"Custom" paint job

[Phoenix]

I've been working on the body of my GT trying to get it into a decent shape. Eventually, I'll paint it blue. The car runs great, drive it everyday, love it. Nationals were coming up and I had a bunch of patch panels, so I decided to make the car all one color primer. I painted over the clearcoat but will take it all off before I paint it. Now, as I do the rest of the bodywork, I prime it and it'll still one color. I miss the Fireglow, real eye catcher, but have notice more NOPI-wannabes riding up next to me.

[Nathan Acree]

You might have been better off using flat black paint instead of primers. Primer is pretty hydroscopic....

Maybe time to try the rustoleum roll on paint in grey or something- Just don't want you to end up with a bunch of rust.


-Nathan Acree
Albuquerque New Mexico

[markandson]

Hmmmmmm seems as though the USPS might be interested in that tote box you have in the garage there, I am SURE you must have found it in the trash somewhere or that it is a reproduction of the real thing...

[Phoenix]

I intented to try the Rustoleum roll job on this car by the spring shows. It's a daily driver with some rust. It'll probubly be totalled one day. Most of the car still has paint and clear coat under the primer. When I go to paint it EVERYTHING will come off.

As for the USPS crate, not mine, and can't remember where that picture was taken.

When I was at the Nationals, I did some sketches of what I would like to do to the GT. The hood close up and vent louvers need to scanned again. I'd like to do something similar to Manny's headlights.

[mod mini gt 75]

a epoxy two part primer. is the way to go. I put it on my GT over bare steel 18 years ago and no rust yet. Never got around to painting it........Steve........

[kwilford]

Originally Posted by mod mini gt 75 a epoxy two part primer. is the way to go. I put it on my GT over bare steel 18 years ago and no rust yet. Never got around to painting it........Steve........

Absolutely. I believe that the current terminology is a "two component self etching epoxy primer". It adheres extremely well to bare metal (with or without a metal preparation solution first, which is only really required if the metal has begun to form an oxidation layer before priming), is an excellent base for filler, surface primer or top coat (when properly prepared) and is totally non-hygroscopic (water absorbing). It virtually "locks" the metal inside, and is what should be sprayed on freshly sand or soda blasted metal immediately following the paint removal. Which is where my GT is heading this weekend, for a final light sand blast now that the metal work is complete, and then an immediate coating (inside and out) of two component self etching epoxy primer.

HTH

[Nathan Acree]

Ahh but you see the problem is most of us don't have the equipment (compressor, spray gun etc) or the desire to spray isocyanates all over our garage, Hench the rattle-can primer and the rustoleum ideas.

I was just trying to say that I have left a car in rattle-can primer and it was no where near as durable as it would have been had I just used flat black spray paint. Not to mention cheaper- that Duplicolor primer is damn near $3.50 a can.

I have a project I am hoping to do the rustoleum trick with here soon. Sure synthetic enamel is never going to be as hard or chemical resistant as a catalyzed paint would be but the idea of being able to simply and cheaply repair chips, scratches etc. on a daily driver type car can't be over-stated.

-Nathan Acree
Albuquerque New Mexico

[saxybiker]

My friend, who is a custom car builder, almost exclusively uses a roller to apply primer to the areas he can reach. Lots less overspray to deal with and he's going to sand most of it off anyhow.

Also, most people don't know that primer allows rust to form underneath if a top coat is not applied shortly after it dries. The "flat black" idea is a great one. Especially over bare metal.

Allen & Vickie Gage

[oldopelguy]

The biggest issue with using rattle cans is the stripes and uneven coverage you always get.

I've done several trailers now with electric Wagner power painters and Rustoleum by the quart or gallon and it's a great best of both worlds. It drys and cures like the stuff in a can when you spray it through the gun but because you can move so fast and it's all the same batch you don't get streaking like out of a several cans. I wouldn't do it any other way, except maybe POR-15.

It's also pretty inexpensive, given that a gallon costs less than 10 rattle cans but will be enough for a whole car. If you clean the gun out well it'll last forever and get used around the house too, and that $60 isn't a huge investment.

[ungermm]

It has been discussed before on how easy and cheap the roll on paint job is to do. My complaint is that I've sprayed two trucks with rustoleum and the shine does not last. I did one in gloss white and one in gloss gray. They did look good initially. The gloss didn't last more than a couple of years exposed to the outdoor elements.They now both look like they were sprayed with primer. The shine does come back if you apply wax though.

Read more about rustoleum and cheap paint jobs here
Cheapo paint job - Crankshaft Coalition Wiki

[Nathan Acree]

No doubt that the rustoleum will not last like a two-part catalysed paint job. However, a car under a cover or in a garage will last much longer. Being solvent based the enamel will eventually craze and dry out completely. but that should be many, many years down the line.

I have two big reasons for using this method

1. Cheap to do, cheap to fix. I don't know about the rest of the group, but
if you drive around Albuquerque you are going to get hit, bumped, door
dinged, whatever sooner or later. The ability to easily and cheaply fix
the problem makes me much more likely to use the car. I would hate to
have to baby a $5000 paint job. Most of our cars are not worth that.

2. Catalyzed paint is HUGELY Poisonous. The catalyzer is isocyanate based
and you would have trouble finding something worse to breath. There are
some 3M Activated filter masks that are rated for Isocyanates but I
I personally would not spray two-part paint anywhere near my house or
anyone elses.

Also just in case anyone wants to know, Autozone carries gallons of primer-surfacer made by duplicolor that can be sucessfully rolled-on. The primer-surfacer is solvent based, so you can thin it a little with their reducer but you dont have to. I just use a small fuzzy roller and it goes on great. It does leave some texture but the primer-surfacer gets blocked down anyway so it does not make much difference. Actually one advantage to the slightly textured rolled surface is that when the texture is gone the surface is flat. So you know when to stop sanding.

-Nathan
Albuquerque New Mexico



One caveat with the primer-surfacer is that it is not suitable for flexible surfaces- its too brittle when it dries so its not good for urethane bumpers etc. It may work with some flex additive but I'm not sure you can still roll that on.

[blancojp]

Originally Posted by Phoenix I intented to try the Rustoleum roll job on this car by the spring shows. It's a daily driver with some rust. It'll probubly be totalled one day. Most of the car still has paint and clear coat under the primer. When I go to paint it EVERYTHING will come off. I'd like to do something similar to Manny's headlights.

I would use one of my Gargoyle's tricks when working on a specific area of the car. Sand the car down to bare metal and sand blast using play sand at no greater than 70psi. It gives the bare metal a frosty mat finish which you can then use a self etching primer or a Rustoleum color coat as your first coat. Rustoleum is made to spray directly to clean unprepared metal so should be fine.

If you are going to use the Rustoleum style of painting, prepare youself for the application of roughly 10 coats with a roller and 9 sessions of wet sanding. It should take roughly two-three weeks to complete the paint job since you will need to allow 24hrs drying time. There is also a Rustoleum clear final coat which can be applied with a roller.

This final coat should be medium build and gets wet sanded twice, once with a 600 and secondly with a 1000 grit. You can actually re-touch spots as you go along if required and the final stage is the polishing.

The other route is the Wagner electric paint gun. They are very cheap, overspray is not too much of an issue (since you will wet sand every coat) and you can apply a coat of paint evenly and easily.

[neuropel]

Has anyone here tried the Duplicolor "paint shop" stuff that's out now? It looks like a good intermediate between rattle cans and expensive 2-part catalyzed paint. It's ready to shoot straight out of the can - no mixing, etc., but it should be durable enough to give a good finish that would last. For those that have a compressor, this ought to be very reasonably priced - the paint is not expensive, and you can get it at most of the big chain parts stores like Advance Auto.

Paint Shop

Todd