Nice job! One small word of warning...other types of paint HATE that stuff. They get along like oil and water. Keep a good coat of wax on it so it doesn't chalk up and fade (especially being red) and it should last for a good while. If you DO repaint it with automotive paint, ALL of that rustoleum MUST come off the car.

Did you thin it and spray it, and if so, did you use acetone to thin it?
I tried to help a friend put a roller job on his 'rat rod' (junkrod) and I got sick and tired of rolling and sanding and rolling and sanding...so I thinned it with acetone and bought a cheap gun from Harbor Freight and shot it in an hour.

Post some details and things for other people to watch out for...OH and drive that thing like you stole it

i hope ur not done...lots of missed spots...looks aight tho for a super el cheapo job

lets see it done and in the sun

cant weight to see you final product since i plan on doing somthing similar im good with rattle cans i might do it that way rustoleum flat black for the summer anyway until i can afford a real paint job lol it might not look it but myns chiped and cracking and realy realy bad

Why would you do something like that? It looks like you took the time to prepare and the car, and then you go and spray can it? Why not spend $150 for a spray guy, and another $80 on base coat from Summit? You will have a much nicer finish.

becuase its got to be thinned and done just right where as this way is much more 4giving also to pay someone in my area to paint a car im looking at 300 or more plus cost of paint

you can get an siphon feed spray gun for under 30 for a harbor freight / northern tool store, and rustoleum in quarts to spray, i have a friend that painted 2 trucks that way and another that has painted a hand full of cars, trailers, trucks, race cars that way to.......they turn out real good for the $50 investment and if you keep an gool wax on them stay looking good, now it no show car paint job or anything but it turns out pretty good

Cmon...it's pretty simple...you can do it yourself. Just follow the directions on the back..some base, some reducer..get a measuring paint bucket..u are set!
In terms of having someone do it for, you don't need to. You are spray paiting the car yourself, so using a paint gun is almost the same thing.
How many cans of spray paint did you have to buy to cover the entire car?

i didnt paint my car yet i said i plan on doing it lol i bought the car this way and idk what they used to paint it but they did a very bad job

How do you make it to make it smooth i painted a hood with some duplicolor spray can for my dad and it came out all rough

that is the first coat and i used mineral spirits to thin it 2:1 ratio. I used a paint spray gun with a compressor that was 60-90 psi. These pics also where taken with a phone because I dont have a high dollar camera. You just have to sand it to smooth it . I used 80grit in a few rough spots then went to 320 grit then to 400. I know some people will take it beyond that and go to 700 grit or even 1000 but I dont believe its necessaryI will post more pics in the next few days. Im doing a few coats a day as I also have to work.
Also I suggest you do 8-10 light coats with 30-45 min between. Thick coats will make runs.

Wait...what? Not necessary? Only up to 1000?

i'll use up to 2000 grit and do a fine water sand..gets it nice and smooth..then put a couple coats of clear and sand it one final time with 2000 grit and your done

yea i didnt mean to knock it or anything Ive felt the differance in 400 and a 1000 and is very little. But if thats what you want to do then more power to you.

1 quart with the 2:1 mixing ratio gave me three coats and thats what Ive done so far.







this is after three coats. I will post new pics when it is complete. I will try to get my brothers good camera instead of my phone when it is complete

Don't forget to clean your gun after every use. That and your fender is misaligned which you probably noticed.

He meant on the primer. I never go above 400 on my primer, but I use sealer and auto paint.


I pooped in my pants when I read the title of this thread.
I wish you well on your el cheapo paint job. Wax it often so not to chalk.
You would have got a glossier finish if you had used Xylol to thin it with.
Wet sand it with 2000, buff it, and good luck. I really hoped that the title said "I am thinking about painting my 91 with rust-oleum" so I could have tried to persuade you to not do that. There is no replacement for auto paint. Just remember that if you get frustrated on how it turns out.

yea its a new one i just slapped it in with a few bolts the day before I started spraying. My other door sags but I have new pins and bushings for it so hopeflly I will get it all lined up soon.

Also the paint is going to have to wait for a day or so. I have no place to paint but in my carport and I had plastic up but the wind is super strong 40+ mph and it rips the plastic off every time.

I have taken this time to sand a few rough spots (orange peel and runs) Hopefully I can get back to it tomorrow.

As long as this paint job will last a good year im fine with it. I was tired of it being so dull and looking rough with all the dents. This is my DD. I wouldnt do this to my other 91 RS as it is the one that kills the punstangs on the weekends.

$150 for a gun? Try $25 for a Wagner Power Painter....$80 for base coat? How about $35 worth of Rust-O-Leum.

Here's my result:



.....and I only wet sanded with 600, then gave it a good buff.

Edit: I almost forgot...it was painted in my gravel driveway under an oak tree.




Looking good Wes, just take your time with it and don't rush it.

Yes Fyrchkn is the person who I origianally got the idea from. I thought his came out nicely and I like the color enough to do it. Only differance in what I did is I got a 15 dollar spray gun and used a air compressor.

Now if I could some how come up with T-Tops LOL.

nice job

Thank you all for the compliments.

These are after the last coat. I will post more up soon with the hood on and plastic off.





Again sorry these are from a phone. Hope to soon get my brother good camera.

the Hood with a few coats

came out good how much did you spend on paint i want to do that too

its lookin good, be nice to see it with the plastic off and the lights and all back in it

I have around 50 bucks total in the paint job. That includes 4 quarts of paint, 1 gal. of mineral spirits, 2 rolls of plastic and a paint gun.



I still need to give her a good buff but That will be in a few days. I want the paint to harden real good.
Also I need to put in hood pins I just dont know where it looks best and once its done there no turning back.
I will try to post a few new pics sometime today.
Also would love to put all red tail light from klearz but for $200 bucks for just the lens IDK.

And this is what happens when you dont put in your hood pins.



Yes im a dumba$$ after all that work and now this. Both sides are like this.
Guess ill try to refiberglass and put pins on all four corners.
PLEASE dont make this mistake. Always install hood pins when dealing with fiberglass.
I was driving 15-20mph when this happend.

Man, that sucks. That's the third trashed SS hood I've seen in the past couple of months. Hood pins are now once again bumped up on the mod list.

another result of forgetting to put in your pins

girlfriend - whats that noise?? and why is the hood shaking...
me - what are you talking about
BOOM!
girlfriend - screams.
me - *%$@!#%%#@!!!!!!!!!!







as you can see it scratched the hell out of my driver side fender to. and please dont comment on the crappy red paint on the hood, my friends thought the rattle can might "blend" and work, but obviously it didnt. so now that the hood is crap im just gonna break down and pull out the wallet and buy a fiberglass hood.






and one last thing, please post pictures of it after you buff it out. it looks better than primer and rust, but it still looks very dull and almost "tacky" so please post pics after its buffed!! i might be doing this to my car.. its not a 2000 dollar paint job but its MUCH nicer than what i got now.

sorry those pics didnt work

Give it a good wet sand with 1000 grit then hit it with a high speed buffer & polishing compound and it will come out looking like this:

u should paint the headlight pockets black

Wouldnt the 1000Grit take off the clear coat and then leave scratches on the paint though

There is no clear coat. This is a single stage enamel. 1000 grit wont leave visible scratches, it will just make the paint look dull/flat and smooths the imperfections in the paint. Then when you buff it with polishing compound it makes it SHINE!

not if you wet sand it really well. and im pretty sure this type of paint there is no clear coat? its a base coat enamel isnt it???

FYRCHKN, I love it when people buck the predominant philosophy and do something like you did. A very respectable looking paint job for the price of a Wagner Power Painter and some Rustoleum? Awesome.

How is the longevity of the shine after being in the weather for a while?

guess my question was already answered lol. sorry frychkn

This thread is great. You guys both did good work for cheap. I have to try it. Did the cost of the paint include primer? I have to admit though that Things seemed so good till I got to the broken hood post. About fell out of my chair at that point. Bad luck man! My dad Painted his stang for $60. Painted it black, and it turned out good too. I want a bolt on glass hood first. Maybe one day. Whats the cheapest way to find a good bolt on glass hood with a 3" cowl?

Man that sucks about your hood. I think the paint job will turn out good. Keep us posted.

well the weather is crappy and I would love to buff it out but hopefully soon the weather will clear and I will be sanding buffing and refiberglassing the hood. Recieved my Quick release hood pins today from summit. So I wont have this problem again.

Fyrchkn your car looks awsome. Cant wait to get mine buffed. Also need to adjust passenger fender and driver door. When I get time.

No that cost did not include primer. I primered it months before. It was about $40 bucks. I used dupicolor filler primer.

Fiberglassing the hood together Should be painted and back on the car Thursday or friday.

you gonna put pins in all 4 corners this time?? thats my plan when i get a fiberglass hood. those things are expensinve.

Lol yes I am. AS stated above I will have them in all four corners. Plus it will make it so much easier to work under the hood. Wont have to worry about it being in the way or busting my head on it.

Good question, is it worth all the effort if it doesn't hold up? I think fyrchkn's car looks amazing in the pics though.

Mine held up great for several months until I decided to do a color change. The only thing is that you really need to wax it around every two weeks to keep it shining at it's best. It wont look bad if you don't, but it will make it look it's best.

My second time around I decided to use Valspar tractor & implement paint from Tractor Supply. At $20/gallon and it has UV protection.

To me it was worth the effort and then some. Heck if I had to id put a fresh coat on once a year. Or do the roll on method to any bad spots. But Fyrchkn has had his over a year and says it still holds a beautiful shine. So im not worried.

I think Fyrchkn is one of the smartest guys who posts on this site. Or at least one of the most knowledgable.

My 89 needs a new paint job real bad. My plan has been break down and get it done professionally, but this thread has made me seriously reconsider. I'll look into it this summer.

Car is looking good - cant wait to see it buffed and done. Bummer about those thrashed hood stories. It makes me less unhappy that I only have a factory hood.

All of you are such great inspiration that I will finally be painting mine with the Sunrise Red this weekend with my new Wagner Spraygun from Lowes. How far are you 2 from San Antonio? That's were I'll be painting it. Hopefully I can get my cousin to take his Stingray Vette out of the garage for the weekend and let me turn it into a paint booth.


Oh, almost forgot to ask: what spray setting should I use?
I have an 89 Camaro Convertible so roof is not a problem.

This is what I'm sstarting with.

The setting would have to be answerd by fyrchkn because I used a gravity feed paint gun.

Im about 3 and a half hours from you and I believe fyrchkn is about 2 hours from you. I live near waco and he is near austin.

Don't you have a spray pattern setting on your spraygun?

Mine has 3: Vertical, Horizontal or Circle.