The (in)famous Rust-oleum $50 Carolina car paint job (brush on, oil-based)

ok for a variety of reasons,
it's an old car anyway
things couldn't turn out worse than the existing paint job
I have no money to buy compressors, spray guns et al
I'm using this car as the "coursebook" for my "teach yourself how to maintain your own car" course
etc etc

I've decided on doing the ~$50 "as seen on youtube" Rust-Oleum paint job.

My main question that I've been searching the internet ad nauseum about is how long to wait between coats of (oil based) rustoleum before the next coat.
I'm getting anywhere from 5 minutes to 48 hours along with the usual "don't do it"s but most discussions are people using the spray can rather than brushing it on.

Given that it's DC and the weather is 70 on up, any ideas on how long to let it dry before brushing on the next coat?

Further questions, if I may be greedy are:
How many coats of Rustoleum primer?
How long to wait between coats of primer?
How many coats of paint?
Should I use clear coat and if so:
- what kind?
- how many coats?
- waiting time between coats?

I've already done the dents and sanded down the fillers so at this point the rest of the prepwork is just taping off mirrors, lights, glass, etc.

Anyone painted metal and plastic (bumpers/grill) outside with rust-oleum?

Thanks

 

A few yrs ago I painted my son's car with equipment enamel from tractor supply which is more/less the same type of paint. I've also painted a few work trucks with industrial enamel although the only brushing I've ever done on a vehicle was an old ford I bought 40 yrs ago. It was covered with surface rust and I didn't have much money/tools so I sanded it down and brushed on a coat of primer. Using a good natural bristle brush and thinning the primer some - it didn't look bad but some of the brush marks were apparent a yr or so later when I painted the truck for real [didn't sand it good enough]

How long it takes primer/paint to dry depends on humidity, air temp and how thick the coating was applied. When spraying you can apply another coat over wet paint but when brushing it needs to be dry! Sanding between coats both promotes good adhesion and helps to eliminate or reduce brush marks.

Generally 1 coat of primer is sufficient [unless you sand a bunch of it off] It's hard to say about the top coat as you mostly go by coverage although 2 coats should wear longer than 1. Dark colors will fade after a yr when exposed to sunlight, light colors will look better longer. The sheen will also wear away quicker than it will with automotive type coatings. IMO applying a clear coat over rustoleum would be a waste of time/money.

Oil base paint has a tendency to crack when applied over plastic. The plastic will give some during temp changes but the oil paint will not.

 

Any particular reason to use Rust-Oleum? My experience with it has found it to take a long time to dry compared to other brands. That may be an advantage to allowing flow-out and smoother results--but it can also be a detriment as it allows more time for dirt & bugs to attach.

 

Here's what the can says:
6 hours dry to the touch
12 hours to sand/smooth
24 hours completely dry (given 70 degree weather at 50% humidity, increase time for lower temperatures and/or higher humidity)
Do not put on a second coat until completely dry (i.e. 24 hours)

 

The question is, if the first coat dries but then rain hits it before I get a chance to apply the second coat would it mess everything up?

 

I don't think so. Once the paint has set before it gets wet..... you can wait between coats.

 

Rain generally won't wash off oil base coatings, it will slow down the drying time and mess up the gloss but giving it enough time to dry then sanding and applying another coat will fix it. If the coating has been dry to the touch for several hours the odds are the rain will have no effect other than slowing down the cure time. Generally it takes oil base enamels 72 hrs to cure although you can usually recoat in 15-18 hrs - dependent on temp/humidity!!

 

SO I called Rustoleum and here's what tech support said:
Wait 24 hours for the primer to dry before putting on a coat of paint. The primer cannot get wet at all.
Wait 24 hours for the coat of paint to dry before applying another coat. The paint can get wet after 24 hours.
Wait 72 hours for the last coat of paint to dry before applying clear coat. The clear coat can get wet after 48 hours.

 

What do you intend to use for a clear coat?
Part of what rustoleum is telling you is based on them covering there butt for anything that might go wrong - there is a little fudge room that they won't come out and tell you about.

 

For the amount of work and time involved, I think I'd consider a Maaco $200 basic enamel paint job. You do the prep that you want, then let them shoot it.

 

While the quality of the work can vary greatly between the different shops - that would give you a better quality finish that would be less prone to fading.

 

Yeah, I don't know how much taping and stuff they do. I assume they do a light sand or liquid sand/degloss, tape off glass and go to town. Or maybe you pay extra even for that?

Back in the day, Earl Sheibe used to do a $99 paint job which wasn't much more than blowing the dust off and spraying.

As the saying goes, you get what you pay for. Do we know the type of car? A $500 p/u deserves a $50 paint job....an $8000 Honda doesn't.

Maybe the spray flat black undercoat would be appropriate. Its pretty popular with hot rodders from what I see.

Maybe a local trade school has some sort of program?

 

I think trade schools charge for materials but the labor is free

I remember when Earl Sheibe had $19.95 paint jobs. Basically all they did was wipe it down with prepsol, tape it off and paint. You had to pick one of their select colors. Some of their paint jobs didn't look too swift but I had a neighbor who started washing his chevy with SOS pads - I thought he was crazy but a month or so later he took it to Earl Sheibe and got a nice looking paint job.

 

I want the satisfaction of the DIY but I may have goofed big time ... I opened the rustoleum primer and it was brown so not wanting to take a chance on the white paint not coming thru I grabbed a bucket of kilz & after he job I read the can and it said both interior and water based, the paint is exterior and oil based :-I

 

The waterbased primer needs to be removed!!

If I'm not mistaken, Rustoleum has 3 different colored oil base primers; brown [their rusty metal primer] a grey and a yellowish green primer [clean metal primer] You'd want the grey primer. Various brands sell white oil base primer formulated for use over exterior metal.

 

Slightly off topic but the Kilz water based primer isn't really good for anything, I would throw it away.

I hear you on the satisfaction of DIY but just keep in mind it is going to take a lot of your time for something a couple hundred bucks could knock out in an afternoon. If you think that's fine, then have at it.

 

Sanding down and I got these areas that seemed hard to sand so I pushed harder on the sander but that seemed to "push out" the primer embedding it into the surrounding areas until I sand down to bare metal. The roof is riddled with example like this. It's not an optical illusion, I watched the primer border extend into a cleanly sanded area.

What am I doing wrong?

Is there anything, e.g. mineral spirits, that will help "loosen" the primer to make it come off more easily?

Ryobi 5" circular sander, hook & Loop
Diablo 60 grit hook & loop discs

 

Latex coatings don't dry as hard as solvent based coatings which means they don't sand as well. Often they will 'melt' some during the sanding process plugging up the sandpaper. You really only have 2 choices, keep sanding or use a chemical stripper.

 

Paint job finished, it's pretty rough.
Bugs were a huge problem that without a garage I don't think I could solve.
The roller didn't leave a smooth finish and runs were hard to keep up with.
Another problem was the tape I used (3M blue outdoor). It didn't tear off cleanly, it would tear off wherever the paint leaked onto.
Would I paint an old car again, absolutely. Would I do it the same way I did this job, absolutely not.
I'll finish taking pics today and can post a start to finish series if anyone's interested