Over the last week and a half, I've been working on my 1986 F150 called El Guapo. Previously, I had sprayed the insides of the doors and underside of the hood. The hood came out okay, but I'm not completely happy with the doors. For a first time painting, though, I expect some hiccups. I just consider it part of the process. On Thursday, I was able to mask the cab and paint the door jambs and firewall. I had mixed all the Shadow Blue Metallic paint that I had (it was two batches produced 13 yrs apart), and the new mix is slightly lighter than the paint I sprayed the doors and hood with, so I'll get to scuff and repaint the insides of the doors. Yesterday, I was going to spray the bed and tailgate, and got everything masked and hung, but I screwed up the sealer on the tailgate, creating a huge run under the letters, so I just stopped there and went on with the bed. I got it sprayed with sealer, and all was going well until the second coat of base, when I wound up with a big run along the passenger side. I remembered Aaron video about fixing mistakes so I didn't panic, I just let it dry for 20 min or so, and then got the soft sander with some 800 and lightly sanded it smooth, fixed a few nibs, and then covered it with another coat of base and a dust coat for the entire bed. Three coats of clear finished it off and made sure I'd have enough to cut and buff later. Overall, I think it came out pretty good. I've got a sag in the clear and a huge run on the driver side, but I know it will clean up, and I know I've got plenty of clear on there. For my first time painting a vehicle, I'm happy with it, and more importanly, the wife is happy with it. Now, I just need to get the doors back on the cab, and get the cab, doors, tailgate, fenders, hood, cowl panel and stone guard painted.

Does anybody have any thoughts on a compressor that will run a DV1 base coat and DV1 clear coat guns? I just purchased both of them, and my compressor won’t handle them, so I was maybe wondering if somebody had some suggestions thanks for your time

Just ordered this to keep on hand when something lands in your clear. This was specifically marketed towards vehicle wrap installers. It has a very fine flexible tip with tiny little barbs all over the sides kinda like a fish hook on steroids. Not a paid endorsement, but I thought it was super cool. Definitely going in my booth cart. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FS5PFBM6

Just left on my two- or three-day trip to pick up the used paint booth setup I purchased in June. My first stop is in 300 miles to pick up a secondhand refrigerated air dryer. Then I’ll continue another couple of hours to the small town where the pile of equipment is. It will be a long day because vans with trailers are limited to 50 mph in Finland.

Monday, I finished scuffing the tailgate, and yesterday, I was able to mask off the FORD letters so that I can paint the them and bury it under the clearcoat. I sprayed the letters with a couple light coats of Wimbledon White and then a couple medium coats. After it flashed off, I unmasked it and found a few small areas that bled under the tape edges, and one area where the line was crooked. I was really frustrated, so I got the wife to take a look at it. She suggested sanding. I have to give her credit, it was a great idea. I got my 800 grit on the soft pad from the booth box, and carefully was able to clean up the edges. It only took a few minutes, but I thought it came out really pretty nice. After wiping it down, and tacking it off, I sprayed it with a couple coats of clear. No runs, and only a bit of orange peel. Painting the letters and burying them under the clear was a lot of work, but it looks great and I'm super happy with how it came out.