I'm just another old fart when it comes to computers. So i'm just going to suggest you go back to You Tube, type in Paint Society in the search box, and browse thru this guys collection of well done painting seminars. The list is pretty long, but scroll down and you'll aslo find some in-expensive paint gun suggestions too.

I've been in the body Shop and Paint booth for over 40 years. This young man has put together some of the best videos I've seen to date.

Worth a look for anyone who may have no experience to those who have quite a lot of time in the shop.

Thank you all for the comments and suggestions. There is just a lot to learn and know. I do agree with the respirator, which I will use. I've been watching some of the videos on YouTube and Eastwood to get acquainted.

After years of using a decent Sharpe Cobalt gravity gun, I recently bought a Devilbiss FLG-4 for around $200. The gun comes with 1.3,1.5,1.8 tips, you can also buy a 2.2 tip for really heavy build primers. I spray everything with it, single stage boat paint and primer, 2 part epoxy primer, base coat, clear coat. The gun uses very little air and atomizes the paint beautifully. Your biggest issue in the end may not be the gun you choose but the compressor, even with the low air demand of my gun, depending on the aircap/tip, you'll still need at least 13 cfm @ 23 psi of dry steady air.

I'd be skeptical of the airless gun sold by Home Depot/Lowes/Menards etc. These guns are for spraying house paint, and house paint is much, much more viscous than automotive paints and even the heaviest primer coats. It's likely such a gun will just make a huge, poorly atomized mess even spraying surfacing primer. Literally, you'd be better brushing it by hand - there are documented stories of people painting cars by brush, but none that I know of in all these years of anybody using a house painting airless gun successfully.

Most important - get good respiratory protection. This means at a minimum (for primer type products) a good charcoal cartridge respirator that can handle organic vapors. If you sport a long beard these won't work, because you need a good fit. In that case, if you insist on spraying auto paints and primers, you need a fresh-air positive flow full face mask that pumps clean air from an outside source into the mask, using pressure to keep the chemical vapors out.

At the age most of us Mini enthusiasts are, we can't afford to lose any more bodily functions. It's better not to bother with doing this stuff at all if you don't want to use the safety equipment. The modern paints are far more damaging than the stuff used 40 years ago. The new stuff doesn't just damage the lungs and liver, but can attack the nervous system as well. Even Minis aren't worth the risk.

Next - primer types. For a good quality job you'll want at least two types of primer. The first would be your base primer - the first thing you spray on your bodywork. I personally and strongly recommend a good epoxy primer. Epoxy primer is the most corrosion resistant and best gripping primer of all the types out there IMHO. The only real drawback with it is if you're trying to get a job out of the shop ASAP, like in a collision shop.

Epoxy primer grips so well, many people actually put the epoxy on first to bare metal then apply Bondo type fillers on top of the epoxy. The epoxy grips the metal better than filler, and the filler grips the epoxy better than it does to metal. And the epoxy seals the metal from moisture (remember that body filler is actually permeable by moisture, because it's usually talcum powder suspended in a plastic resin.

But it's OK if you've gone filler over metal, just give it a good coat of epoxy and it will seal the filler and metal from moisture penetration.

One of the secrets to epoxy's grip is that for most brands, it takes a few days (perhaps a week) to chemically harden. Remember that epoxy primer is not the final sanding coat, so don't expect it form a rock-hard sanding surface for several days. But because it hasn't hardened, that means whatever you apply on top of it has a chance to chemically bond and lock itself with the still-curing epoxy. That makes for an extra tough bond.

So if you get everything in order, after spraying the epoxy, you may find some low spots or areas that need some work. No problem, within the manufacturer specified time frame you can apply more body filler, sand and smooth it, and then recoat with epoxy. You don't have to strip the primer off like other types.

Once the epoxy cures though, then you have to sand it down, and usually apply another coat of epoxy, and then apply whatever you needed to apply after that. Follow the manufacturer's guidelines for this.

Once you're done with that, you can then apply a primer-surfacer, which is a heavier primer intended to level the surface for sanding to get that really smooth surface. I recommend a good urethane or polyester primer. Some use both types (polyester first then uirethane next.) Polyester primer is likened by some to be "sprayable body filler." It's relatively easy to sand. Urethane is tougher but somewhat harder to sand, but it will do the job too.

Two part glazing putties are great. The reason why is that they don't shrink like 1 part lacquer putties do. It's frustrating to apply the 1 part primer, sand it down perfectly smooth, then the next day (or worse, a week later) see that it shrank and has left a dip or visible scratches. The shrinking is due to the solvent evaporating away. If you want to stick to 1 part putty, give it plenty of time to dry and shrink before sanding.

You can still get good suction feed guns, look at these, https://tcpglobal.com/collections/spray-guns-suction-feed Or if you want the HVLP gun, look at these. https://tcpglobal.com/collections/spray-guns-gravity-feed Remember a primer gun is just spraying primer, you will be sanding it anyway. So you don't need the latest and greatest gun for that. Primer is thicker, so the gun needs a bigger tip. I bought a 3 gun set from TCP Globial, it has a primer gun, a finish gun, and a small touch up gun, all gravity feed. I'm real happy with them. I use to paint for a living, and still do it for myself, and those are the guns I use.

Hi All, I'm working on the mini beach car and now at the point of Bondo and shaping. Metal work is almost finished. Very please with the metal work as both sides are exact and mirrored.

Soon I will be wanting to spray primer. I don't have a spray gun. Have a small compressor. 2 stage I believe. Not sure of the specs. 2 pistons with a smallish tank.

I'm looking online (researching) HVLP systems. Pretty pricy, something like $1000 for 4 fans and gun. I saw an airless type gun for around $110, much like a Wagner or grace but with the paint reservoir on top. Has anyone tried this tool to spray primer?

There are all sorts of primer and they are pricy, some as high as $200 a gallon. 

I also discovered 2 part glazing putty, which I'm going to try. Any input on this?

My plan is to finish the Bondo sharping. Step 2 glazing compound, sanding around 320 grit. Step 3 spray primer and block sand 400 grit.

Thanks for the comments. Soon I'll post a couple of pics of my build. Jim