Tpx

Well, I'm a college student with a tight budget (obviously) and decided I didn't want to spend 4k on an awesome paint job. I just wanted to get the car all one color and patch up the rust spots. I used a 4" super fine foam roller with Rustoleum's Gloss Black acrylic/enamal paint. I prepped the car using Oops! to remove the sticky residue left over from the decals and pinstriping, sanded the whole body with 150 grit on a square electric sander, washed with dish soap and water, then rinsed and dried. I taped off the areas I didn't want to tackle today, then I finally rolled on one coat no thinning. I plan on finishing the rear bumper, roof, and front section tommorow, I worked for about ten hours today to get it where it is in the pictures. I'm not going to paint the hood because it's trash and I'm replacing with a Harwood 3" cowl gelcoated black. I plan on layering on another coat or two tommorow, and after two or three coats are on and dried (takes 24 hours for full dry) I plan on wet sanding with 600 grit to smooth things out then buff and polish to a mirror shine! Thanks for reading! Here's some pics for your enjoyment (or amusement)

EDIT: Yes there is a good amount of orange peel (bumpy look) currently, but that was due to me deciding not to use the mineral spirits I had on hand to thin. I opted to lay on a full thick layer, sand, and so forth. There is no running or paint dripping. I feel this will turn out a comparable quality job in less time than laying 10-15 coats of very thin paint. Even if I cannot obtain a mirror smooth finish with sanding, I don't mind the bumpy effect at all anyway

Tpx

More pics, and please ignore the horribly crammed garage, my parents are messy :/

Tpx

last pic I feel like grabbing off the phone today, and yes it did rain on a 10 minute dry coat in some of those pictures. I was very upset, until I realized it didn't harm the paint job at all. Just a very small outline of where each drop sat is all you could see on the paint. Hurrah for oil based paint! I plan on wet sanding with 600 grit before the next coat or two to make sure it's all smooth.

Mr. IROC-Z

iTrader: (1)

You might have well just prepped it, and taken it to MACO for a $200 paint job.
It would altleast turn out much better than what you have there.

Tpx

Well keep in mind it's only 1 coat, I have to wet sand it down then apply a few more coats then finally poslish it up to a mirror shine. It won't be textured as it is currently and it will have a deeper look to it once finished. This thread will be updated with my progress, but thanks for the opinion, I anticipated most saying just that

sailtexas186548

iTrader: (2)

keep at it, if you get it to come out nice hell yeah im all for the cheap job. again, love the rims!

Mr. IROC-Z

iTrader: (1)

You are missing the point and the larger picture my friend. Your time is valuable. You said you spent 10hrs just doing the first coat. You are going spend even more doing more coats, and then finally sanding it, and doing whatever else you need to make it look better. With a 200 Maaco job, you will have gotten a nice outcome, with less work. Heck, with the time saved, you could have gotten a part time job to pay for it.

Tpx

I see your point, but for me this works out better. I spent around 100 on supplies. I do have a full time job, and I can see how you factor in the "time is money" aspect. I chose to do it this way because then I could say "I did the paint job" even if it's horrible. I'm not looking to make a show car here, I actually played around with the idea of painting it flat black, I just wanted to put a nice protective BLACK paint job (I hate silver, and silver and blue is worse for me) on my camaro. I don't mind spending 40 hours on this paint job, If I wasn't doing this I would be sitting on my *** playing computer games

gurkgurkgurk

i think it looks decent, keep at it

Thirdgen Ranch

iTrader: (5)

I think there's probably another cost you didn't account for. If you plan on getting a good paint job down the road I think you're probably going to end up paying extra because you painted it with Rustoleum. I know painters who won't touch a car that was ever painted with that stuff.

Tpx

Really? I was under the impression it would act as a primer of sorts, its really just a one stage enamel primer I thought.

Ca[maro]88

iTrader: (2)

why would the rustoleom be a bitch to get off? cant you just sand it off? sorry im just kinda confused lol


btw i understand the whole "i wanna say i painted it myself" because im the same way lol. its a pride thing. id rather do my own paintjob then have somebody else do it. its just a car and a paycheck to them, to you its your camaro.

88TransAmFreak

iTrader: (15)

I'm not a big fan of those types of paintjobs, but heck Henry Ford brushed and rubbed out the paint on his first cars.

People tend to forget that most of the time your going to buff your paint out anyways...this is the same concept, get enough paint on there you can wetsand and buff all of the brush strocks and blemishes.

If it helps, this guy on the corvette forum I frequent did this same method on a Corvette and a Bradley GT....both cars look better than some professional jobs I've seen. Kind of funny because the purists tell the other guys on that forum that you have to spend $8,000 or more for a quality paintjob.....this guy got a pretty decent one for $50.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-g...ob-update.html

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-g...revisited.html

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-g...pdate-3-a.html

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-g...paint-job.html

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-g...paint-job.html


Here's an "after" photo...the paint he used.....pretty impressive if done correctly

Thirdgen Ranch

iTrader: (5)

Well, I'm not a painter so I don't know all the reasons against it. I do know that no good painter would ever paint over it. They would definitely have to strip it.

I did a quick search and found this statement regarding a car that had been painted with Rustoleum. I think it's basically the same thing I've been told by my friends who are painters.

"I posted in the original thread and I'll say it again. This is not a good idea. That cheap paint will fade and dull out in no time. Not to mention the amount of work involved. If you have ever wet sanded and buffed auto paint you know it is a lot of work. Now compare the minor orange peel left by a good gun to the peel left by a roller. You will have 10 times the amount of sanding to do. Wet sanding with 2000 or higher is a slow process anyway. I have yet to see any oil based paint that will dry hard enough to be buffed. It ain't gonna happen. I work in a paint store and I see all kinds of "experiments". After you roll your car and you realize what kind of mistake you made and you want to paint your car correctly, you have another time as much of work on your hands. All of that cheap paint will have to be stripped off because catalyzed auto finishes will eat it up and it will lift. No, you won't be able to DA it off, because that soft paint will just gum up the sandpaper. Sandpaper isn't cheap either. You will have to use stripper and then you'll have a real mess. I'm not trying to be a know it all and sound rude here, I am just trying to save people from a lot of trouble. If you can't afford it now, wait until you can afford a decent paint job. No one said you have to buy the top of the line paint. There are some reasonably priced catalyzed finishes out there. We sell some american finishes paint at work. It is a cheaper acrylic enamel line by ppg. I know this is not as good as the more expensive line, but it's a heck of a lot better than oil base. We have had a few guys around here buy it and they say it sprays nice and has a good shine. I've seen it before. Guys spend top dollar on the engines and transmissions for their cars, but when it comes to paint they cheap out. Remember, you get what you pay for."

Tpx

It seems like the corvette guy proved the finish of a backyard paint job can rival professional paint jobs, but the question still up in the air is can a backyard paint job last as long?

I will be sure to post more pics tomorrow when the whole car is finished, but as far as durability of the paint job: if this paint lasts five years then I'm extremely happy, if it lasts one year then I learned my lesson the hard way and I'll have to solve that when I come to it.

EDIT: Check this out, it was actually the article I got the idea from: http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/b...job/index.html

In the box with pros and cons, read the paragraph that explains their personal experiance and their reasons for painting this classic with a roller. Describes me perfectly if you add in the pride thing.

Lee1

Rustoleum is a bitch to sand off. It is like trying to sand rubber. The reason why a pro would have to remove it is because it is incompatible with most all auto finishes as a base coat. Most any non-Rustoluem brand enamel will wrinkle once it hits it.

jak2908

please please keep this updated!! im gonna be doing this with gloss charcoal gray..same paint..but unless you make the black look good im gonna go with black!!!

Tpx

We'll see how good I can make it, but keep in mind lighter colors are easier to pull off

deadbird

Rustoleum is an oiled enamel. A solvent based paint will be similar to painting on paint stripper.

The other reason, you now have 3-6 coats of rolled on outdoor paint on top of the factory paint. A reputable paint shop would not pile sealer, a few coats of primer, color coats and clear (if bc/cc) on top of that.

Certainly that picture looks good, it's very easy to take a picture from an angle that makes something look way better than it does in person.

I hate seeing such a great amount of time and effort go into using an inferior paint. Good luck with it though.

On a tight budget and if you have access to a compressor and gun, there are much better routes for a budget paint job.

I did a truck for a friends uncle. I spent
$36/gal white Kirker Enamel. (color doesn't really affect cost by much)
$24/gal base coat stabilizer. (didn't need that much but, that's all they had)
$10/gal reducer.
$17/pt hardener.
$48/gal Jet Set clear.
$18/qt hardener for clear. (all prices have went up about 10% since)
For a total of $153 (or, $168 if you + 10%)
Add misc materials for a total of $200.

Sanding and paint was done over a weekend in the welding shop where I worked. Not a show winner but, it was a DD that was to eventually be sold. There was no sanding or buffing the paint. The Jet Set is a decent economy clear and will lay with about as much orange peel as factory paint. 3 years later it still looked like a decent paint job (even though not maintained) until the truck got t-boned (instead of sold).

I got paid for my time obviously but, for an extra little dip in the bank, it's worth it to spend just a touch more for something that will be good for years and is a true automotive finish that a body shop will touch...

Best of luck on it though.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

Was that a Pace car?

Stephen

iTrader: (12)

After you sand & sand & sand & sand & sand &........(you get the idea) trying to get any resemblance of the mirror shine.....
"I plan on wet sanding with 600 grit to smooth things out then buff and polish to a mirror shine!"

Your gonna be regretting putting no thinner in the mix. Might as well used rubber latex house paint, especially with black.

dimented24x7

iTrader: (2)

Im surprised you didnt just mask it all out and use the cans of rustoleum spray paint instead. I did that to my car and it actually came out ok. The paint dried smooth. Wasnt real shiny, but it looked alright. With a good buff, it probably would have come out to a nice shine. Its also lasted about 8 years so far. Not too bad for a few cans of spray paint.

LB9Iroc87

Keep at it. I personally like the whole aspect of a young college kid like me saving his money and doing it himself, this is awesome, put on alot of coats and then wet sand the H.ELL out of it, use 600 and then step up to a finer paper, and that dent in the quarter might come out with a little bit of "adjustement"

Tpx

Yes it was a pace car

I might regret not thinning, and I will keep you updated on how it sands. If it is true it sands like rubber then I made a real mess for myself

I did paint the car under the cover next to it using rustoleum rattle can, it came out great and almost a year later, it's still looking great. I might uncover it to show you how that looks too. I didn't prep that car at all though.

I will use a finer grit on the very last wet sand before the buffing/polishing. I was thinking 1000, because anything higher than that doesn't really remove anything unless you come back next year lol. 600 doesn't even remove much.

The pictures were taken to show overall progress, I can take some real close pictures if you think I'm trying to hide anything. I took that close pic of the rear deck lid to try to show the orange peel texture it has.

Thanks for the comments and I'll post some pics later today if I finish what I anticipate finishing. Remember, THIS IS NOT A SHOW CAR! If it looks "textured" up close (which I hope to eliminate anyway), but great and consistent in color standing just five feet away, then I achieved MY goal.

EDIT: Added pics of the 73 camaro I painted with rattle cans of rustoleum, and a pic of the use it currently has: a part bin lol. It's a little dusty but other than that the paint has held up for a year now and looks great with 1 coat! The inside of the car is POR-15 not rattle can so don't evaluate that.

JeremyNYR

iTrader: (2)

why didn't you try at least pushing out that rear quarter panel dent before painting? You have very easy access to it from the spare tire compartment.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

Just curious, what was wrong with the original paint? Looks pretty decent in the pics.

88TransAmFreak

iTrader: (15)

In my younger times we just rattle can primer the whole car and call it a day.

JeremyNYR

iTrader: (2)

that's just the thing, low resolution pictures on a computer screen give you very little indication to the condition of paint. There has to be a huge problem for it to show up on the screen. That's why the original paint and the new rolled on paint don't look like total crap in the pictures.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

Yup. Gray, black or red... take your choice.

tony_cogliandro

iTrader: (3)

nothing wrong with doing it yourself - a certain satisfaction to that.

and you can make is as good as you want it.

89RsPower!

Kind of an unrelated question, how did you turn a super t-10 into a 5 speed

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

I did the same thing back in '03. Would've come out better had I used more thinner and taken care of some of the other problems that were in the paint before I started (factory 87 Van Nuys paint recall, people?) Thing is, the RustOleum stuck better to the factory paint than it did to the crap primer the PO put on 2/3 of my car before I bought it (to cover his half-a$$ welding job on the pass side rear quarter panels).

If you ever need to get the RustOleum off, like I did eventually, get yourself a sanding block and a package of wet/dry 3M 320 grit paper. Wet the paint down real good, and keep it wet by dipping the block in water and spraying the lifted paint off occasionally. The paint will come off REAL quick.

gcgarner

It seems that nobody can post a thread about the Rust-O-Leum Paint Jobs without starting a riot.

I don't agree with doing it (especially in this manner with no thinner), but it's your car kid. Tell everyone else to mind their own business.

Aviator857

Most cheap paint isn't compatable with more expensive automotive paint. I don't know what Maaco uses but I had my car painted by them. Don't get me wrong its 8 yr old and holds a shine, but if I use any touch up paint it wrinkles the enamal they used. Dupli-color enamel is compatable with it. But even high end products are not compatable with other high end products so its all about knowing what you have on it and what will work on top of it.

Sonix

iTrader: (1)

I'm doing my hood with this now. I'm still in the bondo stage now. Had to do a fair bit of touch up since I was attaching my power bulge "edge" with epoxy, and welded a lid to the bottom of it (cutout for air cleaner to seal to).
I'll post up a pic when i'm done. It'll look funny compared to poor paint quality for the rest of the car. That'll come next.

V6F1R3BRD

whoa wait.. $200? **** i know where im goin!

And don't pick at him man. i understand the whole student tight budget stuff. and if he wants to do it his way more power to him. i hope it turns out kick 4ss for you. and like sailtexas186548 said, love those rims!

Tpx

Actually I wanted to push the dent out, but it's deceptive. It's easy to get to, but there is a steel brace running all along the dent area and there is no way to swing a hammer or pry it to pop it out. I decided not to cut the brace and just use a drill and thread a bolt into there to pull it out later. I didn't want to hang up the paint job any more than I had already.

The original paint was spotted with rust circles, flaking off all over the place on the rear deck lid and lower quarter panels, as well as having tons of pinstripping and decals that were only 50% on and 50% peeling off. There were also many spots on the urethane bumper and front clip that were worn down to the rubber and it looked very bad.

My budget isn't exactly "tight" as I said it was, I just call it that because I have all my money going into more important things than paint, for example I'm buying 2k worth of gauges, spending money on a full new exhaust system, spending a good chunk on a roll cage, spending too much on various odds and ends like new water hose, sound damping, carpet, seats, pedals, etc.

I know it's pathetic but I don't own a camera, so I do the best with what I got. I have a 2 megapixel camera in my cell phone and it takes pics at 1600x1200 which is pretty good, its the best I can do to show quality of the paint job sorry :/

The T-10 is not a 5 speed per se, but I have a problem of backwards thinking where I call tranny's by the total gears they have, such as 4 forward gears and 1 reverse is a 5 speed in my head. It's actually a "4 speed."

Thanks for the comments and support, I do read and consider all your advice but I chose to do it this way for better or worse. Even in the worst case scenario where the paint doesn't hold its color or flakes off, I can just sand it all off and get Maaco to do it again - I only lose time and 20 sanding papers. I gain experiance either way though and that's good enough for me at this stage in my life.

Now that I've answered all the questions, here's the pictures of todays work, the front clip and the roof all painted. The close up on the lights area was to show the tiny bubbles that formed.. I have no idea why these formed but they seem to go away before it dries. The close up on the side of the car (2 pics) is to show dried paint that was rained on, it has very superficial outlines of the water drops that need to be sanded out. The paint will level itself out over the next few hours so the front clip won't look as bumpy as it does after it has had a chance to dry, but I was hasty and excited so it posted wet pics. These pics were taken minutes after finishing, so the paint is still "wet." The sides however are completely dry to the touch and almost hard enough to sand on today. I will wait until saturday to wet sand the whole car and then reapply another coat all over.

Tpx

More pics...

Tpx

Last pics for now

88TransAmFreak

iTrader: (15)

Hmmm I don't know, sounds backwards to me....if you omitted the guages, roll cage, sound damping, and cost of paint spent already.......you could have had enough to run the car to maaco. They would have even pulled the dent for you.

I guess I'm different, cosmetic like paint and interior always comes first before the "fun" stuff because that's the core of the car.

87CIZ

iTrader: (8)

I paid to have maaco to prep and do a base/clear paint. I get it and it looks great 3 weeks later paint is falling off and its single stage paint. bitch of it is they went out of business and maaco doesnt hold warranty's because they are franchises.

92RSsleeper

iTrader: (6)

looks like an awesome project so far, I completely agree with what your doing and don't let anyone get you down about it. I'm considering doing this to my car too, I just have to find enough time. - Yeah It'll probably never look show quality, BUT THATS NOT THE POINT!

As for the bubbling your getting I'm guessing its because you didn't thin your paint... its gonna create more problems for sanding and buffing but good job so far.

I'd take a look at this if you haven't already it really gives a nice overview.

http://www.rickwrench.com/index79mas...llarpaint.html

Ca[maro]88

iTrader: (2)

lol ive had 6 cars, 2 of them were painted with rustoleom. 1 red and 1 white. came out like crap since i didnt prep at ALL. it was a work van and an old 1990 pontiac grand am. there was rust spots and i just would rather have messed up paint then a crap load of rust haha.

well as long as YOUR happy with the outcome. some people here live out of their back pockets. some are poor (like me) and still want a nice lookin car.

GeeJenn91RSV8

You should have thinned the paint. It would've came out much better. You half assed a half assed paint method. Don't get me wrong I rolled mine the correct way and it looks great.

92RSsleeper

iTrader: (6)

you got it right there my friend.

Thirdgen Ranch

iTrader: (5)

Does that mean he did a 3/4-assed job?

Klewis89RS

Wait I'm confused. You painted your car with house paint and a roller?

GeeJenn91RSV8

No. I think a half of a half would be a 1/4 assed. Right?

87cmroiroc305ho

iTrader: (2)

that link to the corvair kinda made me want to do this sence im wanting new paint, but im also thinking of mako, just prepping the car and doing the body work and sending it in, i hear alot of negitive stuff about them, but the thing is is that my car is a d.d. meaning i need it all the time, mako said it would be ready for pick up the next day. any input on them, or would it be better to do a home made paint job

Klewis89RS

My dad got his 83 camaro done there and it looked pretty good (until my sister rolled it). They are really good at over spraying on door locks, handles, and what not. But other than that, not to bad for a $200 paint job.