My other thread was getting old and long so it may not be getting much attention. Where do I buy the 4" foam rollers for the $50 paint job technique? There is mention of "high density" rollers that are "white, not yellow" and "one end is straight and one is rounded". I saw some white ones at Walmart but I don't know if they are of this quality. Anybody know?

Jonathan

Sherwin Williams, Duron, and other household paint stores usually have a very large selection of rollers, including foam rollers. Sign equipment and supply companies also have some sources.

You can also try Home Depot or Lowes.

I bought what I believe to be the correct high density foam rollers for the rustoleum paint job at the Home Depot. They are the white ones and they are very dense. I tried them out for a few body panels, but I only got so far before I completely ran out of patience to do the whole car. It is an extremely time consuming process when you add in sanding/body prep which is key to almost any paint job.

-Joe

Thanks Joe and others. I'll check out Home Depot. I really don't think the Walmart ones are the correct ones.

Jonathan

by the time you get done, you could have gone & got a Maaco $150 paint job ! just my oppinion

Why in earth would you paint your car with a paint roller?

We did this...it came out pretty good. Got ours at Sherman Williams.

You must be all rednecks LOL

quote Originally posted by joesfiero: I bought what I believe to be the correct high density foam rollers for the rustoleum paint job at the Home Depot. They are the white ones and they are very dense. I tried them out for a few body panels, but I only got so far before I completely ran out of patience to do the whole car. It is an extremely time consuming process when you add in sanding/body prep which is key to almost any paint job. -Joe

In my opinion you nailed the real facts about painting your car this way, sure you only spend $50 but how many hours do you have in the job in the end? then when your all done you have crap paint on your car that was not meant to paint cars with. you would be money ahead to take it to Macco and get their cheap paint for 300. if you prep it yourself it will hold up pretty good, better then then rustolem.

my 2 cents
Ant

quote Originally posted by Ants87gt: In my opinion you nailed the real facts about painting your car this way, sure you only spend $50 but how many hours do you have in the job in the end? then when your all done you have crap paint on your car that was not meant to paint cars with. you would be money ahead to take it to Macco and get their cheap paint for 300. if you prep it yourself it will hold up pretty good, better then then rustolem. my 2 cents Ant

Do you have any experience with Macco paint jobs or rustoleum paint jobs? I have a typical macco job that lasted about a year before it started peeling. I will be peeling and sanding that off and hopefully rustoleum painting it this spring. Then I will be able to give people a real comparison between the 2

Hey guys and gals, there was a series awhile back either in Hot Rod or Car Craft magazine. It covered the whole process of painting a '60s G.M. car using a roller with rustoleum paint. A few coats were applied with sanding between coats. The end results were gratifying. If properly done, you can end up with a nice job. Don't forget, the old Model T Fords and other cars were painted with mittens the same as you would use when painting bars on a fire escape. Also, being made of plastic there is no chance of any rust or pitting coming up through the surface. So, do it once, do it right and knock your socks off ! Iam going to paint my red '86 SE this way when I get done with the mechanicals. Have fun. Ernie

I have had (Literally) Maaco,or Electrobake paint jobs, where I did the sanding, they were painted 20 years ago (I still own them) & they still look great ! 80% of a paint job is in the prep, 10% Use GOOD Paint, 10% in the "Painters Hand". Those are the facts, you cannot scrimp on any of them & expect it to look good & last. I was in the bussiness for 30 years. "Almost" ANYONE can paint a car, do your homework, & if you don't have a booth,(ALWAYS USE A CHARCOAL FILTER MASK), know ahead of time , you arm will be sore from "wet sanding" the "buggers" out of it & Buffing. OR Sand it yourself, with special attention to around all the edges (with a DA sander, #320- if wet sending #400. Then bring it in to maaco, electrobake, etc. BUT, LOOK at the cars that have come out of the booth a DAY before yours goes in, Painters, bodyshop help are "Nomadic". Do Not be talked into " you get a 1 year warrentee with this & a 3 year warentee with that ( You will get the SAME Paint either way you go) unless you step up to Base clear.

quote Originally posted by Lou6t4gto: by the time you get done, you could have gone & got a Maaco $150 paint job ! just my oppinion

Part of the problem is that there isn't a Maaco near by. Besides I'm between jobs and this will help fill the time and keep me from going too insane with worry.

Jonathan

FROM Cheap Auto Body,, You must be extremely wealthy to spend so much at one time,,save your money for booze ,drugs.really crazy Tatooed wild women.gambleling and extreme Gerbil racing!!
Grasshopper you do wrong,,,is your car red ?? if so recon the paint section at BIG lots ,,Unfortunately the red paint has risen to $1.90 a can this is a lighter red but will come close to 10% of Fieros,s

The rust resistant red has recently risen to $2.80 !!! A fortune for the average Fiero owners.. I should have purchase more,did not know price would sky rocket shot to outer limits , this paint will come close to many Fiero reds..
BUY 1 can..make sure 4 other cans of the same type are available.. Prep car properly.paint on a non windy day ,,a carport is excellent for this type of work.. I run a clothes line and hang a sheet or sheets ,,I wet down area surrounding car port..I have area of car to be painted on the wall side,, I spray the fender first,or a small area first,(tip),I use large Garbage bags to cover wheels,,then use them for intended purpose later (Imcheap)
For the cautious ,,you can spray a head lite cover first,,let it dry and check it out..
If you are an extravAcant big spender you can purchase USA made masking tape at big lots also..

[This message has been edited by uhlanstan (edited 12-19-2009).]

quote Originally posted by MacGuyver: You must be all rednecks LOL

Guilty! LOL East Tennessee hillbilly.

Jonathan

I am doing the $50.00 paint job now... and it is looking damned fine. (This is the second one I have done)

Black Rustoleum with the 4" sponge rollers from Lowe's.

Cut the paint by 50% with mineral spirits (yep, MS) and it self-levels... and dries overnight.
The first 2 coats will look kinda bubba, but don't let that stop you.

You can lay it on in 42 degrees and high humidity with good results. Wet sand with 1500 grit every 2-3 coats and you are golden.
Buff it out after the final coat dries in about a week and it shines nicely.
Takes about an hour to lay a coat on the entire car.

Of course it's a rather unusual way to go - but it has been quite fun to do.
I am not being anal with the wet-sanding... or anything for that matter.

Worse case scenario... you will have a great prep job for Maaco.


(I would be glad to post some pics if I can get the #$%!! PIP to work)

remember, once you put cheap paint with no hardener on the car, ( especially spray bomb !) If you(or anyone else) ever wants to put a real paint job on it, iThe Car will have to be stripped.

quote Originally posted by MacGuyver: You must be all rednecks LOL

Kinda calling the kettle black with a name like macgyver, eh?

[This message has been edited by LitebulbwithaFiero (edited 12-19-2009).]

I just got back from Home Depot. I found Roller Foam brand rollers. They are the white rollers and they kinda look like the foam used in floral arrangements but they are soft. The package says "Ultra Smooth High Density Foam".

Cool.

Jonathan

I have plans of black and charcoal. I would also like to see knuckle buster

Here are a few pics of the car with just the first coat on it. I suspect that it will take 6 coats on my car.

Looking good. Keep us updated as to your experience with the paint.

Knucklebuster! Frickin' Sweet! The pics look great and you have given me a shot in the arm. Thanks, good luck and keep the pics coming.

Jonathan

quote Originally posted by LitebulbwithaFiero: Do you have any experience with Macco paint jobs or rustoleum paint jobs? I have a typical macco job that lasted about a year before it started peeling. I will be peeling and sanding that off and hopefully rustoleum painting it this spring. Then I will be able to give people a real comparison between the 2

yes i do as was mentioned by some others here its all in the prep work as i myself mentioned in my post about them, the same is true of the rustoleum paint job. if you don't clean and scuff everything right it will peel, i don't care what paint you use, i paint cars and can tell you that even if you use the best dupont paint and don't prep right it will fail. i like to use duponts 222 adhesion promoter, it works great for the hard to get corners.

As for myself no i have never nor will i ever paint a car with rustolem, i have the right tools and experiance to paint car properly. As far as i'm concerned i will never even use singal stage paint again, to much work for what you get when your done base coat clear coat is by far the best way to go. if you think about the time it takes to prep a car for paint os not worth all the effort to then use cheap paint you have just wasted your time, i mean just cleaning and masking a car properly takes a day in itself and that dosn't include all the time sanding and any body work that needs to be done. so what are you saving? yes you spend 50 on materials but you have to spend days rolling it on then sanding and rolling then sanding and buffing what have you saved? you can get decent paint and clear for about 3-400 that will hold up better and take less time to apply.

My 2 cents
Ant

I do not think any of us who are painting our cars (for fun) are expecting to save anything.

I can attest that paying $300-$400 bucks for a cheapo paint job is well within reach for most of us.

Kinda like mowing your own grass.... why would anybody mow their own lawn when they can get some kid to do it for $25 bucks or so?

It's about the experience... and in my case... an old car that has a new issue every few months or so.

But one thing I can say for sure - this paint sticks like the devil! I have no doubts that it ain't gonna be peeling off.... even if I wanted it to.

Prep work, filler, sanding, and primer took a couple of Saturdays for sure.... but I personally wanted to learn about the process.

Knucklebuster, that's how I feel about it too. I've never painted a whole car before and it is just something I'd like to challenge myself to do. As I was growing up, I had a lot of used clothes and older stuff so I learned early to take care of things and to clean them up and make them look as nice as I could. That kind of attention to detail spills over to many aspects of life. Now I don't have to be briar beaten to do a good job. I WANT to do a good job because it gives me that sense of pride in my work.

Like I said before, I don't have a Maaco near me. I guess the closest one is about 100 miles from here in Knoxville. What I do have locally is a paint shop called Bill McConnell's. He wanted to change the color of my car in ONE DAY! I would guess very minimal prep (if any) and very minimal masking. I could look forward to orange peel, runs, over spray and no color sanding or polishing. That would have cost me $500. Sure I could afford it and it would have been done in a day but I would have been pissed every time I looked at the car - and my wallet.

I bought the car for just over a grand so I can't justify spending over half the cost of the purchase on paint. It is my fun little car and it doesn't mean anything to anyone but me so I don't have to worry about impressing anyone. I think I can do a nice looking job with the Rustoleum and I'll be proud to tell anyone that I did it myself. No matter how it turns out, it will look better than it did when I bought it and it will look better than a "cheap" $500 job for a fraction of the cost. Now tell me what's wrong with that?

Jonathan

Sounds like you got the same rollers I got at the Depot. Good luck and I think you will feel very gratified when you finish it. I certainly respect anyone who has the time/patience to do this paintjob and your saving yourself some $$ so congratulations! Like I said I only lasted so long on mine and it is just sitting now, still sanding and prepping it every so often, but I have a swap going on in the other Fiero so this one has taken the backburner.

Please keep us posted on the results.

-Joe

I can't beleave this thread is still so active. All you fools going to Home Depot buying foam rolers and all that crap. Use them on your house not on your car. For pete sake people. Send for a $20.00 spray gun from Harbor Freight. Get a few rolls of masking tape plus sandpaper. Go to the flea market or a auto paint supply store and buy the cheepest single stage polly, a quart of thinner and the hardner. Borrow an air compressor from a friend, put the car in a well lit garage and paint it. That will give you a feeling of accomplesment. Forgot the stupid rollers and Rustolum. Use it on a dump truck paint job or save it for your mailbox. Don't use it on your Fiero.

quote Originally posted by MacGuyver: I can't beleave this thread is still so active. All you fools going to Home Depot buying foam rolers and all that crap. Use them on your house not on your car. For pete sake people. Send for a $20.00 spray gun from Harbor Freight. Get a few rolls of masking tape plus sandpaper. Go to the flea market or a auto paint supply store and buy the cheepest single stage polly, a quart of thinner and the hardner. Borrow an air compressor from a friend, put the car in a well lit garage and paint it. That will give you a feeling of accomplesment. Forgot the stupid rollers and Rustolum. Use it on a dump truck paint job or save it for your mailbox. Don't use it on your Fiero.

It is so active because people are interested in it. People are different and like different things. People have different skills and they have more confidense in certain areas. This is obviously an attractive option to many people. It only involves a few simple tools and supplies and very basic skills. Lots of people will read about this method and think to themselves, "I can do that!", as opposed to threads about spray guns, compressors and the like and those same people will not have the courage to jump into it.

Jonathan

Preparation is the key to any paint job. Doing the bodywork, sanding, smoothing, more sanding and the like. It only takes a 1/2 a day to put the final color on the car. Why would you spend weeks off and on prepping the car to blow it using a paint roller and Rustolum. That's just silly. Pick up a basic book on auto painting. Put it in the bathroom. Eventually, you will be sitting there board and will get around to reading it. It's not rocket science. It's basically like using a big spray can. A little practice on your technique and anyone can do this. Even the house painter with the Home Depot roller. You will end up with a lasting job that won't fade in 3 months or dull out in 4.

Hey, I can't just sit here and read all this great input and not come back again. I agree with Johnathan about people doing what they are comfortable with. Spraying a car is not as easy as some may think. You have to make sure you have dry air in the compressor or your work will be damaged. There are several other factors to consider, like proper adjustment of the gun to have a proper fan pattern, the right air pressure,correct thinning of the paint etc. You also need a NIOSH approved mask, or you will be breathing in toxic fumes. I knew a few good auto painters in my time who are now 6 feet under because of cancer or destruction of their bone marrow. A lot of people are not aware of the harmful airborne particles that are put into the air around them when spray painting. This holds true for the rattle cans as well. Proper venting of the fumes and particles is very important. Toxic paint fumes that are breathed in can cause destruction of brain cells. Some of us are not blessed with some of these skills and or the equipment needed to spray a car. If you are not comfortable with spraying a car, then go right ahead and roll that Rustoleum ! If you are satisfied with your results then it was worth it. Make sure that you have proper ventilation if you go with the roller route, as Rustoleum is oil based paint and has a V.O.C. level.( volatile organic compounds ). Good luck and happy car hobbying ! Thanks for letting me share. Ernie P.S. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !!

ok so ive been readin this and well ok first of all I have been a painter for about 15 years now and well if any of you guys wana learn the way to paint your car the right way i will make it easy for ya, over the years I have painted for companys such as gulfstream aerospace and genral dynamics to my current job running a paint shop for a manufacture of paper machines and also running my own corvette/custom shop painting custom cars using paints varrying from the most exotic high end polyurathane aircraft paints to the most basic stuff u can get at the local hardware store.

So, here is were u guys can start w your budget paint but i still would recomend using a harbor freight gun u can get great spray pattern w alittle rework on their guns ill get back to that in a minut,

so back to the paint u guys are on the right track w the rustoleum enamel u can get at tru value but w all your effort gas, sunlight, brake fluid, trani fluid and any alkilyde soap will kill it for ya so here is the trick, go to a automotive supply and get a litre of enamel hardner the cheapest being products of nason, u can get a liter for about 20 bucks

add for every 3/4 quart of paint 3 to 4 shot glasses of the hardner and then stir let stand for about ten minuts this is the induction period were the paint cross links with the hardner in its chemical process adding thinner too soon actually weakens the paint causing it in time to crack and flake or peeling
also w this mix reduce w your thinner about 1/4 to 3/4 of paint totalling 1 quart without hardner
this mix will give you a good hard paint for your chassis if you want it to shine more add another shot glass of hardner if your spraying it u can reduce it alittle more too to fit the needs of your gun

now for the top coat of car, for what you are sticking into your paint and rollers and time go to a farm supply store like a fleet farm and get farm implement paint they can mix it in many colors and its super cheap and reduce it w a medium thinner a fiero is small enough you have no need for a slow one.

for you guys that have alittle more of a budget id go with the dupont chroma base and dupont clear system i have had extreamly good luck with them spraying them over a high build primer base using this system u can achieve verry straight panels with verry minimal sanding

speaking of sanding 1500 is way to fine when u do your final prep u need to give the panels whats called tooth for the paint to stick 320 is more than fine enough for your final sanding and a red scotch bright and water for those hard to get spots save the 1500 and 2000 for your color sanding after the paint is dry before u buff it.

Now, for the harbor freight guns they are simple to modify to spray like a 300 dollar gun first the aircap is the weak part of them most of the holes are full of burs so be carful and clean them well w small drill bits
also when u screw your air cap and fluid tip back on put alittle vaseline on the threads of the fluid tip and teflon pipe tape the threads on the gun body were the air cap screws on
they leak alot of air at that point also the air preshure adjust knob is another leak spot take it apart and seal it w alittle vaseline and thread tape. i just saw them their for sale for 20 bucks your gona spend more than that on rollers alone trying to do a whole car and the guns clean up w alittle acetone just fine.

any questions? oh you guys in cali didnt forget you either u guys have to use trhe water born paints now np prpblem dont let them scare you they are easy to use just remember dont reduce your paint with tap water it has metals in it like iron and can make your paint actually rust go to store and get some distilled water u will be alot more happy also dont be afraid of sprayin water water born paints love air flow so paint and fan it it will flow out right before your eyes!!

Thats one long a$$ sentence there!

-Joe

lol im a painter not a english major and ya a few brain cells may have been lost to the paint thinner lol!! ill try to write alittle more clear next time!!

HA HA HA! Funny stuff!

FYI, I'll be trying out the Tractor Supply farm implement paint when the weather warms up (OK, couple of months from now, I guess), and I'll let everyone know how it goes. It's going on a dump truck body, not a Fiero. I have the hardener for it, and the naptha thinner. We'll see how it sprays using the harbor freight HVLP gun....