Paint gun for small parts?

I recently purchased a big lot of vintage Mercury outboard motor parts that I plan on testing, refurbishing, and selling. The majority of these parts are aluminum and need to be painted black. I've been using zinc chromate primer and special matched paint from Mercury in rattle cans, but it's not cheap at about $10 for 12 ounces.

I'd like to get some kind of paint gun and buy paint by the quart. The problem is I usually only paint a handful of small parts at a time, and there is no way I am going to take apart the gun after every use and clean it out with solvent. The rattle cans are convenient because all I have to do is turn it upside down and spray to clean out the nozzle...and if I forget to do that, it usually still works anyway.

Is there any kind of small spray gun I can get that will have the convenience of a rattle can? Something that I could actually leave full of paint...maybe just spray it out with some compressed air after each use? I really want to waste as little paint as possible, even in bulk it is not cheap.

a small airbrush. just fill the little feed cup with thinners and blow through.

No paint gun can be left on the shelf with paint in it. Blow through some Varsol then some lacquer thinners for a quick clean up.

My favorite is this one...post #8. HF has it also.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=166514

lilredex - I agree. I have the same gun and it's great for small quick jobs. It's a little more work to prepare and clean it compared to a rattle can but the results are well worth it.

+1 on not being able to leave paint in gun.
When done I just dump the thinned paint back in the can, then rinse the cup with thinner. Then I put thinner in the cup and pull the trigger and let the thinner clean out the gun. Then I pull the cap to make sure everything is clean. It sounds like it takes a lot longer than it does.

I like the HF HVLP detail gun. Note that there is no overspray on the blue sheet.

I have a touch up gun, super good investment from HF. Nice to be able to mix small paint and clean up is not much of a deal once you get used to it and come up with a system, a couple of minutes, can clean a gun pretty good in 5.

You could switch to powder, then you can leave the paint in the gun between spraying. Eastwood make a nice cheap setup, excellent results but, you'll spend alot more time preping aluminum parts.

Paint with epoxy is about as good, some cases I think better.

I really do not know anything about powder coat, not one thing except I see it come off everywhere. I never see rust under epoxy primer and paints. It will chip right to bare steel but it stays local. Most power coat I see on equipment has failed, paint it with Corlar and Imron and you are done.

I use the Industrial on work trucks. The first day its done you say,,, not bad or,,, **** paint job compared to a show car. After some time,,, its,,, I cant believe you painted it 10 or 12 years ago. It never did look beautiful but still looks good.

Your paint job on the cycle looks good and that paint is probably as good as any of its type. You can doctor it up a little with gloss hardener and it speeds dry time. You cant dump it back to the can though.

I do fast gun clean up also, immediately especially with all these epoxy and fast dry etc. I will wipe up between coats or at a refill etc and keep neat as I go so by the time the end comes clean up is nothing but a last minute task.

Not all painters do this but I found its a bit like keeping cleaned up,,, painting is a microcosim for time management. I actually do the real clean up before and during, I am the worst in most of life but no one interupts me while I am painting and I wipe a spill as it happens, lots of times get a cardboard to work over, throw in stove when done.

I know a lot of dumb fuk painters, still amazes me on occasion, I know a couple walking disaster types that after 30 yrs still havnt figured out paint is wet, then it drys on stuff other than the intended project. Same for bondo, they absolutely got to let it harden on every tool,,, then the tool is "junk" . Every bench a bunch of stuck gunk with papers and towels mixed to it for your added color viewing. Every hose and cord 3 layers of **** on it all because the guy is too dumb to pick it up and get it out of his way.

How about this little air brush kit?
http://www.harborfreight.com/quick-change-airbrush-kit-93506.html
How would the spray from that compare to a rattle can? I was thinking airbrushes would have less output, but it does say "paint fenders, bumpers, and door jambs".

Cleaning a gun with solvent just isn't going to happen, I'll buy a truckload of rattle cans first. I frequently paint a couple parts that have less than 1 square foot of paint. I'm going to waste more paint cleaning the gun than I put on the part. And then I have to do it again in a half hour for another coat. Plus, paint, solvent, and dirty rags everywhere. Drips on the floor...drips on my pants. Now I have dirty solvent to dispose of....

I do have a few bigger parts, but the majority of it is the size of a baseball. I can't really powder coat because I don't want to go down to bare metal on a lot of it. It still has a layer of 40 year old zinc primer....