My ventilation system for painting

[Denee007]

Hi! I didn't know where to post this;
Anyway, I needed ventilation for when I paint my mustang, so I invented this system. It's obviously made out of 1x2's screwed together with plexiglass in the open looking areas. It's 2, 8' sections that can be easily taken apart and stored in my back workroom. I have paintbooth filters for when I get to priming/painting or just sucking out dust. The fans(which are sucking air out are held in place by four small bungy cords each. IT creates a great breeze while I'm working. The air inlet is from two screened windows from the room in back of the garage, I consider my "clean room" where my compressor is, and my fresh air breathing system. I just wanted to share this in case someone is looking for a way to do what I'm doing. I did want a ventiliation fan in the wall, but my husband didn't want me to do that, so this is actually much better!
dne'

 

[SPDMETL]

A Chick who paints cars...wow; just wow !

 

[kursplat]

nice, what's the mustang got in it?
is it your garage, or do you have to share it with your hubby?

 

[Denee007]

So glad you asked!

I'm so glad you asked! my husband doesn't really share the garage, he once in a while comes out and says, "nice honey"~ he's just not a hobbiest and I have been on him to get a friggin hobby! He helps me with moving heavy things.
Anyway, I've been working on this '67 Mustang couple for 3 years, didn't know what I got into!lol It's been educational for sure and unbelievably expensive! The stang was purchased as a rolling chassis in really bad condition(OMG!!). I painted most of it a year ago, but the roof came back to haunt me(rust), so I sandblasted it and should be painting it next week!!
I love my garage, it's my retreat! I"m getting that Maxjax lift someday!!
Anyway, my restomod stang has a 289(.40over), C4 ******, Flaming river ps rack n pinion steering and tilt column, power front disc brakes. Aftermarket AC, Griffin radiator/ dual electric fans, 100amp alternator, new just about everthing that's boltable. The paint n body work is proving to be the most difficult part as it's so tedious and time consuming!
thanks!!

nice, what's the mustang got in it?
is it your garage, or do you have to share it with your hubby?

 

[dkroth]

Well done. Do you find you need both fans? That seems like a lot of air movement to me (I am not a pro painter).

Do you have filters on the incoming air as well? You don't want to **** bugs, pollen, dust into the "booth".

 

[Denee007]

Hi!! Oh, yes, I need both fans for sure~ behind my garage is a smaller room(11'x16' with two windows. I open these windows and they are screened and catch maybe larger things, but not fine dust, but do keep out bugs! When I start to paint the colorcoat, I'll put filters over those incoming screens as well as the outgoing. A friend said "why am I filtering the outgoing air?" first I don't want to ruin my fans with paint overspray, and if there's any chance that the outgoing air can be filtered for environment sakes to cut down on VOC's(volatile organic compounds), then I'm doing my part with reasonable care to protect the environment, plus don't want my neighbors to get too pissed at me! lol The attached photo was taken a couple years ago.

Well done. Do you find you need both fans? That seems like a lot of air movement to me (I am not a pro painter).

Do you have filters on the incoming air as well? You don't want to **** bugs, pollen, dust into the "booth".

 

[nehog]

Do enough painting and that driveway will look really purdy in a few years!

Necessity is the mother of invention, I think you've done well there.

 

[Denee007]

Funny enough, the floor still looks pretty good! I would like to coat the floor, but I still have some work to do on my mustang and my '57 chevy. I'd just hate to have a nice floor and mess it up by sliding jackstands and floorjacks over a nice floor! But again, I'm very happy with the ventilation system! It only takes 10 minutes to set up and will be nice during our really cold Houston winter! lol It didn't take long to build~ I posted it thinking some of the forum people would like it.

Do enough painting and that driveway will look really purdy in a few years!

Necessity is the mother of invention, I think you've done well there.

 

[787B]

That is an excellent fan setup. I never would have thought to put windows in it. I can also see from the shop pic that, like so many of us, you've spent way too much time shopping at Harbor Fright! You'll fit in here just fine.

 

[kursplat]

i like the stripes running into the engine bay

 

[Denee007]

Thanks, that's not an original idea on my part, it's actually done fairly often, but I just wanted to see if I could do it! thanks for noticing! it was a pain to put there, of course the motor was out when I did it!

i like the stripes running into the engine bay

 

[Wackerjr]

FYI.... been painting for years... just a word of advice, a positive pressure setup is going to work much better and give you a cleaner job..... but have painted many a cars with the negative setup like yours, with the ol wet floor and didn't have to buff

 

[Torque1st]

Welcome Denee, nice car!

One thing that bothers me, but I don't know if it is a real concern, is that normally those fans would be explosion proof models. Fumes igniting from a spark at the switch could ruin a nice paint job...
I believe the positive pressure systems eliminate that hazard. Even then, I think most of the control switches for lights etc in a paint booth are explosion proof.

 

[hottbodyz]

Nice to see another female who can fix cars!! I'm a 39 year old "chick" thats been painting for over 20 years professionally. I'm ans ASE certified master collision tech and refinish tech.
AS it turns out I am also restoring a 1967 Mustang GT 390 in my garage at home as well. I'll have to try and post some pics.
The fan set up you are using will work fine. A friend and I did almost the exact same thing in his garage when we repainted his Accord. It worked good but it his driveway did change color.

Keep in touch!!

 

[Denee007]

I appreciate everyone's advice/comments!! This is hopefully a one time paint job! I don't plan to paint anymore cars after this, maybe small rust repairs like on my '57 chevy. I do however want to fix my garage up to look very nice including the maxjax(when they put extra holes in it for varying postions~ which is in progress they told me).

hottbodyz, thank you for your advice too! actually I started off in life as a mechanic ('74-'81) when cars could be worked on! I just did what my brothers did never thinking that it was different for a girl to be a mechanic until years later! We lived away from other folks, no girl friends nearby to play with dolls, i just got handme downs from my older brothers(rockmsockem robots, soldiers, their bicycles,)! We had an old barn(concrete floor!!) where we did our damage to old cars) boy it was fun! I learned the basics and went on to automechanics in high school) my father wanted me to be prepared in life to fix my own cars cause car repair was expensive, and so not to be taken at auto repair shops! I dabble with paint/body, but have never produced anything outstanding, it's just something to do~ beats fixing supper or cleaning house! ugh!!! I love the '60's, the era I grew up in~ I miss the Leave it to Beaver era when things weren't so screwed up!
dne'

 

[Falcon67]

Those tricks work well. When I built my current shop (after escaping Houston LOL) I put two 2' x 5' windows in the south end. A standard 20" box fan just fits a 2' window. When I painted the Falcon, I put two box fans with filters in the windows blowing in, then put filters under the 8' overhead. Worked great. Nice ride you have there. My wife's race car was a 67 before we sold it and got the 70.

 

[Denee007]

Sounds like an exciting lifestyle~ racetrack stuff! A bunch of money gets sunk into anything that's fun doesn't it! ; )

 

[AndrewBigA]

id like to see some pics of both lady painters in the house! lol

i wish my lady was just a little bit into cars!

 

[2500avalanche]

Very cool. I am getting into and researched about how to make your own paint booth in your garage. The explosion proof lights and fans are a must to be safe!
I am working on a 92 GMC typhoon right now... My wife hates it!

 

[Denee007]

I think Mythbusters should do an episode of will a regular fan cause an explosion/fire,etc. When I had the fan out of the framing, just for the hell of it, I was cleaning my gun with an aersol solvent(highly flammable), and used the fan to draw the fumes away as I cleaned the spraygun hooked up to my compressor. The solvent was drawn through the fan~ and I'm still here! The amount of overmist/afterspray with my system~ doesn't seem to be very much aftermist~! The filters I'm using that are used for paint boothes seem to catch most of the exiting dust/, for me, this was a one time paint a car thing, I may do little patchworks, but never an entire vehicle!

As for your wife hating the idea~mention me! lol my husband doesn't seem to mind as long as I supply him food and, well, "other"! I do find however, the frustration of wanting to stay in the garage and get things done, only to have to do obligatory things, just be sure to have an ACE hardware store nearby ! It becomes an obcession to make progress! and the finacial aspect can be something to argue over! Old cars, restoration of old/early cars are like Black Holes for money~!!!!
dne'

Very cool. I am getting into and researched about how to make your own paint booth in your garage. The explosion proof lights and fans are a must to be safe!
I am working on a 92 GMC typhoon right now... My wife hates it!