Greasy D Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 Happy New Year! It's been a while since I have been on here but you guys have never failed me in the past. I hope I am not re posting a subject that has been beaten to death in another post but my search skills on here have not turned up much (user error?) The body work on the 72 is done. Finally! All rust has been cut out and replaced with fresh steel. All panels have been massaged straight and hung properly. I have a coat of epoxy and a coat of urethane high build which has been blocked with a guide coat and finished with a bit of body putty. It's time for another coat of urethane and more blocking to follow. Unfortunately the temps have dropped down to 20-30 here in RI. Using a propane jet heater and two electric radiators I can get the temp up in the garage to about 60. Obviously I wouldn't be able to leave the jet heater on while spraying or for any reasonable time afterward. The radiators should be able to hold the room to at least 45-55 for several hours though. My question, is it too cold to prime? I have bare metal in a few spots from break through when blocking, I'd like to get these covered and get on to the next blocking. I also need to get this car out of the garage by 2/1. To do that I need at least all priming done and the jambs painted. Final painting will be done in a warmer month. I'm sure plenty of you have encountered worse situations and I hoping for some advice. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monte70car Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 Dennis I would say yes to it being to cold for primer. If you can keep the temp around 50° or 70° would be best. I know what you mean with the propane heater have one of those myself which I use to heat up the area and then paint and once I'm done painting I turn the heater on and turn a exhaust fan on to pull the flumes out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7tonemonte Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 If you can heat the metal up before spraying it, either heat lamp or heater blowing on it to warm it that would help. Some of the products will basically go to sleep after a certain temp,not curing, usually mid 30s. honestly in my last shop it easily hit mid 40s in there and lower at nights, it did dry eventually. Obviously its not ideal, but if you have a way to warm that metal up both before and after you would be ok Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CKZ03 Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 This kind of work is definetly difficult if you don't have adequate heat. I agree with tony, warm thing up in there for quite a while to help bring the body temp up. Just because your air temp is 50 or 60 doesn't mean the metal is. I would suggest firing up whatever heat devices you have & leave them going through the whole process. I prime with my 100,000 btu natural gas furnace running and haven't blown up yet. Definetly use the fastest hardner recommended for your primer. Being so cold the primer will be more likely to try and run, so be careful not to pile it on too wet. Your flash times between coats will be greatly reduced, so just take your time. Remember heat rises, use some fans to help circulate the warmer air above. Leave your heat going for as long as you can after to help kick the chemical reaction. Good luck, keep up the good work your almost there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7tonemonte Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 Another thing to add here is to put your first coat on light, and allow alot of "flash time"in between coats, just give it adequate time between each coat, at that temp dont pile it on like Cory said, take your time and you should be ok. Ive worked at shops with less than optimal conditions, and as long as you take your time and dont rush it, you should be ok. Metal temp is the key here, not the temperature of the building. The car is probably at least 10 degrees cooler, but if you warm that up, it takes a lot longer to cool off than the air around it, feel it with your hand, you will see what the difference is between the metal and the building you are it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve G Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 why risk it?........ if you have all this time in the body of your car it seems crazy to chance destroying it.... wait till it warms up a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 Like I tell my son, patience. No need to rush things to completion in poor conditions. You'll just be back redoing things later if you do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
black07ss Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 When I work on my car in the winter I place my heater about five feet away from the car and place a fan to blow over the top of the heater into the car. This way the heat is blowing on something that will warm up. Air is to hard to heat or cool by itself. I also run a ceiling fan backwards so the cold air is pushed up and forces the warm down around the walls. Works great for me and I use about a pound of propane an hour. That includes running it hard to warm it up faster. This is the heater I use http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stor...81#.UOifkORqRkk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greasy D Posted January 6, 2013 Author Share Posted January 6, 2013 Thanks guys! I have 3 oil filled radiators set up to turn on at 6 tomorrow morning. Once I get in at 9 or so I'll run the propane jet heater to get the metal the rest of the way up to temp. It looks like it will be 40 by mid day outside so 60 should not be hard to achieve inside. I'll kill the propane to spray then turn it back on after the fumes clear. Should be good to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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