What is the best, inexpensive exterior paint?

[Tray]

What is the best, inexpensive exterior paint?

[79gmc15]

Rustoleum. lol it is cheap, and it can last.

[Engineer]

If I were wanting to make one presentable I would use Centari. 1 gallon of paint, quart of reducer, and pint of hardener is about $300.00 depending on color. With this you get almost a gallon and a half of sprayable. That should be enough to cover your truck.

Centari is a single stage, so no clear coat to mess with.

[Crosslybobo]

Single stage means you don't spray on any clear just paint right?

[Engineer]

Yes.

But don't expect the single stage to shine like a base coat/clear coat without a lot of polish work.

[Blazin]

There are cheaper single stage acrylic enamels out there, but Centari by Dupont is a sure bet. You would be surprised if applied correctly how well 793 hardener will shine.

[Tazman]

How long will single stage last?

[Engineer]

Tazman-

I hope you don't mind, but I am adding your PM you sent to me to this thread. I think you can get better answers to your question from other members of this forum than mine. I am an apprentice painter, I am no paint expert.

You say single stage a lot polish to get a shine.Can that be done by hand?

It all depends on how the paint is applied. If you use hardener, and don't spray the paint on dry, it could buff out with a good rubbing compound.

One key to getting the paint to lsy out flat, and not having too much orange peel that you have to buff out is to make sure you stay 10"~12" away from the surface you are painting. Too far away, and you get drying of the paint solvent, and this leads to the orange peel effect.

Make sure you use the recommended thinner, and the proper amounts. if it is your first time painting use a slight bit more thinner than what is called for, and apply more thin coats, instead of a few heavy coats.

[Tazman]

No problem I understand.I am thinking about about getting my truck repainted and it is a daily driver so I will not spend a lot.Yet I also want it to look pretty good and have no problem keeping it that way.I have been told that single stage will not shine or last as long as other methods.Thanks

[Blazin]

I sprayed Yellow Snow 5, or 6 years ago with Sherwin Williams single stage. I have never waxed it since I painted it. Its still in half decent shape. There is some rust coming through, etc., but thats not the paints fault.