Technical The tradition of brush painting a hot rod

Cool thanks. Some things are remembered in a different light then reality shines I am afraid.

 

Post photos here also. At almost a hundred posts it would be great to have.

 

I have followed and watched many of the "brush paint" threads here on the HAMB for quite some time. Many people have used rustoleum with what they say are great results. I have heard that Rustoleum is a fish oil based paint and that it is not compatible with other oil based paints and have heard that if you paint over rustoleum in the future then the paint will fail.

My question is if you are going to brush paint a car, specifically are there paints made for this to put on metal? Who supplies them and how well do they hold up? Also, are they not fish oil based and can they be painted over with a better paint job in the future once funds become available for a better paint job? Or does one have to take the entire body down to bare metal again? That would be a difficult thing to do once the body is painted and completely assembled.

What are the products that can be brushed? Where does one buy them? What's the deal with compatability later on with other paints?

Thanks,

Andy

 

A little history & chemistry digression, if you'll allow;

Rustoleum was invented by a sea captain who noticed that fish/whale oil prevented corrosion on his vessel...I believe the original formula did, indeed, contain whale oil, but I doubt this is still the case (for topcoats, anyway).

Most inexpensive enamel paints are alkyds - meaning the film resin is a polyester made up of alcohol and fatty acids (they were initially called alcids). These acids may be derived from vegetable or animal sources (including fish/whale oil).

As conservation efforts and governmental regulation have made whale oil cost-prohibitive, manufacturers have largely switched over to plant-based acids...the last Rustoleum MSDS I looked at described its composition as "Soya-Modified Alkyd", which indicates a soybean-based product.

Since most modern enamels will be of similar composition, I would guess that the newer (soy-based) Rustoleum products would be okay to paint over. Always check the MSDS of whatever product you're using to be sure...

 

"Modern" rustoleum is no longer fish-oil based. While I sprayed my daily driver, I think a good quality brush and patience would have delivered the same results. Although, it does seem to take damn near forever to get past that "dry-to-the-touch-but-soft-as-hell" stage.

 

Following this thread with great interest! Thanks for the info guys....
I plan to try brush painting myself. Got a couple of projects in mind.

My great grandfather Daniel (1860-1944) was an ornamental, sign, house painter. He did gold leaf and etc. Worked for the Pullman Palace Car Co. out of Chicago as a young man plying his artistry. I never met him but have two of this signs. I know where a couple more are here in town painted on interior walls in two business buildings.

My grandfather told me how Daniel painted cars in the 1920's & later. All brush work.

 

you have to post pictures of his work!

 

Am i the only one who enjoys the look of brush strokes in a paint job, provided it suits the car?

I'm planning on brush painting my roadster in my picture.. the paint on it now is just rattle canned to stop it flash rusting. However, the rear quarters i brushed the primer on and sprayed on top and it has distinct brush strokes all the way down the top of the quarter panel. I REALLY like that look. I think it suits the car, personally.

 

Use can use a "brush and roll additive" in the 2K paint. PPG has an industrial line and they will have one. It should work in the Omni. If you have not bought the paint you just use their Industrial Urethane. It is called "AUE" I think. The additive helps keep the surface tension open long enough to let the brush marks go away. It really works. Whatever marks are left, just buff them out. I work for their competitor and we have the same system just like all the major paint companies.

 

I think some of the posters are confusing "it turned out great" with "it turned out better than it was".

 

I beg to differ.

Hope to paint some samples this week. Will post the results...

 

If it is good enough for Jake, it is good enough for a shit ton of H.A.M.B.ers!

 

Hey Dennis... Been looking for a finished photo of that tub for some time now... got one?

 

Yep, but I'll have to do some digging!

 

Go back and check the third page... I posted one before.

 

This one!

 

That's the one... you can tell by the "smiles" that it's not built for trophies but for fun!

 

We brush painted a VW bus that we bought in Amsterdam. Did it out in the country in a park.Real nice two tone cream and green. Then the fog came in and it got cold and the oil base paint wouldn't dry. We finally drove it back into town with wet paint. It was Sunday and everybody was out in the street walking around and visiting their neighbors.We were driving real slow through a streetload of people and this old man started pounding on the drivers window and showing us his suit which was all covered with cream and green paint. He was swearing at us in Dutch which sounded like a really pissed off Donald Duck. We were laughing so hard we almost puked. That paint didn't dry for days.

 

In 1960 I painted a 1950 Ford two door sedan with DuPont Alkyd Enamel with a brush. Once I figured to let the paint flow out instead of brushing it out too thin it worked well. The Alkyd Enamel was slow drying enough that if the was enough paint thickness it would flow out and minimize the brush marks. I was quite please with the end result.

 

https://www.westmarine.com/buy/interlux--brightside-one-part-polyurethane-paint--P004_121_002_006

 

I painted my mercury with oil based paint and foam roller. I Thinned with Acetone and a cap full of JAP hardner.
Very pleased with the results as everything flowed nicely and did not take longer time to set up. Was able to do sections at a time. N eed to apply a clear enamel sooner rather then later because to paint will soil it not kept it a clean area

 

I brush painted a old Ford Econoline van back in the 70's and it turned out OK, I uses high closs industrial enamel and thinned with mineral spirits (paint thinner) and used a pure bristle paint brush, I also added a little Penetrol to aid in paints flowing out smoother.

I let the paint dry for about 2 weeks and then I decided to wet sand the paint, I then waxed it and to be totally honest it looked pretty doggone good, not perfect but most people would not believe it wasn't a professional paint job.

As I recall it cost less that 30 bucks for everything. HRP

 

Rustoleum sprayed still looks good 40.00 paint job. Was going to roll and tip...Thinned with mineral spirits and added a bit of hardener.

 

I would really like to brush paint my single seater project. Lots of kool ideas here.

 

With a brush job you have to stay with solid colors, no metallic's. If you brush a metallic it will look all mottled as you can never get the metallic even with a brush.

 

So THAT's where the term "getting a Dutch rub" originated! I guess he went to the cleaners...either get that paint out or dye it cream & green.
He was the original old Dutch master.

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Old thread I know but I always liked this shot of everyone brush painting Jakes tub...everyone but Jake. He's off to the left with the shades and drink watching P-wood and the others, a modern day Tom Sawyer.

 

Our 29 was brush painted sometime in the past. It was so grungy when I purchased it, you could hardly tell. I cleaned it up this last spring and buffed every inch with a small mini buffer. I was amazed how it shined up and really looks cool with the occasional brush stroke and even a few micro sags in the finish. I'm really digging the look and have had lots of people ask if I had repainted it when they saw it from afar.
I did brush the roof with Rustoleum and a dash of Penetrol because the po had tried spraying it. It looks pretty good and matched well enough that most don't notice that its newer.
Would I do it again? You bet! Especially on this type of car.


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I brush painted the cab and front sheetmetal on my old rpu with tremclad (canadian rustoleum). I thinned the paint with mineral spirits and put on 16 coats, wetsanding between every second coat, then cut and polished it after letting the paint set up for a month. It was incredibly labour intensive, but came out not too bad and held up just about as good as any other single stage black. The car was a piece of crap anyhow so the brush painted finish was the icing on the cake, and surprisingly I was overwhelmed with compliments on the paint work, no one believed it had been brush painted until I told them.
When the time comes I will be brush painting my T as well, although in the interest of preserving whats left of my sanity it will not be black...