Paint Your Car For Under $100

[vacationtime247]

Caution: This might be the most redneck thing you've ever seen. But instead of letting rust destroy my vehicle, I decided to paint it on the cheap. Cars driving in the rust belt, upper midwest, inherit some pretty serious cancer growth due to the elements. So, if you're on a budget, don't have much to spend yet want a decent quality paint job, try it. Called the rustoleum roller paint job. Instead of spraying it on, roll it. yea i know

Supplies you'll need:

1-2 quarts Rustoleum oil based enamel (your choice of color)
Paint thinner, mineral spirits
Foam paint brushes for the tight, hard to reach areas.
Pack of 4 inch foam rollers
Masking tape and paper

Clean up any mess you make, recycle or re use any left over material. Dispose of waste appropriately.
VT247

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXbIJ4M37lw

[SuzukiSteve]

Wow. Your technique is very redneck but your finished product is gorgeous. Much nicer than the rattle can alternative.

[FastPlastic]

Not bad considering. Hit that sucker up with some clear coat and you could polish her to a smooth shine. I must admit it looks a lot easier than the spray job I did with the Rustoleum black on a Pontiac Sunfire. The car survived a tornado that shot two steel bars in one of the panels.

[d0sitmatr]

can I ask why you went with that blend ? (75/25)
doing some research on it a year ago, I read many people doing a 60/40.

[jasonck08]

Very well done! Looks amazing for rolling it on. It evens out pretty well it looks like? Any noticeable roller marks?

[darcane]

This is certainly not a new idea, and if you are careful, you can get results close to a normal paint job. I'll probably do this with my race car when I get to that point.

A guy here gave his Charger a cheap roller paintjob. He gives some explanation about technique as well.


And a Beetle he did the same way:

[vacationtime247]

Went with 75/25 ratio instead of 60/40 because I didn't want to paint it that many times. Went over the truck 3 times with the 75/25 ratio. Has some orange peel but I can go back and fix that any time. Didn't wet sand between coats, just wanted something other than that horrible blue. It's actually a 4 foot paint job, looks good standing 4 feet away. Wasn't trying to be perfect with it. Winter would have made the rust even worse. Had to drive it a few days to work, the Escort was frozen in ice and then covered with snow.

Wasn't going to put a new door on so I devised some cheap patch panels. Bought some furnace pipe (galvonized steel) for $7 and hammered out some flat panels. Cut them to size. Sanded the piece rough and the area on the truck I was sticking it on. Got some bondo and mixed some up. Spread the bondo on the cut piece and held it to the truck for a few minutes. Does it work? Oh yeah! Real well. I've tried to see if they would come off by pulling at it. No, not coming off unless you hit it with a hammer....hard.

You can get a real nice paint job this way, do it yourself and save big $. Just takes time to do it right. My goal was just make it look better and stop the rust. Turned a truck I had just $1300 in and added a $100 paint job to it. Should have no problem flippin' it for $2200-$2500
VT247

Originally Posted by d0sitmatr

can I ask why you went with that blend ? (75/25)
doing some research on it a year ago, I read many people doing a 60/40.

[Creeper]

Nice I saw a howto thread written in a Hot Rod magazine the end result is nice as well.

[d0sitmatr]

thanks, I figured as much.
if I do this chances are I will go with a thinner compound to get it as smooth as I can as I hate wetsanding, but I also am not all too happy with an orange peel look either

it does look good, and from the few things Ive read about it pretty easy to do if you have even a mediocre knowledge on how to paint. Ive used sprayers as well as rattle canned some things, and always thought "there has to be a better way to do this without runs or rough spots"

[bluejoey]

Thank you for sharing that vacationtime. You did a great job with it! My wife and I are looking to paint my Tercel this summer, and this is the blueprint we will be following. Like others, I'd heard of the Tremclad/Rustoleum paint job before, but you're the first I've seen who just did 3 coats rather than 6 or 9, and who didn't sand it either. That sounds good to a mellow fellow like me.