$50 paint job

Let me start by saying I painted a BroncoII 5 years ago or so using this method and the results were quite good. The only problem I had is that Tremclad paint itself is not very hard and it's fade resistance is very poor. I built a boat a couple of years ago and I painted it with a roller and brush using Interlux brightsides polyurethane http://www.mermaidmarine.com/index.cfm?CFID=21104838&CFTOKEN=26632994&do=detail&productID=8921120 . This stuff is expensive ($40 CDN a quart) but the results were incredible. It really looked like I had sprayed it. The stuff is tough, I'm on my second season and it still hanging in there hard and shiny. So... I'm going to take a run at my 95 Honda Civic beater with it. I'll post my experiences... Here is what it looks like on the boat..

Kirk

Rick, that looks amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow.

I spent a couple of hours last weekend reading the whole post (I didn't even realize there was a part II till then) and whew!

It is amazing the difference you saw from car to car. I guess it comes down to prep and patience. It seems the people with all the problems were not mixing it thin enough, waiting enough time between coats or wet sanding between coats properly.

I am thoroughly convinced that I will try a fender at the least. Now, I just have to decide between the Interlux Brightside paint (marine) or Rustoleum as well as the color issue.

It seems like the only way to get custom colors is to mix different shades of existing paints. The only problem is that, for example, to get dark red you do not mix red and black. There is some other combination. I am thinking to get a Burgundy at least close to my color will take experimentation (red and blue?).

"It seems like the only way to get custom colors is to mix different shades of existing paints. The only problem is that, for example, to get dark red you do not mix red and black. There is some other combination. I am thinking to get a Burgundy at least close to my color will take experimentation (red and blue?)."

Maybe take a trip down to your local home improvement store's paint department. Find a paint chip close to what color you want and ask if they can tell you what quantities and colors of tints make that color. Might be a good starting place.

Not a bad idea. Heck, I wouldn't have even known that red and black make brown if someone wouldn't have mentioned it in the mega-post...

I have used rustoleum on a couple cars, granted i opted to use an HVLP spray gun instead of the rollers, simply because i have one.
Metallics are possible. Use rustoleum "aluminum" color. Did a VW Fox that way. Any color you can dream of is also possible.
I have 24 dollars in materials for the paint on my neon, the Fox was 32 bucks all told. I used sail blue, carnival red, black, and aluminum to get a color that almost exactly matched the original color in the trunk of the car.

I apologize for the terrible pics, my camera isn't the greatest.

Just sliding in here...that is what my bronco is painted with, Rustoleum.

I sprayed the fenders/body/hood w/ a "high volume/low pressure" sprayer, but ended up rolling the doors ('cause I got them at a later date). It is only about 2-3 coats with no sanding inbetween.

I will let you know this, the tint is different from the gallons/pints cans than the rattle/spray cans. So you either use a rattle can or use the gallon/pint cans, I found out the hard way trying to touch-up my hood one time.

To roll, you can use an 1/8" nap (like for polys/glues) or the dense foam ones. Stay with the smaller roller widths, easier around trim and metal edges/curves, etc...

But the best part is touch-up on scratches, dings, etc... almost can not be noticed when done w/ Rustoleum (well, that's while you are cruising down the highway or looking at the paint from far away). No really, touch up is a snap, and it blends well.

Poor-man's high dollar paint job!

Kirk

:idea:

Trying this right now on the LX... paint looked a bit beat up ever since i returned from korea. I figure at the very least i can get the car a consistent shade of black now
So far it looks half decent- cant tell till tomorrow when the sunlight hits it.

Ok, gave it a go and here's what I managed to get-

http://user.gru.net/gilmetyf/pj/pj.htm

results varied in some places- some parts came out better than others, but then again, i could have actually prepped better.

2nd time doing this, used Briteside Black. Like the thread says, more gloss but more orange peel, better coverage (2-3 coats as opposed to 6 - 8 ) Have to say I like this paint better, seems to be more forgiving of the paint/thinner ratio than Rustoleum, but less forgiving of humidity and conditions.

BEFORE:



AFTER:





The way I look at this is at best you end up with something like Rick Wrench, at worst you're delaying some surface rust for a few years.

Decided to strip down the worst panel on the Comet today. I ran out of sanding discs about 3/4 of the way through. Of course, I only had one 80 grit, the rest were useless. The hardware store didn't have any so I hand-sanded the lower part of the door. Anyhow, mixed it up 50/50 or so. The color is Regal Red...looks like lip gloss now.

One coat done:


Never really done any automotive painting before, we'll see how it turns out!

2nd time doing this, used Briteside Black. Like the thread says, more gloss but more orange peel, better coverage (2-3 coats as opposed to 6 - 8 ) Have to say I like this paint better, seems to be more forgiving of the paint/thinner ratio than Rustoleum, but less forgiving of humidity and conditions.

Click to expand...

I picked up a couple cases of Interlux Brightsides in red, blue, and white, but I haven't used any yet. The red is for the Alfa. I'm also going to repaint the other '62 wagon light sky blue/white top (that combo looks great on the roundbody wagons). Second choice was canary yellow with a white top.

What were the humidity issues with Brightsides?

Rick(wrench)

Well, it says on the can to avoid painting at humid time of day, and I thought I was safe starting at 3pm in December, about 55 degrees. After the sun sets here that time of year, moisture comes back quick and you start seeing water condense on cars by 7p, I had hit the trunk at about 6, not enough time to dry to a point of safety. So it was blotchy and had no gloss, had to be sanded off. Rest of the car was fine though.

As they've said, you need much less thinner with Briteside, I used about 1/10 ratio.

Fla is tricky, have to wait for humidity to burn off in the am, then be done before it comes back pm, not paint directly in sunlight, yet have some sun to help cure. Ideal time for me is find some shade at around 1pm.

My last project to go is almost completed 60 Rambler Wagon, torn on what colors, either black w/dark salmon top, or red w/alum silver top. Just don't see any point in being subtle about it!

You received some compliments on your work on that thread.

rickwrench,

How many hours do you have in the Corvair paint. I looked at that looonnnnggggg thread on the other site and the job seemed very labor intensive to me.

SteveS

Bodywork was a couple months of weekends and odd evenings. Not every weekend (I'm still married), but about three or four weekend days and maybe four or five mid-week evenings a month. I did that from about April to September. It was tedious manual labor, I call it therapy from job stress. Then I rolled on primer, and started sanding.

The actual painting took about a week. The days I did get two coats on, it was wet sand in the morning for an hour or two, then roll on a coat. If it was completely dry in the afternoon, I'd roll on another. My wife rolled on a couple coats with me, and helped with the wet sanding. It was labor intensive, but, not all consuming. I took that week off and did a lot of around the house work between coats and sanding. We also went to the movies a few times during the painting week, visited the folks, etc. The stripe went on in one day, and then I let it sit for a week in the sun to completely dry. Then I buffed it out.

It was labor intensive. But, it also cost next to nothing out-of-pocket.
A lot of random people emailed my site email with the comment that for the dollar value of the amount of time I spent on the car I could have had it "professionally' done.
Hmm... so, I could have spent a ton of money and watched reality TV while someone else worked on my car?
Pass.
The last person I let work on one of my cars was the source of -every- mechanical problem that car had over the last year and a half. I plan to do -everything- myself from now on. Or, at the very least, stand closely over the shoulder of whoever is doing machine work for me.

Rolling the paint was fun, my wife enjoyed it, too.

Rick(wrench)

Rick,

Lot's of work but it seems well worth it....for you. I don't know if I have the patience to see it through.

Good job

Wow, I have read lots in the Mopar forum and this sounds like an awsome way to paint a car. I will definitly be doing this but I want to have they same color that is on the car now, which means problably alot of mixing.

Last August I bought a few quarts of Red Tremclad to repaint my utility trailer. It's pn my To Do List, after I get my Fairmont Squire back together. But then, like a few others here, I saw Rick's link to the Moparts site, and went ooh-ahh!

I was convinced after the first page! Then I hit this page on the second section after page 43, and I knew there was no there was no alternative. What would you pay for a finish like that? (about 1/3rd down, by Aussie Driver.

http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/sho ... ost3071064

Near the end of that page, you'll find out his car was in an accident 4 days after that picture.

He has another Post on page 39 comparing the differences with Polishers. I build fine furniture, but like Furniture, tools are all about Function, not Form, first. Those big, cheap 10" Polishers weigh 6 pounds or more, all going straight down on the work piece. They don't overheat the paint as they rotate, and they don't leave gouge marks if you have to leave it for a few minutes (going to the john, dealing with a bee or hornet, etc.) The fact that they're cheap doesn't devalue them. I posted my research on the many types of polishers on Page 59 of that Moparts site.

Maybe its because I have to do my Trailer AND my Wagon, that I like the machine to do the biggest payload, and not my 58 year old arms, extended over a long roof or hood, but the smaller ones with all the bells and whistles just don't cut the mustard until I get down to the delicate vertical panels (Window frames, Doors, Tailgate, jambs, rocker panels, etc.)

I saw the BrightSide results and was tempted, but since I've got the Canadian Tremclad outlets within 10 blocks of my home, and I can get it mixed, guess what? I'll get the stock Tremclad Brown. My car has a Ford Mexico Tan interior, and that dark brown is just the cat's meow, with the Wood Grain and trim that RickWrench so graciously shared.

I posted my Polisher links and research on page 59 of that Moparts site. But the Aussie Driver did a great technical explanation on page 39 about 5 posts down. Since he got that fabulous Mirror Finish like nobody else, I figure he's onto something.

Oh! I decided to copy the basic instructions from Page One on that site, and went through all 43 of the first segment diligently, pictures and all, including critiques, but excluding the side-wipes. It became two Word 2000 documents of over 86 megs!

What Rick posted is actually enough to get it done. I wanted the finer points, and some opposite views too. Some folks actually did a good job of talking you through "Feel the Force" kinds of things, like how the paint is flowing on, the right mixture ratios, when to roll over the bubbles or 'puff' them out. The little tips that make a pigs ear into a silk purse.

Of course, I got those fabulous pictures of the Aussie Driver's results, and the Beer Fridge and the Lawn Mower. And that rib-busting story of the guy who painted his car in a Parkade!

I didn't copy the post where some major Paint Shop is actually applying their Primers with a roller, before prepping for a Spray Finish.

But like Rick said, he could do it over time. I can drive my car and do one panel at a time, on my budget, my schedule, and get a better result.

If anyone wants the 2 huge docs, I'll have to chop them up into smaller zip files. Most email apps won't accept anything as large as 82 megs!