roundabout--i thought about this as well. may be a good way to speed things up a bit. i think the problem some of the guys were having were they were expecting it to take a long time and they were taking their time and having issues. if you knew it would dry quickly and were prepared for it, i dont really think itd be an issue. ill be going with brightside, i havent decided if ill either go with no MS, or 10% MS.

paradox-- it sounds to me like youre just lazy so why dont you send me all your supplies what color did you choose?

 

Hey guys, sorry I haven't responded in a couple days here, schoolwork is starting to get really hard as the term ends. Here's some pics of the reflections, in general WHITE is the easiest color/tone to pull off, and the darker/glossier the paint gets, the more frustrating it is for perfectionists:





As for the color of my hand, I'm not a diabetic, just used photoshop so that the reflection can be more clearly seen!

In general, the car looks awesome from distances down to 3 feet away, ie, just about to touch the car. I must admit that I did not spend as much time building up the final coat as I should have, and only went up to about 1000 grit sandpaper. Notice also that the white sorta looks better, but believe it or not I didn't do a proper 1000 grit sand on the white, just light touch up on some spots.

Regarding the boat paint, I've got zero experience with it, but if its designed for metal hulls (not fiberglass), then it should work just fine. The only thing you should check out if you're thinking of different brands of paints is whether or not you will get any sort of chemical reaction with other materials you use. For example, I was a complete tard and tried to wash the car with citra-solve (an orange-based multi-purpose cleaner) and ended up with a foggy coat that I had to sand down. Just test anything your not sure about on a part that won't be too visible, such as doorjambs or bottom pieces.

I actually started this paintjob around Christmas break (2006), but I had similar laziness on a couple weekends and really bad weather on others, which is what took me forever.

If you're worried about doing this in the open, just put down thicker coats and sand them down farther for each step. I had perpetual hairs getting into the paint thanks to a dog and 2 cats, but these managed to all but disappear by the final coat.

As far as using more coats that are thinner (from adding mineral spirits), you can do this as well with better results, but the foamy nature of the roller brush means that you'll end up spending much more time sanding between each step. If you want to do this much quicker, I'd suggest using a water-consistency paint/mineral spirits mixture and using some sort of spray gun. The spray gun can produce a much finer application of paint, which means that you can put down multiple coats before the "orange peel" or ripple effect starts to appear. I'd estimate it'd only take maybe 2-3 days with a spray gun to get what I have... maybe much better than me if you use 2000 grit sandpaper.

Oh, one last thing, take your time with your emblems, or you'll be gluing them back on!

 

that came out beautiful. i may have to try it. it would save me a ton of money

 

Some other things that may inspire your confidence if you're borderline about trying this paintjob:

-I've never painted anything in my life.
-I undertook this without consulting anyone else about whether I was doing things the "right" way.
-My work area was far from ideal, with animal hair and bugs getting into each coat. The only thing it really did was prevent the car from getting rained on.
-I put on several of the base coats at about 37 degrees Fahrenheit, despite the recommended temperature of between 50 and 90 degrees.
-Screwed up on the final coat, had to sand it down but did not build it back up as I should have.

All in all, I doubt that anything can really go wrong using this technique. Worst case scenario, you have to sand it down and try again, which might take more time.

 

New copy of Hot Rod has an article about the same type of paint job. Looks very good!!!!!!

 

wow. Great writeup. +1 for archive. Great looking SA.

 

1) how well does this work for oh say, black?
2) how long with this paint job last?
3) can you wax it? or is there any other "longevtivity" ideas?

 

To answer Low Impendance's questions:

1.) As you can see from the pictures, black works just fine. Because it is so dark, you don't need as many coats before you hide the primer/original color of the car. The only issues I had involved my lack of proper bodywork before doing this paintjob. The glossy black tends to "catch" light wherever the surface is curved, which makes dents and bumps stick out. As long as you are careful and sand with high grit paper, I think any color will turn out great.

2.) I haven't had enough time to properly answer the question of longevity. All I can offer is my subjective experience, which points to the paint being very durable. This is the same stuff they use on guard-rails and heavy machinery, to give you some perspective.

3.) Yes, you can wax, in fact that's one of the final steps I wrote about. I personally used a Turtle Buffing compound with a random orbital buffer, before applying a layer of Turtle Waxing compound.

Hope that helps!

 

if you read in the longass thread on teh mopar site the gou who originated this whole internet thing drives a charger. he painted it many years ago. he has painted many cars with this method. he even states he painted a VW bug and 6 years later had to change a fender. he said when he painted the new fender the color matched PERFECTLY. he said hed pay anyone $100 if they could tell him which fender it was. he also said he had a gas hose go wild on him in the middle of a very hot summer day and spray paint all over the bug. he said it did zero damage to the paint.

 

i read the same thread and it was good but honestly if you act quickly their is a great writeup in hotrod mag. tells you step by step how to do it

 

i didnt read all of this, but do you plan on painting the bumpers where it still blue? looks pretty amazing other than that.

 

Looks sweet. I just picked up my first FB in over 10yrs. Next winter, I'm going to put my car back to the old color. CJ

 

Can someone post the article from Hotrod Mag?

 

i may have decided on a color, interlux brightside ocean blue. this isnt 100% yet, but damn close. here are the only examples i can find of this color other than small bits on a boat.

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/baers5@verizon.net/

i think only two pics show the ocean blue. the ones labeled old blue. the owner of the truck showed me this.

what do you guys think? think itll look good on my tender blue 85?

i hope to start the prep work this week. im supposed to have surgery monday thatll put me out for a couple months. i have to have it prepped and ready to paint when i can get back on my feet. that way shell be painted before i go to college. i have some work i need to do on teh replacement fender i bought. it has rust the seller neglected to tell me about.

 

ditto, I was wondering how you were planning to set about painting the bumpers...

 

i would post the hotrod mag but fear copyright problems? it would be polite to buy it and support them for doing a good article.

 

post it. its not going to violate any copywrite laws. plus, i dont think any of us are going to tell on you

itll be good material for when this is archieved

 

That's a good question... right now I'm currently strapped for time due to it being dead week and finals are coming up, but I was going to try thinning the paint more and using a typical spray gun that my friend has. However, if you guys want, I could paint them with the roll-on technique and maybe get a YouTube video going, or lots of pictures? Give me your feedback on this, either way it would be a week or two before I finished.

If you guys want some video action, please tell me which steps you would like in more detail, and any specific shots that would motivate you to try this stuff out. Unfortunately I probably won't be using the boat paint or "pure" mineral spirits, because I still have some Rustoleum and odorless mineral spirits left over. Other than that, give me your comments!

 

Im trying this as we speak.. When im done ill post some pictures if it doesn't turn out to bad. haha

 

this has me really interested, im thinkin about doing this to my drift car, it will be alot cheaper. i just dont know how it is going to adhere to fiberglass. but very nice work man

 

the guy who started the thread on the mopar forum has it on fiberglass fenders. theyve been on there for years with 0 problems.

 

Do you think I could use the same paint in a gun? And should I add mineral spirits?

 

yes


IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED IN DOING THIS< ITS VERY WISE TO ATLEAST BROWSE THE THREAD ON THE MOPAR FORUM

 

A+++++++.........definetly should become archive!

 

it will be a few weeks before i can start working on my car. i had surgery and i cant move very well. i cant lift anything. i sure as hell cant sand the car. i hope to have the car completed by the end of july. im not working again till august due to the surgery restrictions so i have a alot of free time on my hands. i have my color chosen. all i have to do now is get supplies and wait till im physically able to do it.