Painting roof, gloss or flat white?

The paint on my old F150 it getting bad. I pretty much only use it for towing race cars so it sits around a lot and never gets washed.  I decided to paint the roof before the paint is totally shot and the roof is full of rusty holes

I decided on white to help keep it cool in the SoCal sun, and I really don't care how the truck looks otherwise.

I sanded it down with 80 grit on a DA, and then rust coverted the 20 pin hole rust spots that already started.

Then 180 grit on the DA to get it ready for primer, and last thing today I hit it with some krylon primer and wet sanded with 600

So tomorrow I'm going to finish it off with some white krylon, should I use flag white or gloss white? I'm thinking gloss because I already have 2 cans of it in the garage.

The 2 cans I have are Krylon and Duplicolor, both enamel. Can I mix the 2 paints when wet? Like spray one coat of Krylon and when that runs out, put another coat of Duplicolor on top of it?

Oh yeah, it's a V-6 with a 5-speed manual and I *LOVE* having a manual to tow with. Automatics suck. I with I could get a newer truck with a manual and V-8 but alas :(

Gloss sounds good to me.  Don't know about mixing the brands, if you do use both I'd let the first coat dry before switching to the other can.  Note that they may be slightly different shades of white.

Gloss white like the FJ

Mix brands? Try it and report back either way you'll increase the knowledge base. Gloss or flat? Gloss there's a reason bathrooms and kitchens are painted with gloss or semi gloss (easier to clean)

G. L. O. S. S.    Flat sucks to clean, if you even can.  (You’ve seen my flat white cbr...)

But it is very cool to see you here!  Everyone on the site would love to peek at  what is in (and around) your garage

Agreed with everyone above. Flat looks cool but sucks to live with. Go gloss and don’t look back.

The easy cleaning, non-staining part of gloss would outweigh the greater heat reflection of flat for me. You have put up with red for how long?

Another for the gloss, for cleaning purposes.

I'm not sure I'd mix the two different brands..  At least test them on a scrap piece of sheet metal first to make sure there's no reaction between them that causes fisheyes or peeling.  Most paints have repaint windows of "5-30 minutes or wait a day or two first," so it may just be worth the big bucks to pick up a matching rattle can to one of yours.

I know krylon and rustoleum do not play well together, so i would try it on a scrap

I'm as cheap as the next guy but in my opinion the saving is not worth the risk in mixing the paints.  The less than $10 saved in paint could result in a significant amount of lost time if you have to redo the sanding/painting/prep.  

Wow, lets hear more about your Japanese Sedan.  I'll admit, I am having a hard time placing which car it is.  Could be LS400?  Late Cresida?  Infiniti? '90's Accord?  Maybe something JDM which is why I can not tell.  

jfryjfry said:

G. L. O. S. S.    Flat sucks to clean, if you even can.

Came here to say this, the smoother the finish, the less dirt it'll retain.

White on top and red on the bottom?

KURWA!

Just painted the roof of my trailer in gloss white rustolieum.  No problems in the month or so its been done. (I brushed on)

John Welsh said:

I'm as cheap as the next guy but in my opinion the saving is not worth the risk in mixing the paints.  The less than $10 saved in paint could result in a significant amount of lost time if you have to redo the sanding/painting/prep.  

 

 

Wow, lets hear more about your Japanese Sedan.  I'll admit, I am having a hard time placing which car it is.  Could be LS400?  Late Cresida?  Infiniti? '90's Accord?  Maybe something JDM which is why I can not tell.  

“Yarrr... that be a fourth gen accord, one of the Cb chassis. A fine steed of steady hand, and mobile heart.”

ditto on most of the suggestions. I had my roof on the rally car flat/matte white and it got stained by every leaf and stick that fell on it during a rain shower and sat there for a day. Gloss all the way, simply because it cleans up easier. 

At the end of yesterday:

Thanks for advice all! I went with gloss white. I also ended up mixing 3 different brands of paint.  For a good reason though!

I really wanted to get the job done this morning before the weather hit 100+ degrees and the roof turned into a frying pan in the sun and the wind picked up.  So I  had 1/2 a can of Duplicolor laying around that I used for a light first coat, then I started with the full can of Rustoleum I had, and after about 1/4 of the roof the can clogged up. I had shaken it well, it just must've been too old :(  So I ran quick to NAPA and got 2 cans of Napa bottom-shelf gloss white to finish it off with. :)

It's so hot I'm not worried too much about the paint because it dries so fast it's already fully set before the next coat.

The wind is a huge bitch though and makes it very frustrating. I probably lost a whole can of paint to the wind just blowing it away, even when it seems calm.  Ah the joys of outdoor painting.

After I put 3 coats or so I wet sanded with 1500, 2000, then 2500 and it looks halfway decent. We'll see how it holds up.

Probably the first time I've washed it in 7.5 years of ownership :)

In reply to _ :

Yup! CB7 LeMons car, still with the stock F22A motor!

Super fun and easy to drive and crazy reliable. Just needs some more power. Gonna H22 swap when this motor blows up.

Actually got a podium finish at Laguna Seca (Chumpcar) a few years ago!

Nice truck. 4.2/5spd F150s are underappreciated. 

Make sure and post follow up of whether you can feel any difference in cabin temps. I expect the actual difference is minor but if you add reality and confirmation bias together you may feel significantly better in there.