Taking the leap, gonna paint with a gun!

I've been lurking and have been convinced to take the leap and try my hand at painting with the gun. I bought a couple of new Devilbiss JGA's as well as a used one cheap, and need to know how to set them up. Do I need anything fancy (vavle, regulator, drier), or just a coupler to my air line? I've got plenty of air going through a pair of water separators, hopefully that'll do. I'm gonna start on the hyd unit and rear end of my NAA, using FNH red enamel over rattle can primer, and do it outside in the side yard, so I will bypass breathing equipment and high tech stuff on my earlier attempts, but I have zero experience in this area, so no advice will be unappreciated. I've got a quart of FNH red, and a gallon of enamel thinner from Walmart, where do I go from here? How much do I thin down the paint? How much air pressure to the gun? What do I do with left over paint? How do I clean the gun? Can I leave paint in the gun for long periods? Remember, I can't ask no stoopid questions!

TIA,
Ramrod

1. Setting up your JGA should be discussed in the instructions that came with it. Read 'em. You'll need some kind of pressure regulator between your compressor and the gun. It should already be on your compressor. Are you sure you've got "plenty of air" for the gun? How do you know? The cfm requirements should be in those instructions. Compare the gun requirements with the rating of your compressor. The JGA can use quite a bit of air, depending on the actual air cap installed.

2. Unless you have already primed things, don't waste a good spray application over rattle can primer. Since you have a good gun, I recommend a two-part epoxy primer like PPG OMNI MP170. Your FNH paint should go over that nicely.

3. Doing your painting outside is fine. I do all mine outside. BUT...I still recommend using a fresh air respirator if you are going to use a hardener in that paint - even outside. It's your health-safety and your own personal decision to proceed w/o such protection. If you don't use a hardener, a standard chemical cartridge mask should be satisfactory.

4. Follow the instructions on the FNH paint can label as far as what type of "thinner" and how much to use, if any. Don't deviate from the paint manufacturer's recommendations.

5. As far as I know, DeVilbiss has never marketed an hvlp version of the famous JGA. So I suspect what you have is a conventional gun. With that type of gun, most enamels spray best at 40-60 psig "at the gun". Install a pressure gage at the inlet to the gun and adjust with your regulator to obtain the desired pressure with the trigger pulled. The instructions that came with your gun might also indicate a recommended pressure or pressure range.

6. If you don't use a hardener in the paint you can save any leftovers in a tightly closed container. If you use a hardener, forget saving anything - it won't be usable in the morning anyway.

7. Clean the gun in accordance with the instructions that came with it. Basically run the correct thinner through it and if you are not going to use it again the same day, disassemble it and make sure all parts are clean of all traces of paint.

8. Don't leave paint in the gun. It can make things much more difficult the next time you use it. Clean it immediately after you use it.

9. Do some (perhaps a lot) practice painting on some old vertical sheet metal scrap before you tackle your tractor. It'll be time and effort well spent.

Rod