RUSTOLEUM Paint Job! Spray or Roll?

[enaberif]

Originally Posted by SkinnyG

$60 in paint. $15 in primer (needed for the white to cover well). CDN prices.

Couple rolls of painters tape. One roller per coat (three coats each colour).

You said you didn't thin. What type of rollers did you use? Everything I read says that when you roll the paint on it creates small air bubbles.

[SkinnyG]

Correct. I did not thin, I rolled straight from the can. I used the dense foam rollers you read about.

Home Depot also shook the can of paint they "colour matched" - which also apparently introduces bubbles.

Tremclad, being an oil based paint (Alkyd Enamel) "self-levels" somewhat.

If you want a glossy, "I can't believe you rolled it" cheap bling paint job, DO NOT do what I did.

There is a lot of orange peel in my paint. You might even say it's textured. People look at it and go "your painter doesn't know what he's doing" which turns into "Really? A roller? It's not bad for a roller!"

You need to understand where I am coming from in my paint:

- Shiny will show all my bodywork defects
- I don't wash my truck often, like, I think I washed it last year, maybe
- I can't stand doing body work
- I don't want to be afraid to use it as a truck.

For me, this worked fine.

Could the paint be "saved?" Absolutely! Sand the texture out of it (it's thick enough), and buff it right up to shiny. Totally not interested.

Think of my method as "counterpoint" to the multiple layers of rolling and wet sanding. Less work = less quality. True.

Click here for "Tremclad and a Roller" on my website.

Drivetrain, on the other hand - I like building drivetrain.

[enaberif]

Well the paint on my truck sucks and I'm just looking for something better. I don't care what it really looks like as long as it looks better.

[Just call me Sean]

That's why I spray bomb my stuff. It gets washed that one time for paint, then a year or so later I change my mind and paint it a different color. Sprayed this one twice.

[motornut]

Done the roll on tremclad a few times.
I went from blue to red on the 78 below
3/4 coats no thinning.
Yup I got orange peel , nobody really notices.
Heck now new cars do too,and when the paint is smooth, it's prob had work lol
Required very little prep,in my laneway.
For my winter beater , my concern was salt and rust.
I'm three winters on it,going into fourth ,got a few bad scratches now, no regrets.

[SkinnyG]

Motornut: your builds and paint were an inspiration to me - thank you for posting them. I guess I represent the west coast of the country. (grin)

[motornut]

Originally Posted by SkinnyG

Motornut: your builds and paint were an inspiration to me - thank you for posting them. I guess I represent the west coast of the country. (grin)

Thanks,once you get past the idea of rolling it on,you do get great rust protection.

[kaysboat]

I did the Tremclad paint job a few years ago on a K car in a parking lot. Changed the colour from grey to yellow and red (painted it like a taxi).

I thinned it out about 50% for the yellow and wet sanded it after every two coats. Turned out surprisingly well, and had very nice shine and no orange peel. However, it took about 12 coats to effectively cover the light grey colour.

By the time I was ready for the red I was tired of sanding and taking so long, so I just painted it straight from the can. Three coats covered it, but as previosuly posted, there was a lot of orange peel.

Bottom line is, for less than $100 it is great if thinned and sanded. But, it takes a LONG time and a lot of elbow grease.

Just my two cents.