Stolen from Moparts the $50 paint job on a 69 charger (very long read)

[THE CHARGER PUNK]

here's how i painted my car for about $50, it's actually very easy and the results are amazing. First off, get a can of tremclad real orange (or what ever color u want) in the can, not spray, yes tremclad, it is a acrylic/enamel paint which is very durable. next prep your car as if was any other paint job, fix all the rust, ect....no need to prime the car since the tremclad allready contains elements which allow it to be painted over bare metal. next, after prepping the car get a small 4" professional FOAM rollers, it's tiny and has one end rounded off, and the other cut straight, and is a very high density foam. u also need a jug of mineral spirits to thin the paint. The thing i really like about this is that there's no mess, no tapeing the whole car, just key areas, and u can do it in your garage, since your not spraying there is virtually no dust in the air, just clean your garage first, also it does'nt really smell at all, dries overnight and it super tough paint. also it you decide to paint the car professionally later, just prep and paint, there's no need to strip the tremclad. i have done this to a few cars, and i can say it works amazing, u just have to be paitient. next u thin the paint with mineral spirits so it just about as thin as water, a little thicker. get out the roller and paint away, don't get the paint shaked when u buy it, enamel is stirred, otherwise you'll have bubbles in the paint for a week!!! after u do 2 coats, wet sand the whole car, then repeat, 2 coats, wetsand, 2 coats wetsand. i painted the charger using a can since your not spraying the car u use all the paint and not spray 50% in the air, use progressivly finer sand paper each time. it's not really that much work, cause u can stop and start any time, u can do just a door, or the hood, ect. do one panel at a time, and don't stop once you start. once your done the final coat, wetsand with about 1000 grit to a totally smooth finish, and then using a high speed polisher i use a buffing bonnet and turtle wax polishing compound. do the whole car with this, and i'm telling u, depending on the amount of time and paitence you have, the results are amazing. laugh if you want, but for $50 ($30 for paint, about $20 for rollers, sand paper, ect...) it really looks good. also you can do these steps overnight, paint one evening and by morning u can wet sand. i have personally done alot of painting, mostly single stage acrylic enamel, and i've sprayed several cars in my garage with really good professional results, just it stinks, it's a real pain to do, easy to make a mistake, messy, and expensive. The tremclad is awesome paint, the "real orange" is an amazing hemi orange, and almost looks like it has some perl in the sun, awesome color right out of the can. I used this technique on my 1974 beetle also, here are the results:
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/69martin/Picture10.jpg
the car before:
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/69martin/IM000475.jpg
another after pic:
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/69martin/DSC00164.jpg
here is a car i sprayed (71 beetle, midnight blue metalic):
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/69martin/DSC00194.jpg
here is the car before (71 beetle):
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/69martin/Picture1.jpg

here's a few pics of the charger done:
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/69martin/DSC02764.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/69martin/DSC02769.jpg

well that's my 2 cents worth, sorry for the long post. i was borred lol
i painted the orange beetle in 1999, and it still looks like the day i painted it, the 71 blue beetle i painted in 2000, and built the car for my dad, i used the same paint on my charger, maybe one day i'll spring for a good paint job, prepping is 90% of the work, stripping the car, sanding, ect.....painting is overrated!!!
So if you have TIME, then i'd say go for it, the worst that could happen is that it does'nt turn out and your out $50, but if your paitient, and expriement with lets say just the trunk pannel and if you like it do the whole car, if not just get it done by someone else for $4000. i don't know about you guys, but i would rather spend the $4000 on other parts like getting the mechanics sorted out and new chrome, cause when u have really nice paint and crappy


Yes i painted it with a "profesional" high density foam roller. The trick is in how you thin the paint, get it as thin as possible without running, and the paint "self levels" it comes out like glass, wet sanding just makes it better, it all depends on how much time u have. i have sprayed a few cars in my garage with a single stage acrylic enamel and it's a pain, messy, stinks, ect... the tremclad is almost odorless and is really easy to work with. u can paint one day, wetsand the next and immedieatly recoat. once you got all the coats on, just wetsand and buff with a compound, then wax and your good to go. i've done 3 cars this way and the 74 beetle i did 6yrs ago, still looks awesome.  the paint is cheap like $30 a gallon, you can get it tinted to any color u like. on the charger i used about 3/4 of a can, when u spray even with a HVLP gun, u still waste about 30% of the paint that just goes in the air. Tremclad is basically rust paint, but it is the new type which is a enamal. i still strip the car of chrome, bumpers, handles, keylocks, basically everything, and then just tape only using tape where i might get paint on something i don't want painted. the paint is tough, like stove paint when it's done, i've spilt gas on it in like really hot weather, and it resists stone chips really well. i had to repaint a fender on the beetle like 2 yrs ago, so i just got a small can of paint 3 yrs later and the color match is exact.

[Troy]

I think I've read that whole thing multiple times. It's rather interesting to see the responses from people attempting to compare it to a "show quality" paint job even with all the disclaimers.

Look around, the guy who wrote that is a member here...

Troy

[Shakey]

He sold his Charger and I think he now drives a Porsche.

69ChargerYeeeeHaaaaaww or something like that.

[moparguy01]

i painted my bronco using rustoleum paint. granted i thinned it with acetone and sprayed it in a booth, but it turned out better than i figured a 100 dollar paint job would cost (had to sandblast the body first)

its sat outside in the sun and other elements for almost 2 months with no fading at all.

[Brock Samson]

howabout a pic hammer head?. 

[rt green]

thats the way alot of people painted cars in the thirties

[dads_69]

The cars from the early 20's and 30's were painted on by a roller and/or a brush, sanded down over and over till it met standards of what was needed back then. My dad had a 1930 model A that is/was org. w/the paint being painted on by a roller it looked to be. Car still wears the factory paint to this day. Car is in Idaho in my great aunts barn. They don't make 'em like they used too. I spoke to the guy who painted his car w/a roller, I was impressed to say the least, looked good for what he did vs. a HVLP gun. I didn't see it in person mind you, just in photos on line here.
Mark

[dkn1997]

that 100 page active thread is the son of the original 80 pager that got put into the archives where nobody ever saw it again.  around page 60 of this new one, they finally decided to sticky it.  (it was constantly at the top anyway)

check out pics from aussie driver.  painted a miata and he got show quality out of it....until the car got hit. definately worth it if you want to do it at home without the mess of spraying.  the guys who got spectacular results are not the norm, but the guys who god very good results are abundant..

[THE CHARGER PUNK]

my dad and his friends used to do this kinda thing when they were in high school they called it ''the $2 overhaul'' theyd slap pounds of ''white lightning'' where the car was dented or rusty and sand it down and either brush,roll or spray the paint on in the drive way, thats just the way it was done ''back then''-MATT

[70charger_boy]

I think charger punk is a salesmen for Tremclad.........look
http://www.jdmcity.com/thread395.html

[THE CHARGER PUNK]

weird sum1 posted it somewhere else, wasnt me -MATT

[BLACKWOLF]

i painted my racetruck with a paint roller. i used vansicle implement paint.

[TruckDriver]

It was Jan. 26 '06 it was first posted here by dkn1997 and even that is a 4 page thread......


http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,8985.0.html

[Serious Satellite]

I've been reading this thread in every Mopar related forum I could find and I think that it's definitely worth a try.  The 74 Sat I bought was painted by the previous owner with a spray gun and it's nothing but orange peel, drips, runs, and overspray.  Like everyone else, I'm profoundly hesitant to pay out 3000 bucks or more on a paint job and since I have nothing but time, it seems to work for me rather well.  My only question is this:  rather than spend the money on acrylic enamel Rust O Leum, why couldn't you use this on an acrylic enamel auto paint from this company:  http://www.paintforcars.com.  The average price per gallon is only 36 bucks and while that may be double the price of a gallon of Rust O Leum, it should theoretically work in much the same way.

I love it when people think outside the box and find ways of saving a crap load of money! 

[1BAD68]

I asked a similar question awhile back and someone said that the auto paints dont have the flatteners or self levelers that the Rustoleum has, but its worth a try, I would think it would just need more wet sanding. I'm still thinking of using auto paint due to the fact that I really want to stay with the stock color my car came in.

[hemi-hampton]

Most people dont realize when you pay for a Paintjob your paying mostly for Labor, not Actual paint cost. I can buy a Gallon of Western Synthetic Acrylic Enamel or Omni Acrylic Enamel with Hardener & Reducers for $55 bucks. Was $55 a few years back, probably still under $100 nowadays. If a shop spends a week painting your car & Charges $2,000 (just a example) labor, you say well I can do it myself for under $100 why you charging $2,000+? The week labor your paying for or you spend the week labor youself. LEON.