NinjaPablo Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 This past week, I did the $50 Rustoleum Paint Job. I'm not going to cover everything in detail, since a lot of the guides already do an excellent job. I went from this http://i.imgur.com/Fr7Jl.jpg To this http://i.imgur.com/DpIV2.jpg I mostly followed DrSimon's guide from Instructables. Before this, the only other painting experience I've had has been refinishing some homebuilt arcade cabinets. The total cost was under $100, but certainly over $50. I ended up using 3 quarts of Rustoleum High Gloss White Enamel, and did 4 coats. I used 4 cans of Rustoleum spray primer. Prep Work First of all, make sure you have plenty of room. I wouldn't want to try doing this outside, and I ended up using most of 2 garage stalls during the process. http://i.imgur.com/HAWEq.jpg If you have any rust spots you need to repair, this is the time to do it. If there are any parts you can easily remove (bumpers, grilles, etc), take them off and paint them separately. Make sure to wash the car good first. Paint won't stick to any road grease or wax on the body, and it doesn't come completely off just from sanding. Sanding Other than repairing rust spots, you do not need to sand down to bare metal. I used 220 grit followed by 400 grit to get through the clear coat. http://i.imgur.com/ngCMQ.jpg Masking Proper masking will give you the crisp lines you want. I had a couple slipups that will take some time to clean up later. The best advice I can offer is to use smaller strips of masking tape when doing curves. Automotive masking tape (green) will stick better than house tape (blue), and at least around here, was a couple bucks cheaper. Garbage bags work great for masking off the tires/wheels, and ziplock bags work well for the mirrors. Priming With everything masked off, you can start priming. I did 2 coats of primer, waiting about 10-15 minutes between coats. http://i.imgur.com/FCCoT.jpg Painting (& More Sanding) I used a spray gun that came with my air compressor for the painting. You'll have to experiment a bit with your sprayer to figure out how much you need to thin the paint. It seemed to work best when it took 4-5 seconds for the paint to start dripping from the mixing stick. If the paint is too thin, you'll have a lot of runs, if it is too thick, it won't dry fast or level out enough. The first coat will look horrible. The 2nd coat will look like you did it with a can of spraypaint. I waited 6 hours between each coat. Here it is after 2 coats: http://i.imgur.com/E9G3o.jpg After 2 coats, I wet sanded with 800 grit. It was handy to have a spray bottle full of water when doing the wet sanding. After the 3rd coat, it looked like this. You can still see some orange peel in the reflection, which I was mostly able to get rid of after some more wet sanding with 1000 grit: http://i.imgur.com/wogOz.jpg Afterwards I would do it again, and did learn a few good things from this. Paint did get under the paper in a few spots, and I had to scrape off some of the glass. Wetting the glass with soapy water and using a razorblade worked well for getting the paint off. I let the paint dry for about 18 hours, and it seemed fine once I took it out of the garage. If it's muggy or cooler out, you might need to wait longer. If you have any questions or want any more examples, let me know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legacy Wagon Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 Man...it looks like a completely different vehicle. That's freakin impressive, man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAC5.2 Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 Did you clear coat over the paint? Looks pretty good for house paint! [URL="http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/proper-flip-key-interesti-159894.html"]Flip Key Development Thread[/URL] "Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped." - E. Hubbard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NinjaPablo Posted September 7, 2011 Author Share Posted September 7, 2011 I did not apply a clear coat. I'm going to leave the paint be for a while, and decide if I want to add one later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legacy Wagon Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 Man, I'm pretty sure that paint would be faded off in a week without a clearcoat down here in FL haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laz Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 Man, I'm pretty sure that paint would be faded off in a week without a clearcoat down here in FL haha Rustoleum is a single stage type of paint. No need for clear coat. You need to have the right type of paint to be able to apply a compatible clear coat to it. And in FL even properly painted cars fade in no time. Damn sun! X --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocktown1980 Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 Very nice for the price. Now if only i had a garage! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legacy Wagon Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 But if you dont provide a clear coat wont it haze over the first layer of paint? Do you need to use a lacquer with that? And yeah :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
compsurge Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 Impressive! Looks fantastic. Well done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byronchrisp05 Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 looks good, painted a civic the saw way 4 or so years ago. Looked good for about a year then the norther il winter had her way with it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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