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On the "professional" rustoleum test area, just today I noticed that in one small area, the paint appears to be doing something very strange. Here is a picture. It's bubbling up or something here, and it super easy to scrape off. Any ideas what may be going on?

The "standard" rustoleum area can be seen in the 2nd picture, and it still looks good besides all the scratches I've put in it with various things, but mostly my fingernail. The final coat was applied 3 weeks ago to the day, and I can still scratch it easily. Either it will do something magical in the last week, or perhaps it will take a bit longer. I really hope it gets harder than it is. The weather has been cool and wet which I'm sure doesn't help.

Unless I can figure out the problem with the professional side (nothing is coming to mind..) I'll probably go with the standard, if it dries and hardens adequately.

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EXIT1965- i think that bubbling is a reaction to something like oil or some residue left under the paint. that is why i clean the surface with mineral spirits before painting. it will get rock hard, i'd bet money on it, it just takes time. also before you paint, sand with a coarse grit like 200 then paint. after about 2 coats the scratches will disappear. i would use the standard paint not the professional. the paint definatly will harden to a rock hard finish, the cold weather will not help speed that up.

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On the "professional" rustoleum test area, just today I noticed that in one small area, the paint appears to be doing something very strange. Here is a picture. It's bubbling up or something here, and it super easy to scrape off. Any ideas what may be going on?

The "standard" rustoleum area can be seen in the 2nd picture, and it still looks good besides all the scratches I've put in it with various things, but mostly my fingernail. The final coat was applied 3 weeks ago to the day, and I can still scratch it easily. Either it will do something magical in the last week, or perhaps it will take a bit longer. I really hope it gets harder than it is. The weather has been cool and wet which I'm sure doesn't help.

Unless I can figure out the problem with the professional side (nothing is coming to mind..) I'll probably go with the standard, if it dries and hardens adequately.

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That bubbling is a reaction to what was under it, or possibly thinner bubbles from the outer layer drying faster than the lower layers. You get them with real automotive paint if you dont allow enough flash time. Least I did..lol.

Also, those scratches are the paint chipping off the substrate from the force of the attempt, not a scratch IMO. Im sure in either case, getting the proper temps and prep would fix it.

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hey 69 - - Thanks for sharing all of this information. I stayed up half the night reading about all of this. I think I am gonna do some experimenting with this too.It would definitely be worth the effort for me to try this.

I am wondering if someone in the U.S. who lives close to Canada could just buy some of the Tremclad and test it against the Rustoleum. Maybe someone in Michigan or NY or Washington state?

Do you think the scratching has anything to do with whether it is painted directly onto bare metal or over paint? Would it dry any faster if it was on bare metal? Just curious. So, you're saying it is approximately 5 months to toally dry? Thanks again for all of your help. - - Rob

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i would say it takes about 3 months to get fully dry, and by 5 months it is rock hard, just like any paint. waxing does'nt seem to affect the process at all, from what i've painted it makes no difference. i also don't think it matters at all what your painting over, since i find the tremclad to be very inert as far as having and reactions at all to being painted over anything, including the fiberglass boats, fiberglass fenders on the 69 charger i've painted, heck even the wood on our cottage is painted with black gloss tremclad about 10 years ago. like i said any paint remains "soft" for at least 3 months after painting, so subjecting paint to scratch tests after 3 weeks is not a fair test. you can absoultly not scratch either of my cars with just your fingernail no matter how hard you try, i tried on both cars under the hood and no way in hell i could scratch it whatsoever. rustoleum is sold in walmart in canada too. it would be interesting if someone tested both, although i think that the rustoleum is the same as tremclad.

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Sorry but I am a firm believer that the mineral spirits is not the thing to clean with before painting. It leaves an oily residue that paint will not adhere too. It may look dry but-------- I have never been able to get paint to stick to an 'oily' base. Even oil base paaints need a clean dry base to stick too.

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good luck on finding anything else, besides it says on the can to thin with mineral spirits, and clean with mineral spirits weather you spray or brush. i don't know about you, but i think the manufacturer of the paint knows best, and i followed their reccomendations to a letter. we're arguing about this like it does'nt work, but i have 2 cars now that have been painted with this method, and it works great, heck even a member saw the car in person and commented on his opinion on this thread, anyone is welcome to come and see my car in person and take a shot at using only their fingernail to try and make any type of mark/scratch period.

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69, I gotta disagree. I do a fair amount of painting on my own..many times single stage, sometimes clear over single stage of various types of paints...That's a curing problem if it takes that long. It should be hard within a few days, unless it's below 45-50*, depending on the material used. Maybe ambient temp was part of the issue? I've found various enamels to be hard as a rock within a few days in 50* weather, and next day in 60* or higher. That paint, on his panel, didnt stick for some reason. If it wasnt cured, it would flex and tear if it was being "scratched" and had poor adhesion, not come off in small oval sections along the impact..That's dry enamel with poor adhesion. You get the same effect when a sandblasted pulley or bracket gets painted with ending enamel and there's still some contaminant on the surface. At the exact point of contact, the paint fractures, but it isnt bonded to the surface, so a larger piece breaks off. A correct finish will be dmamged only where the impact is..not out on either side of the impact too. I have found these enamels to be almost bullet proof on things like tractors, and bike frames, hand rails, etc..so I think it's a prep issue.

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i completely respect your opinion, as it is by far the most educated explanation i've read yet. however, (insert "but" here!!!) i have also sprayed 6 cars in my painting days with single stage, and have done several paintjob expirementations with mixing in clear into single stage and spraying clear, from many types of paint, with excellent results. and in contrast i've painted 5 cars with this roller/tremclad method, and actually sprayed one with tremclad. i completely respect your opinion about the scratch test, and the release of the paint and commented in my previous post that prep and surface residue most likely caused the bubbling and adhesion issue, however, i completely disagree on you comments about drying times. enamels or synthetic enamels (such as acrylic enamals) take huge amount of times to dry. take duplicolor's line of paint which includes primer, primer sealer, topcoat, and reducers (hardners) which is the line of paint i used on the 71 midnight blue beetle in the pics reciently, and that was sprayed on. i talked with duplicolor indepth and they basically said that it takes about 3 months for the paint to completely dry, depending on the amount of reducers and temperature reducers, they did mention that if you add too much the paint will dry much faster but be very brittle. that's when you see a stone chip remove a "layer or sheet" of paint and not just the impact site. many modern BC/CC paint jobs do this when you get a stone chip you notice the paint came off in a large peice. this is because they try to get the paint to dry as fast as possible. also if you look at the paint "windows" they suggest on re-coating and topcoat application after primer sealer, they suggest that if you don't shoot color within 30 minutes, you MUST wait 20 days to topcoat. and 10 days or 30 mins for additional color coats. every single car i've painted and every car i've had painted professionally (about 10 cars painted professionally) have been "soft" for at least 2 months. i really don't think EXIT1965 prepped the pannel, treated every coat with the care he would have as if he were actually painting the car, and an oversight in one step could have caused the issues he is having now. anyways, i'm getting a little tired trying to defend the paint and adhesion, since i know and would bet that if i painted the car it would be awesome, instead of blaming the paint, we should concentrate on what causes the paint to bubble, and scratch off eaisly. i don't know how else to describe the durability of the paint other then expirences i've had, like just reciently i was getting in the charger, and i had it backed out a little in the garage, i was taking it out for a drive and just checked the oil. then i got into the car and hit the garage door opener by mistake, and freaked out trying to find the opener to stop it before it hit the car. long story short i lost and the one peice double width all wood door won, and came crushing down on my rear magnet mount cb antenna, and hit a curved part of the base and slid it down the trunk lid about 4" with all that force of the door, and cracked the housing on the cb mount, and dented the trunk lid. the paint did have a little scratches, which i buffed out and their almost gone. that happened about 2 weeks ago. had that been my 2002 Mustang GT, i'm sure i'd be painting the trunklid.

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good luck on finding anything else, besides it says on the can to thin with mineral spirits, and clean with mineral spirits weather you spray or brush.

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'69' I am not criticizing your paint or painting but trying to come up with a reason fo the blister job on the above test. Lack of cleanlines or oily base is all that I can come up with. Sorry I said anything. I did not mean to create a hassel.

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please dont' take my reply as an insult. i respect everyone's opinion, BUT it's like people don't believe me or something, like i made it all up!!! i can say how i did it, and the crazy thing is that it works, and has worked 5 times. so the method should not be questioned, and introducing another agent to thin and clean with is starting all over from scratch, of which i have no knowledge so you're on your own. it's funny how EXIT19965 has these issues, and C38COUPE posted completely different results, and he tried scratching his paint off and could not. but we forget that it worked for me, and C38COUPE, and harp on EXIT1965's paint failures, and blame the process. i think it is difenatly a prep issue with EXIT1965's paint and a combo of not waiting long enough to let it dry. those 2 issues combined are causing a total failure of the paint.