Hey all. Sweet thread. I started yesterday, reading most of it and found myself looking at the clock 4 hrs later lol. Has anyone seen the finished Harbor Blue from rustoleum? Its almost the same color as my 77 volare I am thinking of painting. I'm just starting to dismantle the car and want to see some pics of the harbor blue before I try. Thanks for all this exciting info.

P.S. If anyone finds a thread or site on info on rebuilding my 318 it would be most appreciated, Just want to compare parts and specs.

i am repainting my 87 buick grand national and the paint is great it goes on with alot of peel but then is smooth as glass... heres a pic



very glossy!!!!! i wanted to know if i can paint the bumper fillers, seeing that they are urathane and they flex

I don't think you will have any problem with the 'flexibility' of the Tremclad roller paint method. The Tremclad paint when dry retains equal if not more flexibility than the original paint on the 'flexible' body parts.

I am doing a McLaren at the moment and it has the flexible skirts, aero-effects, spoilers etc. I am pretty confident that the Tremclad will flex better on thos parts then say a regular bodyshop paint job - which tends to shatter the paint and cracks it off or allows it to peel off when somone backs into rear bumper or nose piece.

...and a cautionary tale for rookies who choose to paint outside...

Four full coats with paint, spirits and a dash of Penetrol to help with adhesion. I think the Penetrol is also slowing down the drying, since the paint seems to be tacky long than I anticipates. But since it'll be a week before I can get back to it, there's plenty of time to dry.

A couple of things I learned that are probably covered in the 40-plus pages before...

1. Different paints produce different results. I'm going glossy white Rustoleum on the roof and posts, and it's been a dream to work with. Using the same mixture with Coronado anti-rust orange produces a paint that glides on, but is giving me some serious orange (literally) peel. I've provided an example.

Having rain every evening hasn't helped matters either, but since I'll be sanding and re-rolling it's not a big deal.

What IS a big deal is bugs. All sorts of flying critters who decide the orange is just too pretty to pass by. I've has to tweezer two dozen flying things out of the finish, which creates little blotches all over the place.

I hadn't seen this problem addressed, so I'll ask. Anyone know how to keep bugs out of the process while painting outdoors?

Oh, and here's a couple of in-progress pix....

Obviously, the mixture's too thick...got a weekend of sanding coming up.

FarFire70,

I've been doing my test peice at my parents which is a couple hours away. I haven't been there in awhile, but its fathers day this weekend so maybee I can get a few more coats and take a couple pics for you. It might not be perfect, but atleast it will give you the idea of what it looks like.

Smite

Been following this thread with interest.

Regarding Chuck's comments about no hardener: Your paint guy doesn't know what he's talking about, I don't think. My paint guy (who could beat up your paint guy, ) says that when he was spraying enamel regularly that it never had hardener in it, and would off-gas for at least six months. That said, it was sandable in the thick (relative to this process) coats he was putting down in a couple of days, but it shouldn't be waxed for a month or more.

If you can wait a few weeks for final polish, I bet it comes up just fine, though it will not be the same look at a urethane bc/cc paint job. Incidentally, this guy is painting one of my cars...$9,000 for a show quality job. $50 sounds REAL good in comparision.

For the bugs...i would suggest one of those blue lights that zaps the bugs when they fly to it. They might like that better than orange.

Or you could try adding some bug repellant into your paint...

Try coming out to the shop to 500 little baby spiders that have hatched above your car and landed on the paint . Oh well they wet sanded out fairly well. I've got some pics of Med Blue that I'll post later this eve. They are 5th coat pics.

Chuck, I'm not trying to be an jerk, either.

Paint is 93.6% (scientifically measured) prep. The rest, on a non-clearcoat job, is the materials and a willingness to work. Frankly, I bet the "rust stopping" part of the paint's claim is just hot air, but over a nicely prepped body, it's just enamel paint.

Now, I haven't used this rustoleum enamel and it might just be crap paint, but I have some glass smooth and polished bookcases here that I painted with plain-jane house paint which was wet-sanded and then polished, and they look pretty nice.

I think if you could put the car in the oven for an hour at 200 when you were done, you'd find the paint very hard. The single most durable paint I've ever run across was brushed-on oven-baked enamel on an old motorcycle frame. That stuff did NOT come off except in a sandblaster, and then VERY reluctantly. I wonder if a tent of black plastic on a hot summer day would help to really set the paint...

The guys in the thread you point to actually kinda sound like idiots. They heard roller and simply made assumptions that have nothing to do with the way this system actually works. It doesn't really matter how you apply the paint as long as you're willing to work to make it smooth afterwards (this assumes that you don't try to put it on an inch thick, etc.).

The point I was originally trying to make was that the paint will harden eventually, which I thought you had said your paint guy had said would never happen. It just might take a long while.

http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/wMTI1NzE0MTZzNDEzZGZkMzF5NTQx.jpg

http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/wMTI1NzE0MDZzNDEzZGZkMzF5NTQx.jpg from the honda forum..new way of painting..what you guys think?

Maybe the answer for folks doing outside painting ( and having problems with bugs ) is to invest in one of those propane powered BUG KILLERS - OR - maybe one of those black light electric bug killers.

Park it about 20 feet away from where you are working and listen to the sizzle of the little flying bugs as they get their butts smoked or shocked ...

-

I understand why everyone is putting this method down, people who have no paint expirence figure they can try this method and have perfect results. the fact of the matter is that it takes SKILL to do, and that can only be learned. most people don't practice on a test area and go right to their car roller in hand and go crazy, then they are left with a big mess on their hands, get all pissed off and say that the method is crap. the reality is that there is nothing wrong with the paint, it's a good quality durable paint, and if applied correctly with minimal investment you will end up with a great paint job. i've painted 5 cars with this method, 2 i still have, and 1 other died with that paint job and 2 others that went about 5 yrs and then i had them painted using single stage acrylic enamel regular auto paint and had no issues painting over the tremclad. hardness has never been a issue with the paint for me, a good day in the sun and it's fine. the moral of the story is that it is alot of work, but my time is free, it's not like i'm doing it while i could be making $50/hr, and the ease of work is what i really like. rock on roller buddies

exit1965, if your having seccond thoughts, just polish it up, and pull it out in the sun, i guarentee you that your face will look like this: in that order!!

As I have ventured along in this 'project'... I have come across some additional thoughts that I have not seen specifically mentioned.

Basically I have found that in order to do a 'good job' you really have to take your time and not try to rush the project. To get the best results you really do have to take your time and toss in a few additional steps that I haven't seen posted here yet.

What I have found is that

a ) lay down one thin coat. Let it dry !
b ) lay down second thin coat. Let it dry !
c ) I am wet sanding with 600 grit.
d ) wet sand one section at a time
e ) have a bucket of fresh warm water ( with a dash of dish detergent ) and a towel. Wipe down the freshly wet sanded section and try to remove as much of the 'mud' created by the wet sanding.

I found this better than attempting to wash down the panels after all the body is wet sanded. This eliminates the 'muds' chances of drying onto the freshly sanded surface.

Once the entire car has been wet sanded and each panel has received its initial 'wash down'... take the car out into the driveway and wash the entire car down again with a fresh bucket of warm water ( and a dash of liquid detergent ) and towel.

HOSE the entire car down and get everything well rinsed off.

Now put the car back in the garage and let it DRY OFF THOROUGHLY. You do not want any moisture left in the pores of the paint ( no matter how miniscule or microscopic ). Let it DRY !

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Unfortunately this extra bit of cleanliness makes for a bit of extra work on your part. But it pays big dividends when you proceed to add the next two layers of paint.

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When the car has finally dried you should prepare for the next painting session by :

a ) wipe the entire body down with a clean rag. This will hopefully loosen and remove any dust, bugs, or other airborne crap that landed on your body.

b ) now take a TACK CLOTH and go over the entire body AGAIN. Hopeully the tack cloth will pick up any loose particles or hair that the towel loosened.

Now... there may be a difference between how some people handle this part of the preparation prior to painting. Some folks may be doing a mineral spirit wipe down to clean their surfaces prior to the next layer of painting. But I have avoided that because I suspect that the mineral spirit wiped down may soften and weaken the top layer. So I am content to let the washing down of the body ( the bucket of water and dish detergent ) and thorough rinsing with water be my final prep prior to painting.

And after all... the next layer of paint is going to have sufficient mineral spirit in it - so there is the potential for orange peel if you wipe down with mineral spirit, weaken the top layer - and then paint with the mineral spirited paint - which further weakens the layer that you are painting on top of.

At this point the body is about as clean and free of contaminants as it is going to get. Now you proceed back to the painting sequence and repeat it again for three or four sequences.

As you get up to the third or fourth 'session' you should move from the 600 grit to the 1000 grit and maybe in your final sequence move to the 1500 grit level.

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So far my results are still pretty amazing. But I am really taking my time and not trying to rush this sequencing of the various stages.

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Now... one thing I can say after having completed two complete sequences of this process is that Tremclad does dry as hard as nails. The key being that you really do have to lay a sufficiently thin layer and permit it to fully dry before layering on another layer.

Prior to reading about this cutting of the Tremclad with mineral spirits to lay down super thin layers, I was familiar with how plain Tremclad on an object works. Straight uncut Tremclad really does take quite a long time to thoroughly cure on its own. But it seems that the ultra-thinning of the Tremclad with the mineral spirits appears to alter the Tremclad and the hardness that it dries at when cured.

Frankly, I have never seen 'straight' Tremclad dry to the level of hardness that this thinned out solution produces.

I am sorry if these random thoughts have blabbed on too long or put anyone to sleep. I just thought I would share my experiences so far and the steps that I have been taking to ensure that each layer of paint is placed on as clean a surface as I can achieve in my garage and driveway.

Hopefully it might give some folks some additional insights.

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alright... i tried polishing my car with the turtle wax compound and got no shine what so ever, also tried waxing after that, no shine. Then tried just waxing it, and also no shine... HOW CAN I GET SHINE!!! someone please give me some advice on how to get some shine into the paint

OK, I'm going to put my $50 where my mouth is. I have plenty of old body panels laying around. I live out in the sticks, and the local Ace Hardware has their own house brand of the oil acryllic "rust-stopping" paint. When it's all done, I'm going to leave it out in the weather for a year. What color is most likely to fade? Red?

I was going to cover areas and pull the covers off at set intervals so a comparision can be made.

Hell, I should just paint my brush hog, that would be about as harsh a test as any I could come up with.

I think this was just recently discussed.....do final sand with 1500-2000 grit then hit it with a clear coat. I dont know if anyone has actuall dont this yet but I think this is the cure for the Dull apperance after the final wet sanding. This is the method I'm going to use. first I'm going to let the paint "cure" for a few days while I drive around, this is before I even get to the final wetsand. Then I'm going to finish sanding and do the Tremclad Clear on my final sand.

attached is a pic of the car with the 6th coat.

I have just a few last questions before starting my project. I got all my supplies and am ready to start prepping the car tomorrow. I've gotten multiple grits for prep work and just want a suggestion on it. Should I start with my lowest grit (I think it is 80) sand the car down, and once it is fully sanded wash it and then go to the next grit, or maybe just wipe it down to remove the dust and junk?

Also, I know that the paint before applying should be at the consistency of about water, now I remember either Exit or Charger posting a ratio of paint to mineral spirits or something like that, but I cannot find that at all. Anyone have a suggestion, I doubt its 50-50, but if you have any suggestions on a ratio of paint to mineral spirits, please post it. Thanks!