DIY: $50 Paint Job

[Matt Timion]

Many of you are in the same boat as my wife and I. You have a $1000 car (or in our case a $700 car) and you can't justify spending the money on a good paint job.

I'm sure that you've seen this before, but a while ago someone on the internet mentioned how do a $50 paint job using rustoleum paint. The results were very good.

http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/...0&fpart=1&vc=1

Considering the long weekend, I took it upon myself to test this method first hand on my wife's 1987 Honda CRX Si.

The BEFORE shot:

This isn't the same angle, and it's kind of a crappy picture. I was taking a picture of my Honda Fit and the CRX was behind it. Either way, it will give you an idea of the color scheme before the paint.

I should also mention that I recently replaced the front plastic piece (in front of the hood) with a red one prior to the paintjob.



Here is the progress:

After coat 1:


After coat 2:


At this point I wet-sanded it with 400 grit sandpaper (couldn't find 600 grit)

After coat 3:


After coat 4:


In the morning I'll wet-sand it with 800 grit sandpaper and put on two more coats. With any luck there will be enough time tomorrow for sanding with 1000 grit and maybe polishing the paint.

[Matt Timion]

I should mention that I plan on doing 6-10 coats, depending on what is needed to adequately cover the previous black paint (hood, etc.)

After the paint is done I will be repainting the trim and replacing the emblems as I was lazy and didn't remove them prior to painting.

[GasSavers_Red]

Rattle can all the way

[rh77]

Yeah -- no need to spend a lot of money on a paint job if you're willing to take the time yourself.

I have an older 2nd Cousin who modestly painted his AMC Eagle with a brush back in the day! It didn't look so good

RH77

[GasSavers_Ryland]

if you look in my garage photos, you will see my vx, I replaced the front bumper cover with a new one after it was backed in to for the 2nd time in it's life, while parked (once befor I got it, and once about a year ago) so the bumper was defently in need of replacement as it was in a number of pieces.
After driving it with a grey primered front bumper for a few weeks, I went down to the auto parts store, gave them the paint code on the door jam, and a little while latter they handed me a spray can with the exact same color of teal with metal flake, I think it set me back about $12 for a custum color like that, and another $5 or so for clear coat, and it's a really good match in color.

[UfoTofU]

Looks great so far!

I've been thinking about doing this on the roof of my CRX. The previous owner had mounted a roof rack by drilling a total of 8 holes through the roof. I have since filled them in but have not yet finished it.

I was waiting for winter to come and go to see if they were going to possibly leak or not, *knock on wood* no leaks yet.

[Matt Timion]

Originally Posted by Red

Rattle can all the way

No way man... you apply rustoleum with a roller. It's awesome.

[CO ZX2]

Originally Posted by Matt Timion

No way man... you apply rustoleum with a roller. It's awesome.

Matt, I am damn proud of you. You took the bull by the horns and did it without agonizing over it forever. Just imagine all the crap advice you could and would have gotten if you had opened yourself up to it. Many, including me, should learn a good lesson from you.

Looks great now and will surely be spectacular when finished. I will be sending your article and pics to my brother who was telling me a while back of a car he once spray-gunned with Rustoleum. I kept razzing him about it telling him his idea of 'looked good' might not agree with mine. Appears I probably,(no definitely), will be eating my words. Maybe even today. CO ZX2

[Matt Timion]

Originally Posted by CO ZX2

Matt, I am damn proud of you. You took the bull by the horns and did it without agonizing over it forever. Just imagine all the crap advice you could and would have gotten if you had opened yourself up to it. Many, including me, should learn a good lesson from you.

Looks great now and will surely be spectacular when finished. I will be sending your article and pics to my brother who was telling me a while back of a car he once spray-gunned with Rustoleum. I kept razzing him about it telling him his idea of 'looked good' might not agree with mine. Appears I probably,(no definitely), will be eating my words. Maybe even today. CO ZX2

Thanks..

The benefit to using this type of paint is that it dries as a hard protective shell on the car. It's an enamel, so it will really protect the car.

Due to the nature of the paint though, you need to dilute it and put on many many many thin coats. You also need to wetsand between every two coats to reduce orangepeel.

End the end I'll wetsand with 1000 grit sandpaper, buff it, and polish it. These steps alone will give it a really nice shine.

Definately worth it if you have lots of time but not lots of money.

[Peakster]

Looks awesome! Rollers are a wonderful thing when painting (especially the spongy ones).