yea baking is the difference between a $500 paint job on our car done by some schmuck, and a show quality job. at least that's what my research has lead me to believe.

backing your car though, i dunno, maybe space heaters? lol

 

The styrofoam and a small fan for a vent may work but You need to be careful and make sure that it doesnt contain any silicon or silicon products. Silicon makes paint "fish eye" really bad and will ruin a paint job. A fish eye is were a particle of silicon/product gets onto the surface of the vehicle and once paint hits that area it cant stick so it moves over to the sides leaving a pinhole or a huge crater depending on the amount of contaminate. How about this for an idea. A PVC pipe frame for the booth and then cover in plastic. Or a wood frame whatever you get the idea.

Heat may be a issue as well. I am used to having a booth that is temperature regulated from 60-200 degrees It is possible to use heat lamps though, i have done it on small repair jobs to help flash the primer faster. As for heat lamping a whole car, i know and have heard of people doing it. they just move the lamp on a new panel after ten or so minutes. Just becareful to always leave the heat lamp 2-3 feet from the vehicle surface other wise you may bubble the paint. Paint Can be left to cure on its own as well but it has its sacrifices. Your primers will be dry enough to sand on after about two hours. base dries fast anyway so no need for heat on it just clear over it. Clear coat will be dry to the touch with in 1.5 hours but will still be very soft and imprint if you put pressure on it. Clear should be completly dry after about 3-4 hours but thats just a guess. Baking a car also increases the amount of shine that a paint job has. so if your looking for a show car job you obviously wouldnt let it air dry.

In all honesty I would see if its possible for you guys to rent a paint booth. I Know here in salt lake quite a few places would rent me one if i had the need. Even try going to a few body shops and see if they will rent the booth to you on a saturday or something. If you really dont have a booth rental option than you can use things like garages but make sure you cover everything with plastic so you dont get over spray on everything. Also its a good idea to wet down the floor after you swep it. that way dust is kept to a minimum.

 

yay for all the helpful info! hail.gif

thanks a lot man.

 

your welcome!!!! cool.gif

 

Oooh, here's one on clearcoats: lacquer or polyurethane?
Tried searching the difference, but still can't make up my mind...

 

Poly For sure. easier to spray for amateurs. It smooths its self out more than a lacquer type paint will, so you will have less orange peel look when finished. Its whats on 95% of cars today. <span style="font-size:8pt;line-height:100%">excluding old school restores.</span>

 

*Staples button voice*
"That was easy"

Thanks doode!