I finally completed all the welding on my car and I am about 75% complete with the undercoating removal, etc. In a few weeks I will be ready to start sand blasting and final stripping. Thus I will need to spray epoxy fairly quickly. However it is getting cold out and my garage is actually part of my home (split level). In fact, my garage is right underneath my bedroom. I will not have a problem in getting the garage above 55 degrees with heaters, however spraying primer with the garage doors closed is a bit scary. I am concerned about the fumes entering the house.

What is everyone's thought on this. How toxic are the fumes on an epoxy primer, how long do they linger, etc?

Also, I will entertain ways to protect the bare metal until it gets warmer in the spring and I can set up my makeshift paint booth in the driveway. But what could I use? brushable epoxy?

Thanks,
kev

The fumes are always nasty. Do not spray with the garage door down. Without ventilation you could easily get to concentrations high enough to cause serious damage.

I would heat the garage so the metal on the car is nice and warm. Then open it up and spray during the warmest time possible. It will take a while for the car to cool down. I would think the primer would be cured by then. Just make sure you're using a cold temp reducer.

yes thats good advice. definately open the door. get the stuff sprayed then as soon as you can close the door and turn the heat back on to the let the epoxy cure.

Great advice from above.
The most important thing you can is get the metal in the 65 degree range. Than spray only one coat and let set a day or longer before spraying a second coat.

Epoxy does not cure like primers or clears as these products you can spray at 30 degrees and they will flash but go dormant.
As soon as it get back up in the 50's they will finish kicking.
Epoxy if sprayed cold low 50's or below will flash but stay uncured until the metal temp gets in the 80's for days in a row.

So the metal temp is the most important thing and by only putting on one coat the first day the solvents will have a chance to get out, two coats they will not and this will slow the cure down.

I have seen jobs sprayed at 45 degrees at home and the epoxy would not cure out until April. One guy a month later took his to a tech school and baked at 145 all day and when done it was about 90%, next day finished the curing process.

Thanks for all of your advice. Hmm, guess like the best bet is to almost wait until spring to spray the epoxy. If I go this route, what can I use to temporarly protect the bare metal. Basically I want to blast/strip a section of the car at a time. Naturally, I can't leave it bare for long before it starts to rust, especially with the fresh blasted areas. What is something I can put on to keep it from oxidizing but that is extremely easy to remove before I spray on epoxy? I have heard about the brushable epoxy. Is this a good choice? Seems like it would be easy to sand back smoth and then rehit with sprayable epoxy in the spring. Also, any chemical that will work in which I can just use wax remover to rid it before spraying?

Thanks,
kev

Nothing I can think of with out going back-wards!

You can plan it where you get a 65-70 day sometime this year?
Summer is not done yet in PA is it?

damn, i've been painting in my parents garage with the door closed....probably killed my brain and nervous system pretty good it's been below 15*C here for the whole time i've been painting, so it was the only way i could keep the garage warm.

how bad will it have been with a resperator, i couldn't smell or taste any fumes with it on. After leaving the garage and closing the door i can smell the fumes outside really strong. Probably gonna die in a year now

as for the question at hand, I put plastic on the whole wall connected to the house and duct-taped it in position to seal off any fumes (as there is a door from the garage to the house) a little bit of the fumes come through, but not near as bad

*******************************************
Well there are two theories on this. It will either kill you or make your immune system stronger.
For future reference do you prefer that we send flowers or make a donation to your favorite charity?

donations for ongoing cancer research.

In all seriousness, what effects would i feel from being over exposed, or damage may been done (short or long term) by being exposed to the fumes?

Your OK! This stuff builds up in your system over time. Epoxy is not as bad as clears, primers.
Isocyanate's in the clears and primers can cause you to pass out
(isocyanate poisoning) If you had a very strong dose all at once but this is very very rare. They tend to want to build up in your system and than one day your sick and the doctor gives you the great news. The news? To many things to list.

I have a bodywork/painter that said i should be fine, but he found out the bad news the hard way. He now coughs blood around pretty much any paint products. He is now 23

There are painters that develops an allergic reaction to the solvents in paint. I have seen this happen more so to young painters that have been painting for 4-8 years.
That may be your friends problem, because one he is to young for any of the chemicals to build up that fast. Problems usually show up in the 40's or 50's but 23? I have never herd of that before.
Hopefully he has gone to a doctor, because there is more to this than what was said.

Wow, this got off topic, or maybe not? hehe

Thanks again for the advice. I may be able to get the car's undercarraige/engine compartment/etc fully sandblasted in the next two weeks. There should be a couple warm sunny days left this fall. I'll go for it. Worse case is that I have to spray bomb the car with cheep primer and strip it off in the spring.

Thanks,
kev

I'm curious as to what people think about painting with moderate ventilation with an organic compound respirator?

Obviously this is not "safe" since the respirators don't stop iso's, but how much risk is involved painting only every so often and not every day?

i myself an curious about the respirator thing too. i know what is recommended and whats required by osha but i have been told that they do stop iso and some say they dont. i have heard of people claim they have been painting with one every day for 25 years so i would think that they do remove the iso. i know pos pressure systems are really the way to go but i think the cartridge type are ok too. does anyone know for sure??