Budget Shiny Paint . . . Really Budget . . . Downright cheap in fact....

Why spend all that time and work and then cheap out in the end. Take your time and pay somebody to do it right if you cannot. In the end you will be happier and the finished product will last.

 

After panel repairs and brazing in the smaller rust holes, I drove my coupe in primer for a year. Turns out it was helpful, as the filler shrunk and any stress cracks revealed. Then it simply took touch up minor repairs and block sanding to level the work out prior to finish painting. Time works on your side in other words. Many years later I tried featherfill, a sprayable filler-primer. It tended to fill in the details, reveals and creases...making an early car look more glass-like, as in fiberglass replica...not good. Took a fair amount of careful sanding to sharpen up the lost edges. Probably would work better on a lead-sled or custom w/curves and fewer details in stamped metal.
It is great to have a pro looking finish, but when driving...which is why I built the car in the first place, the stones and sands of life leave their mark. So I think it's fine to practice your technique of spraying, or swap with someone who is good, in exchange for your fab/welding skills. The costs of materials are enough, and if you can have a site to spray...even out behind the barn on a still day, it will come out looking good. And at 30 mph it will appear show car quality, more than enough in my book.

 

I'm glad to know this because that's the type of finish I want on my '64 Ford 'trip car' tribute. I sprayed a few spots on it with Rustoleum Semi-Gloss black last fall just for protection because the original paint is slim.. It turned flatter than a pancake within a few days.

BTW, for those who think we're completely lacking in class using rollers, Rustoleum, rattle cans and such, the reasons often are financial. For the cost of even a cheapy Earl Scheib paint job, I can completely rebuild my front end, add disc brakes plus more to make my car stronger and safer.

Jan

 

A friend of mine has used the roller type primers.

He says that you get very little thickness with each application and you'll end up spending more time rolling on coat after coat than if you'd just taped it off and sprayed it (in his words "You don't get no mils")

I'm sure this would work as a painting method, but I think the time you'd have invested in rolling on 3 coats, colorsanding it flat, and repaeating 3 or 4 times, would take longer than just taping it off and spraying the paint on. I guess if you don't have a spraying area availible, or if you were doing something where overspray would be a huge burden (like a dashboard or interior stuff) the roller method would work.

I do agree that the method of putting the paint on the car means very little toward the finished product. It's the bodywork underneath and the colorsanding/buffing afterward that make a car look good. Painting a straight color is easy as long as you get an even coat on everything.

Having 5 grand in a paint job is fucking rediculous. Having 5 grand in bodywork and paint isn't unheard of at all. It's the bodywork that takes the time and costs the money.

 

Duplicolor has some new two stage paint out I think its laquer for garage type paint jobs. apparently its is ready to spray right out of the can and its to be used with HVLP guns and the color can be sprayed than days later the clear can be sprayed. anyone know more about it? ever used it? I read about it in the current popular hot rodding magazine it was just a little blurb.

 

Exactly what I was thinking- and every persons idea of "good enough" or "Perfect" is different. not to mention any paint guy can pick another paint guys work to peices...it's a personal attribute to painters I find fascinating...

ennyhoo. I wonder how they will hold up? enamel is what was used in the 30's, and that is the same process used by Henry-and some of that stuff still shines up today!

 

Its A Good Way To Keep Yor Ride One Color While Your Still Working On It. If You Have A Car You Know Your Gonna Chop It Or French It But Have To Wait On It For A Few. You Can Do One Thing At A Time And Still Have The Paint Back On It For Work On Monday. You Can Spend The Money On Good Paint When Its Done, If It Gets Done. For Alot Of Us, It Takes A Bit To Get Everything Done That We Want To Do To Our Rides Done. And Primer As Well As Bieng The Fad Of The Day Sucks Up Moisture And Can Rust Up Your Hard Work.

 

I built an early Mustang for my then high school aged daughter a few years back. I did all the prep work and got it in primer. At he time I didn't have anywhere to shoot it, and since I figured she was just gonna tear it up anyway I took it to the local 'Economy' auto paint place. After I got it back we color sanded it and buffed it out. Looked like a million bucks, people were always asking who painted it, and best of all it only cost me $200, which wopuld have barely bought the materials for me to paint it myself.

It's all in the prep and detailing.

 

Ok this sounds like a good idea. But it was said it can go right over bare metal and filler with no primer?? Is that for real???? I'm no chemist but.......

Todd

 

Jay- I have used Rustoleum for years as a rust preventative finish and it has endured well. [I NEVER USED MINERAL SPIRITS THO -I USED LAQUER THINNER TO REDUCE IT.]
Having said that I would not want to try to buff OR polish it.

I have painted many cars [with the right automotive paints] in my life and these are much more receptive to a polish or color sanding than an OIL base finish would ever be.

I would suggest to anyone wanting a Very low cost/low maintenece finish to concider the "Duplicolor" line.
[at WalMart and parts stores]
It is in spraycans ,yes -but it is Auto Laquer plain and simple.
This applied as a base coat and then "nib" sanded with 2000 grit wet or dry then clear coated with some [gun sprayed] Laquer clear- will net you a very respectable looking finish for a very low cost.
Laquer clear is readily available/low priced- and can be applied with a 30 dollar gun ,literally by anyone who can chew gum and walk simultaneously .....
the upside of this method is -it has a lot more color choices....

 

Hey Bump,

I know from personal experance that you can mix Rustoleum colours. I've inter mixed the silver with some of the greens and
maroons for a poor-boy metalic paint job. Just be sure they are
all from the product line. This stuff shoots like RM SuperMax, do
they still sell SuperMax? not in California!
To really get a good flow going with the foam roller route, cut
the finish with xylene or toluene. Both of these are very slow
evaporating solvents, and that equals flow eg. little orange peel.
The down side is long drying times and sags/hangers if ya trowled
the finish on. You can also use boiled linseed oil to get good flow,
but it will wrinkle if it's to thick a coat.

Swankey Devils C.c.

 

When I was about 8 my dad's buddy called and said that he wanted to paint his car for a meet the next day. It was like 8 PM and we went out to buy some supplies. After picking up a couple cans of Rustoleum and some powder puffs, we got after it. It didn't look toooooo bad, sort a kind of? His son is my age now (34) and he still drives the old 31 tudor with the powder puff paint job. Sometimes memories are better than a high dollar paint job!

 

I talked to a friend of mine who has painted cars and heavy equipment for the past 30 years about this about a year when I read it the first time. He said he has used this paint to both. I want to paint my 50f1 the burnt orange color. He said he would help me when was ready. But! We will spray it on and clear it with flake in it...........RUSTY

 

i don't see why it wouldn't work...put enough coats on to color sand and buff....I just wanna see one in person though...Roundup???anyone?

 

frame and engine painted sunrise rustoluem red

also did the engine and dash in my studebaker the same color about three years ago and it looked as good as the day i did it when i sold it this last november

 

Oh and speedaddict look for it
it will be at roundup

 

That's too much work...I'd rather shoot it shiny and flat...... then have the option of color sanding and buffing......

 

I was on a plant tour at the local Caterpillar plant. Ya know what kind of paint they use on paving equipment? Rustoleum...many pallets of yellow gallons in the paint department.

 

I've done "cover cars".....and would always strive for perfection.....but last nite I was out in the shop with rustoleum, and a high density roller doing some test panels before I "paint" my A/bone ........fun is the word

 

Neat post, C9, valuable information for later.

Did anybody else notice they make "patina" paint?

-Dave

 

They even have fake rust.
I'd like to see the distressed colors up close from that website.
Man the possibilities here. If I had a new project in the works.
I'd be looking very close to these distressed colors and patina schemes.
Now where can you get these options with 1000.00 a gallon paint?

 

Re Patina;

this is available at Wally world among others. I used the Leather look once on an old Cutlass. The vinyl top was shredded and I wanted to make it look better. After removing the vinyl, filling holes and sanding it down I painted it with rubberized bed liner/undercoating. This gave it texture and meant it didn't need to be perfectly smooth.
Then I applied the leather look stuff. Most people didn't notice anything until they were standing within inches of it. It actually looked pretty good. The best compliment was from my Girlfriend who knew what I was doing in the garage and thought I was crazy. When she seen it she walked around quietly then nodded in approval and said it looked good.
I would never do it on a car I planned to keep and paint one day. I imagine the undercoat would be a real bitch to remove

 

I have an S-10 Blazer that the "previous owner" (may the fleas of a thousand camels . . . ) painted the hood and lf fender with a non-automotive paint.

Not sure of what it was and though it looks good when waxed/polished it quickly fades and is beginnning to peel.

Maybe with better prep it would do better and if it was used on heavier steel (like early bodies) or fiberglass it would last longer but I'd be careful.

I painted a pickup with a gallon of "oops" color I got cheap. Check with local paint folks and see if they've got any "mistints" that are close to what you want. Might be best of both worlds

And if you're going to try using a brush I'd make sure of two things:

1) get a GOOD brush
2) practice, practice, practice on junk

just my too scents!

 

C9,
Good to see your post...you've always got great advice, tips, insight.

I haven't tried the glossy version of Rustoleum, but have painted a couple of cars with their satin black paint. Gives the look of black primer but with a hard surface that holds up well to all kinds of abuse...and it's $8 a quart (less if you buy it by the gallon).

And thanks for the hint about mineral spirits vs. the recommended acetone.

 

I've kept up with that thread for a long time, and have done some experimentation with the paints. The Brightside paint works wonders. When thinned properly, its self leveling properties are great and so is its shine. It may not be "show quality" but I don't have show cars...I have drivers. I will be painting some of my cars using this method. I've already bought the Brightside to do one of them (a 1970 Torino Cobra) . As soon as I finish stripping the car, and finish the small amount of bodywork, I'll be doing it...hopefully by late Spring. I don't plan to ever spray again. I'll use my compressor for airing up tires!

 

if you were to repaint after using this you would have to strip down to baremetal with an aircraft coating remover or somthing like that. If not the chemicals used in the cheap paint will either cause severe orange peel or just lift the new basecoat right off. Different kinds of paint use different solvents. But for being on a budget its a great idea and easily done.

good read.

 

DO NOT PAINT YOUR CAR WITH TREMCLAD!!! Thats a monsterous no no. You will never be able to paint it again unless you strip the car COMPLETELY to bare steel and acid wash it. Clears, bases, primers, etching primers, NOTHING will adhere to it properly!

 

JJ

You mentioning lacking class and rollers in the same sentence reminded me of a story.

Back in the later '70s I had a buddy who had a VW Bug ( I think a '57 or 8) that he bought cheap. He decided that it would look good black so he bought a gallon of gloss black and some reducer.
He didn't know much about paint so I offered to scuff it and spray a quicky paint job on it over the following weekend. I had a friend with a body shop who would let us in on a Saturday evening.
Well long story short my V Dubb buddy takes a wild hair on a wednessday night that he can roll it just like he did his living room. he had some long nap rollers left over from the house and a roller pan. Come thursday he was driveing all over town in a fuzzy black bugg.

Gives me a chuckle everytime I think about it.

BTW I'm thinking I'll give the blitz black and rubbing a whirl on an old car I got in the garage. if it works it'll be perfect for the car in question.

 

Satin Black Rusto, Copper Leaf, Stripe It And Clear Coat It, And It Lookes Good Man, And Only Costs A Few Bucks. You Also Dont Have To Worry About Wasting A Few K's On A Paint Job If You Want To Start Cutting On It Again.

 

This is only possibly true, and only then if the repaint is within a relatively short time after the cheap paint was applied. Even lacquer can be painted over enamal after about a year.