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Yes; I think I used about 8 cans of primer overall. It was enough to coat the truck twice. I sanded the cab nearly to bare metal, the bed I just roughed up some.
A few tips to those that may be thinking about doing this:
-SAND! sand till your sick of it then sand some more. getting any rust out of the way is vital. I did not sand in between coats except for where I had to correct runs or other screw-ups from the previous coats; just touch-up stuff. I also did sand any higher then #400. I didn't want the truck to be too shiny because it still has little dents all over and I knew they would show up way worse if the truck looked like a sheet of glass.
-thin the paint... A LOT. This was my first time working with Rustoleum that wasn't in a rattle can. When I opened the gallon I was surprised to find an almost jello like substance. That stuff is thick. Keep in mind I did most of this when the ambient temps were between 45 F and 60 F so if it had been warmer, the paint may have been a better viscosity. I thinned it down with mineral spirits to a viscosity somewhere between that of water and milk. It took some experimenting to find a mix that did the trick.
-do multiple coats. On the cab I think I did at least 6 coats, 8 on the hood. the bed got at least 4. no matter what you do, the first coat is going to look god awful. The second will start to look ok and by three and four you should start to be happy with what you see.
- do a section of the truck at a time. I did the hood first because I wanted to make sure this was going to turn out ok before doing the whole truck then being unhappy.
- allow for proper drying time. I am not a paint guy but I can tell you that when its 45 F in your garage, a coat that would take 24 hours to dry is going to take at least 48. Don't rush it.
As a boy in the '60s, my Grandparents whom farmed tobacco, had a John Deere MT and it was really faded. I recall how proud my Grandpa with one arm and my Grandma were when we visited once weekend and they had just finished brush painting that tractor, Grandma even hand painted the lettering in yellow. The paint came from the farm store in town, all brushed on. Years later after I had grown, it still looked pretty good for a working farm tractor.
Few days ago I was in the parking garage at UVA, was a white Ranger there, white, looked good but I smelled paint ... walked near it, then saw it was brushed on thick, guess was still drying.
A friend of mine owned a gas station, he had a black Jeep. I noticed one day, it was brushed on. It shined OK, I commented, he said he never waxed it, just brushed on another coat when needed. He used thinned Rustoleum from Tractor Supply.
Progress update!
Originally I had wanted to fully coat primer the truck with the rattlecan Rustoleum Self Etching primer. However, the spray pattern on the cans is not very good, and its hard to get an even and thick coat. I had tried my best on the roof, but there were still thin spots where rust “leaked” through.
My new plan is to do a full coverage, but very thin, coat of the self etching so that I can still have the chemical bond to the metal. Then on top of it, do 2-3 coats of the brown Rustoleum Rusty Metal Primer. I will be rolling it on as well.
Earlier today I had sanded the S.E. primer with 400, wiped and cleaned it down, and then layed the first coat of brown primer. I bought a gallon of it, but for the first coat on the roof, it took 1/2 pint. To that 1/2 pint I added 1 capful of mineral spirits (the “capful” is the one that goes to the gallon sized mineral spirits. maybe 1.25 tbsp?). However, it didnt seem to flatten out as much. Maybe cause I wasnt painting in the shade? Anyway I moved the truck into the garage. Next coat I will try 2 capfulls.
As for the rest of the truck it is still the same. Still the upper portions of the bed are stripped, and after I finish the roof, ill try and strip one side of it. The only other thing I did was I put some Rustoleum black spray paint on the inside of the door panel( where it “connects” to the door frame/seal) because there was some bad surface rust.
(taken 20 mins after it was put on). You can see the roller marks, likely technique and not thin enough, but it will likely be covered up by the next coat or taken off by sanding
As always, thanks to those that have helped me along the way! Ive got much more of this paint prep work to do on the truck. You can expect another update tomorrow, but other than that I will post randomly/intermittently when I get to working on it.
Update
The roof from the previous photo looked the same texture/imperfection wise 6 hours later. I then very lightly sanded/roughed the surface with 400, cleaned and put a second on. This time I used 3 capfuls of mineral spirits (i read on a thread that he used 4, so i skipped past trying 2 caps). It worked really well. I poured out 1/2 pint again, but the coat took only about 1/6 pint, due to the thinness of it. My technique was much better and smoother. It flattened out pretty well, but the only problem was a few runs on the vertical section above the rear window. Probably taking more time would help with it, but im still learning this process.
What Ive learned today is that;
You shouldnt have to push very hard at all on the roller for paint to come out. If it doesnt, then you need more paint on your roller. If you push hard you get the lines.
Always try to fix out the imperfections instead of assuming it will flatten out.
Finally, for the next panel I think I will do light coat of S.E., then two coats of 3 cap thinness of brown, then a thicker 1.5 cap brown top coat.
Looking better! You can still see the lines from the first coat, but this coat is starting to hide it. Minor orange peel from this coat, but I think most of the orange peel I am seeing is from the first coat. Will do the final coat tomorrow morning.
Third coat went on today, took only 1/4 pint. I used the 4 caps to 1/2 pint ratio and it worked well. Might use a teeny bit more when I get to the actual painting. I also stripped some today. 3rd coat fully dry i stripped from the molding dent down tonight, this section took about 45 mins. orange peel looks worse in person, but feels pretty flat. orange peel is definitely from the first coat
Have you considered shooting the color through a cheap HVLP gun?
Eastwood sells a hvlp gun that only uses 5cfm (perfect for a smaller compressor like a 25-33 gallon)... great gun! I have shot a couple of cars with it and it is up to par with my other guns. Only 180 bucks or so. Ranks right up there with my higher end guns. Harbor freight sells a couple that aren't to terrible too.
Hvlp guns would be too expensive. I dont have a compressor, so were looking at $200+ most likely. I know its not a whole lot, but to a 16 year old it is.
This thing looks like junk and I assumed it was.I bought one to paint an old boat trailer on location.Started using it and "hey,this works pretty good".Got that done
and tried it on some old car fenders.Really came out nice,not just not bad, but really nice.A friend had an old Plymouth Valiant he wanted a quickie on and shot
the whole car with it.The results were really unbelievable and I wished I would have done better prep work.
Anyway,no compressor needed and very little to no over spray. If you think you might try this,do what you did to the roof to the whole truck,let it dry in the sun and sand
out the rough stuff with 220.You don't need 400.Use a flexible sanding block.Experiment with tip size and thinning til you get the spray you want.When you shoot the truck,
get a wet shiney coat on for each coat,no dusty or dry looking coats.If done right,your paint will look better that you ever imagined.
Yes; I think I used about 8 cans of primer overall. It was enough to coat the truck twice. I sanded the cab nearly to bare metal, the bed I just roughed up some.
A few tips to those that may be thinking about doing this:
-SAND! sand till your sick of it then sand some more. getting any rust out of the way is vital. I did not sand in between coats except for where I had to correct runs or other screw-ups from the previous coats; just touch-up stuff. I also did sand any higher then #400. I didn't want the truck to be too shiny because it still has little dents all over and I knew they would show up way worse if the truck looked like a sheet of glass.
-thin the paint... A LOT. This was my first time working with Rustoleum that wasn't in a rattle can. When I opened the gallon I was surprised to find an almost jello like substance. That stuff is thick. Keep in mind I did most of this when the ambient temps were between 45 F and 60 F so if it had been warmer, the paint may have been a better viscosity. I thinned it down with mineral spirits to a viscosity somewhere between that of water and milk. It took some experimenting to find a mix that did the trick.
-do multiple coats. On the cab I think I did at least 6 coats, 8 on the hood. the bed got at least 4. no matter what you do, the first coat is going to look god awful. The second will start to look ok and by three and four you should start to be happy with what you see.
- do a section of the truck at a time. I did the hood first because I wanted to make sure this was going to turn out ok before doing the whole truck then being unhappy.
- allow for proper drying time. I am not a paint guy but I can tell you that when its 45 F in your garage, a coat that would take 24 hours to dry is going to take at least 48. Don't rush it.
Wow its been a while. I finished priming that one side of the bed, and thats all Ive done.
Time is running out.
I get my full license on Feb 4, and I will start driving it to school then.
I am getting the truck sandblasted Jan 18, and then I will prime and paint it then. I took headloct's advice and looked into HVLP Turbine sprayers. The $100 Chicago Electric one was not available anywhere near me. I ended up getting the Avanti AV-200. I will also start sanding with 220.
What solvent should I use? I know mineral spirits ends up flatter, as it takes longer to evaporate. Here in NC, the temperature is usually around 40s-50s. Its also NC, so we have crazy weather. About a week ago, it was 70 degrees one day, and then it snowed the next day. I will be doing me painting inside the garage, so it will be probably around 50 ish. I can put a space heater in there to warm it up though. Anyway, based on my situation, mineral spirits or acetone?
Next question, hardener/catalyst. Should I use it? I know its better to use it, but is it worth the risk inhaling the fumes in an inclosed area? Allthough I am an athelete, I do have asthma. Also, how much benefit would it give me in the end? Is there any less toxic kind or equivalent?
Second to last question, how many coats and how long in between. I know it varies on your ratio of paint to thinner. Would 3 coats be enough? 4? How long do I wait in between, ive seen some people wait 5 mins, 10, 15, and even an hour.
Final question, at least for tonight. Viscosity/thinning. What should I thin the paint to. Ive seen people do 4:3, 3:1, 2:1 and even 1:1. If you could just give me a ballpark to start in, and some tips on how to find where I need to be (all based on the solvent, hardener, and ratio that you guys suggest).
I got the truck back from the stripping place on Thursday, and started working on it immediatly. I sanded it down with 220, the texture that the sandblasting left felt almost like 80 grit sandpaper. I cleaned it down and sprayed a thin coat of self etching primer on. I sanded that smooth with 400, and then I used the Avanti turbine hvlp to spray the rusty metal primer. I thinned it with mineral spirits at about 4:1 paint to spirits. I sprayed 6 coats on, but I dont think that the whole layer is super thick for 6 coats. Anyway, I will spray the red on the truck on Tuesday. I think I will thin the red out to 4:1.5, and do more fast and thinner coats. After that I plan to let it cure until the next weekend and then wet sand it, clean it, compound and polish, and then wax it with some ceramic coating.
The only question I have right now is for wet sanding it. Earlier in this thread somebody said to start with 1500 and then 2000 and 2500 and then 3000. What do you guys think I should do?
