Rustoleum paint job advice needed

[bb12]

I'm thinking about doing a rustoleum roll on paint job on my newly acquired '90 K5. Pretty much the front half of the Blazer is in primer, the guy that owned it before me starting priming it. I don't plan on priming the rest just sanding it. Anyway, here some questions I have:

-What grit sandpaper should I use to prep the truck?
-Should I wet sand?
-Should I use the rustoleum primer before I paint?
-What do I do about the little rust chips in the paint?
-What grit sandpaper should I use in between coats?

I know its a lot of questions but any tips/advice is greatly appreciated!!!

Also, any pics of roll on paint jobs would be awesome!

 

[jt512]

There is a thread here somewhere with a link to a guy who did this on a old corvair and it turned out great, I will see if I can find it for you.

 

[toomany]

http://www.rickwrench.com/index79master.htm?http://www.rickwrench.com/50dollarpaint.html

He used Rustoleum, but rolled it on.

 

[jt512]

beat me to it but , that is the one I was thinking of. Try searching "cheap paint jobs" you should find plenty of info.

 

[dremu]

As mentioned, search. Lots of info.

Body work is prep, prep, prep, prep, prep. And possibly prep. And a little prep. Did I mention that prep is important?

I've painted three trucks, one with a real sprayer and two with rattlecans.

If it's a trail truck and you don't mind paint flaking off every time you flex or go over a bump, you can just paint it.

If you want it to look nice at less than fifty feet, then yep, you gotta sand, clean, and prime. "Clean" means rubbing it down with a clean rag and alcohol or some kind of chemical cleaner.

I used the Krylon camo rattle can stuff, which is pretty gritty, so for the finish I think I just went over the truck with like 300-400 grit. (I didn't need much filling, but I went over the Bondo with some 100-150, IIRC.)

If you want a nice surface, you'll want to start with something mediumish like that and then switch to something finer.

If you have rust on the surface now, painting over it is bad juju. It will become more powerful than you could ever imagine and burst through the new paint at inopportune times Fix the rust first, i.e. cut it out and put in fiberglass or new metal or at least use a rust converter like POR15 or Rust Bullet or whatever.

And yeah, primer is your friend. It bonds to whatever is there now and gives the paint something to stick to; without it, your new paint will flake awful quick.

-- A

 

[badmix]

Ive been slowly rattle canning my truck. Here is the blue that was done some time last year. It doesnt flake off nor does going thru tight trees/woods even scratch it.

THe front fender is rattle canned, the door and rear 1/4 are factory paint. Im getting ready to spray the whole thing all the way back.

I just scuffed it with 600grit and then did a couple swipes with some wet/dry lighter grit stuff, maybe 800 or 1000. The key to rattle can is CONTROL, must like spray gun, you have to do light over laps and paint past your metal, so masking off is important. I mask a foot above and below what im painting. Nice even controlled movements help. Dont let the can stop moving. I realize your rolling it on, but Id prefer the spray can. I can see how ppl with roller would get their paint all clumped up and hard to get the finer edges without it looking like crap. That dude that rolled his car put alot of work into that, way more than I ever did. lol.

 

[bb12]

Yeah, that guy in the above thread did a great job but heck I don't know if the ol' K5 is worth that much work lol! I'm not sure now if I should rattle can it or roll it on? The body has a few dents in it that I was just going to leave there.

badmix, what kind of paint did you use?

 

[dfl701]

Not to hijack LOL but it's on topic. What about sprayin the rustoleum on instead of rolling it? Does it turn out better

 

[badmix]

Ill have to check the exact paint i use. But I know is Med. Blue from advanced auto.

I cant see how rolling the paint could turn out better. The only way would be alot of sanding and buffing. I didnt want a shiney finish, so Im not concerned with clear coats. I would just imagine rolling it on would be mess as h3ll. Maybe rolling on bedliner inside, but not painting the body.

Honestly, its pretty easy and cheap to get a decent paint job with rattle can. It just takes patience, prep work and can control. I can do my blue stripes on both sides in an afternoon using 2-3 cans of paint. Ive learned to put it on thin and do multi coats and wait a good couple hours b4 coats.

 

[dfl701]

I was reading a old post about rattle cans and it was very controversial haha. I have thought about doing the rustoleum but I am trying to research it. So this thread got my attention. I would love to see how this turns out for you

 

[bb12]

I'm thinking about rattle canning it now. I'm going to go get some rustoleum spray protective enamel and try it out on that lowe grille piece just above the bumper. Probably get some sandpaper and primer and give it a try.

 

[bb12]

I found this rig while searching for rattle can jobs...looks awesome!Anybody have any idea what color this is? Can't tell if its a flat black or dark gray or what.

 

[dfl701]

You know alot of people seem to not like this by I think that looks good for something so cheap. I think I might still spray the rustoleum on mine though.

 

[bb12]

Yeah, I'm not looking for anything too nice. Its going to be an offroad toy! You can rattle can it and if someday down the road you want to put a better paint job on it you can.

 

[dremu]

I found this rig while searching for rattle can jobs...looks awesome!Anybody have any idea what color this is? Can't tell if its a flat black or dark gray or what.

Note that the flat rattlecan stuff, anyway, tends to have a grittier surface. The "ultraflat" camo I used on my brown truck is particularly bad about traping dirt and water, and on some parts I've touched up without later sanding, it's abrasive enough to take off skin if you're not careful

Point being that painting on top of such a paint would require a lot more work, so down the line if you do repaint you're in for a ton of prep work. If you don't go with a regular gloss paint, I'd strongly consider sticking with a semi-gloss or satin finish paint.

-- A

 

[bb12]

do you think that truck above is satin? looks to have a sheen to it.

 

[dremu]

do you think that truck above is satin? looks to have a sheen to it.

Hard to tell from pix. Hell, my truck looks halfway decent in the pix I post (I don't post the closeup pix for a reason )

I think I washed that truck -- as in with a garden hose -- prior to painting it, but I didn't do much else. It's rusty and the paint is bubbling and flaking and there are spots where the 1/4" - 3/8" of Bondo is cracking off (go figure! ) so I couldn't justify a lot of time or $$ in the paint. It's more to keep it from rusting worse, to make the body parts match ... well, and it's different, ya know.

For the sixpack I did real prep work, i.e. sanding and filling and sanding and primer and sanding and cleaning and sanding and cleaning with alcohol or something and masking and sweeping and sanding and ... took me forever.

Same drill, though ... looks pretty good from twenty feet out, but up close, it's OBVIOUSLY done by some redneck fool in his yard I figure it's better than it was...

I called it Aaron's Amazing Technicolour Pickemup

Anyway, with paint jobs you really do get what you pay for, both in terms of $$ and in elbow grease. If you just wave a pile of spray cans at it, it'll look like crap and will be a SERIOUS pain to fix. If you put time and effort into it, cleaning the surface well and masking well and sanding between every layer, it'll come out better AND be easier to touch or or recover down the line.

-- A

 

[bb12]

Think it would be okay to sand with my dewalt handheld sander?

Figured I'd post a pic of my rig in its current state, as you can see it needs some help

 

[StevoandaRedK5]

I've found that Rustoleum has a line of automotive paints in rattle cans. I have only used the primer, but the coverage and surface is awesome compared to most rattle can paints.

I took the front clip off my '79 donor and primed it:

I took my time with the prep, but nothing crazy, and it turned out pretty good. I plan to hit the whole truck with this when I finish the bodywork and then paint the body red and the top black. However what you've heard so far is true, the end result is based heavily on how much time you spend prepping.

 

[dremu]

Think it would be okay to sand with my dewalt handheld sander?

Figured I'd post a pic of my rig in its current state, as you can see it needs some help

Long as it's not a belt sander with an 80grit belt

I think you'll find some of the curved surfaces will need to be sanded by hand. I got a pile of the sanding sponges at Harbor Freight on sale, and though they're crappy, they were cheap enough to just toss when I was done

For the final sanding, Carnac The Magnificent foresees you and a sanding block and some 600 or 800 or 1000 grit going over that truck by hand.

Did I mention the many hours of prep work?

-- A