Budget Shiny Paint . . . Really Budget . . . Downright cheap in fact....

When I worked at the body shop we painted a lot of frames and firewalls with Rustoleum or BPS (available at TSC) brand paints. We would either thin it with regular reducer or for a more "sticky" but less shiny appearance we'd use lacquer. With the lacquer the paint really tacked up good and you could hose the second/third coats in. We would also use regular hardner for a more durable finish. I also painted a dune buggy one tome using the BPS stuff, Naptha and BPS brand hardner. (I think the owner had like 50 bucks into 4 coats) It buffed out good and it still is holding up good. Theres a lot of different mixes to go depending on the appearance and durability your after. When I paint my truck I will use Nascon single stage just to achieve the color I want. So far I have sprayed all of my frame components with the Rustoleum paint. Its good stuff...way worth the money.

 

Charger attests that "I've painted over it with single stage and BC/CC with NO ISSUES." In the Moparts discussion, this myth has been thoroughly discussed, experimented with, and dispelled, at least to my satisfaction. [Disclaimer: Your mileage and experience may vary. This product may interact with other medications. Consult a physician before using. I am not a doctor, but I play one on the internet. Take advice with a grain of salt and call me in the morning. Should you have any questions, please reread disclaimer.]

 

The new dupli-color "Paint Shop" finishing system comes in quart cans, that sell ready to spray with an HVLP gun (no thinning), for about $20 a quart (at the Advance Auto up the street, anyway). It comes in primer, silver, black, dark gray, red, white, blue, yellow, orange and clear. I plan to buy some within the next week or so and try it out. It is lacquer. It can be sanded and buffed, and is designed for the home garage (hang your plastic sheeting) rather than a professional shop. I read about it in the new Popular Hotrodding and then went to the store and they had it. The salesman told me it was enamel and was surprised to see that it was lacquer, as he thought it wasn't possible to buy lacquer in bulk anymore.

 

Good evening!

I couldn't help but notice this forum which has popped up a few times in my web stats,
Anyway my name is Stephen Hull "paintboffin" the one who has a website on coach painting at http://www.stephen.hull.btinternet.co.uk/

I admit to having no knowledge on hot rods but I might be able to provide a little help or advice from time to time on the old traditional method of coach painting which seems to have sparked quite a lot of interest on this forum recently.
Alhough I mainly deal in the synthetic enamel paint types not generally auto finishes.

I just thought I'd pop in to say hello.

Regards,

Paintboffin.

 

I enjoyed the link. Amazing what you can do with a brush.

 

been using that stuff for about 7 years...works great.

 

Here are a couple of '59 Plymouth tailfins I welded together for my office Counter decoration...
I painted them with Bright red and Ford Wimbledon white, Duplicolor[spray can] Laquer from Walmart.

I then waited 24 hrs and buffed them out.
It has a low pressure /fan pattern and took three cans of red and two cans of white.[total cost-$23.00]
There was no clear coat, at the time that this picture was taken.

 

I've seen them brush marks on caes. I once had an M38-A1 that came with with all kinds of paint including brushed and sprayed -- you could tell. I've never tried it myself.

Maybe on the next project. It sounds like a good idea for the likely caliber of my work.

Now, if you could just do it with crayons or sidewalk chalk then I could put the kids to work!

.

 

If you're not particularly skilful with a brush you can achieve similar results with paint rollers, but you have to use the correct type of roller to suit the paint type.

For example;
Simulated Mohair for gloss or in some cases foam.

Regards,

Stephen.

 

Most vehicles painted in the brush method will show brush-marks,
Consider painting large furniture removal vans for example, where the paint applied by brush must dry slowly.

The secret is having a paint type that takes a while to flow-out, quick drying paints are no use for brush work, also temperature makes a huge difference.

Sometimes the paint drying time needs to be reduced considerably by adding reducers in order to slow down the drying process, allowing the user plenty of time to work the paint and have sufficient time to flow-out.

Regards,

Stephen

 

If the weather holds, Im doing the hood and top of my daily beater tomorrow, saturday and sunday. It will take longer, but since my shop has no electricity, this is the next best thing.

 

My kid did this method on his Datsun 510, just did the trunk lid so far and it is just a trade off, money vs. your time. The real trick is really thinning the paint with mineral spirits, the paint will "level" before your eyes! So it's either work hard, make money and buy a high dollar paint job or don't and do your hard work on sanding the cheap paint job.

One thing about this painting is that it is very "tough" and seems to resist the weather well.
Rex

 

As I've been working on my dashboard, I've been struggling with bubbles squeezed out of the applicator. I've tried foam roller, foam brush and a regular bristle brush. Any tips on how to get rid of them? Other than that, the paint levels nicely and generally looks really good (other than the dried in bubbles).

 

I've done this 20 years ago, except with rustoleum rattle cans. Wish I'd have thought to do the roller/brush thing. Doh! Had a primered 59 chevy that had to go to pay for college, could only afford rattle cans, and the car wasn't showing well in primer and needed to go. Painted it in the driveway.

Like the links say, it's all in the prep and finish work. The car shined like you wouldn't believe, in fact nobody believed me even when standing next to it.

Personally, I was disappointed. It had no color depth, reminded me of an oxidized 20 year old paint job that had been buffed back to life.

If a person has an old beater and wants to learn about paint and body without spending a fortune, it's a good choice.

If it's a car you care about, get good paint.

 

That's how I did my Monty SS ice racer. Except I sprayed it, but I used the same paint and thinner.
It looked beautiful without so much as wax, but even a year later you could scratch it off with a fingernail.

I didn't care, it was a race car, but I'd never do it on a car I like.


JOE

 

Bubbles in the paint can create pinholing or tiny craters, the most common cause is when a paint material is applied too thick, although excessive brushing or over rolling can also cause air to become trapped, this is more apparent with polyurethane paints when solvents become trapped as the surface starts to skin dry which would then block solvent release.

Lets have a look at some probable causes;

S****ing a charged paint brush on the edge of a paint tin instead of using an alternative empty paint tin can produce air bubbles, air bubbles can also be introduced in a paint material by over agitation
during the initial stirring or shaking just prior to use and of course so would *squeezing*.

What type of paint did you use and what is the applicator you mention used to squeeze paint from?

 

I tried the Tremclad technique on a junk fender and although I did a quicky job and a poor buff job, I was impressed at how it looked. Extremely tough (a fingernail would not scratch it) and no orange peel whatsoever after my final wetsand/buff. I really wouldn't be afraid to do the whole car and may do the trunk lid on my 63 Stude as a test. The nice thing about the Stude is all the panels bolt on (inc rear fenders) so I can roll on the paint on a horizontal surface. My advice- thin well with MINERAL SPIRITS, use quality 4 inch foam rollers and take your time. You'll be surprised at the result. BTW I'm in Canada and used our Tremclad. I hear mixed results from U.S folks using Rustoleum. A buddy from the States was at my place and said the Tremclad even smelled different than the Rustoleum.
Todd