Has anyone painted their truck w/rustoleum?

[4chevyman]

I'm thinking about painting my 76 w/rustoleum satin black to give it that rat rod look.  I've googled painting w/rustoleum and people have bragged about the results.  I'm on a nonexistent budget, and at about $9/qt before thinning, its in my price range as the cost of automotive paint has about doubled in the past 8 yrs.  I have also heard that you can just use basecoat w/o the clearcoat to achieve the satin look.  Has anyone tried either of these methods and how did it turn out?

[fitz]

 So you read all about the 69 Charger that was painted with a roller?
 I stayed up many late nights following that thread. I say go for it.

[4chevyman]

I don't have the time or patience for the roller.  The article in Hot Rod said it takes at least 7 coats to cover w/ sanding between each coat.  I've got a compressor and a gun; I'll blow it on.  Thought I might get a door sanded and experiment.  The truck was crimson(roll tide!) red to begin with, and since I have red plastic interior trim pieces and good seat out of an 85ish silverado, I was thinking about keeping the interior red.  I would like to paint it flat or satin as well but haven't seen red in that sheen at wally world or home depot.  I may be able to take some to orielly's and get them to add some flattening agent. 

[frito-bandito]

That Hot Rod article, was that where they painted that Ford Falcon with rollers and did the scallops with spray can Rustoleum? I've wanted to paint my 94 GMC for a couple years, but I haven't been brave enough to try it yet.

[4chevyman]

Yea, that's the one.  It looked good, but too much elbow grease for me.  I'd rather use a gun.  I painted my frame with gloss black rustoleum and turned out great.  I found a forum online where a guy painted his Miata with rustoleum blue.  He claimed that its been 2 yrs and it still looks great, but i think he said he keeps it in a garage. 

[Mr Diesel]

Interesting post about budget paint jobs:


http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/body/546612-ultimate-budget-paint-job.html

[4x4orbust]

that camaro looks good!    i painted my 82 with rustoleum spray cans.   came out pretty good, orange peel everywhere, but looks good.   i did 2 coats of spray bomb primer then 2 coats spray bomb auto paint on top.   the sanding for the prep is all the hard work.   i feel that the paint is a little soft and scratches a little easy, but i don't have a clear coat on it so that may be why.    i am not putting one on either because if something happens and i need to touch it up, it's just a matter of masking off the area and hitting it again with the spray can. 

[frito-bandito]

that camaro looks good!    i painted my 82 with rustoleum spray cans.   came out pretty good, orange peel everywhere, but looks good.   i did 2 coats of spray bomb primer then 2 coats spray bomb auto paint on top.   the sanding for the prep is all the hard work.   i feel that the paint is a little soft and scratches a little easy, but i don't have a clear coat on it so that may be why.    i am not putting one on either because if something happens and i need to touch it up, it's just a matter of masking off the area and hitting it again with the spray can. 

Would rattle can clear coat get results as in shine and/or scratch protection?

[SUX2BU99]

That's funny this thread came up because over the weekend as I was painting my 90 core support with gloss black spray can rust paint, I thought "Hmmm I wonder if anyone has painted their entire vehicle with this?"  lol

One thing I've experienced is when using spray bomb 'car' color paint, it dries quite dull. You CAN color sand, polish and buff a body shop-like shine and smoothness out of it. I've done it. It takes lots of time and patience though and you need to put down enough coats so that you don't color sand right through the paint.

With Rustoleum, or Tremclad, the gloss that comes right out of the can really surprises me. Why can't car paint spray bomb give the same gloss?? Anyway, if you can give it a week for the paint to really harden, I feel it would be a great budget paint to use. But yes, I also think it's soft and would swirl or scratch pretty easily. So if you are painting a car with it, maybe go with lighter colors that don't show scratches too easily. It takes wayyyyy longer to dry too than spray bomb car paint.

Spray bomb clear coat over spray bomb color coat needs the same color sanding and buffing that not using a clear coat needs. I've rarely used spray bomb clear but when I have used it, it dries dull just the same.

[frito-bandito]

That's funny this thread came up because over the weekend as I was painting my 90 core support with gloss black spray can rust paint, I thought "Hmmm I wonder if anyone has painted their entire vehicle with this?"  lol

One thing I've experienced is when using spray bomb 'car' color paint, it dries quite dull. You CAN color sand, polish and buff a body shop-like shine and smoothness out of it. I've done it. It takes lots of time and patience though and you need to put down enough coats so that you don't color sand right through the paint.

With Rustoleum, or Tremclad, the gloss that comes right out of the can really surprises me. Why can't car paint spray bomb give the same gloss?? Anyway, if you can give it a week for the paint to really harden, I feel it would be a great budget paint to use. But yes, I also think it's soft and would swirl or scratch pretty easily. So if you are painting a car with it, maybe go with lighter colors that don't show scratches too easily. It takes wayyyyy longer to dry too than spray bomb car paint.

Spray bomb clear coat over spray bomb color coat needs the same color sanding and buffing that not using a clear coat needs. I've rarely used spray bomb clear but when I have used it, it dries dull just the same.

Yeah, that's the results I've got from the few times that I messed with the spray can clear.

[4x4orbust]

to be honest i don't think the paint is that dull.   it doesn't shine like my 2001 with factory paint, but it does have a nice finish to it.   i have not waxed it yet, but i think that may help a little with the shine.  i can see my reflection in it on a sunny day.   i have heard bad things about repainting over rustoleum with regular auto paint, i guess it doesn't adhere to it, or something about a chemical in rustoleum that will react badly to other automotive paints.

[SUX2BU99]

I've read on rust paint cans where it says not to cover over it with high-solvent paints. That's about all I know about that.

[80stepsideguy]

A friend of mine on another forum told me this in a signature thread "good paint jobs arent cheap, cheap paint jobs arent good"..

thanks
pat

[frito-bandito]

A friend of mine on another forum told me this in a signature thread "good paint jobs arent cheap, cheap paint jobs arent good"..

thanks
pat

Agreed, but cheap paint jobs are better than rust or multi-color (unless your in to that!) No offense, I own rusted, multi-colored stuff too!

[jaredts]

I've done some great looking rattle can spray jobs on hoods, fenders, etc.  You can wet sand imperfections out of the base coat and then clear coat.  Wet sand with 1500 grit and buff.  It'll look just like you took it to the pros.  The problem is one to two years down the road.  At least on the stuff I used, the UV protection was just not there and it wasn't durable.  I used Plasti-kote's "body shop paint"--a lacquer product.  A cheap auto enamel won't cost you much more than a rust oleum paint job, and would probably be cheaper than a rattle can paint job.  Here's one that's local to me:  http://smartshoppersinc.com/Kirker/acrylic-enamels.html  Scroll to the bottom and there's a complete kit for $66.50 including everything you need except primer.  I've been thinking all this through myself, and I think the right products won't cost that much more and will save a lot of time and last much longer.  I don't like to wax all the time to keep something looking good.  My suggestion would be to price around and try to find a cheap single stage and see if you can't come close to Rust-Oleum prices.  If its a lot more and you're on a budget, it'll probably work o.k.  I used to work for a guy that sprayed Rust-oleum on everything--tractors, garbage trucks, dump trucks, and other fleet vehicles.  I never saw them a couple of years later, but they looked decent at the time.