Automotive paint is formulated to flash quick for production work in an auto body shop..for this use an industrial enamel that will flow..the technique is called rolling and tipping..roll on the material and then brush it..the brushes are spendy as you need a high quality bristle brush for this in several sizes. Pre WWII a lot of high dollar cars were brushed rather than sprayed..You may need to reduce your paint about 5% to get it to flow out nicely..

Sam

 

..for this use an industrial enamel that will flow..

Thank for the fast reply, Sam. Any particular brand and line of Industrial Enamel that might work well and be affordable? Quart sizes, and easy to get more of same in the future would be a plus.

I think I read somewhere that Enamels are not as durable and / or UV resistant as the newer Urethane type.

I suppose you are saying that a person with a brush or roller can't get a coat of auto Urethane on before it is dry, thus resulting in a mess.

Ben

 

I would use the paint from an impliment dealership. If you want blue, go to new holland, red, go to Case/ International, green or yellow, go to JD, New Holland will most likely sell a gloss black as that is there secondary color.

 

The technique is called rolling and tipping..roll on the material and then brush it..the brushes are spendy as you need a high quality bristle brush for this in several sizes. Pre WWII a lot of high dollar cars were brushed rather than sprayed..You may need to reduce your paint about 5% to get it to flow out nicely..

Sam

I believe it's also referred to as "Coach Painting" The Brits utilized this method extensively in the early 20th century.

 

Still a popular technique with the wooden boat crowd I believe.

 

When I was a kid in the early 60's, I worked in an automotive store where the main line was Quaker State motor oil, but they also had a line of DuPont paint. I got to mix all the colors as they were ordered by the local shops and can remember fondly the deep, smooth finish that Dulux alkyd resin enamel would produce. Now, I read that they don't even manufacture it any longer. You could put it on with a brush and it took so long to dry that the paint would flow out and give you a beautiful finish. And there were no hazardous chemicals involved. Just Dulux and a brush. I really miss those days.

 

Sikkens SuperGloss yacht paint looks to be somewhat the same product as the Dulux was back in the day....
http://www.sikkensyachtpaint.com/english/product_guide/default.asp?page=&id=64
Brushable and has UV protection. Available in 16 colors. I suppose you could mix your own color.

 

A friend of mine in Alaska rolled his Camaro with paint he bought from Lowes, and it came out amazing for what it was. Search YouTube for roller car paint or something similar. I'm not saying I'd ever do it, but for what you seem to be willing to accept, try it.

 

brushed paint.

My mom had a friend whose husband painted his 49 chevy (50 years ago) with a brush. IT LOOKED GOOD. He said he painted it in the shade so the metal wouldn't get too hot to allow flow out. and he used a good fine bristle paint brush. My brother used to work in the Ford tractor parts dist center and he gave me a lot of damaged cans of tractor paint. , Red blue, gray, yellow and a terible mustard color. we painted tractors trailers equipment etc and my son painted a VW van. he used the gray for a first coat then a $ 10 gallon of mis match color from a local auto body-paint supply shop in town. My son was taking an auto body-paint class at the college and a local body shop got a fire department warning for having too much left over paint that was not stored in fire proof cabinets. The students got a lot of paint to use free.

 

I am thinking of foam brushing or foam roller. I considered buying a cheap HVLP spay gun (I have an old 1.5HP Craftsman compressor that might work) but I don't really like the additional safety risk involved with spraying, since this is just a basic transportation car and I think I can do fairly well with a brush or roller. It will look better for sure than it does now. With a brush/roller, I figure I can get away with just a respirator (I have a good one) rather than the full-face respirator and full-body suit that would be otherwise required.

Full-face respirators and body suits are necessary for the pro's doing this for hours every day, but every home hobbyist in America only uses a good 3M half face respirator, just like the one you have and it's ok. You're only spraying a roof. A Tyvek white suit can be attained relatively inexpensively at Lowe's, Home Depot, your auto parts store, etc.

When I was taking a college course to learn painting we only used half face respirators and a white suit.

 

Maybe Rustoleum Isn't so Bad

Well, I was in Lowes yesterday and thought I might as well pick up whatever the best they had in stock might be. It seems that the Rustoleum "Professional High Performance Protective Enamel" is the best they offer. I bought a quart of gloss black and also a quart of the "Professional High Performance Clean Metal Primer."

http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=130

and

http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=158

respectively.

Reading online, aside from the usual, "gosh, Rustoleum can't be anything like a true auto paint" from the pros, there are a few guys really satisfied with it, like this guy who painted some metal diamond plate tread and toolboxes with it, says, "For painting bumpers, sliders, skids, etc., I’ve used everything from high quality DuPont auto paints to rattle can RustOleum. I’ve settled on Rust-Oleum Professional High Performance Protective Enamel in flat black; the durability, finish and color retention were the best PERIOD."

Quote from:

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/52913-Painting-Diamond-plate/page2

And, "It is called "Rustoleum Professional High Performance Protective Enamel". Forget about the term "enamel". It's just paint. The best paint. Period. I'm sure there's some technical reason or chemical make-up that seperates an enamel from regular paint, but frankly, I just don't care. All I know is that this suff is awesome, is inexpensive, and I'll use it every chance I get."

from http://www.cornholegameplayers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2442

These seem like pretty good testimonials to me. The only thing that I worry about is it being a waste of my effort if the primer starts coming through again in a year or so. I'd like the roof to last longer than that (4 years maybe.). Again, the car is outdoors 24/7 and summer sun is harsh.

It's not too late to return the Rustoleum product and get something else if it really is a bad choice for an older 'driver.'

For example, West Marine has a product called INTERLUX Brightside One-Part Polyurethane Paint with Teflon that is more expensive than the Rustoleum professional. The reviews on their website indicate it is a very good paint. Just a thought, based on the recommendation above for yacht paint.

Thanks again for the responses.

 

rustoleum is pretty cool, and it gloss's up super easy. But also it is alky'd enamel and it has no UV inhibitors..

As far as good marine enamel, I have rolled and brushed a lot of Passonno marine enamel. It flows good and is easy to work with. But it is a local company, I do not know if it is available outside of NY

http://www.passonnopaints.com/

 

Why not just get some cheap automotive paint and an inexpensive HVLP? It's only a little over $100 for single stage color, activator and reducer. HVLP gun from is $40. Borrow an air compressor from someone and shoot it in the garage with the door wide open, under a car port, or outside. Use a 3M half mask, $25. It'll last longer than the rustoleum.

Here is what I used. Choose a color.

http://www.summitracing.com/search/...roduct-Line/Summit-Racing-Equipment-Acrylic-Urethane-Paint-Combos/?autoview=SKU


Paint gun I used.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/TTN-19000/


See my album, top right.

You also might want to look into Dupli-Colors Paint Shop line of paint. $20 a quart. If the car isn't too big, you could probably get away with using two quarts.

http://www.summitracing.com/search/...nd/Dupli-Color/Product-Line/Dupli-Color-Paint-Shop-Finish-Systems/?autoview=SKU

 

Being as how the OP isn't too particular, what would happen besides a huge mess, by using an airless sprayer like those $80 Wagners? Are there any tip sizes compatible w/automotive paint?

 

You could thin down some rustoleum with mineral spirits. I think you can use a brush to apply the Duply-Color Paint Shop stuff. Cant put anything too chemically hot in the Wagner as its mostly plastic. Also, it doesnt atomize paint well so stay down wind of your neighbors new white house LOL

 

Yeah, that's why I've stayed the hell away from paint and body all these years- and sounds like that's a good thing! lol

 

Interlux Brightside

INTERLUX Brightside One-Part Polyurethane Paint

I've used this on boats. Good stuff, holds up well.

First post in 2 or 3 years. Sold boat and motorcycle, getting back to cars I think. Hello to you familiar folks.

 

I've used this on boats. Good stuff, holds up well.

Thanks for mentioning your experience!

I figured it would be very rugged, I'm just debating if the Brightside is worth the cost difference vs. Rustoleum Professional Enamel mentioned above. $9 vs. $40 per quart. The matching Interlux pre-kote primer is also higher, $9 vs. $33.

To the thread generally, I'm still leaning toward the foam brush or roller as it should be 'good enough' for this car, rather than using any kind of spray system (well within my skill level, but I don't have a booth, my compressor may be too small, I like not having to paper everything, and don't want to wear a moon suit.)

Another option is to mix a bit of acrylic enamel hardener into the Rusto and use mostly auto paint reducer to thin it instead of mineral spirits as this fellow did (the thread is one big rave for the method): http://rolledon.forummotion.com/t367-rustoleum-advice

 

the difference on the brightside is that you may only have to have 2 coats instead of 6+ with the rustoleum. the best thread to read is that massive one on the mopar board. Go to the tech article wiki article on cheap paint jobs and there is a link.

 

Brightside

I went to West Marine today and picked up the Interlux Brightside. I am going to brush it right on the sanded OEM finish. No primer. It seems that a lot of people don't bother with primer (except in areas of body work) and have good results. I will probably thin 10% or so with odorless mineral spirits which ran me about $5 instead of $23 for the recommended #333 Interlux thinner. I have read that mineral spirits will work OK.

 

Bentech, if you're going to brush, I suggest using a high quality
boar or horse hair brush rather than a nylon one. The animal hair
brush will spread the paint with a minimum of brush strokes
showing compared to the nylon.

Also do it when it's as cool as possible, and having high humidity helps.
Brush it from front to back, not side to side, keeping a wet edge on the
area you're working. If you're rolling, use the roller to spread the paint
from front to back, and the brush to 'tip' the bubbles out. Read up on
'roll and tipping' to get an idea of the process.

Good choice on the marine paint. It's designed to be applied by brush
and roller in addition to spraying. It also drys slower than automotive
paint which helps in keeping a wet edge.

Good luck; let us know how it turns out....

 

I have dry sanded the roof with 320 then 600 grit.

Tomorrow, as early as possible to avoid condensation while drying, I will put on the first thin coat of Brightside reduced 10 or 20 percent with MS. (People using Brightside for auto application have indicated anywhere from 5 to 50 percent thinning, so it is a bit unclear what the 'ideal' ratio is. Guessing somewhere between 10 to 20.)

I'm going to just use a foam brush as that is what I am familiar with, and have done a good job with in the past (putting urethane clear on furniture I made - turned out very smooth). Worst case I have to sand out some brush marks and go with the roller. I think it will be fine though.

 

Got the first coat of Brightside on the roof. Turned out OK considering I did everything wrong.

-First, I got a late start, and it was a scorcher, and the car was in the sun so the roof had to be 120 degrees F or more. Burns to the touch. This is at 10 AM or so. The coat was all done before noon. Of course, this caused the paint to dry within minutes. Heck, the solvant was smoking off of there immediately upon application! I chose that spot because there was no tree foliage overhead to avoid as much debris dropping into the paint. Catch 22.

-Dry climate

-Painting outdoors so small debris settled into the wet paint (trees and vegetation everywhere plus slight breeze to encourage them).

-I started in the middle of the roof. I alternated sides as I went. That means I had a dry row of paint when I went back to add to the other side. This really drove home the message to start on one side of the roof and work toward the other side. That way, streaks where the dry meets wet should be avoided. Of course, the optional Honda sunroof complicates matters.

-Paint mix was unscientific. 10 tablespoons paint, approximately 1.5 tablespoons MS. I think it may have been OK though, as it ran to the other edge of the brush fairly quickly. Any thinner and it might have ran when applied. The finished coat was very opaque though. I was trying to brush it out as much as I could.

To sum up, brush strokes are quite visible. I plan to wet sand with 600 or 1000 thoroughly tomorrow. I may consider trying my hand with a roller, but, frankly, for the level of perfection I'll be satisfied with, the foam brushes might be adequate if I start from one edge and work toward the other, avoiding any dry edge overlapping (yes, a previous poster told me to watch out for this but now I really know what he meant). Plus, the roller won't manuver around that sunroof, or around the corners of the roof (they are curved downward into a corner, only a brush edge can get in there) so I will have to use a brush anyway to feather paint into the rolled areas which might just be a mess.

 

I aggressively wet sanded the roof down today with 600 grit. I was unable to remove all of the brush strokes and dry edge 'ugly' areas in the first coat (within a reasonable time at least), but I did flatten things a bit. I figured I could always sand more later, so I went ahead with coat #2 after washing the car, rubbing the roof down well with MS and re-masking the sunroof.

It was much cooler out today, plus I did the painting in the shade, under a tree this time.

I worked from the right side of the car to the left, trying to maintain a wet edge. The sunroof certainly made this harder.

Bottom line, no difference in level of perfection between yesterday's mistakes and today's attempt. The quality of the coat is about the same overall.

Still might try the roller. I did buy some.

I may also try a thinner mix.

Certain persons in the household are telling me it looks great and to quit. But I think two coats are too few anyway. On the Brightside can, it says at least two coats. The coverage is fine with just the two, can't see the old bodywork at all.

Some things to think about.

 

Still might try the roller. I did buy some.

Ayuh,.... Read This,...

And, and this follow up....