Roller Painting Your Car

just Pledge

 

That looks really good IBB41




There, with a compliment maybe this thread won't get closed - I really like seeing the different results...

 

But, just maybe he does not care what other people think about what his car looks like, maybe, just maybe it means more to him to have done something different himself, and I've seen it up close and it looks just as good as most backyard paint jobs I've seen.

It's hot rods fellas not a cure for cancer...

 

The paint on that website the OP posted doesn't look bad at all, especially for $100. But when I check out his flickr site I counted 15-20 coats of paint! And that doesn't count him stopping in between to sand the bad spots and repaint.

So calculate what your time is worth. Would it be worth it to buy paint for a bit more and spray it on in much, much less time with much, much less effort or is it worth it to spend who really knows how long to do that much work?

I built a little '70 bug about a year ago for a daily driver had one of my friends put a one stage on it. The paint was decent stuff, cost about $300 and came out not perfect but very damn good. We were at the paint booth for about 2 hours total. Sign me up for the quicker job any day.

This is all just my $.02 of course.

 

Most of you guys badmouthing the roller-paint jobs couldn't pick one out of a lineup for one of two reasons:

a- It doesn't look bad. Won't be mistaken for a high-$$$ paintjob, looks kind of like an old car paint job, imagine that. To anyone trying this, let each coat dry at least a day.

or b- You'd be too busy trying to focus on something else not to like about the car, stance, height, chop, etc.

 

I wouldn't let three finger -err three window Larry paint anything.
___________________________________________________________________
Like I told the kid, "Your music's not too loud, it just sucks and so does OKC!"

 

What a strange thread. You'd think someone posted a political opinion the way folks are arguing. Are we debating the merits of paint application or I dunno, gay rights or something? I'm confused. And I posted in the thread!

Paint is paint - some ways to apply are more work than others - some ways require more or fancier equipment or a buddy with access to same - do what makes you happy, to each their own, and for the 85th time, paint is paint, it doesn't give a damn how it gets on whatever it is you want to paint - your car, your house, your ass, whatever.

 

I would do it if it turned out like BB's. Deere green and black.

 

what can I say, I'm a low buck kind of guy....lol

 

All the cars shown that have been painted with a roller, its pretty obvious it was done with one. Low and high spots everywhere and definite start and finish appearances. You spend tons and tons of time trying to be cheap when for half the effort you can just do it right the first time. Spend a little dime get your self a cheapo spray gun and start practicing I am willing to bet you can turn out a better paint job in half the time if you just practice and do it the right way and stop trying to find a "easier, cheaper" way of doing it. You're going to end up costing your self more in the long run. Not to mention all the tedious work it takes in between coats just to try to make it look semi smooth.

IMHO stop wasting time with this roller crap and do shit right!

 

This seems to me to be a reasonable option for painting where the air quality people make spraying difficult or illegal? Its not going to be show car quality but I wouldn't care. I don't like overdone super expensive paint jobs anyway.

 

would wax last longer ??

 

I'll have to agree...with a couple caveats.

I'm a metalshaper not a painter. I've painted 8 cars...maybe 9...I've slept since the last. I'll probably paint my roadster..with HVLP.

The first was nitrocelluose lacquer (sp), about 30 coats, wet sanded between every 4 coats. Looked like glass for about 2 years which was about the life of the paint unless you kept it inside. I've done plain enamel but didn't like that it never got hard and you couldn't color sand it. When I was a kid enamel or lacquer was a holy war...kind of like Chebby or Ferd today. (Or maybe US or imports today)

When the two stage stuff came out, I went to that. I've done base/clear and if you've got a booth that's the sweet system but if not you'll never get a good basecoat without a bug or spec that will show up under the clear like a stain on a white Tee shirt. I switched over to HVLP shortly after it came out, mainly to save material and cut down on overspray getting on every dang thing in the shop.

I depend on color sanding because I'm not a pro painter and don't have a booth. I also don't do base/clear or metallics for the same reason. With hardened solid colors, you can color sand to PERFECTION....or scuff it and add more paint if you're not happy with it.

I don't believe the paint really cares how it gets applied other than some of the exotic stuff other than the thickness of the paint and proper curing times. Would I roller a car? Probably not but I don't doubt that a decent job could be done with enough prep (prep is the KEY to a decent paint job).

I remember reading an interview with one of the early custom painters who revealed that his first paint jobs were done with....ready?... a bug sprayer. Later, his wife got an Electrolux vacuum cleaner with a paint sprayer attachment (remember those?) and he said he thought he had died and gone to heaven.

That said, I build english wheels and I've tried all kinds of paint over the years. We currently use Rustoleum hammertone and it works great, dries quick, looks 'industrial', touches up well with rattlecans, etc. The solid colors though don't dry very fast and I doubt they will colorsand because they take forever to fully cure. Plus I doubt they will have the life that most folks would want on a car. A better approach would be the TRUCK & TRACTOR paint available at Tractor Supply. In addition to John Deere green they have that best of all hot rod colors...International red! (And CAT yellow etc). And they have hardener for 8 bucks. With the hardener you can color sand it. Yeah it has isocynates so use with the proper precautions. Tractors have a hard life and we used the paint for some time before we discovered the hammertone and like it just fine other than dealing with the hardener.

I didn't see anything here suggesting that this technique was as good as a pro $10,000 paint job but let's be honest. Some folks just aren't going to lay out that much money even if they have it. I don't see anything with this question that should cause anyone to get pissy about it. It's just paint guys!

 

seen a bug sprayer job,,,didn't look it at all

 

When I was in high school my Father bought a '57 Plymouth for my sister so she could drive herself to a local college. He decided to brush paint the car in our garage and I couldn't believe he would even consider doing something like that---it was so stupid, in my opinion. Well, I couldn't believe how the paint turned out, it was fantastic!! No brush marks, super shiney I had to show all my friends right away and no one could believe it was done with a brush! My Dad just said that's how they always used to paint their cars---- I still can't figure out how he did such a nice job.

 

Yea , but it wouldn't smell lemon fresh

 

lol lol lol lol lol lol

 

To each their own. I built this truck for my wife on a major low budget.
1 gallon of Rustoleum = $18
3" foam roller & brush = $3
Very happy wife = priceless

There are no high or low spots, no start and stop lines. It's a daily driver and looks just fine the way it is.

 

My buddy did his Corolla with a roller and single stage rustoleum. Honestly I was really surprised at how well it turned out.

 

The flamers obviously have never dealt with a hand rubbed lacquer finish.


In addition to wrenching on cars, I am also very fond of music. I have some wood seasoning to make a hand carved archtop guitar. Many instrument makers use home dissolved lacquer flakes, rubbed in with a cotton rag and olive oil to achieve a finish like this. That's what I will use when I get to that point.

I've seen sprayed on paint that looked like butt and I have seen roller painted paint that was as smooth as glass. Hand rubbed lacquer instruments are the most highly prized finishes for their sound quality and their attention to detail. In the end, it comes to attention to detail and quality effort. Don't knock the process, but the processor.

I imagine if I didn't already have a compressor and a gun, and I was working on a low buck ride that I had plenty of time to spend on it, I would paint it with a roller and sand and buff it out till I was happy. If I also lived in a restrictive community that would frown on the smell of solvents, I would prefer to roller it and keep the neighbors out of my business.

 

chopped51 is that satin brown I see?

 

It's call Barn red I think. But it looks brown to me. And yes it's satin. There's lots of build pictures in my online album. Help yourself.

 

FWIW, that's one beautiful truck, from one daily driver only vehicle to another.

 

I'd believe it was the cheapest... but if it dried the quickest I'm sure it was purely coincidental.

 

The rolled on paint probably looked a lot better than one I saw that had "flocked" vinyl wallpaper all over it.

Fortunately it was a p.o.s. car to begin wth so nothing was really lost. Oh yeah, the "flocked" was red flocking on a white vinyl background. Looked real dashing.

 

My dad roll painted a Karmann Ghia a long time ago and it turned out surprisingly good. No high or low spots or start/stop lines. He painted it on a hot day and the paint flowed together decently. Wasn't an easy car to roll paint though haha.

 

Is roller painting 'trad'?

 

In 1970, when I was totally broke and newly married, our 'daily driver' 1959 Hillman Minx needed a ton of bog to hide the rust that was eating the cowl supports out, and a coat of paint to hide the bog. I bought a few foam rollers and a gallon of mis-coloured house enamel (yucky bright green) for $5 from the paint shop and went to town on it one fine weekend.

On Friday night it was pale blue and rusty with heaps of bog showing, and by Sunday afternoon it was shiny green and roadworthy! Forget thinning, sanding or anything, just straight enamel out of the tin and onto the body. I drove it like that for a few years, until the rust started eating out around the bog, and the cowl got so weak the passenger door would fly open every time I went round a right turn corner. (Right hand drive remember!)

Cheers, Glen.

 

My body was in rough shape with a lot of pitting. I fixed the major rust areas and decided to do something different than I had seen anyone else do on a rod. I rolled the whole car with Rhinoliner, never have to paint again...some people hate it some people love it. I like it and I guess that's all that counts.

 

with todays paints , It almost doen't matter how you get the paint on the car. You can wet sand and buff it to a fine finish....I had a O/T Chevrolet pickup with thick black paint someone had sprayed, I mean this thing had celulite , I 600, 800, 1000 it and buffed looked great afterwards !!