do Rustoleum colors look natural for car paint?

[worb4me]

I've seen people paint an old van and it looked ok I guess. The 50$ paint job method.

 

My 98 GP is silver. I bought a gallon of smoke gray on clearance for 15$. If I thinned it out and slapped it on so to speak, how would it look? Could I add some powdered aluminum, maybe still available from paint stores, would it improve anything? I want it to look like car colors not something left over from sprucing up the garage. Of course I could just experiment on the bashed up hood that needs to be replaced anyway.

[digitaloutsider]

Like any paint job, your prep and post-paint sanding work are going to define how good it looks.

 

If you're expecting to slather some Rustoleum on and have it look good, you're dreaming, especially at $50. You'll have $50 into sanding materials alone. 

[Imp558]

That paint will not have a good sheen, it will look like a semi gloss. Lacquer comes out nice though.

[primergray]

Unless you do it somewhat like this guy did: http://www.rickwrench.com/index79master.htm?http://www.rickwrench.com/50dollarpaint.html

[Imp558]

LOL:

 

"I can say, with confidence, the stripe is worth at least 5-7 rwhp."

[Imp558]

About 6 months after my car was painted my driver's door handle broke, I painted a replacement with rattle can lacquer and it looks great.

[Calvinator]

I thinned gloss red rustoleum and painted my **nice** Wellcraft Eclipse boat with it.  I painted the hull, trailer, many interior parts.  Nice, glossy finish was achieved.

 

I used grease & wax remover to prep areas.

I used mineral spirits to thin.

I did prime with rustoleum automotive primer.

I used a HVLP spray gun to apply.

 

While I really prepped and cleaned the areas, I did have a few paint fish eyes.  Mineral spirits is very sensitive to grease and wax.

 

 I painted outside.  There was some dust in the paint that I polished out.

 

Some bird poop washed off.  Some washed off and took some of the gloss finish too.

 

 

 

 

Paint will be glossy, but a few notches down from clear coat gloss.  After you paint, you'll need to polish too.

[worb4me]

Welp I was thinking some powdered aluminum would contribute to sheen. I suppose I could subsequently apply (I resisted the urge to type "slap on") some clear coat. From a can? It's also a question of what type of look you want. I was tempted to experiment on my old Lumina, looking to create a gray battleship sort of look, not matte, but somewhat on the dull side, but still metallic looking.

[jimmyfloyd]

My recommendation: Grab a panel of a similar color as your current car from a junkyard or some other source, do the prep and paint work you plan to do on your car to it, and see how you like the results. Leave it outside for a week or two once it's cured to see how it initially weathers and if you are happy with it. 

[worb4me]

So I shouldn't practice pn my hood? . . .

 

(Sorry photo wouldn't upload. It's pretty bashed up, and needs to be replaced anyway).

[movielover40]

Their gloss black looks very good.

[intern8tion9l]

This is a complete rustoleum paint job done with a roller. The top is crimson red and the bottom is metallic silver. It takes a lot of sanding and polishing, but as you can see the metallic still looks like primer, so I would avoid anything other than solid colors. It's time consuming, but sure is cheap. Results could have been better but I don't have patience for all the wet sanding.

 

 

[Nas Escobar]

So I shouldn't practice pn my hood? . . .

 

(Sorry photo wouldn't upload. It's pretty bashed up, and needs to be replaced anyway).

 

It wouldn't be ideal if it's on the car, but you can do as you please. The main thing is loads of prep work.

[worb4me]

rollers make lots of bubbles. I had thought it would be better to use foam brushes. I painted part of my mother's refrigerator once, thinned the hell out of the Rustoleum white. What I did looked nice (use a foam brush). I was concerned about bubbles, no wet sanding of her fridge door, but it came out smooth and glossy. Maybe the secret to *not* having to sand out a lot of bubbles is to apply multiple coats gloss on gloss. Some have done it that way, unless I'm mistaken. It seems the paint has more ability to even out on it's own if there's a glossy surface, seems that way anyway. Of course adhesion could be a problem. Oh just do it again!

[worb4me]

rollers make lots of bubbles. I had thought it would be better to use foam brushes. I painted part of my mother's refrigerator once, thinned the hell out of the Rustoleum white. What I did looked nice (use a foam brush). I was concerned about bubbles, no wet sanding of her fridge door, but it came out smooth and glossy. Maybe the secret to *not* having to sand out a lot of bubbles is to apply multiple coats gloss on gloss. Some have done it that way, unless I'm mistaken. It seems the paint has more ability to even out on it's own if there's a glossy surface, seems that way anyway. Of course adhesion could be a problem. Oh just do it again!

[worb4me]

rollers make lots of bubbles. I had thought it would be better to use foam brushes. I painted part of my mother's refrigerator once, thinned the hell out of the Rustoleum white. What I did looked nice (use a foam brush). I was concerned about bubbles, no wet sanding of her fridge door, but it came out smooth and glossy. Maybe the secret to *not* having to sand out a lot of bubbles is to apply multiple coats gloss on gloss. Some have done it that way, unless I'm mistaken. It seems the paint has more ability to even out on it's own if there's a glossy surface, seems that way anyway. Of course adhesion could be a problem. Oh just do it again!

[primergray]

If there are bubbles, the paint needs more thinning with mineral spirits.

[intern8tion9l]

I thinned the paint to a milk like consistency....no bubbles. It will take a 3-4 coats at that thickness

[intern8tion9l]

I also did this one with rustoleum and a roller

 

 

[2001goldGTP]

I used paint from automotivetouchup.com they color match very well. They sell it rattle cans and with some work it comes out very nice. 

http://www.w-body.com/topic/54066-paint-repair-before-after-lots-of-photos/