Wild bargain paint job article: I'm trying this.

[Oregoon]

From Hot Rod. Worth a try, since low-buck and owner-built are the watch-words for my project. I have time... Money? Well, let's just say I have student loans. And a wife with student loans...

Anyway, this is truly nuts, but it's got the wheels in my head turning.

Give it a loook and weigh in?

http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/body ... paint_job/

[jamesdfo]

Saw it when they first printed it......and coming from an autobody background.......while you may be able to save a few $$ & get decent results, the amount of work is huge, and the long term durability to me, is suspect at best.

I personally will not use any primers or paints that are not catalyzed. I find air dry products to be less stable, meaning they can potentially be greatly changed by exposure to temperature or solvents.

Catalyzed products (2K) are much more stable, and IMO more durable.

So, do you want to save a couple hundred on materials and spend three times the manhours, and end up doing it all again in 2-3 years, or buck up for 2K products, spend less time, and have a finish that will still look great years down the road??

my $0.02CDN , YMMV

[ICEMAN6166]

painted lots of stuff with rust-oleum including my 66
never used a roller, either spray cans or paint gun.
no objections to it.
as far as the roller goes though i would try it out on a spare hood or door first to see how it really looks.

after 14 years always outside my 66 could use a repaint but what other 14 year old paint job looks perfect still under the same conditions.

[LM14]

I've seen a few of these "paintjobs". It's a 50 footer. Save it for your rat rod.

SPark

[Oregoon]

Durability is my main concern. My best friend owns a custom shop here in town, and he's of the opinion that a decent finish can be achieved, though as stated above, elbow grease followed by more elbow grease will be required if it will look like anything. He said a dozen coats migt be needed.

He's offered to spray my truck a few times, and I may just take him up on it. I'm a long way off. Body work has a way of multiplying...

Still not sold, but not unsold, either... I dig simplicity.

[Mr. Jones]

I used Rust-oleum on my one-ton five years ago. Biggest problem was air temp.the paint wants to get tackey if it's to warm out.I started it late summer and gave up till cooler weather came around,55 degrees seemed to be best temp.Never tried the roller,my choice was a 4" Purdy brush,it was time consuming and slow,paint one day sand the next.getting 3or4 coats on the cab, hood,fenders and interior took a couple months.Luckey I didn't have a bed to do,may have taken twice as long.I did the steel lift bed in gloss black.
Despite the labor involved I enjoyed the whole process.The only advice for someone attempting this is do it inside when it's cool,and drink lots of beer.
Dan
Kansas City

[grump]

There are several economical paint systems out there. Summit has a paint system made by Martin Senour that is catalyzed, Eastwood also has a economical system that is also catalyzed. I'm not sure who makes it. There are economical paint systems out there that are pretty decent.

[bird55]

I've found the most economical method is not to paint it AT ALL.

[slick4x4]

This isn't a Slick , but I painted it
Less than $250.. And it looks pretty darn good
That price included the primer , paint, thinner , sandpaper
And gun

I painted a car with a roller for a parade one time....
WAY more work than a gun

[hayman68]

Yeah I've seen those articles and videos before too. This Camaro done with a spray gun and tractor enamel paint looks good but as mentioned durability/fading would be an issue. Also that type of paint requires a lot more up keep compared to a 2K paint.

http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/body/ ... t-job.html
I guess it comes down if you have the time to fool with it.

A good single stage polyurethane paint is not too pricey but durability is waaaay better then the alkyd enamel type stuff.

[Oregoon]

A dozen years ago, a friend sprayed his VW at a local sanitation company's shop... He did the classic Bus in the obvious two-tone style--in semi-gloss dark-brown and beige--because that's the colors the sanitation company painted their dumpsters, trucks, and yard equipment.

I saw the van recently, and it looks great. Whatever kind of paint they used, it's freaking bulletproof.

[Nathan390]

I cant find the link right now, but there is a guy you painted his corvair with rustoleum and has taken updates as the time has past.
I believe its on year 3 as the last up date and he claims it still looks like the day he painted it. He even touched up a spot with a rattle can.

might be a little more elbow grease and a lot more time consuming, but if you want to make a vehicle that isn't worth the high dollar paint job look better, this may be a way to go.

worst case scenario? you wasted $250 and a lot of time.. sand it down and go have Maaco screw it up for $299 (current special)

Nathan

[Oregoon]

http://www.rickwrench.com/index79master ... paint.html

Elbow grease seems to be the watch-word here... Plenty of it.

Still, I'm interested. My best friend owns a custom shop here in Portland, and says he's seen a few of these jobs come out surprisingly well. He'd very likely kick me a screaming deal on an excellent paint job, but our relationship is going on 35 years at this point, and one reason is the fact I don't lean on him for vehicular help beyond an afternoon of advice or oversight. Likewise, he's never hit me up for carpentry (in years past, I swung a hammer for a living), or asked for copy-editing beyond a page or two.

[Nathan390]

I've never painted a car using this method, but I do use rustoleum thinned 50/50 and spray engine bays and under carriages using a cheap harbor freight hvlp spray gun with disposable inline air filters.

1 quart of low gloss black will go a long way and cover a lot when mixed 50/50. I used mineral spirits the first time as its available in odorless. I don't recommend doing this in cold weather took 2 weeks for it to dry.

I'd consider painting the slick using this method. I don't plan on a contours restoration, nor do I ever plan on spending $2500 plus on paint. Its not what I bought the truck for.

I have 2 cars waiting for expensive paint jobs.. I'm waiting for kids to leave the house before I spend the money. Bicycles are scary.

I have a friend who is offered to paint my cars. He does professional work. Materials alone for 2K primer, paint, clear and etc. is close $2 grand alone and that is using cheaper quality paints.

Not sure how Maaco can survive doing $299 paint jobs..

[Oregoon]

Well said, Nathan.

I paid $500 for my truck, put $300 into a new Carter YF, a Duraspark and a tune-up, followed by a $125 for a used 240.

While it's largely rust-free and straight, neither my budget or my interest is in line with a concourse resto, or a candy-apple custom. I've always been drawn to old Fords for their rugged, simple style and my build and modifications will follow that thinking.

That said, I appreciate the time, ingenuity, and sacrifice that goes into the high-dollar rides. There are some trucks on this board that are simply amazing!

Personally, I'm going to use my truck for work quite a bit, and enjoy it as fun old cruiser whenever I can. So a cheap, durable, easily touched-up paint job makes sense.

If I get rich sometime, then who can say what might happen? Likewise, as my build skills improve, there's all sorts of things I'd like to try.

But for now, it's low-buck and DIY for me. And probably no painting until next summer.

[Mellvis]

I'll be the first to say that I know less than probably anyone on this thread about paint. I have seen chain auto parts stores with what I've come to know as pre-mixed paints, ready to spray. What if this stuff was thinned down like they suggest with the Rustoleum and roll it on? I assume it is catalyzed (I'm not sure that I understand the difference) so would durability be better?

[DV65CustomCab]

I know a little bit about this subject, having painted my BMW race car with a roller.

Downside: it is labor intensive. I used a different brand of paint (more on that in a minute) and it took about 6 coats to get good coverage. I wet sanded between coats to give the successive ones something to bite into. I tried skipping that step on a coat and the roller just wanted to slide across the gloss. Spraying will get you a finished product in a weekend. Rolling will take about 2 weeks (paint, dry, sand, dry, repeat). There is a bit of a learning curve to the technique, but once mastered the good results are easily achieved.

Upsides: cost is cheap. Cleanup is easy, and you won't have overspray over everything in your garage (even with a plastic sheet 'spray booth' I wasn't able to contain it all on the one car I did spray). Also, the reaction people get when I tell them I applied the paint with a roller is priceless.

RustOleum mostly suffers in it's resistance to UV rays. Not a big deal with white or black, but red is going to fade. On the suggestion of another guy who used it, I chose Interlux Brightside boat hull paint. It's about twice the cost of RustOleum but is a better paint, and should be more durable to sun and rain since it's intended for boats. The two quarts cost me around $100 IIRC. It also doesn't need to be thinned as far as RustOleum, so takes fewer coats to achieve coverage. I also did not final sand/buff mine; this is straight from the roller:


The car sits in the garage, so I can't really speak to the durability in normal weather, but it looks pretty much the same now as it did when I painted it in 2009.

[Oregoon]

I have some pressing mechanical troubles to sort out, but I'll be trying this out--probably next summer.

[Nathan390]

Buy the paint from your local harware store as it goes on sale. Sit on it till you are ready.

My ace hardware puts the ace brand of rustoleum on sale. Usually in the fall.

Now only if they still carried school bus yellow.. pretty sure thats what color my truck is.

I like it enough to keep it that color.. yes im sick in the head