Lead Paint, Body work at home? Options

[MBowman325]

So I think I may have time to start working on cars again. At the very least I have some extra panels I was gonna use to play with sanding / welding and put the younger Michael to work hand sanding based off how many "F"s he managed to earn. In related news I also have a new little one (four weeks old Thursday).

So, while planning on work on a 1964 C10 I realized that the paint was probably lead based. Then I realized I had no idea when lead paint quit being used. A test kit looks to have confirmed that my wife's '70 and a panel from a '73 are positive for lead.

So... Are there any mitigation strategies for stripping lead based paint at home? (I'll leave the actual disposal of dust / whatever to another topic at some other point). Do body shops do anything special when working with older vehicles?

[mepstein]

Trust me, from first hand experience, they don’t do much.

[mb911]

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[SirAndy]

Please don't expose your kids to lead in any shape or form ...
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[Mark Henry]

Please don't expose your kids to lead in any shape or form ...
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It won't do much to an adult, but it can hurt young brains.

Try to contain the dust to one area, wear a mask, then sweep and vacuum it up as best you can. I heard yellow paint has about the highest levels of lead.

[MBowman325]

Please don't expose your kids to lead in any shape or form ...
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No, I have no plans to. I hadn't thought of my cars from the 70s as having lead based paint. Having done previous work on the Aero, sanding makes a heck of a mess dust-wise. I wasn't sure if there was a way to safely do what I want at home and there isn't much info I've found online so far (other than Australia and a mention to wet sand). My Aero has lead filler (the guy I'd worked with stripping that down came around saying 'quit sanding there!' as I was sanding at the filler line....)

If I can't safely do it at home I'll do something else (which seems like chemical strippers would be the only way and they have their own issues). I have absolutely no interest in adding negative modifiers to my children's lives. Short of some sort of negative pressure booth with HEPA filters, a shower station and wash down area, lead contamination at some level seems like a sure thing.

[MBowman325]

Trust me, from first hand experience, they don’t do much.

I assume that's the body shops not doing something different? I figured it'd depend on the shop. It's crazy how little mention I've (not) found. Certainly I've not looked that hard in the wrong places...

[DM_2000]

I've never seen any modern ( as in 50's up ) top coat auto paint to have lead. This is based on reading tech sheets and not seeing any warnings. Pre 50's might have but I don't have any data, I'd expect 1920's cars to have lead based paint.

Now, some epoxy paint pre 90's did contain lead. Later versions went to LF ( Lead Free )

[mepstein]

Any dust from bodywork can be quite hazardous to your health. I’m the only one at our shop that wears a respirator while using the blasting cabinet.

[johnhora]

interesting info....

http://www.environment.gov.au/protection/c...-in-auto-paints

[Front yard mechanic]

The redneck way NOT suggested is while sanding you can taste the sweetness of lead stop at this point and use stripper (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif)

[JeffBowlsby]

Lead based paint can be found in homes/buildings if they were painted up into about the late 1970s, figure on about 1980 when the warehoused material was used up.

I have not heard that automotive paints had lead in them, cite your source for that information please.

[MBowman325]

I'd read that Australian link and it's interesting though honestly setting that up in my garage would be a slight stretch. Setting it up in a dedicated workshop perhaps not so much.

I couldn't find anything definitive on lead levels in auto paint other than lead paint was banned for homes in 1978 here in the US, so likely most autos by 1980 were lead free for paint. (Filler was another matter) That said, I saw a lot of references where industrial paint and paint not intended for residential or auto use may have had lead until very recently. Couple with the fact that paint from overseas products (India was singled out and I think China was implied in several) may still have lead, imported products may be a source of lead in the home or workshop.

There's a lot of ambiguous and missing information out there it seems. I don't think I've ever heard anyone seriously discuss this in all the auto forums I've been on and most cover model years from at least the 60s or 70s.

[MBowman325]

Lead based paint can be found in homes/buildings if they were painted up into about the late 1970s, figure on about 1980 when the warehoused material was used up.

I have not heard that automotive paints had lead in them, cite your source for that information please.

So there's the rub. (And DM_2000 pointed this out above too) I've heard it mentioned that auto body paint contained lead in the past. But I don't see anything here in the US pointing it out. I picked up a lead test kit today and swabbed a few panels on or from a 914 that I believe were original paint and they indicate positive when coupled with the test card. One panel was orange so the color was ambiguous on the test swab. The other was green, though I took it from the front trunk, forward of the bulkhead and it was negative on the swab but positive on the test card. I plan to retest to see if I get consistent results on my '75.

So it appears that semi-reliable empirical testing shows the presence of lead paint. I do see that false positives and false negatives are possible with this type of test.

[Mikey914]

Dustless blasting is my preference. Yes you can stand, but if you are concerned about lead, it's the only way to go. It also gets all the Bondo out quickly.

[burton73]

When I striped my 6 - #41 I used a water based paint remover and put clear thin pallet wrap so it would not dry out. This worked well to soften the paint and then just scraped it away. I have been working with paints and plastic for 45 years and I have my blood checked for heavy metal every 2 years. I am fine. I use caution in the way of dust masks with charcoal filters and the right respirators for fumes. The new paints are very dangerous as far as your health goes and in some ways you need a SCUBA set up or a breathing clean air set up. The fumes can enter your body via your eyes as well. Always use disposable gloves.

Blasting can have its own set of problems. Keep the dust out of your lungs.

Bob B

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[Mark Henry]

Lead based paint can be found in homes/buildings if they were painted up into about the late 1970s, figure on about 1980 when the warehoused material was used up.

I have not heard that automotive paints had lead in them, cite your source for that information please.

All paints had lead in them, 1950's -60's levels saw reductions, by 1978 lead was removed from house and consumer paints, but it was still present in most industrial paints, including auto paint, right up to the late 80's. Yellow thru orange had the highest levels.

[mbseto]

There are systems that use some sort of cloth backing with chemical remover on it. Or you spread the chemical on and then lay the cloth over it. After it has worked, you peel off the cloth and everything comes with it- then you dump in a bucket. No dust. The only problem then is disposal. Saw this when looking into remediating houses, but it should work on a car...

[MBowman325]

For what it's worth, PPG Deltron (Basecoat) has a warning that it had Lead Chromate, among other chemical hazards. That was out of a book from 1991.

I'd tried chemical stripper on the Aero when I started on that years ago and was less than impressed with the results. I recall trying with and without using a plastic drop cloth as a barrier against the surface. In all reality the results were likely dependent upon my own actions.

[Mikey914]

The dustlrss blasting uses water to carry the media. You just have to put down some tarps to trap the crud.