cockerstar Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 Was pretty sad! I decided to take an adventure into the realm of at home painting on the cheap. Thinned down rustolem shot through a harbor freight gravity gun know a lot of people have had success with the method as a cheap, make your project one color, paint job. I found a lot of people suggesting to thin it with acetone for spraying as it dries much faster. Most people said to mix it until it shoots well, but somewhere in the 3-4 ounces of acetone to 8 ounces of paint seems to work well. I mixed it to 4:8 acetone to paint and it just looked too thin, so I added a few more ounces of paint to the mix. Guess it wasn't! I ended up with quite a bit of orange peel... Also, my prep wasn't nearly good enough. I didn't feather the old paint out nearly enough, and with two repaints on the hood, it really shows. Then again, I shot gloss black which shows everything. This was just a practice run, and I'll definitely be experimenting some more and posting up some more pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 Do some wetsanding and I bet you'll be pretty happy with the final results of the finish, barring any bodywork issues below the paint layer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PETEW Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 It doesn't look too bad to me. I see something funky going on in the one corner but that is it. I think you are some wet sanding away to having something decent and shiny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
at-jefft Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 What did you sand the entire hood with? Final grit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S130Z Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 Did you primer it before shooting the rustolium? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auxilary Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 also, don't shoot outside because you have wind and elements landing on your fresh sticky paint. build a make shift booth out of clear plastic tarps in a garage or something Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cockerstar Posted August 5, 2009 Author Share Posted August 5, 2009 I have some issues under the layer of paint. There were some issues in the previous paint job, so I took a few areas down to bare metal. I feathered the edges out a bit, but not nearly well enough, but with 6 coats already on the hood before I started (3 primer, and 3 top) there is really some depth differences with the surface. That's what you're definitely seeing in the top right corner there Pete It's also in about four other spots. Drax, What stages would you suggest for wet sanding? As in, start around this grit, move to this, and finish with this. Followed by a cut and buff of course. Also, any suggested drying time before I start the wet sanding? I think I didn't go fine enough with the final sanding before paint. You can still see some of the scratches, but then again, it's only the first coat. I think I smoothed it all out with 100 grit on the DA and then ran over everything with 180 on the DA again. I pan on shooting my car in a make shift paint booth, or in the driveway around 4am when the sun starts to come up and it's still very calm and bug free out, but this was just for practice and to work some of the kinks out before I move on to doing my practice car - a '79 280zx. Thanks for all of the comments guys! Please keep them coming, so I can improve on what I've got here. After I get it down, and feel like I'm doing a quality job I'm wanting to do a little write up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 I think you might need to go finer than 180. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 (edited) I'm no bodyman, so don't take this as gospel. It's part of my collection of knowledge from reading/trying it a few times, and things that 1st timers often miss. - Bondo is invented to be wasted. Use it over a much larger area than you think you need to fix a flaw. When you sand you'll blend it much nicer. - Buy a long board, it will make the surfaces look much better than with a small sander/DA. - Buy some glazing putty and use it, it's great stuff for those final deep scratches that aren't big enough to bondo. - Before you shoot primer, I'd finish with 320grit on a DA, or 400grit prior to paint. - For wet sanding, start with 1500 grit, move to 2000 grit, and use cutting compound on a power buffer after that. (then polishing compound, then a protectant/wax) Bodywork is time consuming, but much more so for the novice when you don't know the basics, it takes a lot longer to achieve mediocrity without those basics. Edited August 5, 2009 by Drax240z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
280zjoel Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 I think you should start with 1000 grit, then 1500, then 2000 and then buff it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piston Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 (edited) thats way too corse on the sand paper. hit it with 180 and go finer and finer as you go before paint. finish it off with 600 or so. you might get away with 400 but all the work your putting into it, just finish it with fine paper and your results should be smooth. you might wanna touch up the spots with a couple layers of lightweight bondo also and feather that out to get rid of the waves in your high and low spots. spray layers at a time instead of covering it in full on the first pass. just do what i do, lay down plastic on the garage floor and and wet it, what doesnt stick on the plastic will float off, what stick will stick on the plastic instead of the floor. Edited August 5, 2009 by piston typo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
at-jefft Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 thats way too corse on the sand paper. hit it with 180 and go finer and finer as you go before paint. finish it off with 600 or so. Agreed. 550 or 600 is acceptable. If you are painting over a decent base coat (not primer) you can use a 3m scuff pad but in your case your gonna have to go 500/600 on the whole thing now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
palosfv3 Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 From time to time I like to read these types of threads . They remind me of all the trials of learning paint and body work. Things that will make your next efforts easier and better. Strip all the old paint off the panel. Your hood appears to have been painted at least 3 or 4 times. Why spend all the time , material and effort on a questionable surface. By removing the finish you eliminate many of the common issues of lifting , cracking , fish eyes and the like. You dont need to use stripper . There are several different inexpensive methods available ( media blasting, 3M paint buster system) and would take about the same amount of time as you already have in this panel. Stripping the panel also allows you to determine where the repairs and damage are . There are just to many sins usually hidden under the paint and primer. Get away from the Rustoleum and farm equipment products and follow the instructions on the labels. Mixing or reducing with the wrong solvent eventually will cause some issue with the primer and paint . Yes some will state they did it this way and it works but if you want to produce a long lasting quality finish it just dont work. Stay with products designed for automotive use. Du pont,SW, PPG all have lesser priced materials and lines and they are much better choices . Always apply a thin coat of a proper zinc based primer to all bare metal. Primer is a filling material and has no adhesion or rust inhibiting qualities, hence the need for the zinc. Spray a contrasting guide coat over the primer before blocking . Just dusting a light coat of aerosol over the panel is all thats needed. It will help identify the imperfections when you start blocking. Need a cheap long board. Find a good straight wooden paint mixing stick. Wrap it with a 8x11 sheet of 180 grit sandpaper and block the entire panel with overlapping 45 degree intersects. This method actually works better than many of the fancy long boards and special papers . Use a sealer between your primer and color . It keeps the color from soaking into the primer and dulling out the top coat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piston Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 when you say zinc, im wondering if your talking about selfetching primer? etching primer is whats recomended on bare metal surfaces althought alot of people say you can get away with epoxy primer like what i used in some areas. i do have etching primer on the bare metal surfaces...but not all. i think cockerstar is doing a budget spray from looking at his equiptment and paint. but if he really wants a good clean job, prepping is really important and sandpaper grit as it will show like crazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cockerstar Posted August 6, 2009 Author Share Posted August 6, 2009 I've done quite a bit of body work (ie. sun roof patch, stitch welded in and done right) to my Z, and would like to think that I'm half-way decent at body work. I just haven't messed with the painting realm of things. I've always done my own body work and taken the car to get painted somewhere. This was just to specifically try out the rustoleum method I've seen others have mild success with. It's a hood I pulled off of my parts car that I have maybe 20 minutes or so worth of prep work into. Just wanted to see how the rustoleum sprayed before I shot my practice car with it. Not looking to get anything overly nice here. The cost of paint and materials is approaching $40. If it was for my Z I'd buck up and spend $50 for a cheap HPLV and another $200 on some real paint Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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