Paint Your Car With Rustoleum

Step 9 Long-Term Results

After almost 2 years, I have finally washed the car for the first time! Lots of people have been asking for new pictures of the car, so on America's birthday I washed off a thick layer of dust to find that....it looks as good as new! When compared to the original photos, the paint looks as bright, shiny and clean as ever.

For a while I kept the car under a UV-shielded car cover, and for the last 6 months it's been under a carport, to minimize the UV exposure (a good practice for regular automotive paint too). Note that there are a few issues...in one or two locations the paint has cracked from impacts, but more noticeably there are a few spots where bird droppings dissolved the paint. This happened because I neglected to wash off said droppings for several weeks. I will probably touch up these spots with the spray-paint version of Rustoleum.

Anyway....below are the photos, which speak for themselves! They are not altered in any way besides resizing and blurring the plates. Also, it was much sunnier out (July at 2:00 vs December at 5:00) when I took the new pics, so the color doesn't look exactly the same as the old ones.

Comments

[hjenkins3]

What are your thoughts on using a can of rustoleum spray paint--- NOT a professional spray gun--- instead of can of paint and brushes?

[sixsixzero]

Just recently rolled this van.... Its my dirtbike hauler, so no expensive paint job required!

[13blue]

Nicely done. That's a good looking van.

[sixsixzero]

Spray paint will not hold up anywhere near as well as spraying it or rolling it. Ive done both, and they both work fine.
W spray cans you must remember, they use alot of thinner in those so they sray out of a can effectively. You would have to multiply your coats by 10 to get the same coverage, thickness as well as keeping a good blend. It is very hard to overlap, w/o overspraying w a small can like that....just doesn t do the job.

[m2mps]

The problem with using a spray can is that the film build (how thick the paint is) is not very thick and the thicker the paint coating the better the protection, also the primer needs to be good to give good adhesion to the metal try here for a good range of paints www.promain.co.uk

[DrSimons]

It might work for small areas, but doing a whole car would use a LOT of spray paint cans so it would probably be a lot more expensive. Also you should be VERY good with a spray can...it's not very easy to get a good finish, there are always lumps or blotchy areas, especially with glossy paint. Good luck though.

[vespera]

I was considering doing this for my motorcycle. The surface area of the fairings is nothing compared to that of a car, so a can of spray or two could do the job.

I've done light coats of spray before with cans, and even have an air brush but it is no where near the quality required to run rustoleum through it. The fairings on my bike are removable and all made of fiberglass.. going to give it a try, I think :)

[reddnekk]

When I learned to fly, my instructor said, "Anyone can get one up. It takes a pilot toget one down."

When I learned to paint, my instructor said, "Anyone can paint. It takes a painter to do the prep work right."

And how true--the prep is everything. Anyone can spray paint on a properly prepped surface. NOT everyone can properly prepare a surface to be painted.

[pfred2]

I've seen lots of people who cannot manage to properly spray. Though if you do not get the prep work right it doesn't matter if you can or can't.

[CrashTECH]

You probably should have put a clear coat on it? That might have saved you some of the issues you are having with the paint. I am quite impressed though. Next time just throw a couple clear coats on it and a good wax. Should be solid.

[farmboy79]

CrashTECH you're right, one year ago I did a Rustoleum paint job on my daily commuter motorcycle and Rustoleum clear coated it and I am surprised how well it has endured spilled gas around the gas cap, abrasion from my knees & legs and all the road grime. It also makes the paint much more glossy (gives it a deeper shine). The motorcycle is parked outside but UV isn't much of a problem here in cloudy Seattle so it hasn't yet faded. I haven't waxed it because it was intended to be a temporary paint job to cover the ugly my little pony purple metallic the previous owner had painted it. I wash it about every 3 months when I wash my protective gear.

[menahunie]

I did some thing similar to this using a case of Krylon spray in the rattle can paint.
What you didn't mention is if wanted you could color sand the paint after it has cured with 2000 grit and buff it very carefully.
I did a 1988 ford thunderbird in shiny black. Came great.
Prep work is the key and taking your time.