At 08:52 AM 11/26/97 -0500, Don Mathis wrote:
>Rich,
>
>A few years ago there was a discussion on this list about the dangers of
>painting with hardeners. There was a story about a guy that used this paint
>with no breathing apparatus. Supposedly, he breathed the vapors, went to
>bed, the paint hardened on his lungs, and he suffocated in his sleep.
>Whether it is true or not, it would seem to be a good idea to not take the
>idea of safty precautions too lightly. Some of the paints are really nasty
>to the human body. Good luck-
>
>Don Mathis
Don, thanks for this extremely important reminder. I painted my engine with
urethane base coat/clear coat. The results are excellent, but I had to do
a lot
of work. First, I had to build a mini paint booth out of bisquene plastic.
Second, was excellent prep work, with a hot tanked engine, cleaned and primed
with zinc primer.
Lastly, I bought cartridges for my respirator (VOCs will do well for the
fumes),
and also get paint spray cartridges to add onto the VOC cartridges to get all
the paint spray out of the air.
Granted, I was not using an HVLP gun the filters were chocked full of paint
spray.
Normally, this stuff would have been in my brothers lungs(he painted the
engine).
I've used the acrylic enamel with hardeners out in the open air on small parts
and can say the fumes are not nearly as horrendous as those of urethane.
Not to
say, though, that one can paint a whole car with acrylic without a respirator.
Please, guys, the painting is rewarding, but it's not worth clogging up
your lungs
and killing brain cells. Spend the $30 on a respirator and filters and learn
how to properly fit the respirator to your face.
Jay
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