Painting outside

[wrndln]

I'm probably going to catch heck for this, but is there any good reason why a car (model A) can't be painted outside and end up with a good paint job? I know the conditions need to be right, i.e. little or no wind and not spraying in direct sunlight and the right temperature range. Would dust be a problem? It seems like the newer paints (I am using PPG Concept) dries very quickly, so it would seem the dust would not be much of a problem. I just don't have room inside to easily paint the car and besides I don't want to get paint all over the shop.

[Roadster62]

Whole car or in parts? I've made a frame out of 1x4's and covered it with clear plastic to make a "Roof" for my outdoor paint booth. wet the driveway or whatever surface you are painting on to keep the dust down. Warn windless day and you should be fine.

[CWPASADENA]

You can do it!

For years, I painted my cars on my Patio. I used Laquor Paint and washed everything down to control dust and painted in the morning when there was no wind and it was not too hot. I have turned out some very good paint jobs thru the years. Be sure the

Chris

[Jim Boehmke]

I've painted many cars, including Model A's outside. I've done them in parts and also as assemble cars.
I have an eastern exposure in my back yard and that's where I paint. I lay out my tarps. and early in the morning as the sun is just rising, I grab the DeVilbis HP gun. In the AM, there's almost never a wind, no bugs, and still cool enough for a good job. My last '31 std. coupe was painted outside.
Once I got crazy and set my whole garage up as a ventilated spray booth. Did not work well at all. Fan was not big enough and lighting was not good enough. Took it back outside and the '72 Maverick in pearl white came out better than when I bought it new. Best luck, Jim

[Cool Hand Lurker]

One good reason not to do this..... You are in "Minnesota" and you know how the weather changes.
First thing in the morning gives you less wind, that is good. But gusts of wind that you normally would not notice will take the paint away before it hits the car. You might be lucky and not get any bugs but that is not likely. Temps change quickly from cool overnight to warm/hot in the morning so you have a small window of opportunity to get the temp that will be compatible with your thinner. You could be painting for an hour and temps can change a lot in that time. First coats will dry slow and last coats will dry fast, sometimes too fast to flow out. By the time you get around the car to the beginning again, the paint at the join line has dried too much to flow together. And shooting in direct sunlight is an impossible situation. Instead of a good gloss you will get something that can look like sandpaper. Painting in part sun and part shadows will be even harder. You are taking a real chance trying to do this outside. I would not attempt to do a whole car outside even under the best of conditions.

If you have a space at least 12' x 18' inside you can do a paint job on a Model A. Three feet on each side and four feet front or back will be tight but it can be done. I painted many cars in a 12' x 20' garage in the late 50's. I will have to admit that I had to nudge the car forward and back to get the room to paint each end, but they do roll easily enough. Stretch painter's plastic sheet across the walls to protect other stuff in the shop and put a good vent fan in a window or door opening to blow out the fumes. You don't want to do this every day, but it can be done. Be sure to wear a paint suit, nitrile gloves and a proper paint mask.
The inside setup will give you still air, reasonably consistent temps and controlled drying. And a much better paint job.

[Bassman/NZ]

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Originally Posted by cool hand lurker

one good reason not to do this..... You are in "minnesota" and you know how the weather changes.
First thing in the morning gives you less wind, that is good. But gusts of wind that you normally would not notice will take the paint away before it hits the car. You might be lucky and not get any bugs but that is not likely. Temps change quickly from cool overnight to warm/hot in the morning so you have a small window of opportunity to get the temp that will be compatible with your thinner. You could be painting for an hour and temps can change a lot in that time. First coats will dry slow and last coats will dry fast, sometimes too fast to flow out. By the time you get around the car to the beginning again, the paint at the join line has dried too much to flow together. And shooting in direct sunlight is an impossible situation. Instead of a good gloss you will get something that can look like sandpaper. Painting in part sun and part shadows will be even harder. You are taking a real chance trying to do this outside. I would not attempt to do a whole car outside even under the best of conditions.

If you have a space at least 12' x 18' inside you can do a paint job on a model a. Three feet on each side and four feet front or back will be tight but it can be done. I painted many cars in a 12' x 20' garage in the late 50's. I will have to admit that i had to nudge the car forward and back to get the room to paint each end, but they do roll easily enough. Stretch painter's plastic sheet across the walls to protect other stuff in the shop and put a good vent fan in a window or door opening to blow out the fumes. You don't want to do this every day, but it can be done. Be sure to wear a paint suit, nitrile gloves and a proper paint mask.
The inside setup will give you still air, reasonably consistent temps and controlled drying. And a much better paint job.

+1.

[Craig Lewis]

You will get dust in the paint. Clean plastic sheets can be arranged as temparary walls with a fan drawing from one end to produce somewhat of a deterant against dust, pollen & bird do-do.

Also...OK in the country, but not in a residential setting. You'll likely get overspray on everything in the neighbourhood including house windows and various cars.
Reactions will vary.
Many times people have been faced with the detail costs or worse...Repaint costs...of dozens of cars as a result of overspray.
If I awoke to my neighbour spraying a car outside I'd turn the hose on him.

Have you considered approaching a smalltime paint shop about renting the spray booth for an evening?
Usually they will jump at the chance of some pocket cash and the improved paint finish will more than pay off in the long run.

[Cool Hand Lurker]

Good point about the overspray problem, Craig. What I did to catch that was to make a box the width of the garage door and a height of 20" with a fan mounted on the exhaust side of the box. On the intake side I mounted cheap throwaway furnace filters that were 20" x 20" x 1" and about three layers thick. With a large 20" x 8 foot area for intake, the mist went through the filters at a very slow speed and easily collected on the filter fibers. The filters caught the paint mist before it hit the fan and kept it from going outside into the neighbor's yard. Yup, it kept the "xxxx" from hitting the fan!

[Kevin in NJ]

You do not need filters, just a good exchange of air. Do not wet down the floor. If you step in a small puddle it can ruin the paint!!!

Most of the dust comes from the part you are painting and you. Wearing a clean suit and proper cleaning of the part will significantly cut down on dust. I was told to wipe the part down with air and your hand. I started doing this and found my dust problems dropped out significantly.

Lots of light to see the paint laying down, good air flow to pull the overspray away, proper cleaning of the parts, clean overalls (tyvek), quality gloves nitral gloves, and a quality mask with a fresh charcoal filter (for big jobs I use supplied air).

[Barry B./ Ma.]

Painting outside should work out alright. Visibility can't be beat and you have plenty of room. Years ago I had a Plymouth coupe painted and striped by a guy in town that did all his painting outside. He used to do it on his side lawn near some trees so it wouldn't be in direct sunlight and usually in mid morning. That job in acrylic enamel came out real nice. Times have changed since then so it all depends on where you live and your neighbors.

[Mitch//pa]

1/2 of the bodyshops in philadelphia paint outside

[wrndln]

I made the original post. I didn't add I live in the country, so getting overspray on anything other than my own stuff is impossible, so I am not concerned with that potential problem. I have sprayed primer a number if parts outside and they seemed to turn out OK, however, priming is not the same a applying the finish coat that will be seen by anyone looking at the car. I always lay a very large tarp on the ground before painting and would spray a little water on it to reduce the chances of dust being kicked up while painting. I plan to apply three coats of Concept and color sand it after painting if that would make any difference in paint outside. Like was posted earlier, I would probably paint in the morning before any wind would come up and the sun causing any problems. I know inside is better, but space is really a problem.

Thanks for all the input so far.
Rusty Nelson
Lakeville, MN

[Cool Hand Lurker]

Originally Posted by Cool Hand Lurker

Good point about the overspray problem, Craig. What I did to catch that was to make a box the width of the garage door and a height of 20" with a fan mounted on the exhaust side of the box. On the intake side I mounted cheap throwaway furnace filters that were 20" x 20" x 1" and about three layers thick. With a large 20" x 8 foot area for intake, the mist went through the filters at a very slow speed and easily collected on the filter fibers. The filters caught the paint mist before it hit the fan and kept it from going outside into the neighbor's yard. Yup, it kept the "xxxx" from hitting the fan!

This might not have been too clear. The box I am talking about is placed on the floor at the end of the paint booth where the paint overspray is pulled out of the booth, not where the fresh air comes into the booth. The fan exhausts the paint fumes into the outside air.

[34pickup]

I have done it several times.I think the worst part is the bugs.Down south you just can't do it certain times of the year because the bugs are so bad and they evidently love the aroma of fresh paint.I try to do it in early spring before the bugs are out and before the humidity gets into the 90s.Either then or wait until fall when the air is clear,dry and cooler.I live outside of town also and neighbors were not a problem.

[cars56]

Be careful painting in or out!
The paints today really needs the painter to use a supplied air respirator. The isocyanates, thinner and 1 step hardners are deadly for lungs and internal organs. The argument will be "but I am only painting once" that is flawed science since no company will ever admit the amount of exposure needed to cause harm. Is it fair and ethical to expose neighbors and the environment to paint spray?
But if you really want to spray and no neighbors in the vacinity you can get away with using lacquer since the overspray dries so quickly and falls to the ground. But still use a 3M full face respirator or better yet a supplied air respirator to be safe since lacquer still uses a thinner. Only 1 set of lungs! Is it really worth the risk? The suggestion from Craig Lewis above is a good 1, rent a body shop paint booth by the hour. Climate control, down draft, plus dirt and insect free.

[wrndln]

I have a fresh air respiratory system I use when sandblasting and painting. It works very well. Since I have a beard, normal respirators don't work well, but since the fresh air system has a positive air flow, no problem.

[Marco Tahtaras]

Jim Boemke did all his painting outside. He generally painted about 6:30 am when the air was calm in the summer.

[skip]

Paint after all the energy in the atmosphere has dissipated, like just after a soaking rain when the air is still.

All the water vapor has condensed on the dust in the air to form rain drops. Best and cleanest and dustless air you'll encounter outdoors. Don't paint anything of your neighbors...

Did you know that if you drop a tiny amount of isocyanates [super glue] through an open flame or an electric arc that Cyanide Gas can be precipiated out of it? How cool is that?

That's why I had to use 7~P-100 [200] FANUC Painting and Dispensing Robots robots when I designed and built the paint line for Windsor Plastics Products. The Canadians would not allow the spray booths to be manned.

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