Well, I have some thoughts on Mr. Slade's thoughts. In some parts, I agree. I do agree that spraying is faster. I do agree that spraying is less sanding and elbow grease. And I do agree that spraying is not rocket science either. I have also been to Slade's website prior to discovering the roller method.

But, there are several reasons that I so much enjoyed this roller method. To begin with, I was actually willing to do the roller method. I do not have a garage, just a shed. Having painted the exterior of the shed itself with an airless sprayer, my shoes and the plants all around the shed have a vivid understanding of the term overspray. I wasn't willing to take the steps necessary to prevent that again. I do not know anyone with a gun/compressor setup to borrow, and I didn't feel like renting one. Call me irrational, it doesn't bother me. It's my right as an American, and not worth getting upset over. I mean, there are people out there who bought AMC Pacers and more power to them. What I did have on hand was an old door I borrowed from my cousin, a 12 x 12 shed, and the financial ability to purchase the less than $50 worth of material to paint the door. Also, I already had a Porter Cable Polisher, and given the method, got plenty of opportunities to use it as both a sander and a polisher.

This method worked very well for me. I learned a lot about paint, a lot about prep work, a lot about polishing, and a lot about sanding. I really like not having to mask off the whole garage and my face so I don't get paint in my nostrils. It just suits my schedule also, though I could get spraying to suit the schedule also. More than anything, I am now confident that if I wanted to spray, I could do so. Painting is not magic, but you would think it is by the way some people talk about it.

Case in point: I posted a question about filler elsewhere on this board as I was prepping the door. I even put in the thread that it was for a practice door. I don't even have a car I'm going to paint. One of the responses I got was, to paraphrase as best I remember, "Have you ever painted a car before? Let someone else do it." Trying to be helpful, I'm sure, but I just wanted to do it myself. How else do you learn to do something?

Plenty of folks on here have not liked rolling. Supercobra Sergio is the most recent one I can think of because he posts those nice looking pics. He likes spraying better and we like his results. I like your results too, Mr. Slade. I also recall David Thompson did not like the time necessary to do this and ended up spraying his car and liking the results. Many of the points Thompson made I agree with. I also remember a guy with a Grand National who sprayed. One nice thing is that most everyone is getting off their butt and putting some paint on.

You mention Rick Wrench's site in order to get the "whole story". His page also mentions that he is sold-very- on this method of application. It works for him.

So, I did something I probably would not have done otherwise because of the information here, and someday I may spray too, depending on my circumstances. If that makes me a lemming, then I've learned a lot as a lemming and choose to remain one while I pick up some other skills I want to learn.

Spray on,

Tett

I've been reading many pages from this thread series. My 300D has a pretty bad sunburn going on, so I'm getting ready to try this for myself.



Major question though!
How long should I wait after polishing/waxing to drive the car?

After polishing/waxing? - Drive it immediately.

After painting, however, you may want to wait until the paint cures before you sand, polish, wax or drive it. Exactly how long will depend on a combination of the temperature, and humidity of the air it dries in.

I live in Canada, and it gets pretty cold here, specially during the night

How long should i be expecting to wait until i'll be able to drive the car after the last coat?

Slightly OT: I don't get the haters. If someone wants to spray their car, good for them. It is the better method. Not everyone has the money, tools or equipment to do that. These 3 threads have proven that rolling is a viable alternative, and convinced me to give it a whirl, and I've sprayed cars in the past. I like rolling.

Back OT: the paint needs time to cure, which pretty much means the solvents have to evaporate and allow the finish to harden. The bulk of this will take place over 24 hrs, but complete hardening will take weeks to accomplish. More heat means faster drying time. Remember, body shops use heat lamps and ovens to 'bake' the finish. So your Florida M-B should be ready to drive within 24-48 hrs. However, you won't want to wax or polish the finish for probably 2-3 months. Waxing it will seal the paint, and you don't want that right away as it's still going to be evaporating solvents for awhile.

As for way up north, I'd keep the thing in a heated environment for the 24 hr period (or a little longer and keep it as warm as possible to speed the initial curing.

My thoughts exactly and then some. The hardest (and most frustrating) part of the roller painting method is experimenting and getting the right mix and right 'feel' for applying the paint.

I am on week 2 of my project and after 6 coats and 6 wet sandings have finally started to get the hang of it. Once you do, the paint will lay on like glass and will equal and even exceed most factory or aftermarket spray jobs. If you go one 1step further, such as Aussie Driver, Marq, and others have done with the focus on polishing, your paint will be both flawless and stunning with a mirror like finish. I finally did a panel this way yesterday with compound and then polish, and was absolutely blown away with the finish. My negative neighbor who happened by and has a car being painted as we speak, ($6000.00) worth, was actually speechless.

Bottom line is this for naysayers or those who feel intimidated. It works, and it works well, and it is very inexpensive. The whole key is time and patience, and you should really practice on an old fender or deck lid before starting (I didn't).

The most rewarding part of this (other than having a spectacular paint job), is knowing I did it and there are no issues with the paint or body, and I saved $4000.00. Again, practice, practice, get frustrated, and practice, and eventually you get the hang of it. Once you do, your confidence level will soar and you CAN do this.

A few lessons learned:

1. Buy good sand paper such as 3M. Stay away from the junk Harbor Freight sells, it aint worth it.

2. If painting outside (NOT RECOMMENDED), any flying insect within 10 miles will sniff out your freshly laid paint.

3. If you get orange peel, sand and then next coat thin it down more. I had to go 75-25.

4. Wet sanding is no fun but necessary to properly prepare your vehicle for each coat.

5. After much research on these boards and other searches, I chose Brightside paint. After researching, I came to the conclusion that it is probably a better paint to use than sprayed auto paint due to its repairability, UV resistance, and Teflon additives.

6. It has cost me about $200.00 to do a very large vehicle. $140.00 for paint and $60.00 for chemicals, rollers, and sand paper.

7. Work neatly and have a well laid out area with plenty of room.

So bottom line is: stay focused, be patient, and don't be discouraged. Naysayers tend to really motivate me and take things one step further. I am
extremely pleased and self satisfied with my roller job and will post pictures early next week to hopefully motivate others who may be apprehensive about the roller method.

Haha, ok that sounds good.
Thanks guys.
I'll post some pics once I get going. I recently had to get a door replaced (don't ask ), so I guess I'll do some testing on the old one.

OK - after months and months of sanding,rolling sanding, I think I'm done.

It's not perfect, I still have some roller marks on the hood, but I'll be able to buff these out once I let the paint cure for a month or so.

Pics:

Before:

After:

Congrats, Steve, looks good. Nice gloss. Is that Rustoleum or Brightside?

I wanted to share my project, Rustoleum #2 water coop.
Before pic.

And after 1/2 quart of Rust-oleum Yellow with brush and roller, cheapo $9.00 gravity gun and 3 coats of Nason (Napa, get the good stuff place) clear.
Thanks again to all who have posted and helped me.

One more pic to show the results that the clear added.

You sprayed clear over Rustoleum? Details, please. Was this Napa branded paint? Was it in a spray bomb or can? Did you rough up the rusto first? Roller, brush or spray?

People have been asking about clear-coating rusto since day one.