Anybody on here use any of the inflatable paint booths that you can get at Eastwood or Amazon? Looked at a couple different ones online. Just wondering if anybody's used one and if they live up to they hype. Thanks.
My buddy and I used one he bought second hand. It was in good shape and had the blowers with it. We painted his 1965 Dodge Dart with it. The paint job, for an amateur, came out pretty good. He had never painted before and I was guiding him. Some of the issues were how warm it got inside, the blowers needed to be elevated so as not to suck in debris (something he learned after the fact), and lighting, which more of would have helped. Would we do it again? Absolutely, and we will for a car I am doing. His booth had a changing room on one end which helped with setup/reload without having to open the whole front of the booth to do it. The pictures below are after shooting it. We still had to cut and buff it and once that was done it looked even better. If I can find a pic of it from then I will post it up.
Thanks @GordonC. This is exactly what I was looking for, someone who had success with it. The paint job looks great. I'll be ordering one as soon as the snow is gone here in Wisconsin. I'll be painting my avatar in it! That's my 53 Chieftain that I have to do some sheet metal work to and then paint.
Your welcome. Prep is the key. Clean working conditions and follow all instructions from the paint mfgrs. Good compressor and line filters and you will get a decent job. Remember if anything screws up it can be sanded out and resprayed if need be.
Wow. I can definitely see how everything reflecting on it is much sharper in the paint. Post some pics of it going back together as well. Paint looks dust free. You must have put some wood down in the booth and rolled it in?
If I recall we had 2 4 x 8 sheets of 1/2" plywood that were on the ground and we set the booth up over them. Just rolled the rotisserie down the ramp at the front of the garage and into the booth. Easy enough to do. I remember my buddy looking at the paint job going it doesn't look very good and I told him now the hard work begins as the paint has to set up for a while and then the whole car had to be wet sanded and buffed out. Since he has done that he is much happier with it! 1953 Chieftain rag top. Can't be many of those around. That should be nice once you get it squared away.
A clean room is a clean room! Top dollar installed booth, or inflatable, all of the same rules apply.
I’ve watched a video where they made a system for supporting the booth with the fans off. It seems like that would be a good idea just watching this video but just being able to leave a newly painted part overnight before moving is sometimes necessary if not convenient. I also saw the inflated booth was not water proof under a light rain.
hotrodA I don't recall the specifics on the paint and gun used but I sent a txt to my buddy to ask him. I'll post up his answer when I get it.
I got mine from Vevor. Chinesium. But it worked. Blew it up in my back courtyard, told the neighbors we were hosting a kids birthday party. Goes up in a minute. It has a paint mixing room on the end, window sides and skylights. those are filters at the end for air flow. I purchased an explosion proof exhaust fan to help vacate the fumes and overspray. I ran it through a box of furnace filters that I rather crudely just cut a hole in the back of the box and stuffed the hose in. Hey, it worked. I did have to buy my wife a new box of filters for the house. Lot's of space inside, and good lighting. The only issue is the sun. You can see from the pictures, I chose an overcast day, and it was 70-75 in the booth. The sun peeked out from behind a cloud, and the booth became 90-95 in seconds, wrong reducer, clear flashing too fast, solvent pops, re-painting parts. PITA! I like the booth, I will use it again. but I will set it up indoors or under the trees in the yard next time. Lesson learned. It yielded this, in my back yard, exactly where it sits...and "damn it Jim, I'm a mortgage banker, not a car painter"! Total cost of the booth and explosion proof fan and hose = right around a grand delivered. Somethings to keep you up at night. 1. If you live in an area where rolling blackouts occur, this thing would collapse on your wet clear coat, without notice! 2. Make sure your GFI outlets will hold the fans... or see above bullet point. 3. It is a giant plastic greenhouse; the sun can destroy your efforts in seconds! I'm glad to rent mine out if you're local.
We use one at work spraying finish coats on the boats and it’s pretty good only drawback is needs more light .
Ok.....had to post this. It's not an inflatable booth but it is portable. It's also not mine but it is pretty cool!
Did you hose the plywood floor, and getting it wet as is done on concrete in a permanent paint booth?
The guy that sold the booth to my buddy had made up a pvc framework that he gave us with it but he used it to hang extra lighting on. Could be used for both I suspect. My buddy used all PPG products and a not too expensive Finishline spray gun.
Thought I would post up some more current shots of my buddy's backyard restoration on his 1965 Dodge Dart.