I find that rattlecans have gotten a really bad wrap. I also find that the people criticizing them are the ones who were too lazy to put the time into doing prep properly, or don't know how to spray paint evenly. Sometimes I suspect a paint/body guy because of wording and knowledge but I can't prove anything...

So, here I am saying YES rattle can your truck if it looks like crap, and you never plan on putting a $3000 paint job on it.

Important points:

Once you rattlecan you must completely remove it to paint with anything but more rattlecans. No 3K paintjobs over rattlecan, sorry.

Prep is everything, take the time to remove what you can, mask what you can't, and make sure you at LEAST scuff every square inch of what you are painting. Also, be sure to sand away flaking or oxidized paint. Then wipe it with acetone to remove impurities before you spray. I usually go with 80 grit for really bad paint and follow up with 200. Or just use the 200 to scuff. The more time you spend on prep the better your final outcome will be.

When you spray: Do it in long even horizontal strokes, depressing and releasing the nozzle for each pass. Try to keep the same distance from the body the whole time. I try for 10-12".

Some stick on pin stripe from the auto parts store will cover up any bleed over on two tones nicely.

I don't have any advice for gloss paint as I have only used flat and satin.

Don't spray flat and try to go over it with a satin clear coat. Getting even coverage is almost impossible.

If you do this right you will be amazed at what you can do for less than $100 bucks total cost and a couple days of hard work.

Make sure the paint you buy is UV safe or it will fade in the sun.

Anyone else with HELPFUL advice please chime in. No haters. Go park your nice clean, pretty truck in an asphalt lot somewhere for people to gawk at... ...not everyone is made of money or wants paint they are afraid to scratch.

So without further ado:

Before:


After:


AND

Before:


After:


So go save some old Fords from the junkyard.

 

Certainly good for a beater, I've done rattle can before. However, I got all my painting stuff for a single stage ac enamel for roughly $300 out the door. I'm doing like 4-5 coats of paint, no clear coat and buffing the heck out of it.
I also got $60 worth of herculiner, and a pint of gloss black in that deal so figure on about $200 or so for my actual paint, reducer, hardener etc.

 

Wish I had that option... I'm in the middle of L.A. Both trucks were done in my apartments parking space for less than $60 each though...

Also the F-150 was done over two years ago and that picture was taken a few days ago... BUT I would NEVER rattlecan over a decent paint job.

Prep, prep, prep and any paint will stick. Just gotta make sure it's UV safe.

 

Yeah its a great option for those type of situations. Hell that second truck, looks damn good you can't even tell! The thing is anything is better than a pickup rusting out and prepped good rattle can will work. If I couldn't paint my pickup myself I would rattle can or roll on. No way in heck I am going to pay someone to do it, for $3g for a decent job.

 

I remember last summer at the junk yard, I saw an early 80's F250, brown..... painted using a roller

 

Decent quality camo paint from an Army/Navy Surplus store and a ton of cheap, black paint from Wal-Mart. The whole paint job was less than $40 but took a solid week worth of prepping (four hours per day).

It looks much better in person with the exception of a couple, very small spots where the black paint didn't go on too well. The only thing I would have changed would have been to use the higher quality camo black too.

Even when using the rattlecans, it pays to use the nicer paints.

 

Wow that looks great! First time I see a camo'd truck with chrome! Usually people who do these paint jobs black everything out....

 

Thanks! The chrome looked a little bad when I first got the truck and I had contemplated prepping it for painting too (or even powder coating -- my buddy owns a shop). Instead, I decided to paint the truck first and see what it looked like. I really like the way it turned out and much prefer the chrome over the total-blackout.

 

My Bronco back in the day:


Took me two days and a lot of cans of camo green.

 

That is a sexy bronco