Markp

That's just unbelievable... Does it look that good in reality???

Mark

Aussie Driver

Well, I'll have to make a little admission. In the last pic, you can probably see some small marks on the door. They were there because I had taken the doors off and left them out in the backyard overnight and it rained. The rest of the car normally looks like the rear quarter panel in the last pic (unless it rains).

There is one obvious roller mark on the US driver's side of the car (read the 'passenger's side' Down Under) which happened bacause a butterfly landed on that door after I had finished painting it. I managed to get the damn thing off but it had left some marks behind. So I re-applied the roller to that area and made things worse..... It will sand out though so I' not too fussed about it.

Atlanta93LE

iTrader: (5)

So the Brightside has trouble in the rain too?

neogenesis2004

iTrader: (12)

im assuming that he meant he left it out in the rain and it hadn't dried yet. You would have that problem with any paint. Its not the same problem he had originally with the other paint.

Atlanta93LE

iTrader: (5)

Gotcha. Phew.

Dr. Nick

There is a mountain of orange peel in that final picture, but I'm very anxious to see it after then final treatment. Good luck with this!

So how much taping and masking did you end up doing for a rollon paint job?

da Bajan

Man what a job.. I am thinking about changing the color of my ride and I was wanting to do it myself because of terrible experences with 2 other painters. This looks like it may be a way forward!

Great job. Interested to see how it looks now - post some more pics!

DB

Aussie Driver

Not quite right. The door was dry and then it was rained on because I was to lazy to go outside and bring it inside once it became dark. They are just typical marks that you would get on anything left out in the rain. They washed straight off.

I didn't do any masking on the car at all. I removed almost everything that I could (lights, reflectors, doors, door handles, that plastic trim thingy around the rear of the cabin, etc) and then just painted it. I did get some paint on the rubber around the windscreen which I later (mostly) removed with some mineral spirits. And I also managed to get some paint on one of the tyres which I didn't bother about at all.

I agree about the orange peel in the paint. There is a lot more than the previous job with the Metal Armour, but it is still about the same as some of the factory paint jobs that I have seen. And this is before the final wet sand and detailing which I'm planning on doing from November 4 - 7. I'll post some pics of the final product then.

tylerdurden

Done buffing yet?

akaryrye

iTrader: (5)

yea, how is your paintjob looking after a month now? show us some pictures or something.

Aussie Driver

I went for a big final sand and detailing session last weekend. And I totally stuffed it up (I managed to leave some deep scratches in the paint with the wet sanding that I couldn't get out unless I went through the top layer of paint). I just ended up giving it another coat of paint......

Here is a pic of the new coat of paint;




I'm hoping to be able to give the car a very gentle wet sand with some P2000 this weekend and then detail it. This time I'll be staying away from the more agressive grades of sand paper. I'm still coming to terms with being such a bone-head with my sanding!!

y8s

iTrader: (8)

www.paintscratch.com sells professional style spray cans. I suspect that'd improve the results of a DIY job. A little more dough but time IS money

BrokeEnthusiast

iTrader: (1)

in this picture the paint looks like its not smoothe, kind of feathery. is this just the picture/angle? if you want a comparison of a pro paint job check out my vb garage. It was a two stage paint, and after seeing that you got yours done for $40 with those results im kind of kicking myslef....

Aussie Driver

The new coat of paint came out a lot better than the previous ones, mainly because I changed the rolling technique. With the 'roller' paint jobs, the paint isn't anywhere near perfect until the car is wet sanded and then polished. With a spray job, the paint should be perfect from the word go.

Unfortunately I stuffed up my sanding, so I'm going to have to wait a little longer until I can complete the final sanding/polishing steps. Once it has been done the paint should be flatter (less peel) and it should be a nice deep gloss black.

As to the time it has taken, well I'll just say that mucking around on my car with the both Megasquirt and the $40 paint job is a very cheap hobby. And considering that I can now build/install/tune an ECU and prep/paint a car, the experience is priceless.

neogenesis2004

iTrader: (12)

Im going to do this to my miata this winter I think. the only ting im worried about is taping the rubber trim. Did you just use blue painter's tape? Any taping tips/hints you can give me?

expensivehobby22

I wonder if a color other than gloss black would be more forgiving? I would think gloss black would be one of the hardest to get perfect.

Aussie Driver

White is a lot more forgiving than black. I'm getting my spare boot lid ready to swap for another boot lid with a rear wing on it, and I've had to paint the thing white to match the other guy's car. The white has been so easy to paint compared to the black that it's not funny. There is a huge problem if I wet sand the thing in direct sunlight, but the painting and the results are really easy to achieve in comparison to black.

Jefe

iTrader: (7)

Aussie- looks good.

Metallic silver is pretty forgiving as well.

Is there any reason not to use this method to apply with regular auto paint? (other than expense) use appropiate thinners and hardeners?

Aussie Driver

When I did my car I removed everything except the windscreen rubber and the rubber seal for the lip of the soft top/hard top. Because I was using black, I didn't worry about masking those bits. If you are planning on using anything other than black paint then I would suggest that you remove everything that you can, then mask the hell out of what-ever is left.


Jefe, I wouldn't recommend that you tried the roller technique with regular automotive paint. My understanding is that paint is specifically designed for an application technique as well as the desired results. Paint that is meant to be sprayed will contain a lot more solvents than a 'normal' paint such as Brightside. Those solvents are bad for your health and would probably wreck the roller in no time at all, leaving you with the possibility of spending your last few seconds on earth (while the solvents destroy your lungs), lying on the floor of your garage, looking at a really stuffed up paint job.

Jefe

iTrader: (7)

Thanks for the tip