DuoWing Posted April 26, 2008 Share Posted April 26, 2008 Alright, I've been doing alot of searching and alot of reading. I've been wanting to paint my 280ZXT using the roller/Rustoleum method. I'm beginning to think I should just go a spray gun route with the rustoleum/mineral spirits. Anyway after reading alot of threads I don't think I've ever seen anyone post a good technique for rolling the paint on. Anyway I've been practicing on a trunk lid from a honda civic that my brother had lying around before I actually started painting on my Z. My ZXT is a daily so I'm not super worried if the paint comes out perfect or not. My main questions are: What's a good technique to use? I've been doing where I get the roller really covered in paint, then I roll it over the bumps on the paint tray with some force about 8 times to get alot of the paint out, then I do about two strips kind of overlapping that are about 12" long. Then I dip the roller back into the paint get the paint mostly out, and overlap a little into the last strip, and repeat until it's covered. Then I try to get as much paint out of the roller as I can then using the weight of the roller I go over the whole thing to try and smooth it out, it doesn't look bad, but it seems like you still see alot of marks from the roller. Do these finally come out with the final 1500-2000 wetsand? I've been wetsanding with 600 grit after every 2 coats and get it really smooth, but you can still see the marks. Any advice on this would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffer949 Posted April 26, 2008 Share Posted April 26, 2008 How thin are you making your paint? ANd DONT PUT PRESSUREON THE ROLLER!!!! that causes bubbles that you dont want. Try using a blow dryer to pop the air bubbles that are happening right after you roll like have the roller in your right hand and blow dryer in the left and have the blower popping the bubbles. But if your getting roller marks either you are pushing to hard or your paint is to thick my guess is your paint is to thick. I made my paint almost like water. like 55%paint to 45% mineral spirits. My suggestion would be to spray it on though. its way to much work to roll imho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuoWing Posted April 26, 2008 Author Share Posted April 26, 2008 Actually I really don't get many bubbles, I have the paint thinned to about a little thicker than water. If not just about water., it could be because I'm putting some pressure on the roller when I lay, then like I said I go back over with just the weight of it. I may have to clear off a part of the trunk lid and start redoing it to see. Is it better to load the roller up, then work the paint out of it, before I start applying it to the panel? Or load the roller up and then start applying it and working it all around the panel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
93anthracite Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 I did this technique on my Sentra SE-R. It was miserable and took forever, but it actually turned out pretty good. For the first couple of coats, you'll probably see the streaks from your roller, but don't be tempted to put down more paint. As you put more coats on, it will get a thicker coat and you'll stop seeing streaks. Couple other hints: -1 panel at a time when you're painting. I would get all of the excess paint off of the roller whenever i dunked it into the tray. Work very quickly to get coverage on the entire panel, then go back over it with the roller with zero pressure. Bubbles would typically appear, but if your mix is right, they'll almost immediately pop and the paint will lay out smooth. -I used a plastic bottle from spaghetti sauce for mixing up my paint/mineral spirits. It made for an easy way to contain it, mix it all together, etc. and you could dump your paint back in when your done and reuse it later, rather than having to mix a fresh batch. -be extremely careful when you are sanding on edges. The paint layer is super thin and will sand through to the under-coat in a heartbeat. -you will become intimately familiar with every single flaw in the car's body. I didn't prep my car very much b/c it was also a DD, but by the time I was done with the project I wish I had simply b/c I had spent so much time seeing the flaws and wanted it to be worth it. I don't remember the exact number, but I know I spent over 100 hours in my garage on this. Would have been much better if it had been spent working on the Z . Sorry for the photo quality, I'm no photographer... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 73LT1Z Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 93anthracite, your car looks great. This is a good process for a daily driver type of car. DuoWing, the tips above should help you if you decide to go this route. I'll throw up some before & after pics of my Supra and the Z: Supra before (sanded) : After (6 to 7 coats) : 280Z before: Two coats: It is a LOT of work, but little cost, so it has a lot of appeal to a frugal guy like me that has a lot of time on his hands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuoWing Posted May 6, 2008 Author Share Posted May 6, 2008 What color red did you do that supra in? I'm wanting to do my ZX in that color. Thanks for the info. I realize it's a lot of time, but I do like that it's cheap. Plus it's a good way to get good with body work, wet sanding etc. Neveremind I saw you used Safety Red. I'm not sure if I want to go with Safety Red or Sunrise Red. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuoWing Posted October 13, 2008 Author Share Posted October 13, 2008 Well after a whole lot of time being lazy. I decided to get back to painting my car. I sanded the body down and went cheap electric home depot spray gun with the rustoleum. It was alright, I think my problem was not waiting enough time in between coats, and not thinning the paint enough. It came out super orange peely. So I'm slowly working on wet sanding it smooth then putting on another coat or two with the roller so it'll look better, but I also decided to do my two tone idea. I sanded down the upper half of the car and decided to go black. I'm doing this start to finish with the roller. Honestly, it's taking longer, but the results just seem to be coming out better. What do you guys think so far? These shots were after a second coat. I just finished wet sanding, I'm letting it dry and getting ready to put on my third coat. I'm going to repaint that front valence thing in front of the windshield red. A member of Zdriver mentioned I should do it and after I stated looking at it I noticed that it does kind of throw off the balance. I painted that black along time ago when I was just first practicing with spray cans and I was debating on doing the whole car black. Oh and I'm also blacking out the trim around the windows, T-Tops, etc as it blends better. Then I'll finish it all up by painting the sidebumpers black, and either cleaning up or just painting the side molding black so it adds like a stripe to offset the red a little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Nevermind my previous comment. I like the two tone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roostmonkey Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Can someone thats done this type of paintjob give a durability report? I'm curious how well the rustoleum holds up. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuoWing Posted October 13, 2008 Author Share Posted October 13, 2008 I've received much flack for it, but my 280ZX is a daily driver and it does go through the Ohio weather. The body is not in fantastic shape so it's going to eventually be a donor car, which makes this great for testing out this kind of paint. So it'll be a few months, but I'll be able to give you a report of how it holds up through snow and salt which should be a good test. Although from what I've heard that as long as you take car of it, wash it every once in a while and wax it. The guy who did it on his corvair on a site he made I remember gave a year later report and the paint he said still looked as good as when he had finished the paint job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 I like the 2-tone, and with some wet-sanding, a glossy finish would round out the car nicely. Nice work so far. Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuoWing Posted October 21, 2008 Author Share Posted October 21, 2008 Man there's a lot of orange peel in my red paint. I just put way too much on, but I started going at it with 1000 grit. It takes alot of work, but eventually I got my test spot super smooth and like usual looked all crappy once dry, but just by hand I polished the crap out of it and the color came back and it made the surface reflective. I'm psyched that I can do that rather than going with like 400-600 grit sanding, then putting a coat or two more, than 1000 and polishing. This just cuts alot of work out. Finished up my last coat of black today, doesn't look bad, but all it needs now is just some wet sanding, polishing, and my car should look nice. Hopefully in a few days I'll have some pics of the finished product. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darom Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 Here are two threads on the mopars on how to do a roller paint job. A lot of tips on how to do it right. It is a lot of reading material http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=2331682&page=0&fpart=1&vc=1 http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=2655425&page=0&fpart=1&vc=1 You will see some recommendations on using a bit more expensive boat paint (Brightside) instead of Rustoleum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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