A couple of days ago I asked about a clear I was trying to use and got some good responses. (thanks guys)!! But how about some opinions on how to prep a garage before painting a car in it. Like lighting and wall coverings or fresh air coming it, and painting at what time of day?? I really wanna make this work this spring. I have to much time and effort in my car to give it to somebody else to finish!!! Thanks Guys!!!!! graemlins/beers.gif

John, check out this thread painting in your garage (http://www.camaros.net/forum/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=003394#000000) . The hardest part is if you have alot of stuff stored in the garage, covering it up or removing it completely. I would not recommend painting in a garage that is attached to the house, fumes will infiltrate into the house with even the best exhaust fans, IMO

Hey, if you can't move out alot of the stuff, you can buy a box of plastic car cover. it is cheap like 18 bucks for a box that is 16 ft wide and 350 long, the plastic is like 4 feet wide and is folded on itself, so once pulled out it is 16 ft wide, i use it alot in my body shop,for covering cars, however i bet it would work great for wall coverings, ceiling and so on, it has a sprayablle side that won't flake off paint or dust, and the other side is made to static cling to whatever it is on, before covering walls try to blow most of the dust out of the garage, and off the walls, it will stick better, but you can tape or thumb tack the plastic up. if you blow garage out i would do it the night before you hang the plastic so the dust has a chance to settle again, then hang plastic, make sure to blow the floor off too!! goodluck
jake

Yep, I bought two big rolls of plastic from Home Depot for about $25 or so.
Used a staple gun to hang it from the rafters in my garage and covered the floor before rolling in the body.

Worked out great! Just be sure to ventalate properly graemlins/boring.gif :D

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While I did not paint my car in the garage ( to novice for that), I did spray alot of primer. In the beginning, I knew what I was going to do so I got an 18" attic fan, had a plenum made, and mounted the fan and plenum in the ceiling with a screen over the fan. I ran an 18" flexible duct to a gable vent and had a metal sleeve made to attach to the gable vent and flex vent duct. I used a riostat (sp) and adjusted the speed. I would turn on the fan, let the air "suck" a furnace filter to the screen, and it would pull the paint/air out of the garage and vent it outdoors. The filter caught the paint product. I opened the garage door, sealed it all but two holes with plastic sheet. In the two holes I placed furnace filters to filter the incoming air. I covered my toolbox and stuff with plastic, cleaned the floor, and left it DAMP, not wet. I had very little dust in my primer from this and the fan/vent worked like a charm. I had about $20 in the filters, duct tape, and plastic and $90 in the vent setup. I use the vent quite a bit in the summer to "move air" in the garage. Now I should say my garage is attached to the house and drywalled. My wife complains about the slightest smell comeing from the garage. Even waxing the cars she complains so I get my $$ worth out of the fan/vent.

One other thing, I did my primer work in a de-tached garage. I would imagine an attached garage would have caused the odor to be inside the house as well - that would not have been good graemlins/clonk.gif ;)

I have found the best time to paint is early a.m. after a good rain. I painted a few in my detatched 2 car.I got them all ready, waited for a nice rain, next morning wet down the floor and went to town. They all came out very clean. Almost as clean as in my spray booth.Big problem is bugs,thats why i won't paint at night!

Guys Thanks!!!! Alot of good ideas and suggestions... now maybe one more thing?? What is the best type of lighting to buy? I have 4 eight foot florscents and four 500 watt quartz lighting and was planning on maybe more. Should I get more florscents or quartz or halogen or what?? Thanks Once More!!!!!! Yea, I know... florscents isn't spelled right!!!!

Gotta watch the Halogens,they get REAL hot and heat and flammable vapors don't mix. Another thing is i like to carry a flashlight around the car with me while i'm painting.Helps when you get down low so you can see just how the paint/clear is laying out and helps make sure you have good coverage.Nothing worse than pulling the car out in the sun and being able to see the primer thru the paint. :eek: I use one of those handheld rechargable million candlewatt spotlights.Works great.