The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Driveway paint job

In the last "Vintage Trucks" I saw mention of a "Driveway Paint Job". Is such a thing possible? My truck is my daily driver and won't be restored till the next owner has it. I'd like to get a nice neat paintjob on it. Any such experience out there?

Jim,

I do all my work in the driveway. I did what I call a stage one paint job about two years ago. Just enuf to hold the rust at bay. I'll do a better job later. I kept a weblog of the procedure which can be viewed here:

Slight Facelift

Jim,

Ive seen guys take 4 mil clear plastic and 2x2 and build a paint booth in the driveway. they would cover all the sections except the section they are painting. You must keep your driveway really wet down though so you dont have overspray on it when you finish. They turned out pretty good,I blew the dust from everything in my single car garage and and kept ventilation circulating and it turned out real good . you can see on my website at the bottom of the page.Patience and prep is the biggest part of painting. lots of coats slowly, Alot of ppl get in a hurry and have what I call signatures allover their vehicle (runs) hope this helped some and good luck,

Alan

My take? I feel that the a truck can be painted in the driveway or garage with fair results if care is taken. But the quality of the job is not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about such an undertaking, it is the neighbors.

If you have close neighbors, it just isn't fair to them that you fill their home with overspray. And BELIEVE me you will. If your garage is attached to your house, you WILL fill YOUR home with overspray. The last car I painted in may garage (about 20 years ago) I even taped the door shut. STILL, there was overspray on the dishes in the cupboards!! Think about the health and comfort of your family and neighbors FIRST.

HAve done it but inevitably when you are 1\2 way through the job there will be a massive hatch of some type of insect and they will end up decorating your nice paint job. I believe they are called Murphy bugs.

I have always done my painting outdoors. NOT because I want to, but because I don't have access to a garage or other suitable building.

I have had pretty good success and lots of compliments on a job well done, but there are drawbacks:
1. You must have a day when the wind is not blowing or at least is minimal.

2. Don't park your car/truck in direct sunlight. Even on a seemingly cool day the direct rays from the sun will heat the metal and cause the paint to dry too fast. This will cause dull areas in the paint job from overspray not being able to "melt" into paint that has already dried from the heat.

3. You will get some bugs and other debris in the paint job, simple as that. When painting outdoors it cannot be avoided, so be ready to accept this fact.

4. Remove all masking tape from the vehicle as soon as the paint is dry enough to allow it, usually in about one hour. Just be very careful because the paint will still be "soft" at this stage. Anything that comes in contact with it will leave a mark. If you leave it on longer than necessary, you will end up with a sticky mess to deal with later. Tape adhesive and sunlight do not go together very good.

5. DO NOT paint in the evening. Start as early as possible so the paint has as much time to dry as possible. If you start too late, you run the risk of dew falling on the paint before it has time to dry properly. Not a good combination. I made this mistake about 20 years ago when I painted my brothers Camaro. The paint was a bright red and looked really good when I finished. When we went out the next morning to look at my handy work we were shocked to see that the hood, trunk and roof were now pink. After it sat in the sun all day most of the "pink" went away but not completely. That is a lesson I have never forgotten.

7. Even though you are painting outdoors, you still need to wear proper protective gear. Paint fumes and overspray goes everywhere so be safety minded for yourself and others around you. Keep everyone else away while you are painting, especially children.

You can get a very nice paint job if you do it outdoors but just remember, it is just that, an outdoors job. It will never be like a professional job no matter how good you are with a spray gun or how careful you may be. There are too many things against you that you have no control over.

Hopefully these tips will help and if I have left anyhing out (or mis-informed you about anything) I am sure that MARTINSR will be able to clear it up. GOOD LUCK!