Flat Black Paint Questions

[zerfetzen]

Is there anything different about how to paint your car flat black in your garage, compared to the normal shine?

I have a 17 gallon compressor (so I'm guessing I can paint, but it has to be in short spurts) and a $70 Husky gravity-fed gun.  I was looking at the Hot Rod Flatz flat black (http://www.tcpglobal.com/kustomshop/ksflatz.aspx) color.  Does anyone have any experience painting flat black, any recommended paints?

Any recommended primers?  I'm new to painting, and getting confused.  Should I use epoxy primer or urethane primer (if I use Hot Rod Flatz, it's a single-stage urethane paint)?  Should I use primer or primer/sealer, or both?

I can find a few articles on how to paint your car in your garage, but they are all with regular color, and am wondering how to do this best with what I have, and which paint, which primer.  Thanks.

[J-440]

  Ok, I'm not an expert but I will take a crack at this.  My car was recently painted the same "flat black"...satin or suede if you will.  It was a duel stage which means the satin was shot first then a shot of clear was added.  Single stage means the black and clear go on at the same time (mixed together) to give you a different shine.  The clear is used to prevent your paint from fading and oxidizing your car if it is left out in the sun for periods of time and also gives the flat black a shinier coat.  I love the dull look of flat black but was forced to add the clearcoat b/c of what I said about the sun.  Now, you can definitly tell the difference between a satin black paint job vs. a gloss black paint...no comparison at all which is what I got. 
  The deal is you really can't buff out a satin black paint job because the finish will end up brighter than you want it.  So if you have orange peel, fish eyes, etc. I believe you rough it out with some high-grit paper then re-shoot the spot.  I used PPG Hot Rod black as you stated and got great results.  I plan on shooting the bumblebee stripes a gloss black to give it an extra BLAM at car shows.  Always remember though, if the body work is not straight (especially with black) the paint job will look like crap!!  Any dings, low and high spots, filler marks will all show as soon as the first coat of black is laid down.  As far as primer goes, any old gray primer will do. Just be sure to use the same brand of primer as you are with the final paint. Your not painting with candies, pearls, etc. or any fancy paint job...you'll be ok.  Now as far as the paint gun settings and pressure, man I don't know what to tell ya.  I paint with good old Krylon 6 inches from the part and I'm done, stop laughing it works.  Hope this helps.

[zerfetzen]

Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it 

Like you say, I'll stick with the same kind of primer as the paint, so I'll go with Kustom Shop's 2K Urethane Primer.  I have a buddy coming out who has done cars before, but never used the newer gravity-feed gun, but we'll practice on some extra body parts first.  I also don't think he's done any of the newer urethanes, so I'm just making sure I'm covering my bases.

Do you think 1 gallon of primer and 1 gallon of paint is sufficient to learn on and paint the whole charger?

I couldn't get over how good Terrible One's rustoleum rolled on from a can looks (http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,29810.0.html) and his great price...and I see they have it in flat black, too.  But what the heck, I have a little compressor and a gun, so might as well put them to use and try to learn how to do this.

I'm having a hard time finding solvent to clean the gun?  Any tips?

I'll put my time in the prep work, but man, I'm so anxious to get to the painting 

[speedfreak68]

I would say to just tape a piece of masking paper on the wall of the booth (or what ever you may be using) instead of messing with the old panels. Just my 

[67hcode]

Just thought I'd throw in my     As for painting with flat versus gloss,  the flat paint will be more forgiving and will not show nearly as much. As for how you apply it, that won't change. If I were going for a flat look, I would not use something I had to clear over. Just go with a single stage.   Single stage doesn't mean you have to mix clear in with it. You add whatever reducer and hardener the particular paint calls for and then shoot it, no clear involved. With a gloss color, you would wetsand it and buff it just as you would with base coat clear coat.
As for primer, it depends what you're going to be doing. If you're priming bare metal, use a good epoxy primer.
You'll want to know the right pressure to spray at also. If you're using an hvlp gun, you're going to want 20-23# at the gauge on your gun, which will give you 10-13# at the air cap.
Hope that helps.
Bob