Thought I'd post for anyone looking for options in the "I don't want it to rust till I can do it properly" section of paint. Some real world experience and pictures.

I gave my truck a brush on paint job when I bought it, it was rust free and I wanted to keep it that way, but I had no room under a roof. The truck was light green, then dark green, then red, then a different red, and the bed was white. So not a good patina.



When I bought it:



I used Rustoleums Saftey Red, $27 a gallon.




Coverage took a gallon, including the inside of the bed, but not the interior or under any panels. Foam brush, small brush and 4-5 hours of work. I washed down the truck, that was as far as I prepped things.


That was about almost 9 years ago (urgh, how has it been that long and I still don't have this thing where I want it?!)

After brushing it on:










Prior to rounding door corners

It sat outside in Wyoming for 8 years, and in Washington for a year and a half now. No maintenance.

After 3.5 years:



9-8-12 car show



Year and a half ago:






(the gloss red on the front fender is new after working the edge a bit)




One coat held strongly up until the last year in Wyoming. So for ~7 years it didn't peel/chip/fade with zero maintenance. No rust formed. -30 in the winter, 103 in the summer. Rain, snow, ice, baking in the sun.

All for $27.


So if you're looking for a good option to protect your truck until you can paint it properly, that's how Rustoleum did for me.

 

Love it! The worst thing you can do is do nothing

 

Heck, I think I would scrape off the loose stuff and paint it again. Maybe use a DA sander for the deluxe treatment.

 

My truck was painted with a brush too. Here's the look 55 years on:










Jim

 

Incredible!!

 

Jim, you did a tremendous job with your truck! Seeing your truck in person and now seeing these before pics again just reminded me how much work you did!

 

Bob Jones (bobj49F2) worked on the front fenders. There was some metal under the hand brushed paint, but once the rust was cut away, there were some pretty good sized holes too:




The "paint job" ended up costing more than $27.

Jim

 

Looks good, Stephen. I like the stance of your truck with the big dual tires. Looks like it's made to haul some extremely heavy loads.

 

There are lots of examples on the web of guys doing Rustoleum paint jobs on their cars/trucks. Some look darn nice, and apparently they can be really pretty nice if applied over a well prepped/epoxy primed surface. I’ve gotta admit it has appeal. Stu

 

Years ago, Popular Hot Rodding did story on their $99.00 paint job. They did a '63 Falcon. Now back then, Rustoleum had what they called canvas white enamel which was an exact match to Ford's Wimbledon/Corinthian white. They used a roller and brush and after each coat, all three, they wet sanded. The car looked great when they were finished.

Later!
Mr. Ed

 

Thanks for sharing. I guess much more of the Rustoleum would still be in place if you had scuffed the surface just a bit. Paint needs a surface to grip.

 

I’m a big believer in covering a vehicle with paint, I really dislike the “patina” fad that has taken over our hobby. You can apply paint in numerous ways, spray gun, spray can, brush or even roller, and I still think it looks better than rust. Also, just about any paint made today is better than the paint that came on our trucks.

One note, if in the future you plan to paint your truck with an automotive paint you really shouldn’t paint it with a hardware store type of paint because automotive paint has stronger chemicals and might pull up the lower quality paint. I’ve seen this happen on a few cars. Also, Rustoleum primer, unless it’s their automotive primer, is not compatible with automotive paint.

 

I'm a "paint it proper" kind of guy, but the truck needed a lot done to it and wasn't ready to be painted. Wasn't sure on the exact color or if I would need to adjust some of the sheet metal to accomplish a few things. When I painted my Mustang it was about $2500 in material cost (course I painted a candy...). I just wanted something that would keep it from rusting till I got to it and keep me from having an orange with green spotted front with a white bed.

I'll put on another coat today, winters aren't as cold here and rain causes more problems then unmelting snow. I didn't expect it to be on so long but I figured it might be a good option for someone who bought a project but can't get things secured yet. It was basically $27 to keep it from rusting all these years and giving me more work to do now.

And when it comes time to do it properly that does mean a complete removal of the Rustoleum. It's a 10' working truck paintjob.

But I will say if you want a working truck paintjob, it's quick to touchup and holds pretty well. Just don't expect it to be pretty without more work behind it, which at that point might as well do it proper, lol.

 

I respect a project a lot more if it had a solid coat of paint on it than a project with clear coated rust. That's just my preference. There are fairly cheap paint kits out there that will be better than the factory paint from 60 years ago. My local big box farm supply store sells tractor restoration paint for about $150 for a gallon of paint, reducer and hardener. Colors are limited to about a dozen farm implement colors but I've spray some of it and it seems pretty good. If I ever get my F-4 back on the road I'm spraying it with that. I've already sprayed the firewall and it looks good. I don't think it's show car quality paint but I think it's perfect for a late '40s, early '50s work truck.

On the HAMB they've had a few threads on painting cars in the driveway. The posters used every kind of paint and they all looked really good. I think rolling or brushing on paint takes a lot more work than spraying but I realize some don't have the equipment or inclination to spray paint. I just like all one color and no rust.

 

After doing it again today a couple of updates:

Takes about 4-5 hours per coat.

Recon you'll need at least 2 to look right.

Good for a 10 paint job and saving things from rusting, not something you're going to want for an actual paint job unless you do a whole lot more prep work (in which case why not do it proper?)

Spraying is easier and a whole lot more fun than brush/roller work.


But alas, it's good for the winter out in the rain :|