Preval Paint Sprayer

[ctaylor738]

For years I have been ordering custom-mixed cans of spray paint from paintscratch.com.  This has worked OK, but there are disadvantages. 

- There is a 7-10 day lead-time for the East Coast, because the paint needs to be ground-shipped and comes from California

- It's expensive, over $20 a can, and they tack on a $13.95 s/h charge per order

- You get no choice of paint.

- Custom matches are very expensive and you need to ship them a painted part.

I needed to paint a set of hub cabs and wheels, so I decided to try a Preval paint sprayer.  I went to the Sherwin Williams Automotive store and had a half pint of DB 568 mixed and used the Preval to spray it.  You pour the paint into a little glass container, screw it in to the sprayer, and spray.  When you are done, you can put a lid (included) on the glass jar and re-use the paint,  I got good results.  The Preval setup seems to have lower pressure than the cans, and I had an easier time getting an even coat and less overspray.

Home Despot sells the Preval, as did the Sherwin Williams store.

[ja17]

Hello Chuck,

Although I use more elaborate equipment these days, I have used the Preval in the past. Its a hand thing to have around and does a decent jpb.

[George Des]

I had a small touchup job that needed to be done under the hood. I was able to get very good results using an airbrush with a small compressor. I had never used an airbrush before and was absolutely amazed at how much control you have over the spray pattern. The brush was very easy to maneuver in some tight spots under the hood. There was virtually no overspray using the airbrush. I have used the Preval in the past and the difference in my opinion is like night and day working in tight spots. The really good feature of the Preval is that is relatively cheap compared to an airbrush and can do a good job in the right situations.

George

[ctaylor738]

I thought about an airbrush, but I was concerned about moisture in the air.  I just use my compressor for air tools, and it does not have any sort of dryer arrangement. 

I'd be interested to know what airbrush/compressor arrangement you used.

Cheers,

[George Des]

Chuck, I did not have any issues with moisture and I am down here in SW Fl where high humidity is the norm. I used a small compressor that I use for a nail gun to run it. The job was small and I did not need to let the compressor run more than to get the pressure upti about 35-45 psi or so. The brush uses a very small amount of air. I suppose you could put in an inline dryer if moisture does become an issue

[wwheeler]

I have used a Prevail sprayer many times and they are handy. They have limitations though. The finish texture is highly dependent on the viscosity of the paint you are spraying. The thinner the better. As the aerosol canister gets cold from long sprays, you lose pressure. So if you have a bigger job, nice to have an extra canister to switch out. Also, the tilt angle at which you can spray is not very wide. Still, it is cheap and easy to use.

I just recently went to my local NAPA auto parts. They now have a system that mixes paint in a spray can while you wait. They use the factory color codes and I believe it is an enamel paint. Not sure if they have older paint codes like for our Mercedes? Might be worth a look.