Flawless paint doesn't mean paying through the nose to have someone else do all the work.
Spraying your car at home with regular car paint isn't legal anymore; sorry, but the EPA put an end to that when they restricted the sale volatile organic compound-containing paints to the general public. But all hope isn't lost for determined DIY painters, since you can still primer your car and apply water-based car paints. A water based paint is just as tough as an old enamel, it just doesn't dry to a hard shine. You'll need to send the car out for a clear coat, but you can still convert your garage into a simple paint booth and get the car 95 percent of the way to a finished state.
Instructions
1. Move everything in your garage as close to the walls as possible. Stack any boxes on top of each other and get rid of anything that you can't get close to the walls. Open a window in your garage and place the window fan into it so that it blows outward. Use the largest box fan that will fit in the window.
2. Open a window on the opposite side of the room if you can. If your garage door has windows, open or remove one of them. If you don't want to alter the outside of your home, then you might consider installing a cat door in the garage door that leads into your home and leaving it open to act as an air intake for your spray booth.
3. Duct tape your air conditioner filter over your air intake window or opening, making sure to thoroughly seal around the edges.
4. Place one or more large tarps on the floor so that they span from wall to wall and up the walls by about 2 feet. Duct tape the tops of the tarp in place. Next, hang tarps on all three of your garage walls. Tape them at the top first, let them hang down. Tape them to the floor tarp at the bottom. Go ahead and cover the door leading into your house; you can trim it later.
5. Hang strips of tarp on either side of your garage door tracks and tape them down at the bottom. Now cut two more pieces of tarp sized to the ceiling and the garage door. Unfortunately, you can't hang the garage door and ceiling tarp until you get the car in the garage, otherwise the door will rip them off when it opens. Just cut them to size now and wait till you get the car in to hang them up.
6. Trim your tarp around the window exhaust fan and the intake filter. Duct tape the tarp in place around the filter and fan. Locate your house door behind the tarp and slip your razor blade in between the door and the frame so you can open the door. If the door opens inward then you'll have to cut the hinge side and reposition the tarp slightly on the door so that it won't pull off when you open it. Cut an X-shape in the tarp so you can turn the knob.
7. Tape the cut edges of your tarp to the top and side of the door and door frame. Wrap the duct tape around the frame slightly so that it goes into the door jamb. Park your car in the garage and close the door. Hang the tarps over your door, door tracks and ceiling. Take a good, hard look around your garage to make sure you haven't left anything uncovered.
8. Turn your exhaust fan on and close or block your intake window or cat door. Look around your garage for tarp movement; this indicates an air leak in the garage, so apply more duct tape where needed to reduce air intrusion. Unblock your air intake, bring a large light into the garage and commence with the spraying.
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