im guessing its thin then? thats what i was worried about with the spray... it spraying it on too thick.

Very impressive!!! I've got two gallons of the Rustoleum Gloss Black Professional sitting in the garage, and my Miata (daily driver) is just BEGGING for a new suit! I'm afraid it'll have to wait a while (weather & work load) before I can get started, but your efforts are definitely inspiring.

Question: Did you use the same paint for the bumpers? I'm very curious to see how they came out. I guess where I'm most concerned it the flat panel section of the front bumper, just in front of the center hood section. The plastic in this area is quite flexible and I'm hoping the paint is flexible enough as well to hold up. At this point, wouldn't make much difference anyway, mine is so rock/gravel/sand blasted that anythng would look better!

More photos, please?

BTW, are you familiar with "the Blue Potato"? Finest looking Miata on the planet IMHO, wish I had the money to get the look. The mod can still be bought, it's from Japan - might be cheaper for you than me. I have link for a USA distributor if you're interested, they might know who to contact. Here's a photo:

http://www.thebluepotato.net/exterior/fingerz/street1.jpg

Out of curiosity has anyone experienced fading? My parents are concerned because items they have painted with rustoleum spray have faded after a year or so being left outside. as such they are holding up a large part of my painting process.

Thanks for the positive comments Ricklandia!!

I have used the spray can version of the paint on the bumpers, and they look just as good as the rest of the car. I haven't attached them to the car yet as I have only just repaired the beaver panel (where the rear plate and badges sit) and I've been busy modifying the nose cone for a ram air intake (or two).

Anyway here are a couple more shots of the car.





There are some more pics at my blog site here web page

That blue miata certainly looks interesting, but I guess that it would cost a fortune!!

It looks like you have the technique down pretty good.

The car looks fantastic!

I agree, sure looks like any BC/CC black paint job I've looked at.

What process did you use? How many coats between wetsanding, etc?

alright... what about Valspar Anti-Rust in a "Clear Base Coat"?? Would that work as a clear coat?

heres a link... http://www.hectorshardware.biz/shop/product.asp?dept_id=150503&sku=777148&

Thanks guys and in particular Exit 1965, a compliment from one of the guys who inspired me to start this progect certainly means something special.

I used a slightly different process to everyone else. I did one coat per day like you are doing but between every coat I wet sanded with 1200 and then 1500 with the later coats. I found that I was getting a lot of debris on the paint and I was afraid that I'd end up with a crappy result, so I decided to wet sand between each coat. I did seven coats in total.

Those shots are of the seventh coat with the car sitting out in the sun for a couple of days before I do my final wetsand with 2000, then hit it with the Turtle Wax and then I'm going to Zaino the hell out of it.

(Fingers crossed and touching wood), I'm hoping to get it looking like a black mirror....

this is tremclad... not exactly rustoleum... i believe.


as for the clear coat i guess theres no quarts only in canada, so anyone from canada would like to ship a few here in the states

I saw that Blue Potato in Grassroots Motorsports magazine. It is definitely a cool car. He has the individual throttle-bodies for each cylinder, right?
Man, GRM should totally do a story on this method of painting.

hey ya'll ok i found another paint that works well but this one u can tint..it doesnt come pre tinted...works just like rustoleum/tremclad heres the link

http://www.sico.com/En/Architecture_Autcor.asp

also in regards to sending out the tremclad clear if i find a place that has it and at that point i'll let ya'll konw and send it out to whoever wants it?

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Post deleted by Ira

Post deleted by Ira

i wish we could stay focused on the task at hand, and not start the whole debate of macco, or getting it done professionally, it's been done over and over in this thread.

This method if done correctly is for a person who is "PAINTING ON A BUDGET", the end result is as good as YOU make it, the time you put into it (free), and doing it at home with virtually no $, or expensive equipment. As you can see from all the people who have tried it (including myself) it works, and can yeild a very respectable paint job, and that's the point of this thread, to help people, not everyone has $5000 to dump on a paint job, and i'd rather invest $100 on my own paint job, and not throw away $500 for a cheapy macco paint job, that i know will in no way be better than my work period. if you don't cut corners, prep right, and strip you car of chrome, ect...you will have a awesome paintjob, with the satasifaction of being able to say you did it yourself, that's all that matters.

Exit1965- i really think you should skip the clear, just finish the paint as best as you can, and pull the car outside, get a few buddies to come over and look at the car, give you honest opinions. i think your car look killer i'm dying to see it done.

the issue with the clear is that basically the work-ability of the paint is gone, scratches, stone chips, ect...much harder to fix. that's why i'm not too excited to do it, but my car is done allready, and i like it, maybe next time (not for a while) i will try the clear on a repaint, but quite honestly, the paint alone buffed satasifies me very well. you need to go to a cruise night, look at some of the rides there, my paint is nicer than 80% of the stuff there except for the high dollar stuff. you should see the stuff some people drive, and they're happy lol.

I dont think so (throttle bodies), last i saw it was supercharged. Then again, he's always tinkering with it. The main website is http://www.thebluepotato.net , has a ton of photos and other stuff.

You're definitely right, Grass Roots Motorsports should definitely get hip to what's happening here, it's right up thier alley. Anyone got an email address for them? Send 'em a link to this thread!

Well... I had a most interesting revelation that ties in completely with this Tremclad/Rustoleum paint method... and I think it may provide a solution to some folks that are sitting on the fence.

I was talking to my older brother about the work I have been doing on my car. I described to him the method by which to apply Tremclad in order to get a hard paint job with a decent look to it on a budget.

He started laughing and explained to me that THERE IS AN EVEN BETTER WAY to do this and it has been done for YEARS with guaranteed REPEATABLE and CONSISTENT results.

Well that caught my ears, because the only weakness with using the TremClad / Rustoleum method is that the results are inconsistent between users and there is almost a hint of Voodoo science for the beginner to get near perfect results...

OK... SO WHAT WAS MY BROTHER'S SECRET ALTERNATIVE ?

.... Marine Paint.

It turns out that the guys with the boats have been HAND PAINTING AND ROLLING the paint jobs on their boats FOR YEARS. The have it down to a science and YOU CAN ROLL a paint like Interlux Brightside STRAIGHT FROM THE CAN - no mixing - no hoping you get the mineral spirit mixed in the right ratios.

The boaters face problems that are identical to car owners.... wear - shine - durability - effects of weather ( sun - moisture etc ).

And best of all Marine paint is designed to HARDEN....

And even better... the Marine paint SELF-LEVELS.

And even better yet... 10 years is the average life expectancy of a Marine paint by hand job...

And maybe the icing on the cake... at most it will take only 2 or 3 coats to get complete coverage.

One last bonus with the marine paint is that you can get a ONE STAGE Polyurethane that is equivalent to the top of the line paint used by MAACO ( their most expensive premium paint job ) and the paint has such a high gloss that it always appears WET.

Ok... I cannot speak here about any Marine paint here except the Interlux BRIGHTSIDE... because my brother is only aware of it being used successfully on CARS.

Here is what the manufactuer says about this product :

------------------------------------

Brightside Polyurethane is the most technically advanced one-part polyurethane available. Brightside now contains Teflon® for better resistance to staining, abrasion and easy cleaning.

Brightside uses Polyflow 4000®, a unique polyurethane resin, which yields excellent flow and leveling characteristics as well as incredible abrasion and chemical resistance. Brightside also takes advantage of the latest in ultraviolet technology which insures longer color and gloss retention.

Together these technologies create a one-part polyurethane which gives the look of a two-part polyurethane with the application ease of a one-part enamel.


Application Details - Brightside Polyurethane
Area Above the waterline
Finish/Sheen High Gloss
Number of Coats: 2 minimum
Method of application: Brush / Roller / Airless Spray / Conventional Spray
Available colors: View color chart and sales codes
Pack sizes: 1 US Quart / 1 US Gallon / (Some colors only)

-------------------------------------

Did you notice where they SPECIFICALLY SAY BRUSH/ROLLER... and it is DESIGNED to be UV resistant and has Teflon to repel chemicals and stains ( like bird poop ).

http://www.yachtpaint.com/usa//product_g...cePageID=6660#1

You can check out the COLOR SELECTION at this link :

http://www.yachtpaint.com/USA/general/colorcard_topsides.asp

NOTE : You need to go to the middle of the color card for the TWENTY-FOUR BRIGHTSIDE color choices...

Brightside

Blue-Glo White Y4259
White Y4359
Hatteras Off-White Y4208
Hatteras Off-White 1990 Y4218
Off White Y4381
Matterhorn White Y4360
Seattle Grey Y4205
Dusk Grey Y4233
Kingstone Gray Y4190
Steel Grey Y4250
Grand Banks beige Y4217
Yellow Y4152
Sundown Buff Y4237
Bristol Eeige Y4207
Ocean Blue Y4253
Fire Red Y4248
Sea Green Y4247
Light Blue Y4351
Flag Blue Y4990
Dark Blue Y4316
Largo Blue Y4100
Medium Blue Y4353
Sapphire Blue Y4241
Black Y4258

Better yet... find your local marine paint dealer that sells Interlux and get a copy of their color chips - they are even better in person than the color samples on the Internet.

Ok... so that is TWENTY-FOUR colors that you can use DIRECTLY from the can to your car without mixing in any mineral spirits etc.

This will have to be considered the premium version of the Tremclad paint job - in that the Brightside paint goes for $19 to $45 per quart ( depending on where you buy it from.

And yet is is a 'roller job' designed paint and your methodology is the same as we have been discussing for the Tremclad / Rustoleum method. Yes... we get to keep using our little 4 inch high density foam rollers.

And if you get the urge to want to 'thin' the paint out.. they have a product called 333 that is specifically designed to thin this paint out and make it even more workable with the roller ( a helpful product for those users that are working in areas where the temperature is always averaging 80 degrees or higher ).

Oh... did I mention that it is enamel compatible and you can sand down your last Rusto/Tremclad layer and lay this paint over it

So you are going to pay a little more per can for this stuff... BUT I think the reduced number of coats required for coverage, the elimination of the mixing of thinners, the fact that it is a one stage Polyurethane, the fact that it is roller and brush ready from the can... makes it a worthwile candidate to consider if you want to try the 'budget paint' process on your car.

And the surface preparation requirements for a boat are the same as what everyone has to do to prepare for Tremcladding.

We all know how sharp the paint jobs on speed boats look... and the conditions under which that type of paint must operate. So it is a natural for bringing over to the home do it yourself car enthusiast.

And I don't think I need convince anyone about the durability of marine paint jobs.

Nuff said. I really wanted to share this info with everyone because I think it is definitely the next step up from the Tremclad roller job - and that it solves the repeatable and consistency problems that folks have experienced.

Say goodbye to orangepeel... when you are only having to lay 2 or 3 layers you just reduced greatly the chances of an orangepeel breakout during the 6 to 10 layers of Tremclad you have to lay to get full coverage.

ONE LAST BONUS.... They have a video for viewing off their web site THAT SHOWS HOW TO ROLL AND TIP a paint job onto a boat. The principles are the very same for doing a CAR. You can see them applying the paint and the end results. This could be the final sells point that will convince folks of the applicability of this BRIGHTSIDE paint to your car. Please note that the video is for doing it with their PERFECTION brand paint - but the methodology and results are the same for the BRIGHTSIDE paint.

http://www.yachtpaint.com/USA/hotlinks/perfection_intro.mpeg

Enjoy the movie

Marq

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