Tips For A Rookie Spraying In A Dusty Garage

W

whansen

I am finally ready to top coat my 65 Mustang Fastback and I am wondering how I should proceed. I am spraying in my garage which seems to be perpetually dusty and this is only my second paint job. On my first project I sprayed bc/cc. I thoroughly cleaned the garage and the car, and masked off all the walls of the garage. I'm not sure where the dust was hiding but I sprayed 2 coats of base and noticed it had quite a bit of dust on the horizontal panels. So I let it set overnight, wet sanded the dust nibs, thoroughly recleaned the car and garage, sprayed another coat of base, then 4 coats of clear. It turned out pretty well but I still had some problems with dust in the clear. I cut and buffed it which fixed most of the problem, but there was still some noticeable dust in the paint. For this project I am planning on using SPI black and I'm trying to decide whether to go with single stage or bc/cc. So my question is, would it be better to use single stage or bc/cc when spraying in a dusty environment? Are there any advantages to either option? Also, any tips for controlling dust while spraying? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
Dirt come from you and car.

Car needs cleaned really good, all the jambs and inside gaps, engine compartment.
MOST important you need paint suit, head sock and tack off the first three feet of air hose going to paint gun, where hose was laying on floor.
Run a jumper cable or ground wire to frame, to electrical ground rod out side.
 
Everything Barry said.. I also think heavy air flow causes more dirt in paint in a garage set up unless its all filtered super clean which is very difficult for the home hobbyist to accomplish in that setting... Not impossible, but difficult.

Im a big fan of hanging plastic.. For me it eliminates dust moreso than not using any.. It does not keep all the dirt out, but it does help..

Single stage will "show" less dirt in the successive coats because you are covering them up with color and clear that is in the single stage..

In the end, unless you are painting outside early in the morning with no sun on the vehicle, or have a nice super clean booth to spray in, you are going to have dirt in your set up.. When you clean your garage walls, cabinets etc, using rags, compressed air etc,.. Your paint job will turn out cleaner if you wait a day or so before spraying. Once you dislodge the dust it will blow around easier. It needs time to settle down again.

Last but not least.. Many old time painters have told me that they fogged their booth with clear coat before rolling the vehicle in and before spraying to make all the dirt and dust stick to the walls,etc.. If you notice when you spray everything will get sticky.. The concrete floor will squeak as you walk on it once the overspray has cleared and tacked up.. If you choose to try this..Dont turn on the air. Let it hang around for a while before exhausting the fog.. Give it time to make everything sticky :encouragement:

Just more food for thought.. You will be buffing so I would not concern myself with it greatly.. I learned many years ago to accept that i would have dirt and just buff it out ;-)
 
The less exhaust air I have running-the less dirt I get.
Also, I get way cleaner jobs painting when it's raining,
no matter what I do to myself and the garage.
 
Rain is a good air cleaner, as long as you are not in a blushing situation it is a nice time to paint.
 
Those sound like some good tips that I never thought of, thanks guys. Bondo, would it be worthwhile to wait for the perfect morning to spray outside, vs dealing with the dirty garage?
 
I wet the floor and turn the fans on and start my draft early in the morning. let it suck out whatever you can while you’re getting the car ready. as Barry said, I would invest in a paint suit. i haven't done that and the last car I painted, I paid the price. don't sit on a Fleece blanket between coats... I had to sand out a few curly partials because of that stupid mistake... so, next time a paint suit.... and no fleece. I never thought about grounding the car. That’s a great idea!! I sure learn a lot on this site!!
 
I've learned to accept the fact that i'm not going to get rid of the dirt as well, but then again my booth is very far from being ideal.. but occasionally we still get a clean paint job.

I usually find when I paint something that i'm not worried about is when I get a cleaner paint job, probably because I spend less time cleaning and moving around dirt that would otherwise just stay put.
 
Home garage booths are tough, but I do as BK suggests and put up plastic overhead and even the floor and walls. I also plastic up the garage doors so if the wind picks up, there's no dust blowing in around the door seals. I have living space upstairs so anyone walking around can disloge dust from the ceiling. Also keep in mind cleaning the car well first as Barry mentioned and tape off everything not painted and seal up large areas like door and trunk openings. I even drape paper skirts down off the rocker panels to keep from blowing duct up from the floor or from under the car painting the rockers.

I'm not as experianced as most everyone on this board, so I don't feel comfortable shooting single stage. To me, it seems less forgiving. Base coat goes on pretty easy. But even though clear coat can run and make a mess, you can save a bad clear coat job with a lot of elbow grease. But if you botch a single stage, sanding out runs might leave ghosts depending on the type of color and if has pearls or metallics in it. If you have to sand a lot, you can alter the shade of the color if it gets too thin. On the other hand, with single stage there are fewer paint sessions to get coverage and build, so there is less oportunity to have debris and dust trapped in the paint.

Painting outside can be risky, insects other flying debris can make a much worse mess than dust from inside the garage.

And don't forget a good filter on your air line, you could be getting crap from you compressor out on the paint surface.
 
I'd do the single stage black, 3 coats, block it with 400 wet or even 320 dry, then shoot three more coats. Let it set at least a week then block it and buff. Less materials to buy, a better look IMO, and durable as hell.
 
Thank you for all the great advice! I really appreciate it! I couldn't agree with Paul more, I really learn a lot on this site! Can't wait to try all of your recommendations and see how it turns out!
 
Bob Hollinshead;26847 said:
I'd do the single stage black, 3 coats, block it with 400 wet or even 320 dry, then shoot three more coats. Let it set at least a week then block it and buff. Less materials to buy, a better look IMO, and durable as hell.
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I was planning on doing something like this but knock down any texture and dirt with 400 grit dry then sand with 600 grit wet so none of the 400 grit scratches show up in the final finish since it is a dark color. So I am taking it that I could get away with just sanding up to 400 grit dry, then 3 more coats of single stage and cut and buff it? Or should I sand up to 600? Thanks!
 
Thanks again to everyone for the advice. I shot the interior panels, engine bay and the interior this weekend. I turned down the airflow on my, got a full length paint suit, cleaned my air house and grounded the car. I was nervous because I was using satin black single stage for the interior and reduced epoxy for the engine bay and wouldn't have the opportunity to buff and polish, but it turned out great! Bondoking's recommendation to clean the garage the day before really helped. I cleaned it in the morning the day before I sprayed and then came back and cleaned it again that afternoon, and I can't believe how much dust settled back in the garage after the first cleaning. I figured dust from the second cleaning would just settle back in the garage as well, so I got a cheapo spray gun at harbor freight and fogged the garage with liquid mask. I used the cheapo gun to avoid any possibility of cross contamination. I guess harbor freight guns are good for something haha! I then covered everything I could with plastic and fogged with the liquid mask one last time. I couldn't be happier with the results!
 
whansen;26880 said:
Thanks again to everyone for the advice. I shot the interior panels, engine bay and the interior this weekend. I turned down the airflow on my, got a full length paint suit, cleaned my air house and grounded the car. I was nervous because I was using satin black single stage for the interior and reduced epoxy for the engine bay and wouldn't have the opportunity to buff and polish, but it turned out great! Bondoking's recommendation to clean the garage the day before really helped. I cleaned it in the morning the day before I sprayed and then came back and cleaned it again that afternoon, and I can't believe how much dust settled back in the garage after the first cleaning. I figured dust from the second cleaning would just settle back in the garage as well, so I got a cheapo spray gun at harbor freight and fogged the garage with liquid mask. I used the cheapo gun to avoid any possibility of cross contamination. I guess harbor freight guns are good for something haha! I then covered everything I could with plastic and fogged with the liquid mask one last time. I couldn't be happier with the results!
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Not a great idea to shoot liquid mask if the car is in there IMHO.....Dave
 
Liquid mask was shot before everything was brought in and the day before I sprayed! Talk about cross contamination! I also forgot to mention I fogged the room with single stage before I started spraying just to trap down any dirt that entered the garage when I moved everything inside. I tried it this way because I didn't want black all over my garage, toolboxes, cabinets, etc. It worked really well and just hosed out after I was done. Sorry I wasn't clear about that.
 
A show winning paintjob can be done in a dirt floor barn if enough prep is done and the setup is right.
 
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