Re: Paint your car for $100

On Mon, Jan 30, 2012 at 4:02 AM, Eric Sturgis <ericsturgis@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

OK not my doing, no I've not done it. I've only seen the photos. But they used to paint car like this 100 years ago so why not. If anybody is brave enought o try it, I wanna see the photos. I do have a fender and hood off my van from when they were replaced.....I could try it....Hmmm?

Here’s how I painted my car for about $50.

It's actually very easy and the results are amazing!
First off, get a can of Tremclad “Real Orange” (or what ever color you want) in the can form, not spray can.
Tremclad it is acrylic-enamel paint, which is very durable.
Next prep your car as if was any other paint job, fix all the rust, etc....no need to prime the car since the Tremclad already contains elements which allow it to be painted over bare metal.
Next, after prepping the car, get several small 4" professional FOAM rollers, it is tiny and has one end rounded off, and the other cut straight, and is a very high density foam. u also need a jug of mineral spirits to thin the paint.
The thing I really like about this method is that there's no mess, no taping the whole car; just key areas, and you can do it in your home garage.
Since you’re not spraying, there is virtually no dust in the air, hence, no dirt in the paint. - Just make sure to clean your garage first -.
Also, it doesn’t really smell at all, dries overnight and it super tough paint! If you ever decide to later re-paint the car professionally, just prep and paint. There’s no need to strip the Tremclad.
I have done this to a few cars, and I can say it works amazingly well; you just have to be patient.
Next, you thin the paint with Mineral Spirits , to the consistency of water, just a bit thicker.
Then get out the roller and paint!
NOTE: Don’t get the paint shaken when you buy it. Enamel is supposed to be stirred.
Otherwise you'll have bubbles in the paint for a week!
After you lay on two coats, wet sand the whole car, then repeat….
(Two coats/wet sand, two coats/wet sand).
Use progressively finer sand paper each time.
(I painted the whole Charger using only one can of Tremclad. Since you’re rolling, not spraying the car, you use ALL of the paint and don’t lose half in the air).
It’s not really that much work, because you can stop and start any time, you can do just a door, or the hood, etc.
Do one panel at a time, and don't stop once you start. Once you’re done the final coat, wet sand with about 1000 grit to a totally smooth finish.
Then I use a high-speed electric polisher with a buffing bonnet and Turtle Wax polishing compound. I do the whole car with this, and I’m telling you, depending on the amount of time and patience you have, the results are amazing.
Laugh if you want, but for $30 worth of paint, about $20 for rollers and sand paper, it really looks good.
Also you can do these steps overnight, paint one evening and by morning you can wet sand. I have personally done a lot of painting, mostly single stage acrylic enamel, in my garage with really good professional results.
But it stinks; it's a real pain to do, easy to make a mistake, messy, and expensive! The Tremclad is awesome paint, the "Real Orange" is amazingly close to “Hemi Orange”, and almost looks like it has some pearl in the Sun.
It is an awesome colored paint, right out of the can.
I used this technique on my 1974 VW Beetle as well. Here are the results:

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/69martin/Picture10.jpg

The car before:

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/69martin/IM000475.jpg

Another after pic:

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/69martin/DSC00164.jpg

Here is a car I sprayed (1971 Beetle, midnight blue metallic):

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/69martin/DSC00194.jpg

Here is the car before (1971 Beetle):

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/69martin/Picture1.jpg

Here are a few pics of the Charger done:

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/69martin/DSC02764.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/69martin/DSC02769.jpg

Well, that's my two cents worth, sorry for the long post. I was bored lol
I painted the orange beetle in 1999, and it still looks like the day I painted it, the 71 blue beetle I painted in 2000, and built the car for my dad, I used the same paint on my Charger, maybe one day I’ll spring for a good paint job, prepping is 90% of the work, stripping the car, sanding, etc..... painting is overrated!!!
So if you have TIME, then I’d say go for it, the worst that could happen is that it doesn’t turn out and your out $50, but if your patient, and experiment with lets say just the trunk panel and if you like it do the whole car, if not just get it done by someone else for $4000. I don't know about you guys, but I would rather spend the $4000 on other parts like getting the mechanics sorted out and new chrome, cause when u have really nice paint and crappy bumpers, door handles it just sticks out more.

Yes I painted it with a "professional" high-density foam roller. The trick is in how you thin the paint, get it as thin as possible without running, and the paint "self levels" it comes out like glass, wet sanding just makes it better, it all depends on how much time u have. I have sprayed a few cars in my garage with single stage acrylic enamel and it's a pain, messy, stinks, etc.
The Tremclad is almost odorless and is really easy to work with. You can paint one day, wet sand the next, and immediately re-coat. Once you got all the coats on, just wet sand and buff with a compound, then wax - and you’re “good to go”.
I’ve painted three cars this way and the 1974 VW Beetle I did six years ago still looks awesome.
The paint is cheap like $30 a gallon; you can get it tinted to any color you’d like. On the Charger, I used about 3/4 of a can.
Even when you spray with a HVLP gun, you still waste about 30% of the paint that just goes in the air. Tremclad is still only “rust paint”, but it is a new type, which is enamel.
I still strip the car of chrome, bumpers, handles; key locks, basically everything, and then tape off where I might get paint on something I don't want painted. The paint is tough, like stove paint when it's done. I’ve spilt gas on it in really hot weather, and it resists stone chips extremely well. Two years ago, I had to repaint a fender on the VW Beetle, so I purchased a small can of paint to do it.
Years later, the color match was exact.

I’m up in Canada, where it's called Tremclad, in the US it would be the Rustoleum. It's a rust paint and it buffs really nice, but make sure it's the new stuff - an enamel, or acrylic enamel.
It goes right over most anything and doesn’t react with any old paint or filler, and doesn't require any primer. On a car I used to have, I had it professionally painted four years after I painted it and they put a base/clear on top of it with no issues. It’s really easy to do, just be patient, take your time, test on something first and perfect the technique. As a hint if you try it first you paint the surface, and then really lightly "skim" the surface with the weight of the roller only to remove any lines bubbles etc, then just leave it for a minute or two and you'll see it just "self levels" totally flat to glass. Then, wet sand it really fine, use a spray bottle and keep the paper really wet, finish with a 1000 grit or so and then buff with a random orbit polisher using Turtle Wax POLISHING compound, NOT the rubbing compound, its' to harsh. It is critical to use the proper roller; it's about 4" wide and about 1.5" thick, and very high-density white foam. It really works and is much tougher paint than today’s single stage or base clear, very hard to scratch, but easy to buff. I get compliments on my paint jobs, and they never believe how I do it.

Well I went to www.rustoleum.com and they gave me a choice between the U.S. and Canada sites; so I went Canadian and they list Tremclad, so it is a Rustoleum Canadian product.
Now who knows how this translates down in the U.S. of A.? But I'm sure with some e-mails and/ or toll free number research w/ the Rustoleum Company, this can be determined!

I did the web search and here's a website, I emailed for application procedures, tools needed and availability, when I hear back I’ll post my findings but see what you can come up with.
I believe the manufacturer is RPM international Inc.

Oh, and here's a link:

http://www.rustoleum.com/product.asp?frm_product_id=548&SBL=

--
Eric
Tacoma, WA
1962 Chrysler Newport 2 door HT