The paint on the bumpers is holding up great. I don't baby this car at all. When I'm under the hood I lean against the car and usually rest my knees on the nose. It flexes some and there are NO sings of cracking anywhere.

 

That is one sick paint job. And for under 100 dollars. It cant be beat.
Very nice job man.

 

I just read this whole thread and am very impressed. I might have to do that with my Z/28. Its red just like FYRCHKN's is.

 

still looks excellent to me, been checking out prices on primer / paint / clear for a regualr paint job and looks like it will be well over 500$ so getting that enamel paint does sound great.

 

holy crap batman

 

Thinking about doing this to my camaro soon in white(paints flaking). Got a few questions.

1.) Im sanding down to bare metal and doing some body work. What kinda etching primer and 2k(high build) would I want to use? Brands?

2.) I seen you poured out 16oz of paint and then just add in the 16oz of hardener. After I mix this do I have a certain amount of time to spray this paint now that the hardener is mixed in?

3.) Ive got a 60gal compressor, Thats all I got right now, so I need to buy a hose, gun, what kinda filter and things would you recommend to keep water out of the hose and gun? I notice when I use the air hose I get some moisture out of the hose.

 

I sanded mine down to metal too and I used the Valspar tractor primer. I've always read it's best to keep with the same brand primer and paint.

Yes, IIRC the mixing instructions on the can say you have an 8 hour window before it sets up in the can.

I used the cheap red in-line filters from Harbor Freight. They were sold in pairs for around $4-5. It's a really good idea to drain your compressor before you start spraying the paint too. There should be a drain valve on the bottom of the air tank.

 

http://www.tractorsupply.com/agricul...1-gal--3449871

So I would use this primer for when I get to the bare metal, and then reuse this to recoat the car after doing the bodywork and any bondo I lay down?

Also what grits of sand paper did you use throughout painting?
I was thinking:

Strip:
60-80grit and finish off with 180grit(using a Da Sander)
blow off, then wax/oil remover

Lay down primer

Go back through and sand down the bodywork areas.. Do bodywork/ any bondo work.

Then 180grit those areas and re-prime

Lay down a guide coat and go over with a long board(180grit? 320?)

Fix any high/low spots

Re-prime those areas

Sand whole car with (??)grit sand paper? Then oil/wax remover car with tack cloths?

Lay down color

Color sand with 1500- -3000grit paper, then hit with a buffer with a wool pad? Then finish off with a foam pad?




Hows that look? I'am looking for any help I can get. im trying to learn as I go so when I get done with this if i like it i was thinking about going to school for paint & bodywork.

Once again thanks for any help you give me.

 

I repainted my '86 corvette with that same paint. It has held up very well, no cracks in the bumper covers or anything.
I used International-Harvester red & I shot it in May '08. Your
gun skills are better than mine, but mine looks good. Yours
looks very good.

 

Fantasic Job! That looks great.

 

How hard is this paint to sand off when ready for a real paint job

 

I'd say about as hard as a "real paint job". Its real Truck & Tractor paint with a catalyst hardener

 

Ok guys this isint rustolium made for lawn furniture. This paint was designed to be used in some stupidly harsh environments, ran through brush rocks salt and worse elements than 99% of cars will ever see. This is real automotive paint not the super soft powdery rustolium from the gallon at wally world. Even that stuff holds up well for the price and can be made to have a decent finish. but this is automotive grade paint.

I see a car properly prepped painted and polished on a very low budget that rivals many higher priced paint jobs. When it comes time to paint my car i know what im going with.

 

I completely agree TorqueWolf. I consider it real paint. Only diffrence
is available colors. I-H red was exactly the color i wanted, easy to get
and durable. I'll use it again.

 

Man does your paint job look good, I am going with a single stage urethane soon, and I wanted to try the budget paint job but for the single stage its around $73. I actually tried the rustoleum budget method on a old fender and it came out decent, I left it outside without any touch up and after 3 months, it was fading already.

How I wish I would do what you did, the wowing of people around here would be worth it.

 

I guess the same goes for Maaco paint. You get whatever color they bought in the 55 gallon drum and you only get to pick "so do you want red black white or blue? Well i was looking for torch red you know the color fr..OK red it is then! no i want torch red. Right red..... ok fine just use the red"

 

I've wanted to use enamal paint for awile, whats wrong with using duplicolor enamal paint? is it the same as the tractor paint just more expensive?

I thought with the flexing of our cars and the rubber bumpers that enamal paint would crack easily because it dries so hard

 

the only things bad about tractor paint is if you decide to take it back off it gums up your sand paper really bad, and like any single stage it requires a buff and wax once a year, not to mention the orange peel is usually a little worse than with a urethane single stage, or a urethane bc cc. Its a little thicker so you can get by with spraying over 320 scratches without any sanding marks coming through. Ive used implement paint on a couple cars (my 84 k10, and a buddies f150) it come out really good for the money, but it took a little work, work that doesnt have to be done when you use some good urethane single stage. I think you come out cheaper in the long run with the 150 dollar a gallon ppg single stage urethane. if you are good with a spray gun and buy a mixing cup with marks on it and mix it right you dont have to buff it out.

the car looks really good though (the gnats can happen to anybody, ive had a few while in a 60k dollar spray bake booth)

 

Excellent paint job FYRCHKN! You are my inspiration.

Care to link some of those pages? Very interested in seeing them.

 

It's For Sale......PM him for info.

 

that paint looks good but hows it holding up? and is true your selling the car?

 

Start here, he has a few links from there also:
http://www.purplesagetradingpost.com...Pspraygun.html

 

I hope you still read this thread. Is it possible to do this with the Wagner from you previous effort? I have the Wagner and wanted to use the Valspar Low Gloss Black tractor paint for my 87 firebird. Would I use your original 2:1 paint vs mineral spirits? What about priming first? Could you give me a quick recipe for doing the tractor paint with the Wagner? I hope to get a more satin finish.

 

The paint still looks great on the car and the shine is still excellent. I've kind of neglected the car this year and I honestly can't remember when the last time I waxed it was. It sat in my driveway in the elements for around 6 months being coated with tree sap and dust without even being started. I was working LOTS of overtime all summer. When I did finally get around to jumping it off and washing it I found out that my neighbors giant Doberman had been jumping up on the driver door and the deck lid to try to get my cat. So, there are a few big gouges in the paint in a few places.

The car was for sale for a short time but I only posted it on my local thirdgen site as part of a package deal with my 89 and ALL of my spare hard to find and very desirable parts that I've been hoarding over the years. I'm glad nobody jumped on it because I was sacrificing it all for only $5K. I was selling to build up funds for the down payment on a house. It's no longer for sale now and I have a contract on a house now with 3 garages with a total of 7 spaces. This past weekend I blew the intake gasket in the car so it's sitting and waiting for me to close on the new house so I can FINALLY have a garage to put it in so I can tear it down to the unibody for a complete rebuild, at which point I'm planning on a full repaint/color change.

I wont be using this method again when I repaint since I'm going with a metallic...bright purple metallic from the 4th gens to be exact! But, if I was staying with red I would do it again in a heartbeat because the durability and the low maintenance shine is amazing.

For everyone that still harps on the flex agent BS....THERE IS NO NEED FOR IT!!!! Since this car is a 91 it has the long nose on it and whenever I'm tinkering under the hood I'm usually leaned against the nose with my knees with the majority of my weight on it. I have yet to have ANY cracking issues.

For red, black, and white I still HIGHLY recommend this method if you're on a budget and you want a paint that will withstand the elements.

4bblackbird--- Yes, you can use the Wagner with this paint if you want to but, I highly recommend doing it with an HVLP gun/compressor. The Wagner will lay down a good bit of orange peel unless you bump the amount of thinner, in which case you will be more prone to runs in the paint. With the cheap HVLP gun I had very, very little orange peel and IIRC I had the entire car wet sanded completely smooth in just a few hours. For primer I used Rust-o-leum automotive primer in the rattle cans.


Here's a pic from a few weeks ago when I rinsed off the car when I took it in for inspection. This is NOT waxed. This is just what it looked like after I scrubbed the 6 months worth of tree sap/dust mixture off of it about an hour before this pic was taken.

 

The Wagner aspect is a kid project so 2:1 paint vs mineral spirits or use naptha?

 

Dude i have to give it to you, people like YOU are what makes customizing and painting so awesome because you are innovative. You did something for practically nothing and made it look like a $1000+ paint job. I cannot say kudos enough. Hell yes.

 

It depends on how fast you want the paint to flash off. If you're using the Wagner and you have an enclosed place where nobody will touch the car for a couple of hours after you spray then you might want to go with mineral spirits. It will allow the paint to "settle" before it flashes which will result in a little less orange peel. But, it needs to be at least 75* temperature or it could take several days to fully dry to the touch. If you use naptha the paint will dry to the touch much sooner but it will likely have more orange peel because it flashes before the paint gets a chance to settle. If you're going to be spraying under 80* temp I suggest naptha. Just make sure you also mix in the hardener, it makes a huge difference in the finish.

 

Did you do a clear coat?

 

I don't think he did a clear coat he just used valspar primer and valspar paint it's a single stage paint and you don't need a primer. I've been following this thread for a little while now being that I'm on a tight budget and would like to get some paint on my car. FYRCHKN if it's okay with you when I get ready to lay the paint on my car I'm going to have a few questions being this will be my first paint job. I already have a 22 gallon compressor and a harbor freight hvlp gun. I'm going to be taking the whole front clip of the car off to take care of any rust and removing rocker's, hatch, and doors. I have to replace the windshield and the window sweep's also. This thread has definitely inspired me to finish my car.

 

Kolby-- No, I didn't use any clear coat at all. I just painted with single stage enamel paint (with hardener mixed in), then wet sanded, and buffed out to a shine. It's VERY important to add the hardener. I used DOUBLE the manufacturer's recommended amount.

firebird904--- If you have any questions that I haven't already covered in this thread then ask away. I'll answer any you have as best that I can.

 

Where did you get the paint from? Was it a chain or local? Thanks.

 

From what I've read you can pick it up at any tractor supply I was just looking into this the other day and there's one just 15 minutes from my house I cant wait to get some paint on my car anything will be better than this.

 

Tractor & Implement Enamel

Colors:

• Allis Chalmers Orange
• Equipment Yellow
• Ford Blue
• Ford Gray
• Ford Red
• Gloss Black
• Gloss White
• International Harvester Red
• International Harvester White
• John Deere Green
• John Deere Antique Green
• John Deere Yellow
• Kubota Orange
• Low Gloss Black
• Massey Ferguson Gray
• Massey Ferguson Red
• New Holland Red
• New Holland Yellow
• Oliver Green
• Transport Yellow

Available in quarts, gallons and sprays.

 

I love the way that paint has endured! Kudos!

This should be pointed out: If you buy the paint in white, you can have almost any color you want, custom mixed by your local auto paint supply store! They will charge you for it of course, but almost any Non-metallic color is attainable... Like, oh say... C-5 corvette yellow...

 

Most ace hardware and even the big box stores can mix custom colors using white rustolium as a base... you just have to know who to ask there. It may not turn out _exactly_ right as using the correct base, but it will work just like tinting any other oil based paint.

 

@FYRCHKN
HOLY S***! I paint cars for a living, and havent seen that smooth of a paintjob... EVER! especially since it isnt an automotive paint... but holy crap that is nice!

 

Thanks! You're probably going to see another one just like it in a month or two. I just picked up an 88 RS vert today that needs a new coat of paint. But now, I have a garage to work in.

 

Amazing, you have inspired quite a bit of people, including myself. I've been thinking of painting mine myself. Did the rattle can thing over a year ago and it's fading and looks bad. I want gunmetal grey.. but it is a metallic.. will have to do more research. Maybe I can find a urethane in metallic? I'm a noob, but I've got an 'ole man that's pretty clever with a bigass air compressor and a few guns.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, please save your money and and spend it on the correct product for the correct application.

 

As anyone who works on cars will tell you, there's a "right" way to do it, then there's the smart way to do it. If you can use tractor paint and und up with an amazing paint job, who's to say it was done wrong?

 

The "right" way is the smart way. The term "amazing" is a matter of perspective.

 

How can you argue with the obviusly good results that came from painting it this way? I've seen people spend alot more (Maaco) and end up with something that doesn't look this good...

 

I was told about how to do this a year ago using paint from the local farming and auto store and that if I wanted to get a sparkle in it just add some glitter with a metal ball out of a rattle can and shake it every so often to avoid build up then clean the gun thoroughly once done, I saw the result and its pretty amazing after some clear coats.

 

"Correct" is a matter of perspective also. The reality is that the vast majority of our cars will never be worth a great deal of money. Why spend several thousands of dollars to paint a car that's only going to be worth around $3500 on average? The production numbers on our cars were very high and 90% of them were/are ragged out when we got/get them. The things that I love about thirdgens is that they're so plentiful, inexpensive, and relatively easy to find parts for. Toss modification in the mix and the possibilities are endless. Basically, if you have a common base model that was a POS when you acquired it what's wrong with spraying a budget paint job on it if you can get incredible results? Especially when the type of paint used is one that is designed to withstand the elements. So I say to you sir, you can reach deep into your pockets and pay someone else to spray a $5,000 coat of paint on your car, I'll spray mine for less than $100. We can park them both side by side and let the judges look them over closely. Then, let them both sit outside for a couple of years in the elements. I'll buff mine back out to a mirror finish again while you call around to get a new coat shot on when your clear coat has started flaking/pealing off.



And yes, the vert that I've recently acquired will get the same paint treatment.

 

Ask 100 autobody professionals and you'll get your perspective for correct, but I'm guessing you already know that. If not, then I sincerely apologize.

Opinion and speculative. This is a perfect example of why third gens are tagged with the stigma they have. Treat them without respect and the stigma will continue.

Budget refinishes are fine, great actually, if done correctly. "Correct" doesn't need to cost $5k. Again, I'm guessing you know that.

Valspar also makes an oil based barn paint that is designed to withstand the elements. Why didn't you use that, or is that "crazy"? I suppose I should be happy you catalyzed it. Perhaps I'm being a bit too pedantic.

I figure I'll have less than $600 in supplies to spray my car...correctly. If I choose to do a single stage, then I'd have around $350 in it.

I'm guessing Massey-Fergusson red isn't a direct match for the original color of the car, so the minute the "judges" open the door or deck, they'll be taking points off. Again, cutting corners to save a buck when in reality, especially when doing it yourself, spraying the deck, jambs, and under the hood isn't that much more work.

This is from somebody that had to strip the original budget Rustoleum refinish because it wasn't holding up. I'm also guessing(I do that a lot) that the vehicle wasn't stripped to the metal before the Valspar paint was applied. That means the new surface wasn't prepped properly for the new refinish. I'm hoping I'm wrong. I'm guessing(there I go again) that if you would've done it correctly the first time without a grandiose attempt at cutting corners, that you would've had the same amount of money in it as your two attempts at a "budget" refinish.


The stigma continues.


Please understand this is just my opinion, I am by no means an authority. I've been restoring cars for a long time, sometimes for necessity, sometimes for fun and it pains me to see folks cutting corners to save very little money. I hold F-bodies in high regard and I like to see them treated as such. /soapbox

 

 

Yea, ok. It needed to be said.

 

Look dude, I'm not here to get into a p1$$ing match with someone who thinks they're so much smarter than everyone else. I merely shared my experience with my budget paint job on this forum. If you can (or think you can) do better then start your own thread. Show me up! Otherwise you can just remain in the ranks of the nay-sayers that always want to talk trash about someone that accomplished something by other means than the set in stone traditional methods.

Yes, I DID strip the car down to bare metal before laying this paint, and I painted door jambs, under hood, etc...

If what I did was so "wrong" then why did I end up with such spectacular results? Why did the guy who owns the local restoration shop which builds $100K+ classics call me a g*d d@mn liar when I told him I sprayed the car in my gravel driveway under an oak tree with tractor paint from a cheap harbor freight gun? Why years later is it still looking amazing sitting out in the 100*+ Texas sun?

What I'm basically saying here bud is put up or shut up. Let's see what you can do. Hide behind your keyboard like usual and critique everyone else's work with no results of your own to show.

My proof is here for everyone to see......Where's yours?

 

Calm down. I never said you were wrong and never questioned your ability....just your process and materials. Again, "spectacular" is a matter of perspective. As far as posting up pics, that's an infantile evasion. I don't intend to belabor the point any further. I will say it looks pretty good for being sprayed outside.

 

The entire point of this thread is to show what can be achieved through a different process with different materials....or did you not take the time to comprehend that while you scoured the dictionary and thesaurus to find "big words" to toss out at me?

As far as cutting corners goes, I'm not one to do that. Quit "guessing"...Do a search on ALL of my threads. READ through them. I'm sure you'll learn something no matter how smart you think you are.