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David_Doan

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So I started off to do the roll-on rustoleum paint job. I've ended up doing an almost nut and bolt resto. I've decided to spray it, what paint can I spray in my attached garage that won't kill my kids and/or get me banned from the house.

I was originally going to just use rustoleum thinned with odor-less mineral spirits, but I'd prefer something more durable if possible.

Any ideas?

Edit: After a few hours of reading, I think any paint that does not have an activator or hardener is safe to shoot at home. I'm leaning towards just using rustoleum thinned with mineral spirits. Temps in the Dallas area will be in the 90's by next month, should not have any issues with drying.

Edit 2: After a lot more reading (I travel for a living and spend a lot of nights in hotels), I've decided it is probably not practical to spray in in my environment. I have an attached garage with no windows. My garage door is on the rear of the house with the driveway sandwiched between the pool and a wooden fence. Even if i paint outside, I'm fearful of paint getting on my stuff or my neighbors stuff.

So, since I'm going to be rolling, I've narrowed the choices down to Rustoleum or Brightside. The costs between the two will be similar. Brightside is more per quart but will not need hardener, MS, and penetrol; Just the interlux thinner. I think Brightside will be tougher paint, but rustoleum comes in more colors.


If Rustoleum it will be Regal Red which is one shade darker than bright red. Brightside only has Fire Red, hard to tell what that is just looking online. I could do something crazy and use the Brightside YELLOW.
 
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Look for a low VOC line.
 
David, Rustoleum isn't all that bad. That's the one reason I went Rustoleum to begin with, my wife has asthma and cannot tolerate any type of fumes or odors. As far as durability I'd counter that the way we drive these cars they get beat up period. Being able to touch up rock chips and door nicks easily is a good thing in my book. Also take a look at Interlux Brightsides, I don't know about spraying but other good stuff written about how hard that paint is and it can be rolled on in one or two coats, buffing is not recommended.
 
I used a urethane enamel in my attached garage, it gets everywhere (I sealed up with plastic sheets but not well enough I guess) you could smell it in the house when I was painting, but not too bad (in my opinion) and the wife didn't divorce me but did comment. It honestly won't kill the kids if you keep them out of the garage when you are painting, which I would highly recommend no matter what paint you choose. However, if you are concerned about fumes, the latest paints are water based and designed to be more environmentally friendly, I have no experience applying them myself, but they are starting to use it in the local shops even out here in the boonies.
 
Had a repair done in water based black last summer and I am not impressed. Not as black as the paint it was supposed to match.

Kurt.
 
No other information or experience but it seems like the $50 rustoleum" crowd is gravitating to the $300 yacht paint as it is glossier and more durable.
 
Actually 3 qts Interlux Brightside will cost you about $125 on eBay. You will need some interlux thinner if you spray. If you go to bare metal use the 2 part epoxy recommended. All in about $200. That is how I did my car.
Paul
 
I know some has had reasonable success with the Rustoleum method but I am not sold on it. Also Interlux makes fine boat paint vut remember, boats are not usually scrutinized nearly as close as cars. I have had great luck with Matrix Systems paint at near half the price of PPG or DuPont. I have done their urethane in my 2 car garage that has no crossflow or exhaust fan. I just open the door and set the compressor outside along with a good fan blowing in to keep the air stirred. With HVLP, all it takes is just a drop cloth on the floor.

If you have gone to that much effort restoring the car, I would strongly recommend giving it an equally good paint job. JMHO, of course.
 
Paul,
Did you Roll or Spray the Interlux?
I'm thinking of going White and Interlux makes a whole lot of different shades of white. Cherry Red Interior and would like to do twin red stripes.
Type of equipement / compressor used?
Odor?
Thats my concern, I wiped walls in kitchen down with Top Job on Sunday to clean up some wallpaper residue before painting and I got the "WTH are you using, open all of the windows and doors..." My wife is terribly sensitive to smells and I need to be cognizant of that for the Happy Wife / Happy Life ...
 
Jim, you do have to be cognizant of the wife's happiness, but don't turn your back on the False Economy Monster...He lurks near unpainted cars...:smiley_simmons: (boo)

:jester:
 
Jim_Gruber said:
I wiped walls in kitchen down with Top Job on Sunday to clean up some wallpaper residue before painting and I got the "WTH are you using, open all of the windows and doors..." My wife is terribly sensitive to smells and I need to be cognizant of that for the Happy Wife / Happy Life ...
Click to expand...

You may be in the position of needing to have the car car sprayed elsewhere. I had a friend recently need to have his TR6 repainted. He did the prep work himself, and had a local cheap place (MAACO or similar) spray the paint. Looked quite good, really, and he didn't have to deal with the paint-spray issues. Not the cheapest option for sure, but wasn't the cost of a high end job and looked really nice. Just a thought...
 
I am getting ready to paint my Midget. It was painted by the PO about 10 years ago and never put back together. Since then there have been many dings and scratches from sitting around. I decided to use 2k urethane primer-surfacer, single stage urethane, and urethane clear, all from Eastwood. I was thinking of waterborne but it would require better ventilation for out-gassing and a 2nd gun to make sure there would not be any contamination left that might come out in the clear. For that reason I decided on the urethane base coat. For a gun I will be using a HVLP Concours gun from Eastwood. It requires 4cfm at 29psi and has excellent reviews. This gun should also have little over spray which is important to me.

This approach is not cheap and I could have it sprayed for less. But the cost of the prep work is a big part of the job, and probably the most important. I have painted cars in the (somewhat distant) past and know what I am getting myself into.

I was going to have someone else spray it but decided to do it myself for the following reasons. I happen to enjoy painting and take pride in my humble result. I had cataract surgery this winter so I can actually see what I am doing. My TR6 also needs painting so the cost will be spread over 2 cars.

This is just what I plan on doing and may not be for you.
 
I used Dupli-color rattle cans.
I was at first pretty happy with the finish.
However it didn't last well, it is prone to crazing, there's what looks like a spiderweb in some places and it was not resistant to road debris at all.
There are several hundred specks on my bonnet.
When I repaint I'll try and use something that is a little more resilient.
 
Jim_Gruber said:
Paul,
Did you Roll or Spray the Interlux?
I'm thinking of going White and Interlux makes a whole lot of different shades of white. Cherry Red Interior and would like to do twin red stripes.
Type of equipement / compressor used?
Odor?
Thats my concern, I wiped walls in kitchen down with Top Job on Sunday to clean up some wallpaper residue before painting and I got the "WTH are you using, open all of the windows and doors..." My wife is terribly sensitive to smells and I need to be cognizant of that for the Happy Wife / Happy Life ...
Click to expand...
Jim
I sprayed my car, but rolled my hardtop. The paint lays down like glass. If you want to work hard at wet sanding you can get a great finish. You could probably spray outside and sand out the inclusions if you really do not want to use your garage. If you did bugsy with a roller you know how much work it is. Mix all your quarts in one can and go for it. I can post some close up pictures of my car this weekend if you would like.

Paul
 
Interlux is only $32 a quart at Jamestowndistributors, a professional boat restoration site.
 
Thanks Larry, yes I know their site well. Any recommendations for which White to go with a Cherry Red interior?
 
Question: how will you do the body work and primer without fumes?
 
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