Quote: I thought back, and I thought I could have done enough wrong with my first test to have my paint turn out as easily scratchable as it was. On my test area, I preped the surface with 150 then dusted with a rag, and I used water to clean the foam roller (not a good idea, and not fun). It could be I had dust left on the surface, and/or got some water mixed in with the paint mixture as I applied it (since I reused a roller that had some water hiding in it).
so I'm trying it again using the same stuff, but this time I'm using only mineral spirits to clean the roller, and I sanded the surface with 80, then 240, then cleaned it with mineral spirits and a rag and let it dry.
So I've just applied the first coat..and I'll scratch test each coat until I'm done.
I wonder how the "clear" rustoleum would do, if applied full strength (or thinned?) over a 6 coats of thinned color (+ wetsanding). It might help a bit with gloss or add to scratch resistance.
well i can tell you this, after prepping the car i do clean the car with a rag soaked in mineral spirits because it does a good job removing old wax, and other deposits that could hamper the adhesion of the new paint. i can say that i did notice now that i think about it that when i reassembled the car the paint was still quite soft, where in some spots if for example if i mounted a mirror it would "dent" the paint. but this was on my beetle that i did in the dead of winter. now, the paint is rock hard, but shortly after it was done it was'nt. it does need time to cure, it takes about a month to harden i would guess, but that depends on the temperature, how much mineral spirits, ect...since the paint does "solvent dry", which is why i used that paint in the first place. i can say that despite all this, the paint is perfectly stable to be wetsanded overnight, and buffed the next day after application and even waxed, even though the paint is'nt completely "hard" it seems totally inert and is not effected by waxing before it is totally "cured". i only know this because i've painted like 5 cars this way and never had a problem. as for using the "clear" coat, i know it's made by the same company, and specifically designed to be used over this paint, but i think once you apply it, the workability of the paint ends there. besides i did try a fender a long time ago with the clear coat and did'nt really notice a difference in the end product, it was no more "shiny" that the part with just the paint. also like i said, if you get a scratch later, and you have a clear coat it would be really hard to touch it up and then wetsand and polish it out. trust me i had to do this several times when i got scratches, and when people open doors on my car in a parking lot. i've become so good at it that i could repair a chip right thru the paint and you'd never know where it was. when you finish with just the paint, at anytime down the road if it ever gets dull, or scratched, all you do is buff and polish and the paint once again is new. i'm not a sciencetist, but i do know this stuff works and is extreemly durable. remember that by the time you get the rest of the car done, and all together that paint will be hard. i was originally told to use this paint by a body shop that was painting my 1968 mustang and under the vinyl roof they gave me the option of painting with some special ppg stuff that would cost me an extra $200, or just use rust paint. it was a "old timer" biker dude that was painting my car and he said the new tremclad (at the time about 13yrs ago) was a acrylic enamel or something like that, he said it is the same stuff as any other and i should just use that and save some $$$. i agreed and it was only a few years later when i had to paint my 85 honda crx, that my wife said lets just paint it using a roller, at the time i was broke, and my car looked like crap with the original paint that was really bad. in one day i rollered the car with my wifes help at my cottage, it was white, and we painted it black, no wetsanding nothing , and the car looked great, drove it for another 3 yrs on that paint job and it looked awesome.
exit1965- honestly if your happy with your test pannel results, based on only apperance, shine, and think you could pull off doing the whole car the same way, i guarantee that you will like the end result, you seemed to pull off a good system and i have confidence that you can do a really good job. don't be worried about the paint and how it chips and scratches now only a week after painting it, trust me it gets rock hard, "i'm not only the president, i'm also a client"
