How to build a paint booth

[RacerX]

I wanted to provide this link of someone who has already documented his own homebuilt paint booth.

 

I hope this will be helpful for those wanting to paint their own Zcar!

 

RacerX

 

http://www.theairplanegarage.com/History_and_Preperation/the_paint_booth.htm

[PUSHER]

That is a nice setup. Thumb tacs and the plastic tarps for me though.

[Guest SouthGaZX]

LOL i forgot it was for aircraft parts and was thinking (thats nice and all.. but how the h311 is he gonna fit a car through that door??? haha..

[mom'sZ]

just want to point out... automotive paint is poison. extremly bad stuff... read the label if you don't believe me. The overspray dust, when it dries, is poison. If you get it on your clothes, on your shoes, you will trek it around. I would never attempt to spray the stuff in a garage attached to my house. Or any other structure were people live. Automotive primer that has hardener is just as bad. The fire department will have a sh*t fit if they catch you. Also please note what this guy says about using a sealed spark proof fan.

[Dayz]

This is perfect for us, we are also builiding a RV7, same thing as the guy !!! I will keep this info. Thanks

 

Dayz

[PUSHER]

automotive paint is poison. extremly bad stuff...

My first time painting I used a garden hose that stuck out of the garage as air(my lungs felt like crap the next morning as I'm sure I inhaled allot of paint). Now I use a mask with filters and a bunny jump suit, eyes are unprotected and sometimes I can feel the paint pissing off my eyes(usually the clear coat). If this is a once in a year type of thing and you just want a shiny paint job with maybe a couple of specs of dirt then I dont think you need something so extreme. The body has an immune system for a reason, and unless your doing this professionally twice a day I dont think you need to worry to much. However if I had the time and money to build such a setup I would go for it.

[Z-TARD]

Not that I'd advise this, but you can probably get away with using regular fans provided that you have enough ventilation. Explosions occur when the vapor content in the air is anywhere between the Lower Explosive Limit (LEL) and the Upper Explosive Limit (UEL). thinking of this in terms that us car guys can understand, imagine a combustion chamber in a cars engine. If the mixture in the chamber is too lean, you get no boom. Likewise, if it too rich, ditto. Anywhere between these two extremes though, and you wont have to use a razor to shave ever again, because you'll be covered in scar tissue. The trick is to make sure you always keep your paint booth below the LEL (in a too lean condition). In a small set up like you would have in a garage this probably shouldn't be too hard to do. If you notice vapor building up in the booth, stop spraying long enough for it to clear a little. Having a filter between the exhaust fan and the inside of the booth will reduce the explosion hazard a lot too. The best thing to do obviously is to use a fan that does not produce a source of ignition, if that is unavailable, use a lot of regular fans.

 

Mike

[Nismo280zEd]

just want to point out... automotive paint is poison. extremly bad stuff... read the label if you don't believe me. The overspray dust, when it dries, is poison. If you get it on your clothes, on your shoes, you will trek it around. I would never attempt to spray the stuff in a garage attached to my house. Or any other structure were people live. Automotive primer that has hardener is just as bad. The fire department will have a sh*t fit if they catch you. Also please note what this guy says about using a sealed spark proof fan.

 

Do you eat organic food? Do you eat any produce that comes from mexico? Do you use roach spray? Do use chemicals to keep away insects? Have you used OFF bug spray before? Ever been around a salon? Ever been around a girl taking off her fingernail polish?

 

All of those hurt you. I don't know about you, but my a/c system doesn't pull air from my garage to circulate in the house. Your not spraying the walls. Your spraying a car, Anything else in the garage should be covered. I think your seeing this to a slight extreme. EDIT Alright, anyways

 

I've painted cars in my garage and out of my garage. When I painted mike's car on the board (on3go) I used 3 box fans from lowes, one in the back of the garage blowing air away from the house, then the other two on the sides of the garage opening, I lowered the garage to where it was closed to the top of the box fan, so aprox 3' from the bottom. This is very effective and cheap to paint this way, there is enough air moving in and out you don't have to worry about igniting paint fumes. Just make sure the fans are already running when you start spraying. Also if you wet the ground before you spray it'll help. I use a mask similar to what fire fighters wear, has face and mouth protection straps over my head and uses two filters. Another thing to think about if your painting inside a garage is lighting, the overspray makes it darker when you spray.

 

-Ed

 

EDIT I forgot to mention, I spray only with HVLP guns, the overspray is SIGNIFICANTLY less, and uses less paint and obviously lower pressure, I would recomend using HVLP guns.

[mom'sZ]

Well... I figured my opinion would ruffle a few feathers. I was just concerned that some people might not be aware of what bad stuff car paint is. Read the label, then make your own decision.