Has anyone done the $50 Rustoleum Paint Job on their Square???

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80BrownK10

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I started cutting and buffing out some of this ****** paint.
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Starting to look shiny (especially the hood).
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Here's an area of shrinkage that came out looking kinds cool.
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Also here's the '88 as well.
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Pretty nice for a $300 truck.
Did you shoot that hood? Last I thought I remembered seeing it the hood was all flaking off clear coat.
 

jjester6000

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Did you shoot that hood? Last I thought I remembered seeing it the hood was all flaking off clear coat.

Which truck? I reshot the whole '88, and didn't do anything but polish to the '74.
 

Nasty-LSX

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lots of newer vids on youtube to do a perfect paint job with mixing ratios.
 

80BrownK10

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And there is a guy Moore Motorsports Garage that uses the Rust-Oleum 2X spray paint to paint all kinds of cars. Looks good.
 

80BrownK10

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I ran across a guy at the gas station yesterday with a crew cab square. It was a long bed dually he cut down to a short bed SRW. He had painted it with Rust-Oleum hunter green mixed a bit of sliver and black he said. Painted I think he said three coats. He reduced it with mineral spirits I think he said or did he not reduce it..I forget now?

Told me it had a big block and swapped in a five sodded NV???? Into it he had done the paint four years ago. Said he had only waxed it one time. It looked good. A tree branch had fallen on the front corner of the hood and dented it and the paint was coming off there. Other than that one damage spot. It looked good, wasn't faded , didn't look chalky or oxidized. Said he had never cut or buffed it. We both agreed if he did it probably would shine like new. This was a daily driver he said.

Was a cool guy.
 

jjester6000

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I just finished painting the burb for a second time, and the paint laid on super smooth.
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I was never really satisfied with the finish I got the first time, so I tried again.
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Unlike the black truck, I actually did a lot of prep work, and it paid off.
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I am going to paint from the body line down with some bedliner.
 

jjester6000

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Now it looks great.
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I was going to do bedliner on the bottom, but I ended up using some metallic grey instead.
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I also added a pinstripe.
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waterpirate

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I painted my m37 with 4 cases of rustoleum spruce green/ satin spray cans from lowes. She was on the military show circuit for a while and guys never stopped asking me what paint I used and what was the paint code? lol It really is all about the prep work. FYI the m37 was not a trailer queen, I off roaded her hard, the rustoleum was soooo easy to touch up.
Eric
 

Ricko1966

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Most of these folks are talking about the gallon cans of Rust-Oleum and reducing it and spraying with a HVLP gun not spray cans. That's the expensive way and doesn't yield as good of a coat of paint.
Mine was thinned rustoleum rolled with foam rollers just like the videos and internet write ups said to do The truck looked great at first but the thinned rustoleum didn't hold up as well as real automotive paint.If I were to do it again I would at least use Valspar or something I could put hardner in yea some say you can put hardner in rustoleum some say you can't so IDK.I do know if I had sprayed hardened cheap automotive enamel it would have held up better.But it did look real good for the time and money involved.But still wouldn't do it again.
 

Kevin Foust

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I just did this on my project truck and I'll relay what I found. I used the local farm store (Tractor Supply Company) paint and it was around $30.00/gal. Using the mini roller I used it does leave it pretty rough. If you want to cut and buff( wet sand and buff out), you need to do at LEAST 2 coats. Also be sure to use the hardener or you wait forever for it to dry. The reason I tried it was I didn't want the overspray mess in the shop and this is a work truck anyway. Like you said, cost these days is crazy. I sprayed my show truck with base clear about 9 years ago. At that time, Red from PPG was $640.00/gal JUST for the base.

I brudhed the edges then rolled the open areas. Used NO thinner, just the recommended amount of hardener. It rolls out fairly rough.

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I let it set and dry about 3 weeks before block sanding it. You HAVE to have your primer base right if you want a decent finish. Don't think you can fill in lows with your top coat. After a lot of wet sanding going down to 3000 grit, I buffed it out.

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It's nice but in no way a show finish. Let me be real clear. It's a heck of a lot of work, WAY more than most will want to do. I did it for an experiment so I learned it is possible. You're better off having someone shoot it if you don't want a couple weeks of work. VERY touchy on not sanding through and if you do, you get to start all over.

One interesting thing is on the interior and non outside surfaces, I just used a brush. Same mixture and paint. It laid down a lot smoother and would have taken less work to smooth out than the roller. Roller is way quicker and "may" get a more even coat but I myself will use a high quality brush if I decide to do it on something else.

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This was brushed and the pics make it look worse than it actually is. I've had good luck with tractor paint on past projects. I do keep my stuff inside when not being used so the sun fade issue hasn't been noticed by me. If you have some where to spray it, I would.
 

mcarlo86

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This is my dad's '57 Willys. He sprayed it with Rustoleum in 1980 that he bought at the local hardware store. Never sat inside until the last 5 years. The paint is faded some, but considering it is 40 years old, I'd say that it held up very well.
 

mcarlo86

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On a side note, the '68 C50 in the background was repainted by a local body shop in the mid 80's and that paint hasn't held up nearly as well.
 

80BrownK10

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I just did this on my project truck and I'll relay what I found. I used the local farm store (Tractor Supply Company) paint and it was around $30.00/gal. Using the mini roller I used it does leave it pretty rough. If you want to cut and buff( wet sand and buff out), you need to do at LEAST 2 coats. Also be sure to use the hardener or you wait forever for it to dry. The reason I tried it was I didn't want the overspray mess in the shop and this is a work truck anyway. Like you said, cost these days is crazy. I sprayed my show truck with base clear about 9 years ago. At that time, Red from PPG was $640.00/gal JUST for the base.

I brudhed the edges then rolled the open areas. Used NO thinner, just the recommended amount of hardener. It rolls out fairly rough.

You must be registered for see images attach


I let it set and dry about 3 weeks before block sanding it. You HAVE to have your primer base right if you want a decent finish. Don't think you can fill in lows with your top coat. After a lot of wet sanding going down to 3000 grit, I buffed it out.

You must be registered for see images attach


You must be registered for see images attach


It's nice but in no way a show finish. Let me be real clear. It's a heck of a lot of work, WAY more than most will want to do. I did it for an experiment so I learned it is possible. You're better off having someone shoot it if you don't want a couple weeks of work. VERY touchy on not sanding through and if you do, you get to start all over.

One interesting thing is on the interior and non outside surfaces, I just used a brush. Same mixture and paint. It laid down a lot smoother and would have taken less work to smooth out than the roller. Roller is way quicker and "may" get a more even coat but I myself will use a high quality brush if I decide to do it on something else.

You must be registered for see images attach


This was brushed and the pics make it look worse than it actually is. I've had good luck with tractor paint on past projects. I do keep my stuff inside when not being used so the sun fade issue hasn't been noticed by me. If you have some where to spray it, I would.
I think thisbis why the thinner recommendation. It will lay flat. But yes I brush Rust-Oleum on many things I do. Small things or parts. I just did some fixing on the floor of my square. My interior is brown. I used the brown gloss to final coat the floor where I did my repairs it's not exact color. I don't care it's close, I don't have a show truck and it's under my worn out carpet anyway. But it lays smoother than my floor is, haha. I brushed it on.
 

80BrownK10

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On a side note, the '68 C50 in the background was repainted by a local body shop in the mid 80's and that paint hasn't held up nearly as well.
Looks like they sprayed it in primer. Unless that's what you mean and the whole top coat is gone.:Big Laugh:
 

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