Maybe I'm in the wrong section because I have a question about painting. Actually paint guns. What are the differences between a gun that costs $169.00 and one that costs $395.00? I don't need a show quality job, just a paint job that looks fairly decent. I will use base/clear.

Wagonmaster

 

Well, there are two types of guns. I have a HVLP(High Volume Low Pressure). The other kind ( not sure of the name), but the tank is on the bottom of the gun instead of on top. The higher end guns will last longer and are usually rebuildable. I picked mine up from local automotive paint shope for 200.00 and that included the stand, and all three tips. I would not suggest buying the cheapest, but certainly not the highest either.

 

I have used this gun over for about 10 times for enamel
on the car and am surprised the it worked so well.
At this price ($11.88) you can use it as a disposable.
Who needs to clean up afterwords>>>


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An expensive gun will atomize the paint better,giving a better finished product.Like racing though,the best gun won't make up for the lack of skill.If you want to paint your own car start with a mid priced gun and practice on something of little value.
The choice of paint is more important than the choice of the gun.A crappy,cheap paint won't flow as well (or too well) and won't have as nice of an appearance as a high dollar paint.This can be helped a bit by having time to work with the finish after it's cured.
Surface prep is the most important step of all.The smallest blemish will show up as soon as the primer hits the defect and if it's not fixed properly,can hide until the color is applied.