Harbor Freight Purple Gun modification from 1.4 mm to 2 mm in order to spray primer

In this video I show how to modify the famous Harbor Freight purple spray gun from a 1.4 mm tip to a 2 mm tip. This simply modification will allow for better application of primer and other thicker paints.

[joelrugg]

I recently did this modification and sprayed high build like silk great trick anyone that says this don’t work is ignorant. Thanks scott

[USCG.Brennan]

No matter what SOME people may tell you, this is a darn good little gun for the money! (I've had my own little shop for 30 years and have used many guns). This gun will spray primer if you thin it down according to factory paint recommendations. SURE you clean the gun out really well before your first use it. Then every time after you've sprayed a project, run lacquer thinner through to keep it clean. Don't forget to pull the little plastic filter (under the paint cup) and soak it occasionally too. It's there to keep stuff from getting into your gun and works well.

[Sara-fdxh]

Thank you!! I love the Internet and guys like you who post videos that make it possible to sidestep the idiocy. I just bought a gun today and tried to spray latex paint . Clogged almost immediately. No fluid tip wrenches or larger aperture sizes that I could find at Harbor Freight. I wrenched off the standard tip and will take my 5/64 bit to it tomorrow. You may have saved me a lot of headache. Skål!

[markbrown]

I did it just like this guy did verbatim. Sprayed latex door paint/primer to wooden swing porch. Thinned with water and added a little Flood floetrol. I used same purple gun with a small undersized compressor. did 3 or 4 coats.

[darrylramey]

Works... I drilled mine out ... sprayed Kirker Enduro Epoxy primer with 10% reducer @ 28 PSI at the regulator. Sprayed perfect. It was a black color epoxy. Looks like I sprayed it with Hot Rod black paint. You can barely see any orange peel at all. I now have an excellent primer gun. I used a gun like this with primer before modifying it. It spray like crap. With mod... excellent.... $9.99 Gun, who would have thought.

[mcmahjw]

This is great. I used my HF gun with a super thick paint-and-primer Behr Marquee to do an exposed joist ceiling. With minimal water mixed in it sprayed beautifully. Wouldn't come out at all before. Thanks for the "tip" haha

[cudaksa]

i know this an older video, but finding it came at a perfect time. thanks for making it

[darrylramey]

Don't listen to the haters.. this mod works perfectly... I did this and have spray 2 cars with primer. I also did this to a gun to spray Slick Sand, gotta work fast, but worked fine...

[AA-pfqi]

Great video ! I Bought the black widow thinking that spectrum would have a 2mm cap by now. I had Many people tell me to modify the gun to 2mm but never explained to me how🤦🏽‍♂️.

[charlespartak]

Im just a beginner and one time, one vehicle painter and i just sprayed (1:1 mix)summit epoxy primer yesterday with this same gun. it sprayed just fine. I cant imagine regular or high build primer being much thicker than the epoxy. btw, hf does sell other guns including a 1.7 purple gun . but as cheap as these are I may buy another one and try your mod for primer.

[myoneblackfriend]

I bit the bullet and drilled it out. I want to spray some Evercoat Feather Fill G2 on my old truck and the recommendation includes 2mm tips.

[milkshake]

Just bought and used this gun to prime and paint my cabinets, im incredibly happy with the results. Didn't modify the tip tho, instead just thinned the primer and paint

[johnjkizer]

Can you do a video of how it sprays now that it’s been modified, thanks and God Bless

[BearBudgetTurbine]

there's chinese siphon-feed guns with metal cans in larger needle sizes(2.0) that work pretty well. (aero-pro) for primer application and are low cost No alterations needed.

[fishhuntadventure]

I finally killed mine after 10 years and just bought a new one.
I’ve sprayed house paint, rustoleum, automotive paints, marine urethane paints with this. Lots of marine paint and rustoleum, actually. Been a great gun.

[victoreous]

Brilliant modification. Thanks for sharing it with us. THUMBS UP

[carlbridges]

for those wondering about shooting gelcoat...yes 2.0 will work if you use duratec gloss additive to thin it out ratio is 1:1...be sure to work quickly as you will only get 15min total to get it all out of the gun before it will Harden. Set a timer for 10min and clean for 5. cleanup entails complete disassembly. Have plenty of acetone avail.

[jdimeo]

Thanks for sharing this video. DIY'ers need an economical primer gun. And this is a great way to get one.

[johnrodebaugh]

I purchased this gun from HF and used the 20% off coupon. I also purchased the larger cup for holding more paint so not to run out of material so soon. This gun works great with latex paint, primer & paint! I built a LARGE custom solid wood table for our foyer. I primed table first with latex sanded surfaces and painted the finished latex coat with satin black. GREAT RESULTS with the finish. Just make sure you keep the gun clean as instructed. There were no leaks with my gun as some have reported.
I did return to HF and purchased the stand to hold the gun while filling the cup through the Filter. It makes filling the cup real easy with no mess. I did thin both primer and finish latex with windshield washer fluid, works great. (Another u-tuber posted this thinning tip, works great).

[manycatsforadime]

I have an old HF gun and I was just looking at it thinking, needs to be bigger. Sure nuff someone on youtube, easy fix. Thanks. Next time you make a vid get a tripod.