I don`t claim to be rich, but more of an "adventure seeker"! But the "restoring" part is fun, so I guess it`s worth it.
But, like you, I`m already *** deep into a knee deep car!

 

When I get to these situations where I need to rationalize the dollars spent I do some math.

I have been out of the business for a number of years but to put in perspective, a 8 hour day would be 624.00 dollars in labour as calculated at $78/per hour. 1 week or 40 hours would be $3,120.00. This is for labour only not counting paint and materials.

If i could suggest, and not being current, $500.00 dollars for material and paint, it would only leave $1,700.00 dollars for labour based on the $2,200.00 estimate to paint the car.

If we break that labour down it computes to 21.8 hours or 2.72 days.

That is pretty quick to pull bumpers, trim, prep, paint and then reassemble a Corvette.

 

Painting any car in your garage nowadays isn't like it used to be when C3's wore acrylic lacquer paint...a fan and an organic filter dust mask worked fine. It is unhealthy to spray the isocyinate primers and topcoats that are part and parcel of every automotive paint today unless you protect yourself with a fresh air breathing apparatus which costs upwards of $500...quite an investment for a one time use project.

 

You are right about painting not being the same as the old days. This stuff today can do permanent damage to your lungs. You need to cover your entire body as well.

 

OTOH, water-borne paints are now reasonably decent. I've been experimenting a bit and they're interesting...but very different.

 

go to the 'mans store' on the web and for $30 you can get a complete hood with a fresh air inlet. it has a fitting that accepts a regular garden hose. get a small shop vac from home depot that allows you to connect the hose to the output side (or use the one you already have) for about $30, and tape your 50 foot garden hose to the vac and screw it onto the hood. use an old pants belt and tape the garden hose to the belt for support. put the vac outside your garage at a safe distance, and presto - a $60 fresh air supply. worked great for me. and in florida, the cool air flowing into the hood felt good.
cut out the toes of athletic socks and use them to cover your fore-arms (keeps the hair and sweat off the car). two 20 inch window fans from home depot ($20 each) set up properly will exhaust the fumes. nail 1x2 furring strips to the ceiling of the garage and staple plastic sheets to it to protect anything your wife doesn't want painted, and in between coats, just roll the plastic up and tape it near the ceiling. harbor freight sells a rotary polisher for about $40 that will last thru at least three cars. you local body shop supplier has all the pads and will be more than willing to give you tips (most of the counter men are painters and car freaks and they really want to help a first timer).
like i said, for $1000 and some effort a very decent paint job can be had.

 

The clear coat used over the water-borne base coat is still pretty toxic isn't it?

 

Yep, and the low-VOC paints aren't great for toxins either...but we're reaching a point where a home painter is going to have to learn to use this stuff as I expect one of these days we'll go to the paint place (Wesco here in the Seattle area) and they'll ask for a business license to buy anything else.

No one should be painting with the really nasty stuff (like Imron, etc.) at home unless they have the REAL safety equipment. I think someone mentioned the HobbyAire, and it's not so bad when shared among a group of folks.

 

The body shops where I live now in Florida were required to start using water-born last year. Its just a matter of time before it hits the rest of us. I can see the licence thing in the future as well sort of like the Freon with the A/C.