It turned out to be a bit too hot during the heat wave, so I pushed my painting until late afternoon Friday. But paint I did. And made a mistake when mixing my paint, I think - so I'll have to sand the bumper smooth and repaint. Ah well.
Setup for paint went much like when I laid down primer. Put up the painting booth and wipe it down to remove dirt and paint dust. Wash & rinse the bumper, let it air dry then move it into the painting booth. Easy, but somewhat time-consuming. Oh, I took a picture of the stand I made to hold the rear bumper. The dowels sit in sharp curves or edges in the back side of the bumper, rather than somewhere else that might warp the polyurethane.
The next part was new - I had never used an HVLP gun before. First time for everything! I found a Youtube video on how to set up the HVLP gun for automotive paint, and the instructions worked well.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNfjSFyGYiM
I have an old Husky 32 gallon air compressor that I bought a LONG time ago to use with impact tools, and it worked great for the job. (Haven't used the air compressor since I got a good electric impact tool, tho) I put the HVLP gun together and added a water separator. The air compressor lets me control the output pressure, so I didn't need a separate one at the gun. Verified no air leaks in the gun, so I was set.
Time to mix up the paint. I bought Dimension paint from Sherwin-Williams, and it requires reducer and hardener in a 4:2:1 ratio. Easy enough to do if you have some mixing cups specifically for mixing paint. I bought a nice kit off Amazon that had everything I needed. Sherwin-Williams recommends three coats of paint if you're color sanding, which I will do - so three coats it is. I wasn't sure how much paint I needed for three coats, so I started with a 14oz batch (4:2:1 in ounces is 7, so I doubled it).
Not-So-Pro-Tip: wear a N95 mask when mixing the paint. Even with California low-VOC paint, this stuff smells nasty! And don't mix it in the house, or it'll take a long time to air out. You'd think I'd have learned that by now...
Paint booth ready? CHECK
Bumper washed and ready? CHECK
HVLP gun and air compressor ready? CHECK
Paint mixed? CHECK
We are ready for paint? CHECK
Did we make a critical mistake? CHECK
The paint I mixed was going on thinner than I expected. It beaded up, but was really thin between the beads. It's possible I added too much thinner. Also got what I think are fish eyes, the paint just wasn't sticking to the primer in those spots. Didn't look like I had enough paint for a second coat (and I needed 3), so I mixed up another 14oz batch. Mixed some of the new batch with the remnants of the old, and this time it went on thick and even! I have no idea what changed, but I was happy. Sadly, the damage was done in the first coat. There was paint left over after the third coat, so I sprayed some more paint over a few spots I missed. Dumped out the rest of the paint left in the HVLP's paint cup - it was still about 1/4 full. Next time, I'll mix up 21oz instead of 28oz (14oz x 2) for a full bumper.
Some advice if you're going to do your own automotive paint - buy the right gear. This isn't like using spray paint - you ABSOLUTELY need a rebreather, and should get a one-piece disposable coverall and some goggles too. Automotive paint that uses a reducer and a hardener is much like a 2-part epoxy, and you do NOT want to breathe that stuff in. An N95 mask is not good enough. I have a rebreather, but I didn't have the rest - I just wore old clothes and shoes. Afterward, I didn't see any paint on my arms but after wiping my skin with acetone I got a lot of black paint off. And my glasses were covered in paint too. I had to rub them down several times with acetone to clean them up. The gear is cheap enough, like $50-$60 on Amazon and you won't have to scrub a bunch of paint off when you're done. I'll be buying a suit and goggles before I paint again.
Another note - that paint is STICKY! That's a good thing I guess, but I wasn't expecting my feet to keep sticking to the plastic floor of the painting booth! Here's a photo from the next day, showing how much paint got all over the floor. And that's not dust that will wipe off, it's permanent.
Finally, cleanup time. I ran some acetone through the HPLV gun to clean it out as per its instructions, then took off the nozzle and paint can to clean them too.
Here's a photo of the bumper the next day, with the paint nearly cured. This spot has most of the fish eyes. The surface was very bumpy right after painting, but it did level out quite a bit. Now, it's all orange peel. The WHOLE bumper. It'll have to be sanded smooth before I paint again. Still, not horrible for my first time using a HVLP gun. The imperfections CAN be fixed.