ok so im trying to paint my hood with rustoleum stop rust and i realize i should of prob picked up some marine paint. although i am having no issue with hardness, seems fairly glossy so far, so all is well. but i did my last coat and am unsure as to what i should do now, ive been following and things seem to be changing. should i sand with 1500 then 2000 then polish, can i get away with only 1500 and polish, 2000 and polish? what would you guys recommend?? also how would the brightside red color that marq used compare to the safety red from rustoleum. i like that color but the pics marq had seemed to be a little funky looking in terms of color.

Hey menappi--I am currently in the process of painting my Jeep CJ7 with both of those paints. I am spraying the Rustoleum Professional Safety Red in the hard to roll areas (in the tailgate crevices, door jambs, windshield frame, etc) and rolling the Brightside Fire Red everywhere else. I believe Marq did the same thing. Anyway, I have found the colors to pretty much be identical matches. There is, however, a huge difference in the texture/finish of the paint after it dries. The Brightside is fabulously glossy and shiny, while the Rustoleum is flatter, almost like a satin finish. That difference may narrrow, though, after final polishing and buffing.

I have put down four coats on my Jeep and have taken some pics along the way. If I can figure out how to post pics, I will do so soon, or maybe after I finish (I will probably put down two or three more coats; Marq and others are right--red does not cover real well and seems to require a lot of coats. No big deal, as I can apply a coat in about an hour...).

Crusader I use these guys for pictures, they used to have a free account as a trail not sure if they still do though. When you up load a pix to them, you click on it then right click for properties, you then copy the http address. Then here on moparts [image]paste the properties here[/image]
http://www.picturetrail.com/

Wanted to note a couple of things that I have experienced. 1st is that my gloss black rolled-on rustoleum experiment (whole car) is incredibly hard after only 2 coats (thinned about 20 percent w/odorless mineral spirits). This car is a project car that sits outside in the direct sunlight (South MS = extreme heat & humidity!). Also the color has NOT faded one bit in over 2 months in the elements (rain, dew, direct sunlight, etc). It remains as dark and glossy as the day I put it on only MUCH harder as time goes on. I've even had several people comment that they like the new paint job - I laugh as I tell them it is only being used temporarily to hold down the rusting until I get time to work on this particular project.

I'm wondering if Exit's problem is that his paint never sees the sunlight and therefore never gets the opportunity to fully cure...

Did you thin it with mineral or their own brand? I placed my order on Friday with the their thinner and Primer..... I hope my results are better

[quoteI did notice when i was painting my engine parts. The valve cover that on a clear day (DupliCol0r's Engine Enamel), the finish was hard and shiny. The other one was painted a day later and it was a rainy day, doing it in my "garage" but the finish was dull and not as hard even after 5 days.

---

I think this is one of the 'universal truths' for all the paints. If you paint on a very humid or rainy day it will lessen the gloss or shine of any paint. Ideal conditions are very low or no humidity ( and definitely no rain ).

Cool days are good because they don't rush the self-leveling of the paint. But they do add extra time on to that paint stage to make up for the slower rate of evaporation.

Suicidal hot days are a no-no because it speeds up the evaporating of the carrier and does not allow the paint all the time it may need to fully self-level.

So we don't have to just have patience... but we also need to become weathermen when timing when to paint and when to wait for optimum weather conditions.

.

6 coats rusto pro gloss white unbuffed/sanded

Here are pics of Crusader's '85 CJ7. That Brightside looks like awesome paint!!


-- As it was when he bought it in June (it had a primer coat that had been applied about five years ago):




After it was prepped prior to Crusader spraying bedliner into the entire tub:




--Prepped before painting:




--After the third coat (these also show the wheels which Crusader spray painted with Rustoleum metallic, or something like that:



--After yesterday's fourth coat:






That's coming along really nice, Crusader. This thread is going to put car paint shops out of business. I'm definitely sold on the Brightside paint.

Hi Guys _________ I have seen cars painted this way !
I even bought one painted this way , You would be suprised how it turns out !

( BUT ) Tremclad has little Hardner & NO silicone additive. So Paint reactions & fisheyes are a problem to be delt with. Also tremclad tends to fade & loose its shine due to sun-exposure.



If doing a Tremclad paint job ? Get enamel hardner & silicone additive. The hardener makes dry time quicker & keeps the shine , Even makes it shine more! Also the Tac Cloth is real good idea for removing dust.

Now You could get Spirts / Reducer to thin the paint . Gas will do the job too !

When done sanding , if painting inside? Wash the floor , walls & rafters down with a light mist of water from the garden hose. Let it drip...Go out & was the Car with warm water & dish soap... Even wash it twice. ( Warm day ) let it dry. As it dries You may see spots where the water is laying up. Ring out Your wash cloth & damp wipe it off. This will help with Drying time.

Then Put the Car inside & return the next day.

Pull the car out of the shop & Mask the car.

Wet only the Floor of the shop again. Pull the car back in . Shut the door....... Run over the surface with the Reducer / sprits . Use one cloth for wet & another Dry cloth for a dry wipe.( use lint free cloth ) Now car should be DRY.

Run a Tac cloth over the car. Your ready to paint.!!

NO sponge rollers> Only Fine rollers > Thin some paint , add some hardner & silicone additive & Test Your mix.. Pick a spot down low ( Like the Rocker area )Roll some paint on.

( STOP ) Let it dry for 30min & CHECK YOUR TEST AREA. IF ? all looks good ? Tac cloth the car again & mix the paint the same again & again as close as You can.

You can save the Roller You are using if You put it in a plastic bag & put it in the Freezer. This way the paint will not dry , unless left for days.

Good Luck with all.

An Automotive ( paint , hardener , reducer & silicone additive + tac cloth )can run as cheap as 200.00_get a spray gun for under 30.00 & find a air supply.



Do it yourself & for 300.00 You will be happy & learn a little. LOL



Bill >>>>>>> P.s. Grandmas_Grape cost about 300.00 to paint.

Hey Rob--thanks for posting the pics for me. I took your advice and bought a high quality bristle brush, which I will use tonight when applying coat number five. Marq, I think I may have found the culprit/source for the tiny "flecks" in my paint finish--I believe they are from reusing the foam tipping brush (even though I had it dipped/rinsed in solvent, I think maybe little bits of dried paint may have been loosened in succeeding coats and deposited on the surface) and/or maybe the foam brush itself disintegrating slightly. Really, if those are the causes, my own stupidity is the reason. I should not have been reusing the foam brushes (I hate throwing things away!). Hopefully, through using the bristle brush, putting down a couple more coats, and doing some wet sanding will give me the smooth feel to match the look it has. This is definitely a learning process for me!

Jim: just a thought, but if you wetsand now, before putting on your final coat(s), you might not need to wetsand/polish your final coat if you don't want to.

Has anyone sprayed Brightside yet? How did it work?

Yeah, that's a thought, I could wet sand now. But, I wonder if I put two more coats on, might they in effect, cover up the tiny particles on the paint surface now, or at least, come close to covering them so that if I did have to wet sand later, there would not be as much particle "height" to sand down?

What grit sand paper should I use, whenever I end up doing it--1000, 1200, etc?

something for you guys that are having problems with soft paint.
Maybe it could be the foam rollers or brushes that are decomposing into the paint itself?
Causeing the paints compositoin to change and not harden?
I've noticed some of the cheap brushes just fall apart when I used them and I thew them away.
Maybe some brands of rollers are doing the same hope this is of some help

yeah what grit canwe get away with sanding before we polish? i can only find 1000 grit around me, the guys at the hardware stores told me 2000 is basically a piece of paper. so will 1000 work?

you can find the higher grits at an automotive store like autozone. And I'd go at least 1500 but you really should sand up to 2k then polish. Yes it's a lot of work but this is cheap paint job not easy paint job.... Don't stop at 1000.