Experience with the $50 paint job?

Not sure how familiar the GRM crowd is with the "$50 Paint Job" using a 50/50 mix of Rustoleum and mineral spirits, but I've been playing around with it a little bit and it seems like if you have the time and patience, it's a winner. Beats spending tons of money on automotive paint. I also read an article on a street stock racer that uses Home Depot house paint on his race car at about $20 to $30 a gallon. I'm working with that right now. So far so good. I hate doing paint and bodywork, but even a mediocre paint job can make a crapcan look much better. Anyone who hasn't heard about the $50 paint job can do an internet search to find out more. I think it originally started on a Mopar forum and has really taken on a life of its own. So far some of the benefits I've found with the house paint I'm using is easy cleanup or paint thinning using water and very low overspray. The spray gun I'm using probably isn't the best, but it's doing the job. I'm interested in hearing some other GRM cheapo paint tricks and stories.

<= This Rustoleum paint job is worthy as a 50/50....50 yards at 50 mph, barely

I tried it.. failed miserably

If you want a cheap paint job that looks good and is good, do the John Deere Blitz Black. Only problem is you are stuck with flat black.

I never wet sanded anything before the Rustoleum special paint job, but it makes a HUGE difference and is mandatory. I painted a dually fender and it took 7 coats to get it nice, wet sanding every second coat. I am not a patient guy, so I really had to get myself to take the time and do it right. Here's a link to a Corvair that looks very nice. http://www.rickwrench.com/index79master.htm?http://www.rickwrench.com/50dollarpaint.html

mtn wrote: If you want a cheap paint job that looks good and is good, do the John Deere Blitz Black. Only problem is you are stuck with flat black.

Holy berkeley!

That stuff is CHEAP!!! And you can just lay it over scuffed up paint? Don't really need more than one full coat?!?!??!

This may answer a lot of questions for me. Thanks!

I'm curious if you need to roll the 50/50 mix or if you can fill it in refillable Nason reducer spray cans. I have used these things and you can pour in gallon cans of paint through a filter and it fill spray it. $6 or $7 for the can, but I am not sure how much you spray before the air cartridge runs out. I only used it to paint a gash I filled and primered on the side of my old Altima that came from an unseen trailer hitch.

sanman wrote: I'm curious if you need to roll the 50/50 mix or if you can fill it in refillable Nason reducer spray cans. I have used these things and you can pour in gallon cans of paint through a filter and it fill spray it. $6 or $7 for the can, but I am not sure how much you spray before the air cartridge runs out. I only used it to paint a gash I filled and primered on the side of my old Altima that came from an unseen trailer hitch.

I sprayed some with a Harbor Freight HVLP. I didn't quite cut it 50/50 though.

I have painted a couple 'fun' rides with Sherwin Williams industrial enamel.. Layout out nice and flat... polishes up great and holds up decent enough.. 60 bucks a gallon or so... (retail) The only problem was slow drying time which I fixed by borrowing one of those handy dandy heat lamps like the body shops use....

Even sprayed with a cheap junky HVLP because I didn't want the stuff in my good gun... One time.. I even used my Graco 395 airless pump... sprayed a van outside after dark using some crap lighting.. The paint job turned out very presentable for what it was... But then again.. I am a remodeler by trade... and have sprayed plenty of interior trim on high end paint jobs..... So....

Heck.. the way I look at it.. enough time wet sanding and polishing... It can't be any worse than the paint jobs they put on Rolls Royce's as early as 50 years ago.. Yes even into the 60's RR was brushing paint onto cars.... (still today it is used on "authentic" restoration work)

Just google "coach painting"

http://www.stephen.hull.btinternet.co.uk/

http://www.vintageclassicpaintshop.co.uk/Bodywork,_paintwork,_restoration/coach-painting.html

Of course given a budget.. I would go a different route...

What are quarts of the PPG omni line of paints going for these days? Or Nason stuff?

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote:

mtn wrote: If you want a cheap paint job that looks good and is good, do the John Deere Blitz Black. Only problem is you are stuck with flat black.

Holy berkeley! That stuff is CHEAP!!! And you can just lay it over scuffed up paint? Don't really need more than one full coat?!?!??! This may answer a lot of questions for me. Thanks!

More info:
http://www.cicenet.net/showthread.php?t=6539
http://www.cicenet.net/showthread.php?t=7993

And the paint is quite literally tough as nails. Another local has done it to his car, and his 5 year old son took a nail to it. The scratch looks about like if I had taken a sharp fingernail to a regular paint job.

Looks like i'll be doing some half-assed bodywork this summer, then going to town. WOOT!

BTDT but to be honest Nellson or Western real paint is less work with better results.
Tractor Supply has a universal hardner that works well with Cheaper enamels is you still want to go with rustoleum

I did mine with a Wagner electric and white Tremclad. It looked so good, you'd never know it wasn't a professional paint job.

I've heard that if you go the $50 paint job route with Rustoleum that if you ever want to paint the car later with real automotive paint you have to take it down to bare metal. Not sure if that is true or not.

T.J. wrote: I've heard that if you go the $50 paint job route with Rustoleum that if you ever want to paint the car later with real automotive paint you have to take it down to bare metal. Not sure if that is true or not.

It's my understanding thatTremclad and Rustoleum are both enamel paints. Pretty much anything can be painted over enamel. I've painted two cars with Tremclad and haven't had any real issues. My buddy tried the Tremclad paint job and decided he didn't like it. He sprayed a real automotive paint over it without any trouble. I can't recall what brand he used though.

This is different from the $50 paint job I was thinking of, which was Rustoleum roll-on paint and vast quantities of sanding in between each coat. It's very time and labor intensive, but doesn't cost much. I've seen a truck painted this way, and it looked excellent, even up close. I could tell it wasn't a true professional paint job, but it was great for a DIY job - much better than my rattle can attempts. I wish I'd taken pictures to share.

Couple of questions for those who've done this:

1. How do you do the various nooks and crannies like around the taillights or headlight/ grill areas?

2. How does using the roller compare to using a can of spray?

Curious (cheap) minds want to know.

I did a < $3000 budget miata (STS2 prep at the time) with the $50 paint job.... I used 1/4 acetone and 3/4 rustoleum out of a POS harbor freight gun, but it turned nicer than I had expected either way. TAKE A LOOK

i never really understood the allure of the $50 paint job. you can paint a car with real single stage paint for less than $100 or go base clear for $200. lots of auto paint shops have cans of mistakes they will let go for even less.

if you use an industrial paint you still have to do all the body work and prep. thats where the real time should be spent anyway, not painting your POS 7 times and wet sanding it over and over. then if you ever decide to really paint your car in the future you have to remove all that industrial enamel?

unless this is for challenge car and you cant squeeze the other $50 from somewhere in the budget? $50paint job + 40hrs wetsanding? or $100 and done...it just doesnt add up

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/my-57-paint-job/16401/page1/

I went topside marine single stage poly, tough as hell, thin it 3:1, roll on w/high density roller, if you wetsand between coats you'll end up with deep finish, and no it doesn't take 40 hours of wetsanding. I did/didn't, got some orange peel, but it's very glossy, looks good, and keeps our track rat much cheaper in the summer...

Most people aren't painting cars worth a damn, or they won't be repainting it in the future. Some of us just want rust protection, minimal cost, no need to spray, and can be done with the little spare time we have, and oh yeah, it's cheap as hell...

A friend did a 245 Volvo, mixed blue and white to get roughly the factory shade, and did the whole wet sand and roller deal. It looks factory.

I saw a running 6sp LT1 Firebird Formula with faded purple paint flaking off in huge pieces for $1,000 just the other day. That John Deere flat black is certainly making me think about the possibilities....

I've done a few BABE rally cars this way, minus the wetsanding (or even washing the car first)

The results aren't bad and for beaters I'll keep doing it but I agree with the thought that if I want a nice paint job the hours of wetsanding to get the results equalling a spray job aren't worth it to me.

Our '08 car rollered in rusto

Before shot

and the '09 car

Before shot

JThw8 wrote: and the '09 car

DOING.IT.RIGHT!

The basic facts of the Rustoleum paint job is that to have it come out nice you need:

• A good straight body (body work)

• Lots of wet sanding

So basically, lots of prep, lots of polishing which means, lots of time, like any good paint job. For a hundred (maybe a few) or so more, you can get some reasonable actual car paint and have paint that will hold up to some minor scuffing.

What it comes down to (I think) is if you have LOTS of time, NO money and no ability to spray, it will probably be worth it. If not, look else were.

Certainly you can just slap it on a less then prepped car, but that really isn't a nice paint job, is it.