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MG MGA - Making a Paint Booth

I recently built a small garage with intent of useing it for a paint booth. It will have aprox. 20 4ft flouresent lights and I have an exhaust fan. My garage is 16x20. With a wood floor which would be free of cement dust. Painting is not new to me however building a proper paint booth is. Does anybody have any Idea where I can get plans for the ventilation or has anybody seen anything on the net that might help me.
Lawrence

Hi Lawrence. There is no substitute for a proper spray booth. However, I once painted a Healey 3000 in a very dusty garage. I did this by stapling heavy plastic to the garage rafters, and letting the plastic drape down both walls. After sweeping and wetting the floor, and spraying some insecticide to keep the flies away, I spray painted my Healey. It was summertime. The Garage door was left open to vent the fumes. The paint job turned out pretty well. Paint went on smooth with just a hint of orange peel. No runs of fisheyes either! I used fisheye eliminator in the paint mix. There was almost no dust or other crap in the finish. I had a decent compressor, and a good Binks spray gun (non HVLP) Might work OK for you too. Cheers! Glenn
Glenn

I spayed a TD body outside on a cement driveway. I had the body all prepared, covered, and materials ready waiting for just the right moment. When was that. Right after a summer rain shower when the sun comes out. The slab is wet and the rain removes the dust from the air. All I had to do was move the body out the door and go to work. The resulting paint spray came out very well with no fish eyes (I also used a fish eye preventer) and very few dust spots.

Blake
Bullwinkle

P.S.

There is also another option which I followed with a 240Z. I did all the prep work and even sprayed one coat in the garage. This was sanded and made ready for a final coat. The car was then taken to a body shop (It was drivable.) and they spayed the final coat. It wasn't too expensive. The cost of a complete commercial paint job is mostly in the prep work.

Regards,
Blake
Bullwinkle

Since you state that you built the garage with the intention of it becoming a (dedicated?)paint booth, before I went much farther, I'd check the local,
provincial and maybe the national requirements for environmental standards. Filtration of exhausted air is normally a requirement, as is a hazardous waste plan. If it's just for an occasional personal use, then I wouldn't give it much thought, but if you plan to do a bit of income supplementation, you might find yourself running afoul of the law.
Another point to consider when erecting a paint shop, is climate control. You'll need to be able to keep the temperature and humidity within the range required for the paint system you're using. A wood floor is porous and can trap dust particles, as well as the fact that the wood is continuously but slowly degrading, creating it's own particulates as well. I'd go for a concrete floor, sealed with an epoxy coating. Since it sounds like you already have the wood down, I'd seal that. In order for an exhaust fan ( I'd go with a "squirrel cage" type unit with a healthy cfm rating) to be effective, you'll need to allow filtered air into the building as well, otherwise, it'll suck in dust through every crack and crevice. On the subject of ventilation, your own personal ventilation is just as important. Many modern paint systems are deadly to YOUR system, so an air line type breathing system should be on your list. This is not meant to discourage you, just to let you know that you'll need to do some seriuos planning. As has bee stated by others, a decent job can be done without all be bells and whistles, in fact, I once shot my old Ford pickup in the backyard after a shower with "good enuff" results.
R. L Carleen

One of the most complete sites I have seen for car restoration (and building a paint booth) is this one of a jaguar XKE... Just scroll down to the section where he lists "building a paint booth" or something like that. http://www.mckennasgarage.com/xke/index.htm. I don't know how this fellow has the time to document all his work so thouroughly and still have the time to make as much progress as he does. I have found it very helpful and followed this guys lead with sheet plastic and a simple frame, so far so good.

I got the link from a forum at www.paintucation.com Really helpful knowledge to turn to at the forum and up to date videos with modern materials when you want to see some of the painting stuff done. Good luck!
doug

Hi Folks. Although Bullwinkle pulled it off OK, it is not generally a good idea to paint outside, particularly on a hot sunny day. I once spray painted a vehicle outside on a beautiful, hot sunny day. The paint went on beautifully. Smooth and glossy, after 3 good heavy coats of quality Dulux enamel. It was extremely hot, so I went inside for a beer. When I came outside to check on my "beautiful" paint job an hour later, I found that ALL the paint had wrinkled. Not tiny MGB dasboard wrinkles, but sixteenth inch high wrinkles all over the car! Essentially it looked like a big pruin! When I finally stopped cursing, I phoned the paint store to ask why my paint job had wrinkled. Paint guy said it was because the paint dried unevenly, because it was so hot. The top of the paint dried really fast in the sun, but the lower layers didnt keep pace. So the paint wrinkled. This was before catalyzed enamels. I had to wait 3 months for the paint to harden enough so I could sand the body smooth enough to repaint! Talk about the school of hard knocks! Glenn
Glenn

Last fall I sprayed my MGA in my 1 1/2 car garage. I hung plastic on all the walls. I closed the garage door on top of a box fan that I had blowing in at low speed. I blocked the opening on each side with card board. I put a furnace filter on the outside of the fan. I stood another piece of card board about 2 feet inside the garage as to keep it from blowing at the car. I put an old screen door over the open service door to let the air out. I put my air compressor outside also. I used acrylic enamel with a hardner added. After wet sanding and buffing I am very happy with the way it came out. Total cost for all the paint and materials was about $500. It was some work, but very well worth it.
Jim.
Jim Jensen

I too, am interested in painting some of my cars myself, but have put it off for some time due to all the words of warning by such as R.L.
I even asked the guys at the paint shop what kind of paint I could use and not kill myself. They said most of what they sold could be sprayed at home, if I used a good quality mask/filter, gloves and kept my body covered. I asked about a fresh air system, and they told me the professional next door to them had been painting for years, and all he uses is a good mask.
Did you use a fresh air system? If not, did the hardner carry a warning about breathing the fumes?
Cleve

I think that a fresh air system is a must if you intend to paint yourself. Lots of people say that all you need is a good mask but I wouldn't risk it. I visited a paint supply store and the guy behind the counter said he couldn't paint cars anymore because he had developed a sensitivity to it. A good fresh air system only costs about $500 - $600. That's a small price to pay for peace of mind. You can always sell the system on ebay when you are done.

Somebody else on this board recommended www.autobodystore.com as a good reference. I checked it out and it is excellent. I bought the painting 101 DVD and it covered a lot of questions I had.
Pete Kohne

STOP THE GARBLE ABOUT PAINTING.

My question was has anybody seen any info on how to build a paint booth? This garage I built will be set up as one. My hobby is cars the Mga is but one of five I have in restored condition. I am tired of renting a paint booth when I need one as I live in a rural area and transporting to and from is a hassel I wish to leave behind.

I don't need lessons on painting as this is what I did prior to retiring.

lawrence

Lawrence,
You are among the fortunate ones that know something about painting. I have theoretical knowledge, but no actual knowledge in this sphere, so I do appreciate reading about it. I hope you don't mind if people continue to write goods/bads about this.
BTW,
that McKenna's garage deal is quite a read.
mike parker

Lawrence,
Go to http://www.autobodystore.com/projects1.htm
Doug
D Sjostrom

Lawrence,
If you don't like the info you got here go to google and type in "paint booth homemade". I did and got over a dozen relevant hits.
doug

I think the fresh air questions are very important. All I can do is tell you how I did mine. The last car I painted was back in 1975, so I am by no means an expert. With the fan I did move a lot of air threw the garage. I also did all my mixing and clean up outside the garage in the shade. So the time in the garage was kept down as much as I could. By the time I mixed another cup full of paint and got back in for more painting the garage had cleared out quite well.
Everyone has to do what feels right for them.
Jim.
Jim Jensen

http://www.autobodystore.com/

Fellows If you would like a site that far exceeds anything about BODY WORK AND PAINTING. Check this one out. I refer to it all the time.

I'm going to search Google Useing homemade this time

Tks Lawrence
L E Marchand

If you are planning to use 2k paint with isocyanates I suggest a complete fresh air system and nothing less. Exposure can sensitize you making you subject to asthma attacks if exposed again, even to low concentrations. Death of sensitized people has been reported.

Eastwood sells inexpensive fresh air systems.
Fred H

This thread was discussed between 19/01/2005 and 23/01/2005

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