I absolutely LOVE this reply! I LOVE IT! As a guy who studied Auto Body Collision Repair and Refinishing in the early 80s I couldn't have explained it better myself. That was in the easy days of single stage paint jobs! Wet sanded polished clear coat paint jobs were unheard of back then. It was hard work then and its 10 times more complicated now with the new paint systems and just the equipment alone, the quality paint gun is $300 and up, the industrial size 2 stage air compressor needed to supply air for a modern paint gun and air tools can be $2000 at the least and up. Many people who become interested in auto restoration assume that they can go buy a Sears 5 HP compressor for $200 and be set unfortunately are very wrong. Single stage and especially the oiless cheap compressors are NOT designed to operate or supply near enough air to operate a sandblaster, HVLP paint gun, or even a budget priced DA sander. They are simply nailer, stapler, tire inflators, etc. Definitely not for the auto shop. The prices of modern base clear paints are 10 times the price of a gallon of acrylic enamel with reducer of the 80s. I hate to say as much as I am interested and love to do body and paint work I have to admit its way above me now. When I learned it at vo-tech, wet sanded, polished, glass smooth paint jobs were a thing of the future. All we had was lacquer, acrylic, or synthol (synthetic) enamels. I remember 1 gallon of paint, 1 gallon of reducer, and a pint of hardener was around $80 back then. It was exciting to walk out of the paint supply store with a box of EVERYTHING needed to do a complete a paint job was less than $200. 2 part epoxy primers weren't an option. Lacquer primer surfacer (fill primer) was the big thing. Body filler today is so much different than back then. Better materials mean better quality jobs but also mean 10 times more money. To me I feel like progression has ruined the hobby for many people such as myself. Gone are the days of doing your own body/paint work.
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