This whole idea got into my head after reading on a few different forums about the "$50 paint job" popularized on the moparts forum. Reading through the hundreds of posts about which paint to use, technique, results etc etc, I built up the confidence to give it a try. Finally I found M3fan4eva's write up on his roller job.
Frank was kind enough to share his wisdom on the process. He also warned about just how much manual labor is involved. If you are not the diligent DIY type with lots of spare time, don't try this.
I need to replace my rusted out sunroof panel so I started by practicing on a 'new' blue panel i picked up at the JY. The paint I'm using is Interlux Brightside white boat paint. Its a polyurethane paint designed to be roller on with a high gloss finish.
The step by step process is as follow.
1. Wet sand the panel down to the primer with 300-400 grit.
2. Clean with soap and water, then once dry, clean with mineral spirits.
3. Mix 2 parts paint with 1 part mineral spirits.
4. Roll on with a 3" high density foam roller. After rolling about 2 square feet, immediately run a 3" foam brush lightly over the painted area to pop the bubbles left by the roller.
5. Let dry for 24 hours then clean with mineral spirits.
6. Once dry, wet sand lightly with 1000 grit.
7. Repeat steps 2-6 until you have completely coverage (even color all the way across the panel. Mine took 3 coats but others have done all the way up to 8 or even ten coats. It all depends on the type of paint (Brightside or Rustoleum) and color. White hides flaws very well, dark colors take more effort.
8. Hand polish the panel back to a deep shine
9. Wax and admire the results.
There are many variations on this process.
Heres what I have so far. The sunroof panel after 2 coats, no sanding, no polishing.
Fluorescent light at night really helps bring out the flaws in the paint. Its a very useful tool.
Extreme closeup. It looks terrible but all this stuff gets knocked down with 1000 grit wet sand before the next coat. 90% of the shine in a paint job is in the prep work and polishing. Sanding between coats is part of that prep.
After sanding down the second coat.
Third and final coat of paint.
You can definitely see some of the imperfections in the paint. Again this is just the paint as it came off the roller. No sanding, polishing or wax yet.
Before starting on the rest of the car I fixed some small dents. Bondo
Sanded
And primer. Bondo tends to soak up paint like a sponge so it needs to be primered. The rest of the car on the other hand, can be rolled without primer directly on the existing paint/primer as long as its sanded.
You can find more info on roller painting you car:
Frank was kind enough to share his wisdom on the process. He also warned about just how much manual labor is involved. If you are not the diligent DIY type with lots of spare time, don't try this.
I need to replace my rusted out sunroof panel so I started by practicing on a 'new' blue panel i picked up at the JY. The paint I'm using is Interlux Brightside white boat paint. Its a polyurethane paint designed to be roller on with a high gloss finish.
The step by step process is as follow.
1. Wet sand the panel down to the primer with 300-400 grit.
2. Clean with soap and water, then once dry, clean with mineral spirits.
3. Mix 2 parts paint with 1 part mineral spirits.
4. Roll on with a 3" high density foam roller. After rolling about 2 square feet, immediately run a 3" foam brush lightly over the painted area to pop the bubbles left by the roller.
5. Let dry for 24 hours then clean with mineral spirits.
6. Once dry, wet sand lightly with 1000 grit.
7. Repeat steps 2-6 until you have completely coverage (even color all the way across the panel. Mine took 3 coats but others have done all the way up to 8 or even ten coats. It all depends on the type of paint (Brightside or Rustoleum) and color. White hides flaws very well, dark colors take more effort.
8. Hand polish the panel back to a deep shine
9. Wax and admire the results.
There are many variations on this process.
Heres what I have so far. The sunroof panel after 2 coats, no sanding, no polishing.
Fluorescent light at night really helps bring out the flaws in the paint. Its a very useful tool.
Extreme closeup. It looks terrible but all this stuff gets knocked down with 1000 grit wet sand before the next coat. 90% of the shine in a paint job is in the prep work and polishing. Sanding between coats is part of that prep.
After sanding down the second coat.
Third and final coat of paint.
You can definitely see some of the imperfections in the paint. Again this is just the paint as it came off the roller. No sanding, polishing or wax yet.
Before starting on the rest of the car I fixed some small dents. Bondo
Sanded
And primer. Bondo tends to soak up paint like a sponge so it needs to be primered. The rest of the car on the other hand, can be rolled without primer directly on the existing paint/primer as long as its sanded.
You can find more info on roller painting you car:
Comment