Homemade Paint Booth

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eschroeder1

eschroeder1

A-body Freak
FABO Gold Member
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Has anyone out there in FABO land built and used their own paint booth? I want to start painting my own cars and was thinking of building a makeshift paint booth that I can put up and tear down as needed. I have a small shop (1200 sq ft) and need to conserve space.

Thanks,

Eric
 
I just get the thin rolls of plastic from a big box store and make a tent by stapling it to the ceiling. Close the door onto 2 box fans, wet the floor and shoot!

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Why wet the floor? For dust control ? And what about temperature / humidity? Are these big factors? If so what should we be aware of?
 
Paint lines usually have 3 different temp ranges on either reducers or catalysts that allow you to paint in different temperature ranges. You don't want to use a slow reducer when it's really cold and you don't want to use a fast reducer when it's really hot. It will tell you in the tech sheets of the paint line you use what reducer or catalyst to use for what temp ranges. It is pretty critical to match the product up with the right temp.
 
Here is what I did a couple of weeks ago painting my 66 Plymouth Fury III. I used plastic sheeting like T2R9 mentioned earlier and made a near air tight seal from the ceiling to the floor. I cleaned the area really good and installed furnace filters in the window and used a big air evac fan to pull out the air through the filters in the window. Worked really well and I only had one bug land on it and a few dust spots in the clear. Looking back I should have wet down the floor, but some guys say that it is bad because of humidity issues.

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Hey that pump looks all too familiar! I work in telephone manholes and use them daily. A good idea, only problem is mine is wired to work on 12v.
 
did the same. Laid some plastic around the garage, wet the floor and sprayed. Its amazing how much of a magnet the plastic really is for stuff when you put it up.
 
jim in seattle said:
Why wet the floor? For dust control ? And what about temperature / humidity? Are these big factors? If so what should we be aware of?
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Wetting the floor keeps the over spray and you from sticking to it, I wet it then use a squeegee to push out the excess, you want it damp but not dripping. Yes temperature and humidity add to the mix. I try to paint when the humidity levels are low, late spring, late summer are best, low humidity low bugs. I also prep and mask the car the evening before I shoot it, then paint it the next morning when dust, bugs, etc are low.
 
I always wet the floor real good and let it dry completely. My paint book says that just wetting the floor and letting it dry bonds the dust and particles to the floor long enough to paint and dry. Of course I try to clean it really good first.
 
eschroeder1 said:
Has anyone out there in FABO land built and used their own paint booth? I want to start painting my own cars and was thinking of building a makeshift paint booth that I can put up and tear down as needed. I have a small shop (1200 sq ft) and need to conserve space.

Thanks,

Eric
Click to expand...

just after i got married (1969) it was Jan. i was building a chopper (motorcycle) lived in and apartment so i turned my KITCHEN into my paint booth not a real good idea put up plastic turned on the exhaust fan and primered my frame tank and fenders oh yes also primered the living room , dinning room, bathroom and bedroom would you believe me if i said she was mad remember i still need to put the color on the bike no i was smarter than that i didn't do it in the apratment waited 3 days and waited until 2am and took it down to the laundry room to finish yep i painted the bike and the laundry room purple metalflake everywhere
dodn't you just love to look back at the stupid things we did as KIDS lol
 
Did a home booth in the garage as well with plastic sheeting. I used the tarp material from a pop-up garage as the door. It had zippers so I could open and close the booth easily. I closed the garage door onto box fans (exhaust) and had filters and fans setup for the intake. My booth was still positive pressure, so too much dust at all. I never wet the floor except for cleaning. Humidity near the beach is always 50% or high and I always used slow reducers no matter the temp. I gave lots of flash time better all coats. 30 minutes to an hour. Just the way I did it per http://www.southernpolyurethanes.com/perfect paint.htm

Another tip that worked good for me. Wipe down the plastic walls with 50/50 Isopropyl alcohol. It will cut down on the dust and static.
 
Good ideas on the enclosures and cleaning. Any recommendations on lighting?(temporary) My shop is pretty dark and I would like to close the doors if possible>.........jas
 
Lighting is also a key factor - my shop has the standard flourcent bulbs - but the more the better to be able to see what you are doing. That is a very key factor - also the more box fans the better - I did one at first then went to four churning that worked the best. With a little ingenuity you can also build a 2x4 frame and coat it in plastic outside - you can even make it a portable paint booth.
Another story of mine is afte sanding, priming, filling my Barracuda for the first paint job after hours and hours and hours of work - I got a $50 Chevy Cavalier with the typical white paint that flaked off to the bare primer... the motor was great the interior was great the only problem was the body - since I didnt care too much for it - it was just a beater.. I gave myself the chalenge - could I paint the car in 12 hours and have it look as good as a month of prep time. I also wanted to see if I could just shoot it outside with no protection... I went to the local paint shop got a gallon of what was supposed to be Corvette Yellow but had been mixed improperly - it was brighter than yellow! for about $50 as a reject and shot it that afternoon - I block sanded really quickly all of the flaking paint shot a coat of primer etcher, then sealer, then the final coat - the sad part was I had just as good of a paint job as the months I had spent on the cuda...there were no dust spots and no bugs in the paint either... still i think I was just lucky - dont recomend doing that all the time though...
 
I had some aunt jemima lying around that I added to the floor mop water when I painted a car. Even after the water dried, the tackiness remained. Don't use too much though. Smelled great too. But then I love pancakes.
 
Here's some pics of my booth. Use 3/4 electric conduit, and fittings you can buy online to build the frame. I used binder clips to hold the plastic on in most places, duct tape and glue as well. I'm using a SAS pure air hood to spray with - can't even smell any fumes while you're working. 3 box fans at the back, some cheapo furnace filters attached. Booth is 24x12x8. Leftover conduit used to build masking paper stand.
 
I made the back part of my shop a booth but i had the room for it. A couple buddies do the plastic wrap and it works well. The cobra isn't mine i built it for a friend last winter!!
Lighting and a good exhaust fan are key to a good paint job.
 
cuhemida said:
just after i got married (1969) it was Jan. i was building a chopper (motorcycle) lived in and apartment so i turned my KITCHEN into my paint booth not a real good idea put up plastic turned on the exhaust fan and primered my frame tank and fenders oh yes also primered the living room , dinning room, bathroom and bedroom would you believe me if i said she was mad remember i still need to put the color on the bike no i was smarter than that i didn't do it in the apratment waited 3 days and waited until 2am and took it down to the laundry room to finish yep i painted the bike and the laundry room purple metalflake everywhere
dodn't you just love to look back at the stupid things we did as KIDS lol
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LMAO - Not quite on your scale, but been there, done that. Also, if spraying outside, don't spray up-wind.

Suggest that filters be put upstream of fan to prevent coating the fan blades with paint and to reduce vapor exposure to the electric motor. Keep a fire extinguisher handy.

Use a mask to filter air for your face! Painted the Demon's engine compartment without one. Turned my nose hair Petty Blue for three days. The rest of the face cleaned up ok. Can't run lacquer thinner up the nose without dire consequence.
 
I also use plastic and fans and filter the incoming air. I plan on building a real booth in the near future.
 
dude you can go as big or as small as you want, i had a binks spray booth when i did it for a job and yah it was nice, but now for a hobby i have a 30 by 30 shop with a 18 inch squirle cage fan vented into the roof(which you shouldent do if you are doing too many projects), i open the window a bit and the air is just fine. wet the floor, wipe the walls and the roof (the last thing you want is little dust particals falling when you dont want them to). ive done probably 20 vehicals in there and never had a problem. the only problem with washing the floor is be carefull with your hose not to drip water on the new paint, another trick is groung your metal to the floor, i know it sounds silly but it dose stop electrolisis and or static electricity which causes alot of dust. bugs well unless you are in a high cost spray booth you are suseptible to bugs, just leave them be untill the paint gets tacky, take a pair of tweesers and if need be take a piece of masking tape and roll it loose so both sides are sticky and carefully remove anything that is left. if you are using base clear it is verry forgiving, if your dust or bugs are in the base take care of them then before you clear, if its in the clear, same thing but you can also have a couple of small marks in them, burry them with clear and polish them out. hope this helps out
 
Humidity isnt as much of a factor now as it was in the old lacquer days, polyurethanes are much more tolerant of humidity, actualy I believe it helps a bit for keeping down the dirt.
 
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