Has anyone ever painted their car in their backyard? What kind of canopy set up, or temp booth set up, did you use? I have all the materials, guns, etc. Just no booth or garage available.

Painted my first truck outside, actually turned out pretty good, that was 8-9 years ago or so, still looks great(it was enamel btw). No canopy,etc out in the open, just watered the drive down and sprayed away. I have since built a booth for painting, i wouldn't even attempt a BC/CC job outside.

Planning a single stage like dupont chroma one. Luckily, being in S Cal, the weather is usually nice enough to do outside, but concern about wind and outside dust.

I have done it before. You will need a good buffer and you will get real good at colorsanding and buffing. I painted my daily driver Honda accord on my parents blacktop driveway.Actually i painted about five there, but the Honda came out great. All the others were sanding and buffing hell. The trick i found is spray it early morning after a good rainstorm. One thing you can try if your doing a solid color is use the Dupont Hypercure clear. Paint two or three panels at a time.Stuff is dry to the touch in a few minutes, so not so much stuff will will stick in it like it will in a clear that is tacky for hours. Then you could do a few panels a day,maybe the roof and quarters one day, the door and fender another ect. Not the most efficent method but where there is a will there is a way.

My neighbour painted a Firebird in his driveway a few years ago. The side of his white house still has red overspray on it. Dave

I do not live anywhere near California, but having been on this board for 6 years I think it's highly illegal to paint anything outside of an approved spray booth in California. You might want to check out the laws before you find youself in some deep trouble with the EPA.

Lots of things are illegal. Speeding for example is illegal in every state. We here in CA put up quite a bit of bullcr@p just to be able to live here, I don't think painting that 1 car is really going to make a difference in the big picture. The guys that come to the dealership I work at put 10X that much paint in the sky and they do it leaglly.

He wasn't asking if it was legal.

Buy one of the portable canopy's from Pep boys or an auto store for $99.00 then buy some 4 mill thick clear poly wrap. instant booth.put in a fan with a furnace filter in front of it,to bring air into the booth with a smaller exhaust hole. so you keep a positive air charge inside.after the paint job you have a place to park,to keep your baby out of the sun. good luck jim
ps don't get caught by the air police.

If you're going to do it, ditto what redss454 said. I would highly recommend against it. Check with your local high school, see if they have an autobody class, they may work with you. Your local community college will probably have paint booths, it cost me $275 to register for the class, and I have good access to professional paint booths. Last, check with local autobody places, see if there is someone willing to rent you booth space. It will certainly be cheaper in the long run, in case some irritated neighbor decides to call EPA on you. You will also certainly enjoy the benefits of painting in a clean environment.

Kevin

Dennis, I cant see how a moblie bumper repair company can operate in CA.
Its illegal in Iowa, know a few people that got nailed for spraying outside by the DNR can you say $10,000 fine!!!
You might think its fine but will the neighbors???

I love the logic. Spend more on gas in California, because it has to be specially refined to limit air polution, then demonstrate a cavailier, who cares attitude about poluting the air by illegally painting a car outside. Go figure!

Originally posted by sevt_chevelle:
Dennis, I cant see how a moblie bumper repair company can operate in CA.
Its illegal in Iowa, know a few people that got nailed for spraying outside by the DNR can you say $10,000 fine!!!
You might think its fine but will the neighbors??? Totally legal. I got overspray all over my truck because they do the work in the back where we park. I called the company and told them I was going to turn them in-they said go ahead. I called some buddies at other dealers, they do it everywhere, company name is "colors on parade". They have been around 7 years that I know of so I guess it is OK. Funny that my uncle who owns a shop near by has to even do spot primer in the booth but they can prime/paint/top coat a whole quarter panel right out in the open.

Originally posted by Joeks:
I love the logic. Spend more on gas in California, because it has to be specially refined to limit air polution, then demonstrate a cavailier, who cares attitude about poluting the air by illegally painting a car outside. Go figure! If painting a car produced 1/100th of the pollutants that the refiners in Richmond produce in 1 hour I'd be really suprised. I don't have any tech but I doubt that paint does half the damage the EPA wants you to beleive, these are the same people who tell you that your car is causing the ozone to erode and we should ban old cars.

I am not sure exactly what the law says out here. I know painting cars outside without proper vented facilities is illegal, but possibly for businesses that do more than one every fifteen years. It's amaziing, cars supposedly can't be painted, yet my house was just repainted and the whole thing was sprayed. I guess house paint is safe. Go figure. I have done everything on my project myself, and would like to have the satisfaction of doing the paint also, but I do not have the luxury of a booth. I like the canopy idea, which I was already thinking about. What really surprised me was the cost of the paint! Trying to save money, but with the cost of the paint, I might just let a friend that is a prof painter shoot it after all. Hate to experiment with that much expense.

In Michigan you can spray anything outside with no regulations, but booths are regulated. Doesn't make any sense at all.

When i had my shop in NJ if you sprayed more than a gallon per hour (in a booth) you needed a stack permit. Under that amount you didn't. So what sense does that make? You pay the state a bunch of money for a permit and THEN its ok to pollute the air? A booth does not do much from a pollution standpoint. The filters catch the solids but all the harmful fumes still go up in the air. I agree with Dennis68 about the big industries. BUT they pay the state/gov't so its OK. :rolleyes: Also aerosol cans have as much polluting chemicals in them as anything.Why is it not illegal to empty a case of spray bombs in your backyard?

dp