Chronicals of a rattle can paint job Part I

[DJCarbine]

So looking over my car in the garage one day I notice all of the bubbling paint and small rust spots that have bothered me so much the past few years. The taillight valence was the worst. I took apart the taillight assembly, bumper, and masked off the surrounding area and sanded down to metal and primer + sprayed it with a can of rustolium semi-flat black, wetsanded, sprayed again, and put on a coat of clear.

WOW. I was so impressed with the results that I started finding every rust spot on the car (which conveniently happened to be just about on ever panel) and made a plan. I took off the front bumper, headlight assembly, all the trim peices, emblems etc.....

I am going to spray my car completely with paint that you can find at your local ace hardware. I have seen primer/flat black paintjobs before on cars. For the most part, you can tell it was rattlecanned on by a 16 year old.

With enough sanding and prep work, I think that I can get results good enough to pass as a decent/older black paint job. I'd rather have the car not look perfect with no rust, than have a nice paint job and rust bubbles etc

This thread will be a log of pictures of the results that I get with the rattle can, exactly which paint I used, and what I did.

There are a lot of promises of the 50 dollar paint job going around on the net using a paint roller and home depot paint, I myself am I fan of spraying.





Either this is going to work out better than I expected (rarely)
Or its going to be a complete failure that I have to correct (most of the time)



so...... stay tuned for pictures, but only if it comes out good

 

[geordie]

Interesting thread, I look forward to reading more and seeing some pics of the results. Good luck.

 

[Blu-Steel]

Thanks for letting us follow along with your progress. I haven't done a whole car that way but I have done my dash and my rear valance like you did and was very happy with the results. I just painted my engine compartment but I used an HVLP gun for that. I debated a long while if I should use a rattle can or not but in the end I built a paint booth in my garage with lumber, plastic sheeting, house hold air conditioner filters, and a box fan to keep the fumes and overspray going out the door, not to mention dust off of the engine bay. The main reason I went with the gun was that I pulled the engine out and stripped the bay so well I figured it would be better for me to do as professional a job as possible.
But your idea to make a decent - old looking paint job through rattle cans and sanding may just be a very good way of achieving the results you want. The thing you really have to watch out for though is the rust bubbles. Without exception, when you see those bubbles there is a much larger rust rot underneath the paint and on the back side of the body panels. You'll have to take care of those or the bubbles will return within several months. happened to me the first time I actually sprayed a car with a paint gun. The paint job looked great but within 6 months I had bubbles appearing around my fender wells. I'd suggest stripping the rust as much as possible and use Eastwood's Rust encapsulater and rust converter, before yoy spray. Some peolple swear by POR 15, but either way you'll need to use something. I've use Eastwood's stuff and it seems to work pretty well. I even tested a piece of rusty metal by spraying it (it comes in rattle cans, or cans you can use a brush or even spray gun) and then I topcoated it with white rattle can paint (to better see if it rusts) and I left it outside on a paver stone in the weather all winter until now and it is holding up well. I actually did two sides, one where I scraped the loose rust off, and the other where I did no scraping. Both sides are doind pretty well but the side I didn't scrape does have a couple of pinhole rust starting to show through. The other side looks good. Bottom line - if you use these get the loose rust off and coat it well and then paint. Good luck.

 

[Platonic Solid]

If you have a compressor, why not just get a cheap HVLP gun, inline filter, and buy the correct paint? I'd guess you'll need about 18 rattle cans for one coat, and you said 2 coats plus clear which brings you to a total of 54 cans. At say $8 per can that's $432.

 

[Aw4g63]

If you have a compressor, why not just get a cheap HVLP gun, inline filter, and buy the correct paint? I'd guess you'll need about 18 rattle cans for one coat, and you said 2 coats plus clear which brings you to a total of 54 cans. At say $8 per can that's $432.

Being that would be too easy. lol


If anyone does insist on painting the car with a can, be sure to soak the cans in hot water while they're on deck to be used. You'll get better results and more "bang" out of them. Little trick I learned when I painted a demo derby car black with flames. lol

 

[John Z]

Sanding down rust doesn't actually remove all the rust, so it will return. After sanding I would treat the area with a phosphoric acid designed to stop rust. There are a variety of products available at auto parts and home improvement stores.

 

[bnickel]

believe it or not you can actually get a really good paint job with rattle cans if you prep it right and use enough paint, then clear it and wet sand and buff. we did the roof of a porsche 944 that a buddy of mine bought for his son. it looked just like the rest of the car when we were done and then Kris (the son) proceeded to wreck the car in a couple weeks. it sat in their backyard for almost 2 years and the rooof still looked as good as the day we painted it when they finally had it hauled off after they gave up on trying to fix it.

 

[DJCarbine]

After a trip to the local hardware store, I have decided that cost effectiveness as well as looks would be better if I did the roller 50 dollar paint job.

I will change the title of the thread to reflect this, I went with a gloss black rustoleum enamel. I finished sanding half the car, and I am going to POR15 the rust spots and finish sanding the rest and take care of rust as I see it come.

Pictures will be posted in the first post for ease of viewing, later tonight most likely as the first coat will go on if everything goes ok

 

[xoxbxfx]

I know this is your thread...but heres my 66 coupe in Rustoleum Satin Black. Just as a note...if you ever decide to paint the car, you will have to strip of all the paint

View attachment 382526
View attachment 382527

The fenders needed to be sanded and painted, but I sprayed them really quick with some leftover paint in the gun.