Well, I've been pondering doing this for a while, and considering my car looks like **** and I'm poor, I set out to do it.

Supplies needed: 80, 220, 400, 600, 800, 1000, and 1500-grit sandpaper. Rustoleum paint, color of your choice. Seven 4" white rollers (not the yellow!). Seven plastic paint trays. Seven foam angle brushes. Can of 100% Mineral Spirits. Lots of painters tape. Turtle wax. Patience.


Heres the process, you sand your whole car with the 80, then the 220, then the 400, washing it in between each grit with soap and water. This is a very long and tedious process...


After you're done sanding with the 400 and soapin her down and letting it dry, you get some Mineral Spirits on a clean rag and whipe your whole car down, after this dries you start to mix the paint. Rustoleum is a great paint to use because it is made to go on bare metal (no primer), it lasts forever, and it shines great after waxing.


I chose to use Gloss Sunburst Yellow Rustoleum. You mix the paint 50/50 with Mineral Spirits to make it real thin so it dries fast and you don't have to wetsand your ass off between coats. If you put the paint on with normal thickness, it takes 6-7 days to dry, when thinned, it takes about 6-7 hours. It takes about two hours painting alone to cover the whole car, but then again I have a very small car. You roll the paint on with 4" rollers and little foam angle brushes for the spots you can't get with the roller.


After putting on two coats (one at morning, one at night during the weekends; during the weekday just one coat in the afternoone), you wetsand. After the first two coats you wetsand with the 600-grit, two more coats wetsand with the 800, two more 1000 grit, one last coat and wetsand with the 1500. Then wax. So, 7 coats total.


And the last great thing about Rustoleum, no clear coats required, the guy who first did this did it to two beetles in the late nineties and they still look like new today, he also did it to his charger two years ago and it looks great as well.


TO THE PICS!!!

Before:





After sanding and taping:







After 1st coat:





After 2nd coat:



After wetsanding and 3rd coat:






Big gap of no pics. Sorry.


After wetsanding and six coats:




After seven coats:









After a little spot-painting:






After wetsand:








She's gettin one more coat, then wetsands, then stripes, then waitin two weeks for polish/wax. Also, the back two wheels will be painted, and the calipers will be yellow.

[This message has been edited by Dudeus (edited 04-03-2008).]

Wheels!!!


Before:





Awesome emblem:




Paint used:




During:






After:

Dudeus, I'd LOVE to see your pictures (as I'll probably try the same thing myself), but can you not compress them a bit more so that ALL of us don't have to click on EVERY one of them in order to see your progress?

I know from previous threads about this that many (most?) people won't even bother looking at images that aren't readily viewable in a thread.

The images need to be 100k or less to show up without clicking on an icon (as well as being no wider than 800 pixels).

IrfanView works great for doing batch conversions and it's free!

Here, I'll do the first one:

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 04-02-2008).]

If you don't mind me asking, how much paint did you end up using?

Oh and one last thing, what kind of blocks did you use for the sanding? I am gonna go and get the whole set up and give it a try.

Thanks, Chris

I used the 3m sanding blocks from Lowes. Used three quarts of paint.


And I'll resize a little later tonight. Do I need to download that program to do it?

My hats off to you, this is very interesting.

But you can paint a whole car in base coat clear coat for about $150-$200 worth or products. It can be done in your drive way or garage and the only tools you will need is an air compressor (at least 30 gallon), and a HVLP spray gun ($50-$150). I would be happy to start a thread to go through the process if anyone is interested. I use to own a small body shop, and went to college for collision repair.

But I wish you the best of luck and I will be watching this thread to see the end result.

I would suggest for the final buffing I would use a high speed buffer and 3M Perfect it II compound with a wool pad, followed up by a good swirl remover (3M is good) on a foam pad. this will produce a very nice result!

quote Originally posted by DeLorean00: My hats off to you, this is very interesting. But you can paint a whole car in base coat clear coat for about $150-$200 worth or products. It can be done in your drive way or garage and the only tools you will need is an air compressor (at least 30 gallon), and a HVLP spray gun ($50-$150). I would be happy to start a thread to go through the process if anyone is interested. I use to own a small body shop, and went to college for collision repair. But I wish you the best of luck and I will be watching this thread to see the end result. I would suggest for the final buffing I would use a high speed buffer and 3M Perfect it II compound with a wool pad, followed up by a good swirl remover (3M is good) on a foam pad. this will produce a very nice result!

I think that would be a noble Idea. I've had several cars painted and when I have the time to prep-paing I will do a car myself.... (2 kids and a busy job keep most of my time now)
Many people(myself included) are a bit clueless when it comes to spraying a car. what materials are needed and the whole process in general. That would rock to see a car painted and a how to step by step on the whole process.
BTW I must say.. HATS OFF to the rustoleum process as well. .....But what kind of man-hours are involved here?
IF I had the free time I'd give it a go...

timg

quote Originally posted by Dudeus: And I'll resize a little later tonight. Do I need to download that program to do it?

Most photo editing programs will have some kind of an ability to re-size/re-compress images, but IfranView can do batch conversions (whereas some other programs can't), and as I mentioned earlier, it's free! (It really is a great little utility.)

quote Originally posted by NY_FIERO: I think that would be a noble Idea. I've had several cars painted and when I have the time to prep-paing I will do a car myself.... (2 kids and a busy job keep most of my time now) Many people(myself included) are a bit clueless when it comes to spraying a car. what materials are needed and the whole process in general. That would rock to see a car painted and a how to step by step on the whole process. BTW I must say.. HATS OFF to the rustoleum process as well. .....But what kind of man-hours are involved here? IF I had the free time I'd give it a go... timg

Ask and you shall receive!! https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/090549.html

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Dudeus:

..........[QUOTE]

That looks REALLY good! Nice job, lets see those finished pics!

[This message has been edited by CoryFiero (edited 04-03-2008).]

I gotta ask... how much sand paper did you go through?

Alright, well I resized them all at 640 x 480 and they aren't showing up still. They have to be like 320 x 240 to show up (like the top 3, which is pretty small). Kinda pissin me off...


Anyways, I used about 8 sheets of 80, 220, and 400; then about 4 sheets of the next 4 levels.
And I wish it would stop raining so I could keep painting and finally finish it up!

im debaiting if i should do mine but i dont want my car to be shiny i want my car flat black and suggestions?

This thread is very interesting to me because your 3rd coat looked about as good as my paint does right now. I think i'm gonna have to do this over summer vacation.

Just three questions:
What is wetsanding? (sanding while the surface is wet?)
Why are you waiting two weeks to wax it?
Are you gonna post the waxed pictures here?

quote Originally posted by Dudeus: Alright, well I resized them all at 640 x 480 and they aren't showing up still. They have to be like 320 x 240 to show up (like the top 3, which is pretty small). Kinda pissin me off...

I suspect you are re-sizing the images (making the pictures smaller) but you aren't compressing them enough. The file size has got to be under 100k to show up.

IrfanView can take the entire contents of an image folder and resize each image to whatever size you like with one keystroke. I instruct IrfanView to create images 800 pixels wide for use here at PFF, and then I experiment to see what compression setting keeps the images under 100k. When done I post them here using Pennock's Image Poster (PIP) at the bottom of the page.

Sounds like a lot of work, but once it's been figured out it's quite easy (as with most things in life).

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 04-03-2008).]

quote Originally posted by Foxy Fiero13: im debaiting if i should do mine but i dont want my car to be shiny i want my car flat black and suggestions?

Buy flat black Rustoleum?

quote Originally posted by Patrick: IrfanView can take the entire contents of an image folder and resize each image to whatever size you like with one keystroke. I instruct IrfanView to create images 800 pixels wide for use here at PFF, and then I experiment to see what compression setting keeps the images under 100k. When done I post them here using Pennock's Image Poster (PIP) at the bottom of the page. Sounds like a lot of work, but once it's been figured out it's quite easy (as with most things in life).

I'll give it a shot, which one should I download? It seems to be a very confusing site...

quote Originally posted by MordacP: This thread is very interesting to me because your 3rd coat looked about as good as my paint does right now. I think i'm gonna have to do this over summer vacation. Just three questions: What is wetsanding? (sanding while the surface is wet?) Why are you waiting two weeks to wax it? Are you gonna post the waxed pictures here?

Wetsanding is simply sanding whilst the surface is wet, constantly dipping the sandpaper in warm water. I prefer to wetsand without a block, folding the sheet of sandpaper in thirds, so I can really feel the body and can tell when its smooth.

I'm waiting for the paint to cure out.

Yes.

I bet your getting buff with all that wet sanding!! It always kills my arms!!

I'm planning on doing a paint job like this during the summer. I'm looking at painting my daily beater flat black. Glad to see a thread giving some good details to make it easier.

The process is very simple. Tedious, yes. And you've gotta have patience if you want it to look good.


And after sanding the whole car for about a week straight, wetsandings a breeze!

quote Originally posted by Dudeus: I'll give it a shot, which one should I download? It seems to be a very confusing site...

You must be more of a painter than a geek, as there's only one program available at their website to download.

Click here.

how much do i need to buy and how long will it take to do this cmplete job?

A word of warning here..matt finish paint goes shiny quite quickly It is also very hard to keep clean. It is a matt finish, because it is porous. I have tried it before, many years ago, when is was the vogue to have matt black hoods on minis etc..it was a rel pain to keep it matt, and looking nice.Things might have changed now, with matt paint, but I thought I would just toss this advice in here, for you to consider, and also for others to confirm or deny my comments...and deny away!! Not a problem
And a quick tip for wet-sanding...add a little washing-up liquid..prevents the paper from clogging so much, and makes it easier to actually do the sanding.
Nick
Nick

$50?

Not to hijack your thread, but from https://www.fiero.nl/forum/F...1/HTML/052684-3.html

"Stopped by Wholesale Automotive Paints in Joplin ... Picked up a few items:



Got a quart of viper red & a quart of maroon.



Plus a quart of clear, some reducer, a water trap, 2 rolls of masking tape and a couple to tack cloths.

A couple of measuring containers, a few mixing sticks & filters free.



Not bad. "

[This message has been edited by 30+mpg (edited 04-04-2008).]

I actually bought a lot of stuff (more than I needed), to ensure that it looked its very best when done... I ended up spending about $100 actually .

Dude, you went through all that sanding just to rattle can it ? That was foolish and I feel bad for you. You could have done basecoat/clearcoat cheap for less than 300 bucks. or single stage lacquer for about the same price. But all your time is the expensive part because you will just be doing that again when the paint is fading out and coming off in your hands.

I rattlecanned the wheels. I rolled on the car. Rustoleum lasts for MANY years before even fading. Ask the guy who originated it, you know the guy who's painted two bugs and his charger, and its held up for up to 7 years now.
Don't diss it til you try it.

Wait wait wait......you ROLLED ON YOUR PAINT ? Like you would a wall ? OMG I can't believe I'm reading this on a car forum. And just because someone else does it doesn't make it right. People like you shouldn't own cars. You should own say a little red wagon that you can brush paint over and over again.

And that's a nice Fiero too. Poor car. I expected to see that done to a beater Fiero but you have a pretty nice fastback you could have restored. But now the next owner will have to take that thing all the way back down to the plastic after you sell it for rent money.

Expect to get laughed off the planet when you tell people you roll painted your car.

[This message has been edited by GT Quick (edited 04-05-2008).]

quote Originally posted by GT Quick: Wait wait wait......you ROLLED ON YOUR PAINT ? Like you would a wall ? OMG I can't believe I'm reading this on a car forum. And just because someone else does it doesn't make it right. People like you shouldn't own cars. You should own say a little red wagon that you can brush paint over and over again. And that's a nice Fiero too. Poor car. I expected to see that done to a beater Fiero but you have a pretty nice fastback you could have restored. But now the next owner will have to take that thing all the way back down to the plastic after you sell it for rent money. Expect to get laughed off the planet when you tell people you roll painted your car.

Why do you have to be such a dick? If you dont like it then just move on and shut your mouth.
Pull your head out of your ass, there have been several threads on several BBs about this.
The only one getting laughed at is you.

Thank you Jake. I don't know whats wrong with this guy (maybe I should go get a hose to see if I can get all the sand out of his **** ). When I'm done, I'll put a hundred bucks that my car looks better than yours, quick, if you even have one. Your probably just some 12 year old that dreams of a "suped up" civic with a fart cannon because you think it sounds beautiful. Go drink bleach dumbass.
Ps. My Fiero is my beater .

I had a body shop and painted custom frame-off restorations.

You're the kind of guy who wonders WHY a basic paint job should cost 4K and then go ***** about it.

I would hate for other Fiero owners to see this guy's thread and think this is a good idea. The next thing you know there are more roll-on paint jobs and more molested GT's. And people still refuse to believe that Fiero owners are cheap ? This thread is what bad reputations are built on.

For $4000 there should not be anything to ***** about, if there is then its not the customer that has the problem.

quote Originally posted by GT Quick: I had a body shop and painted custom frame-off restorations. You're the kind of guy who wonders WHY a basic paint job should cost 4K and then go ***** about it. I would hate for other Fiero owners to see this guy's thread and think this is a good idea. The next thing you know there are more roll-on paint jobs and more molested GT's. And people still refuse to believe that Fiero owners are cheap ? This thread is what bad reputations are built on.

There are several nice examples of "roll" on paint jobs. Its a good alternative to a $4000 screw paint job on a $1500 car.
Not all of us have that kind of money to put into a car, this is a lot better than pealing clear coat or a pink car.

quote Originally posted by GT Quick: I had a body shop and painted custom frame-off restorations. You're the kind of guy who wonders WHY a basic paint job should cost 4K and then go ***** about it. I would hate for other Fiero owners to see this guy's thread and think this is a good idea. The next thing you know there are more roll-on paint jobs and more molested GT's. And people still refuse to believe that Fiero owners are cheap ? This thread is what bad reputations are built on.

Dude, its not your car, its his. Don't sweat it. I can see by your comments this is not something you would do to you car, and I would probably not do it to mine either, but let the guy do what he wants to his own car. Say what you will but it take guts to do what this guy is doing, and on top of it all he taking time out of his day to update everyone on his progress. People take chances and try new things, if they didn't there would be no V8 Fiero's, Custom dashes, Widebodys, Choptops, etc.

quote Originally posted by GT Quick: I had a body shop and painted custom frame-off restorations. You're the kind of guy who wonders WHY a basic paint job should cost 4K and then go ***** about it.

You need to recognize that not all of us plan to, or even can afford to. spend multiple thousands of dollars on a Fiero, or any other car, for that matter. I got a Fiero at a very good price to have an AFFORDABLE sports car. I admire the spirit of anyone who finds solutions that don't include boxes of money. If you can pay for a New York Auto show paint job, that's great, but most of us can't. People like Dudeus show us there are alternatives, maybe not perfect, but acceptable. Delorean00 has also done us a service by showing a paint job with real auto paint doesn't have to be an arm and leg. You have contributed absolutely nothing here.

The thing that GT is WAY too snobby to realize is the fact that the average person can't tell the difference between a decent $1.2-$1.5K paint job and a $4000 job (Why not just buy a new Fiero... or two?). What Dude has accomplished here for the cost is HUGE, if the coats stick and the color endures... even more credit to him?

[This message has been edited by nfswift (edited 04-05-2008).]

whats better

a car with faded chipped paint?
or
a car with an ok paint job?

i may not be perfect but it will be good

Dudeus,

Don't listen to GT Quick. You own the car and if you want to paint it yourself, go for it! Personally I have been practicing with red myself on a spare trunk lid. Yellow is a much easier color since the reflection base is lower. Your paint job still looks great and I am willing to bet when polished (Turtle Wax Polishing Compound - light to medium) will look awesome! Reason I dropped the compound there, it showed the best results in my tests to remove the swirls and wet sand scratches. I am also going to paint my car with this method and was planning this long before your post but I have been testing things out first. Anyway, big props to you and keep up the great work! Keep us posted please.

Just for kicks I had already painted the mirrors with the $50 paint method. Bad photo but they are better painted than the paint job on my car LoL.


Edited for picture and example along with spelling

[This message has been edited by Miach (edited 04-05-2008).]

Hahahaha great example of a car there. Sleeping with the enemy I see ?

I keep forgetting I live in America where I am allowed to own both a Fiero as well as an MR2. Matter of fact I have owned many of both cars, so if thats all you got for me then the laughing goes right back at ya bud! But of course those that are narrow minded never see the big picture anyway.

quote Originally posted by GT Quick: You're the kind of guy who wonders WHY...

And you're the kind of guy who wonders why he (inevitably) gets booted off a forum.