Cheap Paint Job

As some of you know, I am trying to get rid of some vehicles that belong to a buddy of mine. One of them is a Falcon wagon that is badly in need of paint. Not wanting to spend a lot of money that I will never recoup, and wanting the curb appeal of the car to increase, I started thinking about my old friend Rustoleum.

Several years ago I read an article on a MOPAR forum about painting cars with a roller and Rustoleum paint. At the time, I had a Bronco II that I traded for to get parts off and flip, so I tried using the Black Rustoleum that comes in gallon cans (along with other colors) widely available at Lowe's, WalMart, etc. Not wanting to waste a bunch of time, I Scotchbrited the truck, then took a roller and rolled on the paint unthinned one hot summer day. 2 coats and it was done. Looked pretty bad at first, but as it cured over a few days, it smoothed out nicely. In fact, the kid that bought it works at Sears across from my building. He did buff it out a bit and has kept wax on it, but the paint still looks nice after 4 years.

The correct way to do this is to thin the paint with mineral spirits 50/50, use high-density rollers and 5-7 thin coats (sanding between every coat or two). Let cure, then cut and buff it. I have seen numerous vehicles done this way online, so I am going to make a spot in the garage and try their method out on the Falcon. It calls for warm weather to do correctly, but I cannot wait until Spring to do this, so I am going to try it out in the next few weeks. Has anyone ever tried this method and what were your results?

I will take pictures of the progress as I go, in case anyone is interested. Ordinarily, I would just mask the car and spray it, but there is so much stuff of several of my buddies in the garage, overspray would be an issue. Besides, I am curious as to how it will turn out.   

Edited by unlovedford - 09-January-2015 at 4:07AM

This guy did a Rustoleum thing too on youtube.  I believe there are 8 or 9 video's.

Dave,

Never tried the roller, but I have sprayed Rustoleum. Use the "Professional" Rustoleum. Thin it and add "Japan Dryer" or Valspar hardener and the paint will dry faster and last longer.

I can't help with any cheaper paint job, but the Maaco places still can do a decent job for resale cars. I know a guy in TX with a black Mark VII that you'd not guess has a Maaco paint job on it.

For a wild alternative, look at the vinyl paints and wraps, the paintable chrome choices, and chome vinyls, etc etc, on the http://www.alsacorp.com/ site. They have tons of amazing finishing materials, unfortunately they are mostly for keepers. They run sales of 50-75% off of single items, but you have to be looking for them and ready to grab them.


Edited by 72 RS 351 - 09-January-2015 at 6:14AM

If you had the room to spray, I would think about Duplicolor Paintshop system. It's a modern(ish) lacquer that works well for the price. This is my brother's cutlass. He painted it about 5 years ago.

72 cutlass supreme

Dee'z Toy coming out of the shop got hit by the Mac tools truck so it needs body work.