[Chief of the 60's]

Originally Posted by MUSLCAH

Thats one paint ...I Nevah sprayed. My friend sprayed some parts with Imron.....that stuff stunk so bad (smell)... I didn’t want nothing to do with it...health wise....

You should see it when it is set up in the bottom of the can. You can peel it out, throw it on the ground and it will bounce like a Superball. Imagine what your lungs looked like. They claimed back then that if to inhaled it for a 1/2 hour it would kill you. I don't know if that was true but I believed it.

It was very popular back in the late 70's - early 80's. I would not spray that for any money in the world. People thought is was the "invincible paint". Fact is, you could still damage it and it was nothing more than another version of enamel.

[nytrainer]

It was/is isocyanates that were the main health hazard in Imron (along with assorted VOC's) but don't kid yourselves, modern urethanes (SS and clears) have them too and are just as dangerous if respiratory precautions aren't taken. Fresh air supplied respirators are a must IMO. Especially if you're not in a booth with adequate and painting in a garage.

[Chief of the 60's]

Back in the late 70's there was no such thing as "fresh air supplied respirators". Fact is, back then, most "old timers" never used a mask when spraying lacquer. Being that I learned 75% of my skills from these old timers, I also picked up their bad habits. But..... I learned how to chop, section, metal finish, work with lead and lay acrylic enamal out like freshly rubbed lacquer from these old timers. Most of these skills are lost today because almost everybody today is nothing more than a glorified parts replacer. But they'll call themselves "body technicians".

[MUSLCAH]

Originally Posted by Chief of the 60's

Back in the late 70's there was no such thing as "fresh air supplied respirators". Fact is, back then, most "old timers" never used a mask when spraying lacquer. Being that I learned 75% of my skills from these old timers, I also picked up their bad habits. But..... I learned how to chop, section, metal finish, work with lead and lay acrylic enamal out like freshly rubbed lacquer from these old timers. Most of these skills are lost today because almost everybody today is nothing more than a glorified parts replacer. But they'll call themselves "body technicians".

Dulux and a hot plate and some XIM....you were on your way ! Them days ..your eyelashes stuck together if you sprayed enough straight enamel on the Turd cars....Red Lead too.... Triple beam for mixing Lacquer....no ditigal back then...

[MUSLCAH]

Oohhh and the siphon guns......no mig welders....all gas welding and brazing...plenty of flare ups ....lol

[Chief of the 60's]

LOL! Flare ups.... Bonanza was our theme song.

Never mind the stuck eyelashes. Everyone knew what color you sprayed that day when you blew your nose.

Ahhhh, the good 'ol days!

[400 4spd.]

And a home made tack cloth was a clean rag with a shot of enamel across it. Compound was orange, bought in a gallon can and applied with a rag tag taped to a REAL paint stick. And there was one kind of masking tape, not 5 flavors. You could mask a whole car with 2 Sunday newspapers.

[nytrainer]

Sometimes I thinks it's amazing we're still around with all the chemicals we unknowingly ingested. My point was to keep the hazards in mind for today's hobby painters.
I started my shop in '78 (mainly restorations with collision work to pay the monthly nut) and as the products we used evolved so did I in response to health safety. Yeah, lacquer based primers and paints seemed relatively harmless (VOC's aside) but then zinc chromate primers, moisture cure primers, Featherfil, Centari with a hardener, Imron and other polyurethanes too. I heeded the warning and in fact had a fresh air supplied hood by '82. While the shop was getting it's legs I did a stint where I would use a 5 gallon pressure pot with an Eclipse or Devilbiss gun spraying train bodies with a catalyzed polyurethane using an air driven scaffold on tracks parallel to car body and that was just the FIRST coat (roughly 8 gal material used on EACH side of the body). Factor in using 55 gal drums of Penetone (stripper), primer etc. you can bet this old timer used a fresh air hood or it was a no go.
Fast forward 7 years or so ago my 13 year old son at the time wants to learn the finishing ropes from me and guess what I taught him?

[MUSLCAH]

Yup ....we had a fresh air pump / mask in 80-81 too......but when I was spraying , the other guys in the shop would hold a Lit Fat One next to the air intake .....had some of my finest paint jobs !!

[Chief of the 60's]

LOL!

Who remembers the 55 gallon drums of lacquer thinner with a metal (friction causing) hand pump and the little alligator clip attached to the drum as a ground wire to a pipe that probably lead to nowhere?

[nytrainer]

Originally Posted by MUSLCAH

Yup ....we had a fresh air pump / mask in 80-81 too......but when I was spraying , the other guys in the shop would hold a Lit Fat One next to the air intake .....had some of my finest paint jobs !!

Yeah with some Aerosmith or Boston tunes cranking in the shop. Those were good days. Long, long days but always a laugh or two. My guys were more evil with each other and would fart or blow cigar/cigarette smoke in the intake. Not right but was usually hilarious. You got real good at darts or you were buying lunch on Fridays.

[400 4spd.]

Lacquer thinner and a Band-Aid! Who needs a tetanus shot?

[MUSLCAH]

True Story ... the shop I worked at way back ....had a keg in the fridge...with the handle mounted on the outside...beers were .50 cents...No Drinking till noon....and customers would come in for estimates and have 2-3 cold drafts ..while I looked up all the labor and part prices in the crash books a hand wrote the estimates. I remember the labor rate of 14.00 in ‘76

[400 4spd.]

Originally Posted by nytrainer

Yeah with some Aerosmith or Boston tunes cranking in the shop. Those were good days. Long, long days but always a laugh or two. My guys were more evil with each other and would fart or blow cigar/cigarette smoke in the intake. Not right but was usually hilarious. You got real good at darts or you were buying lunch on Fridays.

A pine tree air freshener on the intake would make a painter leave the booth too. We had one fog the shop with diesel exhaust from a 240D one day. The pine tree was pay back. He said the pump lines stunk for a week after that.

[MUSLCAH]

Originally Posted by 400 4spd.

Lacquer thinner and a Band-Aid! Who needs a tetanus shot?

Never wore any gloves either...back then

[Chief of the 60's]

Originally Posted by 400 4spd.

Lacquer thinner and a Band-Aid! Who needs a tetanus shot?

Or pot

Some of my best happy days were cleaning door jambs with lacquer thinner.

[Chief of the 60's]

Holy crap did I get hosed today. The 3M compound I use skyrocketed. 06085 went from $38.00 to over $51.00 for a quart bottle. Might be time to find a new 3M supplier.

[400 4spd.]

I avoid buying 3M product$$$ anytime that I can.

[Chief of the 60's]

I prefer to use the best as I have used for several decades. Not what is cheap or found on a TV show.

[MUSLCAH]

McQuires ....blue compound....#100 ...I think,don’t hold me to it. Wipes out of crevasses real easy.....not like 3m garbage