Help! How can you dry enamel spray paint faster?

[3 Cub Dad]

Ok, we've all been there. Running out of time. Any tips on getting enamel spray paint to dry quicker? (I can hear the laughing!) Seriously, the instructions say re-coat within three hours or wait to fully cure at 48 hours. At 24 hours from painting, paint is still "tacky". Really wanted to finish gloss tomorrow! And the boys are ready to put their decorations on!

I was thinking hair dryer, hot air gun, (like the kind for removing paint!) or heat lamp..... anybody had any luck with anything?

Yea, Yea, should have started the painting last week!

[psycaz]

We've done it by putting the car near a heat register. Not too close to pick up any dust that may blow, but so that warm air blows on it, took about 4 hours to I felt comfortable to keep going with finishing the cars.

Of course, by then, I was getting so panicked that I didn't care much. Car did turn out fine.

You could always test this on a spare piece of wood or two.

[ohiofitter]

I myself have painted a car around 5 in the evening the set it up on a stand made up of 8 cloth pins I intertwined them so they look like a set of saw horses. Placed tooth picks in the axle hole then into the cloth pin spring hole , And placed them over a heat register about 8 and left them overnite, It worked for us because this was done the week before our impound one year

[psycaz]

One note of caution, I have no idea as to if using a heat register will affect weight of the car as it may remove moisture from the wood, depending on you r heat source.

Same as it may casue a slight tweak in alignment if the car is thin. The wood may bend a little (I think).

Just to put everything out there for you to think about.

[sdupont1]

If you have an electric bathroom heater, insert toothpicks into the holes and prop it up on something. Paint the car to desired color. Place infront of heater (simulate baking) and within 2 hrs, dry to touch. My son put three coats on this way.

[3 Cub Dad]

I've got a couple of small electric space heaters, (no bigger than a shoebox), that have fans in them. Think I'll give them a try.

As to propping up, the cars are alrady propped up on four drywall screws so I've got good clearance all around. Something I've always done for painting is that I drill four small holes in the bottom. Drywall screws have a flat head, so I turn them into to holes a couple of turns by hand, and the car sits great for painting, and you can turn it without touching the body. I keep old axles that i just barely stick in the holes so they don't get paint in them. The crews being attached make it a pretty solid structure to move rather than balancing on something else. When the screws are removed, I've got four holes for tungsten putty if I need to finetune weight!

[sdupont1]

Thats what I had. A small heater. the fan is the trick. the heat can be blown across the car, otherwise it has to migrate.

[3 Cub Dad]

Hey sdu,

Worked like a champ!

THANKS!

[frontosacam311]

If you have a friend in the powder coating industry, see if you can place it near their Infared Curing Lamp. Theay work like a charm. Been thinking about picking one up for my shop. A 1500watt retails for $199, they have lots of uses for the handyman.

[Rick Laton]

I place an old set of axles in the holes and tie fishing line around them and hang them from something. I have a double MR HEATER that goes on my propane tank. I place it within about 24" of the car basically under the car (Heat rises) and let all of the heat rise up to the car. Make sure you don't get too close. We use spray can paint and clear. I can usually wet sand (2000 grit) and buff within 2 hours. The trick is (I run a body shop) is to let the coats flash before you put another coat on. What happens if you put the coats on too soon is that the top layer will dry but the bottom layers won't and it will appear dry when it really is not. 10 minutes between coats is plenty if you are adding the heat between coats. I set the heater back where it needs to be after every coat. Hope this helps.