Best, Safest Paint Recommendations

[Kevin68N71]

I finally have decided, due to outrageous costs for painting nowadays, that I am going to add to my mechanical and engine skills, painting and bodyworking.  Almost all my cars could use paint.

I have done a little bodywork in the past--not much, and I don't like it at all.  That said, I am taking a new approach and look and starting the reading and such associated with it.

I have found that many people seem to make the whole painting thing MUCH more complicated sounding than it is.  I have seen some work that people have done at home that is outstanding.  Since I don't care about car finishes being "perfect" and I don't do show cars, I think its a natural fit to do this myself.  I do have a detached garage and plenty of room.

I thought about starting off small...my 88 Mustang GT has worn thin paint on its roof and spoiler.  I thought I would take off the spoiler and start with just that small piece.  Better still, I have some old sheet metal that I could try at the very first. 

All that said, one question that stands out for me most is safety.  If it ain't safe, I am not doing it.

That said, what is the SAFEST paint out there to work with?  I have had adult asthma for years, so VERY sensitive about the lungs.  I will pay extra for stuff that is safe.  I have heard all sorts of stories about guys who buy respirators but "they didn't work well" and they got irritation that lasted for a month.  Irritation for a person with good lungs may mean a disaster for me, and I am not even a bad asthmatic.  I want to keep it that way.

That said, what is the safest paint, and absolutely best respirator for the money?  What should I absolutely stay away from?

I don't even mind doing cars in "stages" and doing just a bit at a time.  But there is no way I am paying someone else $5-$10K to spray my car.

Thanks for suggestions!

[69*F5*SE]

I guess the first thing I'd recommend is a supplied air unit to supply fresh air from a separate area than you're spraying in.  A good gravity fed HVLP spraygun to spray with and a good regulator/filter set up to keep the air going to the gun free from water and debris.  The rest someone else may chime in for you with the rest of your needs as far as safer paint.. Ted   

[Chatt69chgr]

From what I have read, the modern two part paint systems have isocyanates in them that are deadly when breathed.  Not that breathing the old acrylic enamel was OK but these modern paints are not to be breathed period.  So if you want to shoot them, you need to figure out a way to not breath them while painting.  It looks like there are two system both of which put positive air pressure to a mask that covers your face causing you to only breath the air from that source and not air that has the paint vapors in it.  The first one is a belt pack filter device that gets air from your big compressor and filters the oil out of it so you can breathe it.  I think this is what most paint shops use.  I have no idea what these belt pack filters cost.  The other is where you buy a oilless compressor and run a line from it directly to your facemask.  Here again, you will only be breathing air from that compressor and not air that has paint vapors in it.  If you put the little airless compressor in the house you could ensure that it wouldn't have any paint vapors in it.  The oilless compressors at Harbor Freight won't work since they don't put out enough volume of air.  I have seen this type for sale on the internet along with the full face mask and tear off and throw away visor covers.  Seems like the cheapest compressor was something like $500 and the mask was something like $400.  Not cheap.  Don't forget that not only can you not breathe the isocyanates but you can't get them on your skin as it is absorbed through the skin.  So you have to wear a throw away suit that covers your body and you tape up the arms, legs, etc.  These don't cost too much as they are throw away.  That pretty much exhausts my limited knowledge of this.  I told the guy at Harbor Freight that if they would come out with something like this, they could sell a zillion of them to guys like us.  There may be other paint systems that are relatively safe available.  I don't know.  Others will I am sure.  Don't forget that you have to buy a paint sprayer.  They can be pretty expensive.  Harbor Freight does have one that is HVLP that uses stainless steel parts that might be one you could learn with.  Certainly OK for shooting primer.  Might want to get a better one for the actual paint.  I painted the right front fender on my old Ford F100, 73 model, after doing some body work and bondo work on it back in 76 or so and it lasted until I got rid of the truck 29 years later.  You could not tell that it had been repainted.  And I used cheap Sears sprayer and compressor.  That was with acrylic enamel which is what that vehicle was originally painted with.  My only practice was on a 55 gallon drum 5 minutes before I painted the fender.  No runs.  I think the secret to the mirror finishes using the new two part systems is the color wet sanding process.  I'll be interested to read what the experts have to say about all of this.  Forgot to say that when you paint something and do a bunch of sanding, the dust gets all over everthing.  I've read where some guys put a plastic tent around their cars and do the painting inside that.  Good luck.

[mikepmcs]

Check this out.  Least amount of respiratory problems as far as I'm concerned and you can get a pretty decent job to boot.

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,8985.0.html

http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=2331682&page=0&fpart=1&vc=1

v/r
Mike

[UFO]

There is a more and more of water based automotive paints in use.
Might be worth checking into them.

[speedfreak68]

isocyanates are not only bad to breathe but they are also very bad for the eyes in school we had to get full face resporators...

[squeakfinder]

I think when people use oil based enamel on there cars they eventually wind up regretting it. It's just as much work if not more to put cheap paint from the hardware store on your vehicle as it is to use the wright stuff.

Rustoleum or Krylon won't give you the UV protection needed. Those type of paints fade and won't hold a shine.

[MichaelRW]

3M now has a newer respirator that is not as cumbersome as the fresh air ones that connect to a hose you drag around behind (over the shoulder) connected to a large air compressor. They have a battery powered one that is fairly compact and straps around your waist so there is no hose to drag around. Makes painting much easier. I don't know if these offer less protection than the hose type but your local refinisher should be able to fill you in on the details. Even if you shoot water borne base coat, the clear is still solvent based. If you plan on painting more than one car buy a "Shoot Suit". It covers exposed skin nicely and it can be reused many times. They run about $50. Also wear exam grade latex gloves. Most painters like the thin ones for better feel.

[Finn]

damnit! I forgot about fumes...

more reading is required!

*thought: it would have been way easier and possibly cheaper if I had constructed a shop to work on this thing first...
and go figure, the kick ass special effect friends with the awesome shop which he painted his MG AND his plane in moved to Arizona...

[bakerhillpins]

I have no idea what these belt pack filters cost.  The other is where you buy a oilless compressor and run a line from it directly to your facemask.  Here again, you will only be breathing air from that compressor and not air that has paint vapors in it.  If you put the little airless compressor in the house you could ensure that it wouldn't have any paint vapors in it.

Yea, that last line is a tad more important than folks realize.. Be sure you give careful consideration to method and location you use for exhausting your paint fumes. Not only do you want to be sure you don't exhaust them near your fresh air source but you don't want to exhaust them at such a location that you might be injecting them into another inhabited space. For example you don't want to be ejecting paint fumes at ground level or toward your open living room window. Ground level could involve kids and or pets and ejecting out the booth into the living room isn't going to help unless you don't like your spouse.   Even window level should be probably be avoided. Take into account air flow around the structure and neighboring structures as well. Just because its not going into your living room don't mean it is not going into your neighbor's.

Wow, apparently the Firefighter Hazmat training actually worked. Go figure?

Bryan