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Sticker shock

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about 15 years ago I painted a Datsun with a couple of cans of Hammerite finish....it was an improvement over the faded white with rust spots. We used disposable foam brushes. Since the paint is textured it didn't really matter.
 
There's alot of BS in paint brand marketing, here's the deal every vendor has a premium brand and then a generic brand of the premium, but when they go into the mixing room, it all the same base and tints, meaning it's the same stuff, the premium just cost more, this is why professional body shops almost always use the generic brands. Red is alway going to be the most expensive pigment, been that way forever fiquire a extra $100 bucks at minimum for red over other colors. Most paint store also have what they call a overall economy paint line, you will not have a million color choices , but most the colors we would use will be included in this deal, then there are now alot of online piant stores that offer even deeper discounts. The big problem with the rustoleum paint job is that it is not automotive apint, it way softer than automotive paint and it will not stand up to UV rays over time, and remember you only hear the sucess stories online with rustoleum paint jobs, you never hear about all the nightmares. Paiting your pride and joy is a big deal, so piant is not a palce to skimp, this doesn't mean you have to break the paint, car paint is for cars, and rustoleum is for swing set or rod iron fence, it not for your car.

There's a sign in a business that I frequent that says it all for me.

" the bad taste of poor quailty lingers long after the joy of a cheap price has vanished"
 
I am also very skeptical of the rustoleum jobs but enough people have done it successfully and it has lasted several years, it's hard to deny it CAN be done. If you have more time than $$$ it seems a viable option. If I were laid off with a car to tinker with, I'd be all over it. Probably results depend as much on the skill and patience of the painter as in any other field. By the time I have enough time to try such a thing, the good Lord willing, I'll be retired and buy spray equipment and do it "right", so I'm unlikely to find out first hand. I might try it on a motorcycle I've started restoring though. Much smaller surface area to deal with on a tank and two side covers!
 

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jvandyke said:
I am also very skeptical of the rustoleum jobs but enough people have done it successfully and it has lasted several years, it's hard to deny it CAN be done. If you have more time than $$$ it seems a viable option. If I were laid off with a car to tinker with, I'd be all over it. Probably results depend as much on the skill and patience of the painter as in any other field. By the time I have enough time to try such a thing, the good Lord willing, I'll be retired and buy spray equipment and do it "right", so I'm unlikely to find out first hand. I might try it on a motorcycle I've started restoring though. Much smaller surface area to deal with on a tank and two side covers!
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You can get one of those cheap air brushes from harbor freight to paint a motorbike tank. Its what I used on the black on the midget and its good for things like that and only cost $7.95 or something like that. About any air compressor should work with it too. You should not need more than a pint of paint for the tank and fender of a bike and will have lots left over.
 
I have done small panel repairs and detail painting with generic air brushes like Kim is suggesting. Before I had a house and compressor I even used one to paint the rear quarter panel on my early VW Jetta using a portable tank for the air. I still use the air brush inside of door jams and such. They are very handy with any painting project.
 
I have an airbrush. Never got good with it. Maybe I'll "brush up" on those skills.
 
jvandyke said:
I have an airbrush. Never got good with it. Maybe I'll "brush up" on those skills.
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Well, I don't know how good you have to be. The basecoat goes on and dries quick like primer and not much chance of a run unless you are way off somehow. The clear takes a little more practice but most mistakes there can be sanded and buffed out if its not too bad.
 
I'm still spraying single-stage paints, not base/clear. Single-stage paints work very well in the inexpensive air brushes.

For auto work I prefer the single-action brushes based on the design of the Badger model 250. This is a single-action type, not double-action (where the button controls both air and paint delivery). They are super easy to work with.

Badger #250 air brush kits at TCP Global:
https://www.tcpglobal.com/airbrushdepot/b250sets.aspx

There are lots of inexpensive single-action air brushes to choose from. The Badger brand will cost a bit more but you WILL find paint jars and parts for them at craft stores like AC Moore. The real Badger parts (like paint jars)don't quite fit the generic copies out there.
 
Check out tcp global I used ther paint for my 68 C10 had good luck with it with shipping it was less than buying local you can get the corect color for what ever with there online color
chart
jim
 
dklawson said:
I'm still spraying single-stage paints, not base/clear. Single-stage paints work very well in the inexpensive air brushes.
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How big of parts are you doing with a little airbrush? Whole body panels?
 
jvandyke said:
How big of parts are you doing with a little airbrush? Whole body panels?
Click to expand...

I mentioned in an earlier post that before having a couple of guns and an air compressor I have used single-acting air brushes to spray areas as large as the quarter panel on my old VW Jetta. However, that was an extreme case. Most of what I spray with the air brush are parts and areas smaller than one square foot. The air brush is very handy for places like door jams and the nooks and crannies in places like under the bonnet. On the project Spitfire I have used it to paint most of the vertical surfaces on the firewall adjacent to the tranny tunnel and the areas like the front spring perches. On the Mini I used an air brush to paint all of the bulkhead/firewall with the engine in place.
 
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