Thanks for all the feedback. One of the reasons I asked here is that most of us do a bit of everything in our hobby. I have never used a welding respirator but am beginning to think it might be wise. A recent illness has left me with concerns about breathing in all that stuff that I used to. I like Phil's homebuilt setup and think I could come up with something that would work well. There are filters available that could be incorporated for that extra step. The units I have seen available locally are HobbyAir and one that KMS Tools sells. The Hobby air is a turbine and the one KMS sells has a compressor at double the price. I have not checked with the body shop suppliers but know that this gets expensive. I do have both a half mask and a full face. I don't wear glasses any more, so can use the half mask. I spent a bit of time with the paint supplier on Friday and after much discussion, they felt I would be ok with the full mask. I pulled the MSDS on some of the paints we discussed, and as Rob mentioned they require a supplied air setup. 3M has a changeout schedule for cartridges and if followed one should be pretty safe with most products. The problem is once you smell the paint, you are already exposed. Fit, as mentioned is a problem and I have always had trouble getting even cheap masks to seal.
I would send this out to get done but its all apart, heavy and on a small island without ferry service. To top it off I miss the tractor for its heavy lift ability. Maybe a roller and brush will work
