially good on the primer gun as that stuff has a habit of trying to set up on you.
THose guns will lay down paint beautifully once you get the spray pattern figured out, and make dang sure you spend some good money on a water trap ( they sell some decent ones as well ) water will ruin a pint job faster than anything.

THose HVLP guns are nothing like a rattle can. They dont splatter paint to where you have to go back over and over to fill in . They lay down a fairly thick swath of paint, and if youcan hold your arm steady, you can make steady passes with almost no overlap and get complete coverage, but you cant stop moving or you will drip

I would not recomend single stage. If you make a boo-boo or a bug commits suicide in your new paint ( which they always do ( depending on the humidity, it can be a couple of weeks before you can sand it out and do anything about it. With 2 stage, you can fix it in no time and be shooting clear the next day

Only thing I use single on is small repairs on cars where that is the factory paint
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-------Robert,'95 960, '93 940t, '90 240 wagon, '94 940SE, '84 240 diesel (she's sick) , '80 245 diesel, '86 740 GLE turbo diesel, '92 Ford F350 diesel dually

Lots of learning and reading to be done.

An alternative, go to your local auto paint supply place. You can order up paint of the right color, and they can put it in rattle cans. The blend won't be exact, as there's no hardener this way, but if you're careful, it'll look pretty good.

Note, I've only done this with solid colors. I'm not sure how it'd work with metallics. The folks at the auto paint store should be able to let you know what to expect.

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-Matt I ♥ my ♂

Here are some links from my research. I chose the 4" trim roller method. My '81 was oil based enamel so stayed with that and did one panel at a time. Most important is to experiment on a piece of metal. I used my metal sunroof and probably painted and sanded it 3 or 4 times.

I removed all the trim, sanded and fixed dents and rust. Mineral spirits worked great with the oil based and did not degrade the rollers. Before applying paint I wiped down the surface with acetone. Most important is to get good coverage. You can fix any imperfections by wet sanding and buffing. I found that only necessary for runs.

http://www.neilslade.com/Papers/Painting.html
http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=2331682&page=0&fpart=1&vc=1
http://www.instructables.com/id/Paint-Your-Car-With-Rustoleum/
http://www.rickwrench.com/index79master.htm?http://www.rickwrench.com/50dollarpaint.html
http://spraygundepot.com/depotmsdsg2.html
http://www.paintforcars.com/
https://autopaintproonline.com/
http://www.autocolorlibrary.com/

If it's a beater, foam roller will do for small areas. I usually spray none automotive paint, using a hvlp gun for full body. I just use alkyd exterior house paint for my beater, car paint is expensive, and if the body is not in good shape not worth the cost. you still need to thin the house paint with tulene or other thinner to spray it. Foam rollers degrade using tulene etc, even paint thinned heavily with varsol etc...will start to make the roller fall apart, but you will get a decent area done before the roller starts shedding.
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Patrick, '68 220 , '53 GMC 4104, '97 VW Transporter.

If it's just about getting the car one color, foam trim rollers will do the job. Touch up is easy.

2 coats should do it. A gallon is good for 2 paint jobs. And you can add a clear coat or two for a lasting shine.

I bought a spray gun. Tried it. Too much waste and cleanup. Prefer rollers.

I'm driving a Tremclad green 245. And expect to be doing an '89-245 in Tremclad blue sometime this spring. (I need an empty garage for the paint to dry.)
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1980 245 Canadian B21A with SU carb, M46 trans, 3:31 dif, in Brampton, Ont.

if you want a decent job you have to go with a color coat and then a clear coat. a two stage process.
i have used inexpensive harborfreight guns with very good results.

prep work is vital and the other thing thats vital is where you paint. falling dust, bugs etc will wreak havoc with your work if you're not careful and plan ahead.

Any gun will put paint on an object but I am sure the quality of any gun can make the job easier.

The results you are going to in up with depends of the person understanding the paint products system of mixing and "reading" the paint as it goes down and flows out.

Today's paints or all paints have a required learning curve so buy plenty to practice with on some extra panels and purchase the right drying speed reducer for your weather.
Doing a roof does have the advantage of not getting easily scrutinized and less pressure for matching adjacent panels.

The main purpose a HVLP gun is to put more paint on the car per pass with less overspray out and into the atmosphere. EPA has pretty much made this mandatory in some states for high volume shops.

They are not required for the hobbyist and its a matter of getting use to what tools you have to work with anyway, IMHO.

I will tell you that you need more than one gun to get nice results. You need one for primer which most painters have a beater gun ( a less expensive of either type will do ) for the prep work. Getting the primer down and building up the low spots set the tone for what kind of finish you have in the shine. Prep time is the most important step. Rust stoppers, fillers and primers all have steps to follow and have to be compatible to the paint product to be laid over them.

The newer paint finishes are water based and for beginners have advantages over the other two stage systems so shop around and get plenty of advice from your paint dealers or painting professionals! The more the better!!


The other gun is for color and the clear if going two stage. I myself have not done that much painting and have stuck to single stage paint systems.

Another thought, In some cases a spot or touch up gun is good for tight spots or blemishes too.

Something to look for, if you want a gravity feed gun, get one where the paint cup on top rotates for shooting horizontal or vertical low angles. They also make guns that work with drop in cups so you can swap them out. That keeps the weight down on your wrist and arms and you can make a single catalyst mix bigger if you try to do a large suface. Large volume shops use pressurized buckets that feed only the gun for doing the whole car in the allotted pot life times.

Good luck, you will be a lot wiser on the far end, after doing your first paint job after all it is a trade and art to itself. Be patient!

Phil