DIY roller paint job?

[HoverFish]

A couple weeks ago I came across a couple of Instructables (http://www.instructables.com/id/The-Poor-Mans-Paint-Job-or...-How-to-paint-your-c/)which dealt with painting a car with thinned down Tremclad/Rustoleum and a roller. One of them linked to a thread on moparts (http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=2331682&page=0&fpart=1&vc=1) which was the original source of the how-to.

I unfortunately don't have money falling out of my butt at the moment, and the LeBaron does need some paint, so I figure I might try this out. If it doesn't work out, I'm only out the cost of the materials, about $50, and some time.

Has anyone tried anything like this? Am I nuts for thinking about it myself?

[raccoon]

i found it was more then 50 bucks, if you can spray it on all the better.

your trading a many hours of labour for sure.

[DUGZSHELBY]

Rustoleum is by far the best, most durable, single stage paint I have ever used! This could work out very well for you, although it would look better sprayed on! Bad thing is, if you ever want to paint it with automotive urethane paint basecoat/clearcoat in the future, you will have to seal it! BTW, rustoleum says to thin it with acetone. Never heard of tremclad.

[raccoon]

trimclad is what its called in canada.

[DUGZSHELBY]

Learn something new every day. One other thing I just remembered. Lowes will custom match rustoleum for you "to a point". Dont know if you have a Lowes is in Canada?

[t3rse]

A cheap single stage doesn't cost much more than Rustoleum and will turn out better, last longer, and can be touched up or painted over.

[turbo84voyager]

I have sprayed a car with rustoleum. It is ok for a rust bucket that is just about dead but thats about it. The bigest problem is there is no catalyst ( Hardner) so if you dump gas or other solvents it will remove the paint. It did look good, heck I even color sanded and buffed it just to see how much it could shine. I reduced it with paint thinner. It shined real good but naturially over time it lost its shine. I have heard of people thinning it with gas. An old trick to enamel paints was to thin it with a little gas. It would make them shine but the shine would eventuially die. You definately want to spray, dont brush or roll. It just will not look right. I used to buy a gallon Limco acrylic enamel with hardner and reducer for under $100. I havent sprayed 1 stage in a few years. BC CC can be much more expensive but that is all I spray anymore. If you have a tractor supply store around, my understanding is they carry equipment enamel that has a catalyst to be mixed in. I think you can get a gallon with the catalyst for around $60

[bfarroo]

I've used Valspar brand equipment enable and it's worked fairly well for a budget paint job. Cost 25 dollars for the gallon of paint and 10 dollars for the hardener and a few bucks for some Naptha to thin it. Sprayed it on with a HVLP gun. takes a little trial and error to get the right mixture to get it to spray well. It also takes a while for it to dry. sprayed my Shadow with it along with the winter rims for my spirit and they're both holding up well for what I have invested.
http://www.extremepsi.org/gallery/albums/album19/DSC01255.jpg

[Mario]

Any better pics Benji? Did you do any wet sanding or anything? Where did you purchase the paint that cheap? I'm about to try a car over here that I'm finishing the quarters on.

[bakes]

If you get it to thick it will crack when flexed.

[bfarroo]

I got the paint at Fleet Farm. They don't mix any special colors, they just have the standard farm equipment colors. John Deere Green, Ford Blue,, IH red ect... They also have Black and White. So if your looking to repaint an entire car on a budget and don't have to match a specific color, or just want to clean up a beater it's not bad. You won't be able to get a paint match if your trying to repair a panel or two. The white or black may be close but that's about it. There are more pictures here.
http://www.extremepsi.org/gallery/album19

I didn't do any wet sanding, Just sanded the dry peeling paint with some 180 on a DA sander primed any bare metal with a rattle can and sprayed away. I put on one heavy coat. I probably could have thinned the paint more and put on two thinner coats.

I may try wet sanding and buffing the hood at some point in time just to see how it would turn out.

[moparman76_69]

Me and my Dad used to restore tractors for my uncle alot and used implement paint all the time, easy single stage paint with decent gloss to it. It will orange peel on you quick but if you mix it to the right ratio and spray a few medium coats with wed sanding in between it will turn out well. That's how I got all my practice doing body work.

[HoverFish]

I agree spraying would probably be the way to go provided I had the equipment. Part of the reason I'm considering this my own curiosity, or skepticism. I'm thinking I might try painting something else first to figure out the technique, and if I eff it up, no big deal.

I'll have a look at other single stage paints as well... probably have better colour choices. No Lowe's around here, so I'm pretty much stuck with the stock colours, or what I can mix myself.