Rustoleum Paint question

[72_NorCal_240z]

I'm leaning towards painting my '72 240z Flat black. I'm going to spraying it. I've seen thread on here and other sites about mixing it and ratios. I've read that people are mixing it with 100% mineral spirits. My question is that last weekend I was at the hardware store and looked at the Rustoleum and as I was reading the back of the can, its says for spraying mix with Acetone.

 

Is acetone not the preferred method for spraying? is mineral spirits better for Rolling? does it matter?

 

Any insight is greatly appreciated

[ls1Hybridz]

most of your lacquers, enamels, and acrylic use acetone as a reducer. the only point of a reducer is to make the paint sprayable, which it evaporates later, causing the paint to dry faster. some enamels will use mineral spirits but it really depends on the manufacturer's recommendations.

[G.I.jonas]

I have done this many times.Rustoleum is excellent for painting cars if done right,and its quite easy.You can use acetone or lacquer thinner,i prefer lacquer thinner myself as it flows out before drying where acetone will flash much faster.Seeing as you are in socal i would use lacquer thinner,however in attempt to get a good flat look acetone may suit you better.One thing i will say with confidence is DONT use mineral spirits!!,yes it reduces the paint well but you will be waiting weeks for it to dry giving lots of time for dust, bugs and whatnot to get in there,as opposed to like a few hours or overnight at the worst.

[72_NorCal_240z]

GI Jonas....any experience painting with flat colors?

 

My paint booth (one car garage) limits the amount of space i have. I'm planning on painting in sections. Hood, Rear hatch, fenders, and light buckets will be painted off the car. then cleared out of the garage, with the car rolled in for the Roof, rear quarters and doors. any color match issues with this method?

 

also, due flat colors need to be wet sanded?

 

Thanks again

[Clifton]

My $.02. If you did a good job on the body work, spend a little more and do it right. Auto paint is uv resistant. Rustoleum is cheap for a reason. I painted my trailer with rustoleum about 6 years ago, it's a trailer so I didn't care. It used to be gloss white. It's not so glossy now. If I did this on my Z I would regret the few $100 I would have saved as I would be doing it again.

[katman]

Plus flat paints tend to increase the probability of corrosion forming underneath. Z's don't need another reason to rust.

[G.I.jonas]

Rustoleum is cheap for a reason. I painted my trailer with rustoleum about 6 years ago, it's a trailer so I didn't care. It used to be gloss white. It's not so glossy now.

Try running a buffer over it,it will look like day one!

 

Plus flat paints tend to increase the probability of corrosion forming underneath. Z's don't need another reason to rust.

Perhaps to an extent that no one will ever really realize.Done properly I.E. primed well and given a couple good coats of finish this wont be a problem.

 

also, due flat colors need to be wet sanded?

No,if you do that and buff it it will be gloss!! That is the biggest problem with flat paint:if you dont get it right after spraying then you are screwed since you cant buff it without losing the flatness.On a small scale what makes flat flat is the fact that it is slightly textured,if you flatten it out you have defeated the purpose.

 

And just remember,Rustoleum is an alkyd enamel,essentially what cars were painted with back in the day - only probably better.Do it and do it right,you will be happy in the end and you wont have to pay a body shop like $6000 for something thats in the end worth about $100 more in actual function.And no im not just talking out my rear,i used to be a body guy who spent days applying PPG worth hundreds per gallon,and now im here telling you to go to the hardware store for paint lol.

[Guest 73LT1Z]

My $.02. If you did a good job on the body work, spend a little more and do it right. Auto paint is UV resistant. Rustoleum is cheap for a reason. I painted my trailer with Rustoleum about 6 years ago, it's a trailer so I didn't care. It used to be gloss white. It's not so glossy now. If I did this on my Z I would regret the few $100 I would have saved as I would be doing it again.

 

I'll weigh in on this since I tried that and got taken for $3000 by a "classic" body shop. They were the only one I could find that would work on my car, and had done some work on a relatives car, so I thought they were OK. They wanted 50% up front & said 6 months to do the job (a few patch panel replacements and a color change, I had supplied all the new panels, so all I was paying for was labor & materials). After 5 months of NOTHING (they would not have been able to do the job in a month and I was moving), I took the car back but never got my money. I sued the guy, won, & have a judgment, but he has yet to pay a cent.

 

The BS operators I talked to seemed to think since my car was 30+ years old, I wanted it painted so it could be put into a car show, others said "no restorations". I told them I wanted a "5 footer" since I like to drive my cars and rarely "show" them. If you can replace/patch a panel on a newer daily driven car, why can't you do it on one that is older??? My metal is a little thicker, but metal is metal.

 

IF I could find a decent body shop I may give this a try again on my old car. In the meantime, I roller painted my Supra & am doing the same with my Datsun, neither of which really needed any body work to speak of.

 

Way too many crooks in the body shop business in my experience. Wish everyone worked like what you see on Overhaulin, but that of course is just a TV show and unrelated to real life.

 

G..I, what % of the lacquer thinner are you using per coat?

[G.I.jonas]

G..I, what % of the lacquer thinner are you using per coat?

 

Honestly my best results come from thinning by eye,i can tell by how many bubbles are made by letting it run off the mixing stick!

 

I thin it quite a bit as the stuff is quite thick,probably about 2:1 at least in my gun.