014 - Painting Parts

The Garcia family is still here!  

Distracted by life, by health, by fun, by friends, by activities, by sitting on the couch and breathing.  It's been a long winter for many reasons.  Reasons we can control, and those out of our reach.  Along for the ride sometimes desperately trying to put on the brakes, to pause, to wrap our heads around what is happening.

But there is a light.  There's always a light, just sometimes it feels so very very far off.  Beyond that figurative light, it's amazing what the actual light in our sky can do for our souls.  Slightly longer days, slightly more warmth, slightly more energy to tackle the million little distractions thrown at us.  And somehow this makes the figurative light feel just a little closer.

Working on this car already has been and I hope will continue to be a nice respite from the daily struggles that we so often want to pull away from.  Part of what has always driven me and pushed me forward is the unknown of getting in over my head.  For me there is comfort, there is freedom, there is excitement in having no idea what I'm doing.  Have I ever built a spray booth before?  Nope.  Is that going to stop me from trying?  Nope.

The need:  Uncoated steel and aluminum parts that require protection from the elements.

Solutions: Powder coat (inconvenient and expensive but nice finish).  Brush on paint (effective, but uneven coating).  2k Automotive paint (brilliant if you have your own spray booth and equipment).  Well, now we have our own spray booth and equipment so here we go!

There's an art and science and a little bit of black magic to air flow.  Nearly every building I've ever been in has issues with the HVAC system which often either bakes or freezes its inhabitants.  And so with this spray booth, I did some research into existing systems and other garage builds, closed my eyes and threw a dart.  That dart landed on two bilge blowers each with a separate chamber of a completely arbitrary volume based on the size of the filter, and the lumber I had on hand.  Spoiler alert, I got lucky and it worked!!

We've already tested and sprayed the first parts and are quite pleased with the results.  The front wheel hubs and the steering rod ends.  There will be a lot more to follow soon, but for now that is where we are.


Here's one of the first steps: drilling holes to pull air through the filters.  The size of the hole and spacing was calculated using exactly... nothing.


Partially assembled spray booth back.



Spray booth back assembled with blowers and filters.



Wiring completed including a giant red off switch that really isn't necessary, but it made me smile.



Here's the completed spray booth with a shroud and LED lighting.



And finally the first parts that we painted with a 2k Ceramic Chassis Black that feels really durable.


I'll follow up soon with another post showing the installation of these and other parts.

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