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Rustoleum Paint Job with $75 Harbor Freight HVLP Turbine Gun

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I love back woods work like this.
Be proud of whatever you do as long as you enjoyed doing it and learned something.
Keep up the pics.
 
Here is what I've been playing with. Bought for $800...have about $1500.00 into it so far and almost ready for the road again.

http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=263098

I'll drive it for a while, then swap in the 60/14 and possibly my NV4500/203/205. Last step will be adding the big block I recently picked up.

My initial goal was really similar to yours. Along the way I kinda fell for the POS...so my stash of good parts are gonna find their way under it.

Rene
 
Nice man! ITs getting to be pretty obvious that now a days there is no better way to a cheap paint job then to just buy a cheap gun like you did. A rattle can job can be crazy expensive on big trucks like ours.
 
Rene, your project is awesome! 32 pages in your thread...maybe someday I"ll reach that status!!

y5mgisi - thanks, yeah I've never painted a car before, but this way is pretty easy (relatively speaking) I've done it in my garage just using a cartridge respirator. I do a coat each night when I get home. I just put on my workshop clothes, pop open the can of rustoleum, mix 50/50 in a mixing cup, dump it in the gun turn it on (sounds like a vacuum cleaner) ans start spraying.

The tape has been on since Saturday afternoon when I started and it is now Tuesday night. Hope I can get that stuff off!! I checked a little peice and it seemed to come off clean. But I really don't want to try and re-mask the truck along the paint line to do more coats so I've decided to just leave it on.

If it looks half-o.k. and last for a few years I"ll be super happy. Heck factory paint hardly lasted 5 years in the early 90s!
 
If you used the blue painters tape, you shouldnt have any issues. I do have to say, youve kind of inspired me. Im saving money to take my truck to the bodyshop to repair some front end damage, and have been debating having it painted while its there. but the price is kind of a turn off. My dad has a garage, but its full of crap right now. Id certainly like saving the money by painting that thing myself. ill be watching this thread with interest.
 
tRustyK5 said:
Bought for $800...have about $1500.00 into it so far and almost ready for the road again.

My initial goal was really similar to yours. Along the way I kinda fell for the POS...
Click to expand...

oh, how I know that story. Traded a set of wheels and 38" tires for my 71 about 9 years ago. There have been times when I think that it should have went to the junk yard....:whistle:

Big6ft6 said:
The tape has been on since Saturday afternoon when I started and it is now Tuesday night. Hope I can get that stuff off!! I checked a little peice and it seemed to come off clean. But I really don't want to try and re-mask the truck along the paint line to do more coats so I've decided to just leave it on.
Click to expand...

I left my blazer taped up for a week this summer and didn't have any issues getting the tape off. It should be ok if the tape isn't getting baked in the sun.

Nice project. Get some pictures outside :thumb:
 
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K5dreamer said:
If you used the blue painters tape, you shouldnt have any issues. I do have to say, youve kind of inspired me. Im saving money to take my truck to the bodyshop to repair some front end damage, and have been debating having it painted while its there. but the price is kind of a turn off. My dad has a garage, but its full of crap right now. Id certainly like saving the money by painting that thing myself. ill be watching this thread with interest.
Click to expand...

The nice thing about this HVLP gun is that it doesn't get paint all over your garage.:waytogo: It sill gets overspray around your truck probably within 3 feet of your spray area in the direction your painting. But other stuff that is behind you doesn't get even a mist on it. When I've used actual rattle cans I've found a light mist over everything!
 
Big6ft6 said:
The nice thing about this HVLP gun is that it doesn't get paint all over your garage.:waytogo: It sill gets overspray around your truck probably within 3 feet of your spray area in the direction your painting. But other stuff that is behind you doesn't get even a mist on it. When I've used actual rattle cans I've found a light mist over everything!
Click to expand...

good to know, ive always been a fan of harbor freight for any "one use" tools i may need. dont see myself painting any of the other cars in the fleet. and hopefully dont have to paint this one again after its done. although knowing me this may be the start of buying a welder, an orbital sander, and building a paint booth in the back yard. lol.

hhmm..... this leads me to a question that may turn intoa thread hijack... time to start a new thread.
 
Pic after the third coat. I would say medium to moderate orange peel (like I know what I'm talking about!) but I'll say this, the orange peel is slight enough to make me serious consider not even trying to wet sand it and just leave it alone.

Hopefully I'll have full-truck photo soon...but everyone brace yourselves...I didn't clean up my welds very well...the pics I keep posting are of the paint on some of the straighter panels...when you see the hole truck try and muffle your gasps:eek1: at some of the no-so-straight panels.

In other words these pics are probably making things seem a little nicer than they really are. like when I hold my fish and my deer closer to the camera so they look bigger :rolleyes:

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none too shabby at all. If i took that second pic of my truck... all youd see was a hand in front of a chalk white door.... with no reflection. :doah:
 
Orange peel gets deeper as paint cures...
Not much deeper, but more noticable.

I painted and airbrushed cars/trucks/boats, for many years.
So I'm not just talkin' outta mah patooty. :D

This is looking REALLY good, though!!!!!
Keep it up!

:D

EDIT:

Please forgive my "Rattle-Can" statement.
I made it before reading the HVLP part.
My camo was Rattle-Can [Krylon Fusion.]

But your Red looks NICE!
 
TheBeast_88K5 said:
Orange peel gets deeper as paint cures...
Not much deeper, but more noticable.
Click to expand...

Uh oh! well...it is a wait and see then. All others who've done the rustoleum have had to wet sand quite a bit to get rid of orange peel and then polish to get a nice glass-like look so maybe I'll have no choice.

Well I guess I always have a choice....one downside of the paint looking too nice is it is going to make the factory grey paint on the top half of the truck look worse! So I need the red to look kind of bad...so maybe a little orange peel will be perfect!:haha:
 
honestly, the key element to limiting orange peel,
is a smooth body/primer layer.

You have the wetsand and re-prime the HELL out of old metal.
What you seem to be describing, is wetsanding the paint layer?

Either way, it still looks better than some "Pro" jobs I've seen.....
The term "ambassodr paintjob" comes to mind. :haha:
 
Yes they wet sand the paint layer after it has dried using 600-1000 grit. They do this after each coat which is what makes the roller rustoleum process so labor intesive (although cheap to do materials wise). Then the final layer they wet-sand with 1500 grit and then after allowing a week or so for the paint to really harden, they polish with polishing compound . check out this video of a guy explaining polishing his rustoleum job and showing his work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3M9c6lls_0
 
Worried about your shoddy metalwork? Take your fullsize truck down some "Jeep" trails, liberally brushing trees down each side. Not just the branches which will hide most paint imperfections, but the trees themselves to roll a few long dents and rubs and scrapes down the side. This step is also very liberating for someone who was once into the shiny, polished show car scene (I've been there). If done properly it will just look like an old beat truck but with no rust!:waytogo:
 
Sounds great! This will expose my true identity but I'll share my secret anyway...I get excited when I get to go on a gravel road with my truck!!:rolleyes: Unless I go a few hours north (which at 11mpg is expensive) there aren't any off road areas in southern or even central Wisconsin.

Going down a trail would be unreal.
 
lol, i feel your pain. one of the reasons i love my M1009 so much is its 22mpg on the highway :bow:

Ive even been planning my new drivetrain baised on keeping an 1800rpm highway cruising speed for best economy. gotta love dem dar diesels.

my poor truck has horrible paint, AND hasnt seen an honest to god trail in well over a year. My bent rear bumper is my only badge of courage that shows its seen dirt.
 
Well, here it is. I'm super happy. I was shooting for a 55mph paintjob....but this is good enough I might even look good in a parade! (from the curb at 5mph but no closer or slower!).

I left the green painters tape on the passenger side, becuase I thought a yellow stripe might look nice between the two-tones. when I was "unpackaging" I realized the painters tape looked like a yellow stripe? What do you think?

Now for the longevity test.
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Here is a pic of the reflectiveness, no sandning or polishing yet. It is not mirror finish, but not much different than the factory gloss on the grey. After polishing I think it will actually be glossier than the factory finish....uh oh.
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