Some of you probably remember my original budget paint job thread that centered around using Rust-O-leum. While that produced a decent paint job at a very affordable price, the upkeep on said paint job was quite a bit of work. It required nearly weekly waxing to keep it from dulling. So, I decided to strip all of the Rustoleum off and start over again with a better paint that I know for a fact can withstand the extreme sun in Central Texas.

The paint that I used this time is Valspar Tractor & Implement paint. I've used it many times in the past on various horse & cattle trailers and it holds up great. The best part is that it's only $29.99/gallon. Of course there are added expenses such as thinner and hardener. It suggests using naptha as a thinner for spraying, and it works great.

Here is what I used:




Paint material costs:

1 gallon Valspar Massey Ferguson Red - $29.99
1 gallon Naptha ---------------------- $13.99
2 8oz cans of hardener--------------- $12.99 (X2)
-----------------------------------------------
Total cost for just paint supplies-------$69.96

This does NOT include all the sand paper, masking tape, etc.. that goes into a paint job.

I disregarded the mixing instructions on the paint. I poured 16oz of paint out of the can and mixed in both cans of hardener (The paint calls for only 1). Then I used a 2:1 mixture of paint to naptha.

After all the prep work was done I sprayed the paint with the $12 purple HVLP gun from Harbor Freight. My compressor is a 25 gallon Craftsman.

Once again I sprayed the paint in my gravel driveway under the oak trees. I stretched a tarp out over the hood of the car to minimize any sap that might fall on the fresh paint. I applied 8 light coats with about 10-15 minutes between coats. The air temperature was around 100* +/-.

Here is right after the last coat:

 

Doesn't look too bad at all from the pics. How does it look up close...in direct sunlight? I think Ill be using the "paint it outside method" too as last time I rented a booth the jackass hadn't maintained his downdraft booth filters and I got filter garbage all over the paint. Would have been better off outside :-(

 

The paint was dry to the touch about 4 hours after the last coat was sprayed.

I waited a couple of days and then the wet sanding began. Since there was very, very little orange peel I started with 1000 grit and then went over it again with 1500 grit.

Polishing:

I used the $30 high speed buffer from Harbor Freight with a wool pad and Meguires Ultimate compound. Then I switched over to a foam pad and went over the whole car until it was buffed out to a mirror shine.



Driver door:



Passenger door:

 

More pics:

 

Looks sick, what type of sprayer do you use? What is your air compressors specs?

 

Here is the "finished" product. These pics were taken today. The direct sunlight makes it look lighter then it actually is.

 

Close up:

 

Polished tail lights:

 

I have few gnats here and there that will be forever immortalized in mine, but you'd never see them if I didn't point them out to you from 3-4" from the surface. Actually, it's just their legs (which are tiny). I went around and around the car after every coat with a pair of tweezers picking them out but a few legs got stuck in the paint. Just make sure you wet the ground real good to keep the dust down.

 

Nice! Paint job turned out great! Good job on the work. Wanna paint mine next? Lol

 

i'll be over in a few days for my car.

 

One thing I just noticed though is that paint is enamel. I'm sure you know this, but others may be interested to know that enamels dry very hard...like a rock hard shell once cured. Which is fine, but if you do get any kind of orange peel or need to sand down high spots/runs at all, it will be much more difficult than on a urethane one. So just make sure you take your time and minimize runs/orange peeling if using an enamel is all I'm getting at here. It came out very well though...just happened to notice the enamel label and thought it might be a good idea to mention.

 

WOW. less than 70 bucks for a paint job like that. Very nice!

 

That's exactly why I used it. I used this same paint last November when I changed my car to white. I came out after work and there was a line all the way down the side that looked a little discolored. It definitely looked as though someone had keyed it. I took it home and hit it with the buffer, scratch gone!

 

I comend your efforts. Painting it out side must have been a pain, how did you ever keep the dust down? I know of people who have painted their cars with Rustolem and tractor paint and none of them have came out as nice as yours. It has a mirror smooth finish, it is just awesome that you did it for $70.

 

Nice job. My rustoleum paint is flaking off. I took it to the car wash and it peeled back some of the paint so im just going to sand it down a keep it primer till i can get some good paint. It looks alot better than the rustoleum.

 

Thats the best looking cheap paint job i have ever seen.Hats Off!! Laying down the paint right and wetsand and polish skills really look great.

 

Awesome paintjob my only question is what prep work did you do for the paint did you sand the car then primer it or did you just sand it and then paint?

 

I stripped it down to bare metal because I had multiple layers of paint on it. It had the factory paint under the Rust-o-leum under a white coat of this same tractor paint. I used a twisted wire wheel on my angle grinder to strip the entire car down to bare metal.

I used the Valspar tractor primer in the rattle can and wet sanded with 400 grit. After I wiped it down with a rag and acetone I was ready to lay the paint. You can spray it over factory paint, I just had way too many coats of paint on the car.

 

dude you keep on doing the coolest stuff!!! i wish u were my neighbor or something lol

 

real nice man, I just hope when i do my paint job that it comes out half as nice as yours.

 

Once again, you did a Awesome job!! Hats off bro.

 

Shame on you!

Car was down for all that time & you didn't lower it, while it wasn't being driven?!?!

Paint looks great though!

 

You know I can't lower it where I live...I really wish I could, but I already drag the exhaust on the cattle guard.

 

Here's a pic I snapped this evening that really shows off the shine.

 

paint looks great, if i can find an air compressor might be a good project for next summer as my paint is fading again

 

Great paint job.

 

Thats awesome, I was a big fan of your rustoleum paint job but this is even better. How do you get the windows covered up so well, and how do you go about painting the T top bar?

 

Very nice. Im lookin to paint my IROC. Only thing i thought about this is that you sprayed the car on the ground, so when you walk or anything like that, dust gets kicked up onto the paint, watd you do to avoid this?
The 88 IROC

 

Thanks! I took ALL of the weatherstripping off of the car and also removed the T-top bar. Then I just masked off the windows normally.

I sprayed it in my gravel/sand driveway. I SOAKED the ground all around the car with the water hose. I wet it down in about 20-30 feet diameter around the whole car. It's not dust you have to worry about, it's the mosquitoes and the gnats. But, all of it will wet sand out pretty easily. Just make sure you have a pair of tweezers handy to pick off a bug if it lands in your wet paint.

 

Dang, that paint job is sweet. Think I will have to do this to mine.....Might have to ask you some questions when I get closer to doing it if that is ok.

Dave

 

It looks great ! I wonder how it will hold up in time though.

 

Do you think this solution could be rolled in a hard to get place or 2?

 

It's tractor paint; IMO if he keeps it waxed, [i.e. protected], it should last "until the cows come home," - pardon the pun. I don't recall seeing many farmers giving the weekly / bi weekly wax job to their combines if you know what I mean. That paint on a properly prepped metal surface is intended to last and shine - with the occasional high pressure power wash - for years to come... no doubt!

 

I'm sure it could, but why wouldn't you just spray it?

It' holds up great. I've used this stuff for years on my horse/cattle trailers that sit out in the weather all year and they still look great after several years....and those don't get waxed.

 

i had to roll on paint on my camaro because didn't have an air compressor and was painting it in apartment parking lot, but i think this paint will be very hard to use using rollers compared to rustolium.

 

Looks great! If there is any doubt. This what 6 years of valspar enamel looks like still wins trophies painted in garage

 

The paint has rolling instructions on the can. The only difference from spraying is it says to use mineral spirits when rolling and naptha when spraying.

 

Enamel can look good, so can urethanes as well. We painted cars for decades with those two products.

However, that said, we have moved onto base/clear for a reason.

Below is a pic of my car after using a urethane single stage, with a clear coat on top.





What did I do? Machine sanded the car with 180grit, followed by wetsanding with 400.

Really helped out the paint where it was.

This is what it looked like before.

 

car looks awesome so what made you go from red to white then back to red?

 

Fyrechkn's car was red, mine was white.

Sorry for the confusion.

 

Sounds pretty good then, I'm gonna have to try that. I guess metallics don't exist on that kind of paint ?

 

Looks good, but doesn't the front and rear bumpers need a flex agent added to the paint because those parts are flexable urethane?

I would be worried about it spider-cracking over time....

 

Thanks! I painted it white because I was using it as a daily driver and I was getting way too much heat from the local pistol packing tax collectors. After I repainted it red the first time I got pulled over 8 times in 6 months...2 of those resulted in tickets because "It looked like you were speeding". Once I painted it white they never even looked at me again. But, I hated the white and now since it's back to a fun weekend car I decided to take it back to red.

Unfortunately, no, at least none that I know of.


No, no flex agent needed because I painted the bumpers while they were on the car. The flex agent gives you a temporary window of flexibility so you can re-attach the bumper to the car without the paint cracking.

I've had this type of paint on my car for over a year with no issues or problems. When it was white I took the front bumper off when I did my motor swap and put it back on and it never developed any cracks.

 

beautiful paint man would have never thought it was done at home

 

sweet job looks nice, and the best part is you did it yourself you should be proud!

 

i have a question though will the shine last like a normal single stage automotive paint or will it have to be polished and waxed often to keep its high shine?

 

As one who has spent big bucks on paint, equipment, and supplies, I have been reading this and other similar threads with interest.

What is especially appealing to me is the idea that you can put a quick paint job on a car that is a daily driver, and thus likely to get some bumps and bruises in normal use. I'm going to try this method on my 86 bird that has 230K miles on it, because I need to do some serious body repair, and it will be easier to justify cost-wise.

One reason is because I have two other birds, and this one, although it was the first, is easily the least valuable of the three.

 

Very Nice Job!

 

Could you top off the tractor enamel with a conventional clear? That could cut down maintainence work if it would apply correctly.

I think I remember seeing a post from a year ago or so, a guy did his black 91-92 'bird with dirt cheap base topped with really good clear.