I'm getting up the nerve to try my 5 year old paint gun. I was thinking
of trying to paint my tractor outside. We still have some 60 degree days left. Is it to cold for painting? Or should I tun on the heat in the garage and paint in there?
If I were to paint in the garage there would be no ventilation because I would put up plastic sheet curtains to avoid getting paint everywhere. Most of the parts are ready with 2 coast of Por15 rust prev paint and two coats of Por15 Tie Coat primer.
They were both brushed on. This isn't the first time I have used Por15 but it will be the first time I use it for other than chassi painting. I haven't touched the hood and fenders yet. I'm waiting to see how this job turns out before I touch them.
Thanks
Butch
S. Jersey

I know I'm probably going to get ridiculed for this one, but, here goes. I have spayed acrylic enamel in temps as low as 28 degrees (Wife's car that HAD to be back on the road.) with no problems. At such low temps the solvent takes a very long time to evaporate so the film has to be virtually perfect to avoid runs, but it will level out like glass with no orange peel, and any "dry spray" also flows into the film and disappears.

I wouldn't recommend spraying at that low a temp without plenty of prior experience though. If you do opt to spray below say 60 degs or so, use the fas-*test*-('") drying reducer you can find. Spray your film a little thinner or dryer than you might at higher temps to speed drying and reduce runs, adding more coats as needed to build sufficient film thickness.

As for painting inside a closed up garage, unless you have a full coverage body suit and fresh air breathing supply DON'T DO IT! Especially if you are using hardener. The hardener contains Isocyanates that will MESS YOU UP! Not to mention the risk of the paint fumes exploding when the compressor kicks on.

Thanks Linen. I guess I'll have to paint outside. What causes orange peel? I can't stand the looks of it. Many new cars have it. When we go to car shows we see a lot of it on some very nice cars. I thought all paints had it and people just spent hours and hours rubbing it out.

Orange Peel is caused by the paint spray itself. Those are the droplets from the spray gun -
As you spray - when your at the ideal speed, pressure, and distance from the panel, a majority of them level out leaving a fairly flat painted surface, but when you get to far away or move to fast it becomes dry, and rough, and the other side of it, moving to slow, and spraying too heavy, you dont have orange peel - you have Runs!

Orange peel happens to everybody - but proper technique will minimize this..

Orange peel is caused by incompletely atomized paint droplets or the air that is used to spray the paint. Poorly atomized paint droplets don't evenly cover the surface, and the paint dries before the droplets can flow out evenly. This results in a paint film that is actually a series of rounded top paint droplets and the valleys between them. Thinning the paint a little more can reduce this effect. Air pressure can also cause orange peel in thicker paint films. The surface of the film starts to dry almost immediately but the paint below the surface is still wet. The air wrinkles the surface film as it hits it. The film continues to dry and can't level out completely. Thinning the paint film or reducing the air pressure can reduce this effect.

The object is to lay finely atomized droplets of paint on the surface so that all the droplets are overlapping one another just enough that they "melt" together, without laying on top of one another so much that they begin to flow off the surface (run).

This may sound daunting, but with a little practice it isn't really hard to do. Just play with the gun a bit before you spray for real and you should do fine.

My problem is I never have the need to paint so I don't get the practice. Plus having a place to do it is also a problem. That 1045 that Brian restored looks really nice for being painted outside by what I could see. But now it has been windy and the leaves are dropping and painting outside seems iffy. Even though we have a few days of 60 degree weather left the nights are cold and you must contend with blowing debris getting on the paint. I wanted this project done by the end of the year but I don't know now. My wife keeps bugging me to get her car back in the garage!! I may use a spray can to do the hidden parts in the garage and wait for nicer weather to paint the hood, fenders and side panels with the gun.
I don't even know how well the gun will even paint. I only paid around $50 for it from Harbor Freight 5 or 6 years ago.

You still see a lot of cars with orange peel at car shows so a lot of them haven't got it right yet. My F-250 has a beautiful looking paint job on it but up close you see the peel. Even those robots don't have it right yet!!

Butch

Butch where are you located??

You can do it inside the garage, but as Jim said, ventilation is going to be a issue...You can setup several box fans blowing out the garage door, pull the door down ontop of the fans and block the space to the sides with cardboard. The idea is that you want to create air movement, pulling out the bad air, and pulling in good.

You should also look into picking up a respirator, to help filter out the bad chemicals in the paint that cause the damage to ya... they really aint super expensive, and when your done, put it back into the bag, or a ziplock and suck out as much of the air as you can..itll help the filters last a bit longer..

Scott I'm in S. Jersey. I have a respirator. I don't know if it's for paint or not. It has replaceable cannistors and I've used it to acid wash our pool. I do have some fans I could use for exhaust. Maybe I will give it a try. I was gonna tack plastic sheets all around the ceiling in one of the car bays to make it's own paint area and put plastic on the floor. I can have an area about 10'x20' of working area and put the fans by the garage door.
Butch

Well there ya go, the smaller the area, the better the fans will work..You can use a furnace filter in the spot you let the air in, to keep down the dust and other things you dont want in the paint..

That respirator should work - if you can smell paint when ur wearing it...its not working, and probably needs new filters ...

good luck! Rember...we love pictures!

If your garage is not really weather tight then putting a box fan or two under the door and blocking like Scott said will work good for taking out bad air. Good air will come in around the eaves, etc. If it is tight, then opening a window to get cross ventilation is great. You may even want to filter the incoming air. If your respirator has replacable filters you just need the right filters. They should be easy to find.

Enclosing a section of the garage in plastic is not a bad idea, but don't put it on the floor, and hang it as tightly as you can to reduce it's movement. Having plastic flopping around will build up static in the plastic. A thin film of water on the floor will trap any dust that's on it and will keep any paint that settles to the floor from sticking. Water on the floor will also help ground the plastic sheets hanging from floor to ceiling and control the dust attracting static that it will build up. It may sound at first that static in the plastic would help catch any dust and keep it off the paint, but you probably don't want to stay inside the plastic until the paint is dry. Any dust that is on the plastic when you move it aside to leave the area is going to likely wind up on your fresh, wet paint.

Oh I meant to post this before ... when we painted my 75 a couple years ago, gave it a bit of time to cure and gave it the ole scuff and buff..

Ive never tried it on Enamel but im sure you can always sand/buff the hood and other highly visible panels..

My garage has sheetrocked ceiling and walls so I guess I'll have to crack the windows open to get the fresh air. Water on the floor instead of plastic. I can leave the heater outside the plastic and it should stay warm. In the past when working on my cars in the winter and the heater on moisture developed on everything including my tools. I don't know what caused it but i'm assuming it's the cold moist air turning to water from the heater. I don't know how to prevent that. And by what I have read I should go with enamel paint with a hardner and a clear top coat. I dropped off my frame at the welders today and it won't be done until Tuesday so I at least have to wait for it before I can paint. Plus I have to prep the frame. I sandblasted it this week but I'll sandblast it again after the transmission enforcement plate is welded on. And I guess the paint store will tell me what paint and reducer to use. How much paint does it take and how many coats normally?

Butch

Butch,

I have bought the cheap plastic tarps and hang them on 1x2 nailers on the ceiling.
I also put a big tarp on the floor. I mist everything down with water to keep dust
from ruining the paint job. Small fan in the rear window of the garage (on low).

They make a cheap and effective paintbooth when you don't want paint on anything
in your garage. My brother in law like my idea and uses it in his pole barn.

When your done painting you can just leave up the nailers. Mark the tarps for orientation the next time and it is fast and simple to put back up.

I can take pics if you need a clearer idea.

Most paints recommend you paint at tempuratures above 68 degrees. If it is cooler, I have halogen lights that will heat up my space in the garage. And I keep my paint and clear inside in the warmth until it is time to paint. I also keep the item to be painted warm.

Good luck.

Hello,
I just finished spraying my C175 inside a heated garage however I believe that you should be okay if is has a few hours to dry in at least 50 degree weather. My sugggestion is to use the paint from tractor supply and add the hardener. I would spray outside and then move it to the heated garage to dry. good luck..

Mike, Using the heavy plastic tarps sounds like a great idea!

A word of caution about painting outside in cold air and then moving it inside to dry. The cold metal may cause condensation to form on the surface of the wet paint. If it is already tacky, a little surface fog probably won't hurt it, but too much water on wet paint will cause blushing or worse.