I've been searching the web for flat paint maintenance/care and so far it looks like you just wash it like normal but no polish or wax to protect it, which is fine on a collector car because its not sitting outside all year and I wash mine every time I take it out, so I cant see it being a problem for at least a couple years.

I ended up having to go into Denver(340 miles round trip) yesterday for a doctor's appt. for my wife so I took the opportunity to visit Wal-Mart and Lowe's. I picked up a gallon of Gloss Black Professional Rustoleum and six spray bombs for the Jambs. At Lowe's I picked up some roller handles and a six pack of rollers. By shopping in Denver I ended up saving about $40 on what that stuff would have cost me out here in the sticks. I asked my local Carquest guy the get me some Meguier's products I read about on here but he's been dragging his feet. I went to Poorboy's World and saw that I can order products from them direct and pay via Paypal and their prices look pretty reasonable. I know a few of you guys have achieved awesome results with those products so I was wondering if someone could give me a list of which products they used and in what order. It would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

That shot was taken after a dodgy 1500/2000 wetsand and the SSR2.5 with a cutting pad.

Just wanted to add my 0.02 here..
The post is so long that some of these points may have been covered, but bear with me please…
I’ve got a ’68 Newport 2dr Hardtop. It was a grisly dark green, but was/is solid. I fancied a satin blue finish, and decided on PPG’s Hot Rod Flatz paint.

I did all the bodywork – some metal, some spot putty, and some very minor Bondo.

As I went along, I prepped and rattle-canned the repaired areas with any grey primer. Sometimes Tremclad, sometimes Rustoleum, and sometimes Dupli-Color. I wasn’t worried about the mixtures, as they were just to cover bare metal. Anyway, after reading about this roller method, I decided that it might not be such an issue after all, and I figured I’d just shoot sealer over the top, before my Flatz paint.

Anyway, long story short – the Hot Rod Flatz paint proved difficult to get up here in BC, and when I costed it all out, I was into around $800 + for materials.
So, I stopped by Home Depot, took a deep breath and bought a gallon of Tremclad Flat white, a quart of Tremclad Gloss dark blue, and a gallon of mineral spirits. Total cost - $63 Canadian…
With such an outlay, I reasoned I could live with the cost if it didn’t work.

Anyway, I mixed the cans together and got a beautiful sky blue….thinned it by 25%, put it in my gun, and started under the trunk lid. Half hour later, the whole car was coated.

Next day it had dried spotty (first coat), but a nice flat finish.

I tested various wetsand grades on a fender skirt – 600 was scratchy of course. 1000 was better. 1500 was good, and then 2000 and a polish made it way too glossy. In fact, at that point it was just a gloss finish.

So, another coat went on. And the next day another. And the next day another. I’d lost the patches after the 3rd coat, and it was a uniform finish.

Between each coat (this was all done in my garage, with the door open) I wetsanded with 600 to take off any sags (very few actually…), and now it sits with its final, flat coat on. No orange peel. No sags, no runs…just a nice, flat blue finish. Exactly what I’d have got with the PPG paint, but at less than a tenth of the cost.

Additionally, I was astonished during the painting process a number of times – once I touched the bottom of the gun on the wet hood, and the stuff really does self-level. Within a minute, the dig had flattened itself. I also had a run on a door which I wiped off with my finger mid-spray, and again – it disappeared before the coat dried.

It has dried rock hard and smooth, and has stuck to everything I wanted it to.
Even chrome. I had some dings on the bumpers, so I scuffed them, hammered and filled them, masked off the bits I wanted to remain chrome, and then Tremclad primed and painted them. Again – rock hard, and full adhesion.

I got a few dust nibs on the paint of course, and these just knocked off with some 1500 grit.

So answering some of the questions I’ve read here :
You definitely CAN spray it.
You definitely CAN custom-mix it
You can use flat or gloss finish – and can mix flat and gloss in the same can
It adheres to chrome
It adheres to plastic
It adheres to any finish (Dupli-Color, OEM scuffed paint, Rustoleum, bare metal, Bondo, etc)
It is NOT soft
It can be sanded as easy as any other paint
It thins with mineral spirits (cheaper and kinder to the air)
It dries hard in a day
I painted a full-size C-body and used about 2/3 of a gallon (bear in mind I didn’t paint the roof – that was, and still is white) and that includes doorjambs, and under the hood & trunk.

I’ve used lacquers in the past – they’re no better, but they are smellier. I’ve used 2 stage urethanes – they’re no better – just more effort.

OK, I sprayed instead of rolling, but the point is that the paint works. But then, why wouldn’t it? Forget it’s not a fancy auto paint – all paint is just pigment and solvent….

If I can work out a way to post pictures, I’ll post them (I’ve gotta get all the trim and stuff back on yet), but if you are thinking of painting and you can get the color you want from the Tremclad range mixed or not – do it.

I was linked this thread because I'm in the market for a paint job for my '87 Camaro, and I need to say I'm impressed with the results of this, I was up all night looking at the 200someodd pages on this and I havent seen many people using black, my camaro is black and I really want to give it a fresh paint job, I know black is a hard color to do but if I prepped good it should go fine. Dose anyone have any tips on using black? (im going with rustoleum not brightside)

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/3124/02mz9.jpg
http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/3871/03cf4.jpg
^my project

also I was thinking, what do you guys think of gloss black finish and matte black ground effects ex: http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/7716/02mz9rr1.jpg



Thanks for possibly saving me a few $1000 on a decent paint job guys

Thanks for the compliment. That paint was the Brightside but there is no reason why the Rustoleum can't polish up just as well.

Here is a bit of info on the pads that I use. About half way down the page they describe the cutting pad and the light cutting pad. From my experience these buffing pads are brilliant.

Just a tip........Don't use masking tape to mask off the car!!!!!!! I used it like a retard and now 3 weeks later, the tape has become one with the moldings. Use the blue tape , it will be much better. I was all fired up over the final coat being done, and then the tape problem deflated my bubble. Oh well, I will get a few more rags, razor blades, and goo-b-gone.
I will post pistures by the way, it just got too dark to do it. I am amazed at the outcome. I can't wait for 2 weeks to go by and do the final wetsand and buff. (it will take me half of that time to get the old masking tape off. LOL)

Wipe the tape with a rag soaked in paint thinner.
Once the end lifts, pull the tape while wiping the adhesive with the rag. Worked well on my two tone work.

hey guys just thought id tell u about my rattle can experiment

so i got sidetracked for a few mins today lol.. i recently bought a car that has a spray painted front end on it.. the car is black and the fenders and stuff were replaced and just sprayed black (aerosol).. real CRAP job too.. the paint was not glossy at all.. so i decided to test it.. hit an area with a quick 1500 and 2000 wetsand, then buffed with turtle wax polishing compound, then some swirl remover.. results were AMAZING. came out to a mirror finish. i have no clue what kind of paint it was or what brand, but it was black and looked like crap at first. from that i definetly think a great job can be done by rattle can. i painted a car flat black before, and i still get comments to this day about how good it came out, so i think i may try it out. just puttin this out there cuz i dunno if anyone had tried the rattle can method with full polishing

Can anyone show me what type of polisher I should buy?

What about this krauss polisher on ebay? http://cgi.ebay.es/KRAUSS-SZ-81803-Polie...1QQcmdZViewItem