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temporary paint booth.

K

K5dreamer

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So, after reading what a few other members have done in the realm of painting their trucks themselves, and being a cheap SOB myself, ive started thinking about doing the deed rather than paying for it.

So here is my question. I have no place to do it. my dad has a garage, but he's a bit of a pack rat and its full of crap. Would it be possible to buy a bunch of tarps, and build a temporary shelter, maybe with a dehumidifier in it to keep excess moisture under control. Or am i trying to be too macgyver here?
 
Do you want the end result to be something that looks like factory?

I just painted my blazer a few weeks ago in my shop...... I was not happy with the results and had a body shop paint it and after seeing how good it came out compared to my DIY job, it was money well spent.


But seriously, if you must DIY, paint it outside on a sunny calm day. Sounds crazy, but you will get so much dust and crap in the paint from it being in doors. THe overspray will go the the ceiling, stick to small particles of dust, get heavy with the paint attached to it, and sink back down and land on your truck.

You are almost better off outside, especially in the spring where dust levels are low. Wet the area around the truck really well so your feet don't track dust, make sure there is no breeze, and go at it.
 
factory paint job is not the end goal. Basically its just really bad right now. roughly 4 different shades of white, bondo colors shining through, rust, paint stains, ill try and handle some of the rust while im there, but nothing major. Probably just trimming out what the bushwacher cut out fender flares allow me to. and POR 15 the hell out of whats left. I bought the truck as a camping/offroading rig, so i know im gonna get "desert pinstriping" and bumps and all that. The major thing is that its such an eyesore my parents wont even let me park it in the driveway. If i make it look presentable, they may allow it in the driveway with the rest of the fleet. Im sure the neighborhood would appriciate that ;)
 
rjfguitar said:
But seriously, if you must DIY, paint it outside on a sunny calm day. Sounds crazy, but you will get so much dust and crap in the paint from it being in doors. THe overspray will go the the ceiling, stick to small particles of dust, get heavy with the paint attached to it, and sink back down and land on your truck.

You are almost better off outside, especially in the spring where dust levels are low. Wet the area around the truck really well so your feet don't track dust, make sure there is no breeze, and go at it.
Click to expand...

I would imagine if i painted it outside, i would still need a sheltered place to park it while the paint cured correct? dosnt it take several days to do a proper paint job? around here, pollin is so bad, and the weather changes so bad, i couldnt count on being able to leave the truck outside while i was painting several coats, and letting it cure.
 
I've done a few full paint jobs outside--my van I painted about 15 years ago outside when it was mid summer and the morning was damp and everything was still wet from a shower the night before (except the van!),and I used cheap farm paint (Ford tractor blue!) and it came out pretty good considering I'm no painter,and I used a spray gun I retrieved from a body shop's dumpster and cleaned...

If you want,you could scrounge up a used canopy frame like they sell cheap at Costco or Pep Boys (tent garage) and paint it in there ,using a box fan to exhaust the fumes..for all the hassles of setting it up after getting it,then having everything inside covered with overspray,I prefer doing my spraying outdoors in the open air--inside you'll need a quality respirator even with "regular" paints or risk exposing yourself to a lot of dangerous chemicals..

Most of my outdoor paint jobs came out better than my "indoor" ones..I found spraying the vehicle in the mid-morning after all the dew has burned off the lawn and then parking it in the sun about an hour after painting it cures it quickly and minimizes the amount of dust and bugs and other crap ending up in the wet paint..
the paint I used was like Rustoleum,and would take days to fully harden otherwise..but after baking it in the sun its bone dry in a few hours and seems to hold up better...depending on the paint you choose a hardener might be available to speed the drying process and make a harder more durable finish..
 
Dreamer, I wouldn't be afraid to paint outside. I'm only painting in my garage becuase there was a chance of rain when I started and once it was in the garage I left it in there. I'd have preffered to do it outside. I"m way less worried about bugs and pollen than I am about wind. If it is bluserty it can blow a fair amount of your paint other places than your car..it won't hurt anything but it is a waste of paint. Of course if you use rustoleum or tractor paint enamel it is pretty cheap..just be sure you know what is down wind, anything downwind will have a nice dust-coat!

Even in my garage I'm getting plenty of bugs and dust and I open the garage windwos all day so there is ventilation to cure the paint.

The real advantage of the a booth would be climate control. Being able to control temp and humidity, or even use heaters, would vastly speed up the cure times bdtween coats.
 
Here's my random thoughts on this topic:

-If you're going to do much bodywork, you need a sheltered place to keep the vehicle anyway. You will be working on it a lot longer than you think.

-How long it takes to paint depends on what you're spraying. If you use a catalyzed paint it is cured in like an hour, but if you use a 2-stage (base/clear) the window you need perfect weather is longer. If you plan to use really cheap paint (like Rustoleum) it doesn't cure - it has to dry. So there is a lot more time for junk to stick in the paint or the weather to change. Plus you will need multiple coats of it with a lot of dry time in between. I would plan on 3 days minimum to paint with Rustoleum. If you can roll it in/out of a garage while masked, spraying outdoors would probably work.

-DON'T use POR-15 for spot repairs. It is evil and will pull off like a big patch in a couple of years. POR-15 is for situations where you can cover the entire part with the substance, leaving no edges. So unless you want to spray the entire truck with it, look elsewhere.

-Your bodywork looks 100x better in primer than it does in paint. The nicer the paint, the more it amplifies every flaw. So get the right tools and learn how to do good bodywork or be prepared to settle for every repair spot showing through.
 
I'll add that POR-15 only works WITH some rust left on,it needs to convert the rust in order to be effective..its not so great on clean sanded metal or sandblasted metal,it'll come off after awhile...it just dont adhere as good as it does to rusty metal..

You can add some "Japan Dryer" to Rustoleum and oil based paints to speed up the drying time..however,the faster you make paint dry,the less gloss it'll have,and could fade quickly if you rush it too much by using too fast a thinner or reducer..

We painted several tractors with farm paint from Tractor Supply that said to use Naptha as a reducer if sprayed..we ran out of it,and one guy suggested using gasoline!..I said it was a bad idea,too hazardous,but he used it anyway,and to my surprise the paint job came out better than I thought !..but 6 months later,it looked like it was primer,no gloss at all!..all chalky and faded ..the ones we used Naptha or charcoal lighter fluid for reducer still shined nicely though..(took a lot longer to dry though!)..
 
I'll triple back up the POR15 must be on "rough" surfaces. They sell an acid that will etch clean metal supposedly. I've used on cleaner metal but only when I coat the entire thing and leave no edges. Otherwise you risk it peeling off. Just like when we were kids and used to put elmers glue on our hands in school and then peel it off. Rustoleum is an epoxy-like coating more than a paint and needs something to grip to.
 
well por15 is out, guess i might be learning to weld here in a bit.... got a few parts trucks at the local junkyard i can get sheetmetal off of.

as to imperfections... i bought this truck in battered and used condition, ive offroaded it, hit tree's, and boulders, and have never done bodywork or paint before in my life..... believe me, i wont cry if it isnt a flawless finish ;)
 
I'm not touching this thread with a 10' keyboard.....

yes, i've made MANY spraybooths in garages.... and most in here know my thoughts on encapsulators, POR15, RB, etc...
 
K5dreamer said:
I would imagine if i painted it outside, i would still need a sheltered place to park it while the paint cured correct? dosnt it take several days to do a proper paint job? around here, pollin is so bad, and the weather changes so bad, i couldnt count on being able to leave the truck outside while i was painting several coats, and letting it cure.
Click to expand...
Depends on the paint you use. I used a 2 stage base/clear paint system and it would dry so fast that I could start at the front of the truck with the 2nd coat, after I hit the last panel with the 1st coat.

Like others have said, your body work is a huge question. If you want it to look good, a good body man will need to do his thing. Trying to just lay on a bunch of bondo and sanding it back down could work, but you could get waves to that you'll find after the paint is on.:dunno:

When I painted my truck outside, I was dealing with a very difficult 2 stage system that even included a metallic additive in the clear. This was NOT easy for me to get the metallics even, and I'm not a noob when it comes to spraying with a gun either. Which is ultimately why I broke down and handed the truck over to a body shop.

If you want to do it yourself, go get a gallon of something cheap like a Nason single stage. That way it will dry fast and you are actually using car paint. Rustoleom is not really car paint.:doah: Spraying a single stage gloss with NO metallic could probably be done fairly easy. I'd leave the truck sitting in the sun on a fairly warm day (like 80*+) for like 30 minutes before painting it, getting the metal warm should help keep your paint from running, which is harder to not do than you think.:doah:
 
Done! If I'd actually taken the time to grind down my welds and cover the weld seems with a skim coat of filler...I think it might pass for kind of good?? :)
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ryoken said:
I'm not touching this thread with a 10' keyboard.....

yes, i've made MANY spraybooths in garages.... and most in here know my thoughts on encapsulators, POR15, RB, etc...
Click to expand...

I just imagine you reading this and yelling at the screen and stuff:haha::haha:
 
:haha::haha::haha:

too old for that.... more of a shake my head and roll my eyes kinda thing... :whistle:
 
Your done so it wont matter to you anymore but talking about homemade spray booths how about renting a tent from a party place and when your done and just return it.:dunno:
 
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