Safety questions on spay painting

[Code Herder]

Hello, I've been reading on spray painting for a while, especially on this website and I've been constantly changing my mind about whether I should get it done by a body shop or not. When I brought it in a shop to have it checked out, the 3000 CND estimate put me off I'll admit. They'll do the outside body for "cheap" 1500 CND since it's in good condition but for fixing the inside paint even if I strip it and the stuff under the car it's another 1500 CND. My biggest concern is not how good a result I'll get but rather how safe it's going to be. I'm concerned about my safety but the safety of people nearby. Ideally I'd do the stuff under the car and the inside of the car myself and find somewhere cheaper to do the outside.

I've tried to find answers to these questions through google and reading the forums so if you know a resource on it, just point me to it I'm not afraid to learn I just don't know where the knowledge is .

1. I understand cellulose paint is much safer, thanks to the "Paint Safety" section but it doesn't mention the safe alternative for the rest of the process. I understand self etch is pretty nasty and I haven't found a safe alternative. From what I understand I can get away with making a somewhat less durable but safer choice by not doing the self etch and using epoxy primer. But then again from what I've read some epoxy primer contain Isocyanates so I'm wondering how safe they are to being with.

2. Let's say I'm stuck using self etch, I'm guessing it's nasty because of the acid doing the etching. I can see how to protect myself but what about others, what kind of safe distance of "clean air" is needed. Does it smell anything if it gets in the house so the wife has a warning something's up?

On another note, the stuff I want to paint over is very rusted, I'll try to remove all the visible rust but I'm guessing I need a rust primer. How dangerous are those type of primer, I'm not sure I see how they differ from your average primer beside the rust removing capabilities.

3. I've been worried about a mask not fitting like in the sticky post in this forum. So I've reasoned that using an air fed mask would be much, much safer because there would be a positive pressure inside my mask so any badly fitting seam would be mitigated by this.

4. From what I understand, Isocyanates effects build up over time but self etch is much more nasty and you can get occupational asthma from first use if you screw up. How accurate is that? Beside downright painting in a closed garage with no mask are Isocyanates usually a long term health hazard?


Thanks for reading this all of this and I swear I read quite a bit on this topic before asking questions. I'm just not sure where to find my infos this site provides some of the clearest info so far for the DIY person. From trying to find info I ended up knowing more about how to paint safely in a booth than anything else :P

 

[steveo3002]

air fed mask , paper suit and gloves ....do the spraying when the wife/family are out for a while

rust primers are usualy pretty safe on the scale of things ..if you have the airfed might as well use it for all spraying

 

[jaykay]

answers(hopefully)

paint fumes are local,a few yards out in open air, it's gone.
for yourself,see above.
use a rust remover,then anti rust primer.primers do not remove rust.
you dont say what your spraying???? please enlighten us.

 

[Code Herder]

Oh sorry, I'm going to be spraying the undercarriage of the car.

I thought I should wire brush the rust. It's not just the frame that's been attacked by the rust, it's the whole floor of the tub from under. As far as I can tell, when I got the jeep, it was on it's 3rd replacement panel for the driver side floor and it's pretty messy. Surprisingly enough, the frame is sound, I just had to get bit little bit of welding done on it near the back of the car, the rest is good, just lots of heavy surface rust.

My biggest worry was killing the neighbors but if it's harmless after a few yards I'm happy.

Eventually I'll try to spray the inside of the jeep because that's pretty bad too and then I'll graduate to the outside body of the car.

PS: If you meant what kind of paint I'll admit I'm not quite sure yet. I read about a lot of neat options here but I can't seem to find them here in Canada. I just started looking last night and I was like huh oh that's sold only in the UK. I figure I'll try to go see a local auto bodyshop and ask if they can sell some paint. I'm thinking cellulose paint as much as possible and then some kind of gravel guard stuff because it's a jeep after all :P.

 

[jaykay]

jaykay

better to find a paint suppler,cut out the middleman.
i would buy chassis paint for that.rust treat it, under coat,then chassis paint.
use a brush.then you will not cover everything around it.

 

[pedrobedro]

I'd wire brush the loose stuff off that then spray Waxoyl on it, don't bother with paint underneath.

 

[Code Herder]

Thanks for the replies and yes good point it does not need real paint. Waxoyl seems pretty hard to come by in Canada so I'll use something that looks similar called Por 15.

My only worry with such coating is that the thing will rust completely and *then* the paint will fall away reveal a huge hole .

 

[steveo3002]

hold on ...por 15 is nothing even close to waxoil

por15 is very very picky about prep , unless you plan to spend the next 100 years prepping that to perfection id choose another product

wire brush in a angle grinder /drill everything ....zinc rust primer x2 and brush on chassis paint x2

 

[jaykay]

all of the above,but treat rust be for any form of coating.
use jenolite,kurrust,or any simular stuff. if you dont it will be back.
will look ok from wire brushing but it will be there still.

 

[rosco454]

If your using an air fed mask then run it from a separate compressor that is outside and as far away from where you are spraying as possible (not just outside the door) especially if using 2k paint.