i don't have a place to spray a car, i do have a place to roll. My compressor is still in Texas. I want to be able to get OTS touch up paint. This car see's gravel and dirt roads often. If it turns out nice than it will be fun to say I rolled it on. Anything is better than all of these Miata's rolling around all chalky paint and peeled clear coat. If this bumper turns out nice than I'm doing the same to the whole car which is roll it on thick three times then wet sand...really easy way to do it. Anything more than $500 paint job on 90% of Miata's is a waste of money. ETA on my finished paint job will be sometime in March or April. I'm going to do the inside of trunk and doors so it all looks nice. I'm starting an oil field job in two weeks in another state. I can go to the Home Depot in said state and grab a can of Hunter Green and spay a panel if I have free time. think of it as a Gypsy paint job.

 

Whats the exact paint you used from the rustoleum line? I've had nothing but bad luck. The few rustoleum paints i've used have been extremely thin and impossible to wet sand even with 3-4 coats.

 

All of the old timers on the forums that paint tractors, old lanterns, etc swear by the Rustoleum Professional. They say it dries quicker, runs less, and has a better shine. It will say professional not Stops Rust. Every thread I read they were complaining of runs, I noticed two correlations they were either painting with stops rust or diluding 50/50. I'm cutting in with the small brush with 100% paint and then rolling with 8 parts paint 1 part mineral spirits and 1 part hardener. I'm not measuring just a little splish splash. This is the exact paint I'm using.



Home Depot Racing paint job.

Here is my third and final coat, no sanding at all yet. Its has good shine and depth, I wonder how long I need to wait to wet sand it. A month? I like that the color varies a lot in different light.

 

I've had decent luck using the Rustoleum Professional in a HF HVLP (not the cheapest, go one grade up) and thinning the paint using Acetone instead of thinner at a 65/35 or 70/30 ratio. Mess with the settings on the gun, a little practice and I was pretty surprised at the results.

 

I rolled a camper with that stuff and it held up great!

 

Your car is the poster child for a Plastidip test subject. Harsher sun and dryer than even around here, no cover/protection, and you live down a dirt road.

 

Its time to Rustoleum another Miata

 

I painted a boat with that same stuff. It never hardened like real auto paint. It has that strange feel, I dunno, like a fire hydrant. Just kind of soft, even after a year in the sun.

 

I think the reason you thin the rustoleum is to make a thin, easier/faster drying coat. You sand between coats to flatten the surface prior to the next coat. When you sand you'll know if its thoroughly dry or not. Layering multiple thin coats helps with the drying process, which in turn helps you to not end up with a thick eternally mushy paint job.

That being said, I would not use rustoleum. The process that spread web-wide years ago isn't because rustoleum is great paint, its because the process can yield good results from cheap products applied with a brush. If you did the same thing with a better quality paint, the results would be far superior. You absolutely CAN paint a car with Dupont, PPG, whatever paint in the same manner and have a much better, longer lasting paint job. Just don't use pearl or metallic colors as the sanding will "uncover" the "glitter" and ruin the appearance. Real automotive paints, even the lower level brands, have far superior UV protection than rustoleum does.