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Thinning Rustoleum paint to spray w/ gun

144K views 40 replies 31 participants last post by  Shootingsparks 
#1 ·
I want to spray some inner fenders, inside of fenders and a radiator support with some gloss black Rustoleum. I have a DeVilbiss gun. I would rattle can it but I want to get more practice setting up and spraying with my gun. So, I am pretty sure it would need to be thinned. What should i thin it with, Acetone? Could anyone suggest a set amount to add to thin it, or is it by sight/feel? I dont want to over thin it. Also, When it is thinned, should I spray with a 1.3 tip? I also have a little touch up gun with a 1.0 tip. Thanks in advance for help, guys!

Nik C.
 
#5 ·
My buddy and I sprayed my Monte with Rustoleum satin black at a 70/30 mix with acetone. No science behind our % but turned out real good. This car was rust free and straight but a hideous faded goldish brown. Just needed a cheap color change, misssion accomplished.
 

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#6 ·
Rustoleum is AWESOME... for grills.

O.K. I'm kidding. I once shot a set of early 60's Cadillac steel wheels with the Rustoleum gray gloss.

I noticed that the color happened to match the OEM Cadillac rim color very closely. So I said "what the heck"! This was back in the days before you could get the 60's colors easily matched. (Sheesh! You young guys don't know how good you have it these days...)

Anyway, I cut it with either PPG 870 or 885 reducer. I can't remember which, but I know it was one or the other of those two, because that's all I had. :) It shot beautifully and looked really good and lasted perfectly fine on properly prepped steel rims.

Good reducer can make average paint shoot pretty nice, IME.

I wouldn't personally paint a car with it, but Rustoleum can also work well for certain underhood components. For example, their "high temperature black semi-gloss enamel" shoots as a fair match to GM OEM A6 compressor paint (which was enamel - NOT lacquer like so much of everything else under the hood of a 60's GM product.)

NOTE: Rustoleum now heavily pushes a product line that is water based. These days you have to really watch out when buying Rustoleum, because they stock the two products side by side in the stores and the packaging is deceptively similar. Lots of stores are no longer carrying the solvent / enamel stuff. Try the mom and pop stores, where they still know that good paint has to be poisonous. :)

Just my 2C

Keith
 
#7 ·
Recommend using better materials if you can, but RO will work well "for now". I have used it several times on "just need to cover it up with something" projects. Also for underhood, under body painting.

Painted this Monte with RO satin black, paint job lasted 6 years. Painted my Elco at the same time same paint, lasted 8 years. I live in RIverside County in SoCal, lots of sunny hot days, so lasted OK for $50 invested. Would have liked to do a "real paint job", but not in dollar/time budget right now.



Thinned with acetone, about 1:1, sprayed with an old Craftsman gun.

Tom
 
#8 ·
Hi Tom,

Yes, good point...wish every paint job could be BC/CC fourteen feet deep, but it is better to light a pile of Fords than curse the darkness.


p.s. What is it with you guys and these satin black Monte Carlos? :) I've seen five or six painted this way.

Keith
 
#9 ·
Just painted a 94 Suburban with that stuff. 1:1 mix using a cheep Harbor Freight spray gun. Two coats and the old primer / baby blue is gone. Wheel wells painted as well. Total cost, including the gun, $80.
 
#10 ·
Just sprayed my inner fenders, rad support, steering arms, hood hinges, bumper brackets and some other small parts that i had blasted with the satin enamel Rustoleum (Part number 7777) mixed 1:1 with acetone through a DeVilbiss gun with a 1.3 tip. I was set up with a 1.8 tip but after mixing, it was pretty thin. Swapped to the 1.3 and it shot very well. I'm very happy with the results for what it is. Picked up all of my parts from the blaster this morning, shot with epoxy and then the rustoleum. I can post a picture if anyone is interested. I bet that over the epoxy, it will last very well, not seeing day light and all.
Thanks for the advice, guys.

Nik C.
 
#11 ·
my car was sprayed with RO outside on the lawn in southern arizona with a tankless air compressor and generic spray gun - back in 1984 ???
it is still holding on to the car for what it's worth...
i'm about ready to touch it up to make it all the same color again:beers:
 
#12 ·
I think this shows how the hobby comes around. People like nice paint on the cars, but when it costs more to paint a car than what the car is worth people start getting back to the basics. I rattle canned the nova satin black just to make it all one color. when I get the quarter skin replaced, its getting a regular cheapie satin black paint. jim
 
#13 ·
Interesting. I've rattle canned a lot of stuff. Amazing how good of a finish you can get on small parts. Especially with some of the bigger flowing tips. Other than getting enough volume and getting big drops as the spray can cools. The underside of my Chevelle was shot with True Value's XO-Rust back in about 1990. At that time TV's parent had their own paint factory and still had the rust inhibitors that RO took out of the paint. It was shot with a gun. I used it because I it was affordable (I was in college), I had the level of gear that could shoot it but not something better, and I could always match it out of rattle cans.

Since then we've had the guy doing $100 paint jobs with Tremcald, the Canadian version of RO, using the "roll and roll method." There was even a Car Craft article about the $99 paint job.

All that said, I've always felt the RO and other stuff was not "real paint" for a car. I've been spending time lately on the iBoats forum and a lot of these guys restoring old boats on a budget are using RO, Valspar or other hardware store paints. They thin it with acetone, mineral spirits, or maybe xylene, maybe a mix. Maybe they add hardener, maybe not. They mix colors by blending pints and quarts. Some shoot it with cheap HF guns, some "roll and tip" some "roll and roll". They get really amazing results. Not show car, but well beyond what you'd expect.

So I think there's merit in some of these techniques, especially for under hood, chassis, or other parts that are easy to over restore with typical automotive two stage paint.
 
#15 ·
I dont know the whole deal of your car.

Why did you end up using Rustoleum?

Is you car a real budget car or a racer?

If you shot your car in a real nice paint for a show or real nice driver paint job, I dont know why you would use Rustoleum on your car.
 
#16 ·
We had this discussion in another thread some time ago. RO is the same as a single stage acrylic enamel. Oil based, cures in about 30 days, after curing can wet sand if needed. Look at the ingredients of an old can of Centari - its the same stuff. Yes, it will fade (specially red), yes the gloss will dull down eventually but then again this is true of most single stage paints. Now a days most paints even the "single stage" ones are catalyst based. RO is a decent paint for a decent price. Great on frames, inner fenders, parts that dont see the sun much (heavy sun promotes fading). Not bad for the guy whos putting together a driver quality car for cruzin around in. JMHO
 
#17 ·
I used rustoleum for frames etc. I followed the thinning instructions on the can. I beilve it was acetone up to 15%. Just used a mixing cup that showed ounces and calculated %. I used a 1.4 tip and it worked great. It's cheap, sold everywhere and held up well. I guess it depends on what your $$$ situation is. Of course automotive paint would be my first choice, but then again some people dont even paint those areas.
 
#18 ·
I personally would not use it on the exterior of a car. Except maybe a demolition derby car or a junker. A co-worker of mine just sprayed one, just to make it look nice at least for the first part of the demolition derby. Anyway, the Satin RO epoxy sprays nicely out of a gun. It looks better than the Ceramic Chassis Black from Eastwood that I shot my frame with, IMO. I doubt its going to wear out, as it will never see sun. Car will probably rarely if ever see rain. Plus, its dirt cheap to repaint if ever needed. And you can get matching rattle can paint for touch ups. It makes plenty of sense to me. I could see how others might not agree. It does not look any worse and I think it'll hold up nicely. My fire wall is getting painted body color, so its just my inner fefnders, rad support, hood hinges and such. I'm happy with the decision thus far. The biggest attraction to me was that it would be very easy to touch up any scratches that my engine compartment will see in the future.
 
#25 ·
Sprayed our frame with RO 7777 and used the red oxide as primer base. Thinner with Acetone in an old Binks gun. Kinda poured it in and stirred till it looked right...Ha. Came out great. plus my 17 yr son shoot it himself...Total cost maybe 50 bucks vs. 500 powder coat. Plus we can touch it up anytime if need be.
 
#26 ·
Well, not to bring this thread back from the dead, but i wanted to answer. So, no, this car is not a show car. It's a driver. Nearly two years later, the rustoleum 777 satin paint looks great, STILL! I know that there is higher quaility paint out there, but while trying to keep build expenses low, while building a car from the ground up, two years later, I am beyond comfortable with my choice in spraying this satin rustoleum paint. I would not use it on a build that would see sun light regularly, but for a driver, on a budget, if you have a hvlp gun and $2o, I would definitely recommend spraying with this satin Rustoleum. I am getting ready to shoot a '53 GMC in Satin olive drab Rustoleum while I wait until I wrap up the body work. This stuff works great for low budget builds that won't be parked outside permanently. I acknowledge the valor in painting vehicles in proper automotive paint, but sometimes we simply need to get by in the short term.

Nik
 
#28 ·
Two year old thread, but I will add anyway. Did a '64 GTO back in early 80's. Buddy of mine still has it. Blasted then prime & top coat with Rustoleum. Frame still looks good. My '69 was done same way. Had car for 8 years, driven in all weather conditions except snow & ice. Frame still looked great. Nicks it got from jack stands were easily touched up with spray bomb. Yes cheap, but, does work when used as intended. Friend of mine works at a power plant near the ocean. Told me they have used all types of high tech coatings, they all eventually fail, so, they said to heck with it and just use Rustoleum.
 
#29 ·
Yeah, old dead thread but I can personally vouch for Rustoleum. Back in the day, when I rebuilt the front end of my 66 I sandblasted my a-frames rattle can primed with cheapo primer, and painted them with Rustoleum this was around 1999. I took my car apart around 2004-2005 and the frame sat behind my shop in the weather, uncovered, and unloved until last year. It still looked good, a little faded but I most likely could have buffed them a little and they would look great... But alas I repainted everything, had I thought about it I would have took pics. Doh!!
 
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