Rustoleum with a Roller or gun

[SDBuckeye]

Hi,

Has anyone blown basic Rustoleum paint through a gun? My cousin has an old pickup with a service body that he wants to paint (currently rust and DOT orange). It would be a lot easier to do the body with a paint gun rather than a roller.

Why am mentioning the roller? You may recall a thread a while back about the $50 paint job using Rustoleum and a roller. I actually used it to paint my cargo trailer and it worked pretty well. Saved me several hundred bucks. I will do a full report next spring--I ran out of time this fall to finish the final wet sand and polishing. (see thread entitled Home Paint Job with a Roller). I also plan to try it out on my 78 GS1000. I'll keep you all updated on the progress.

Thanks for your help!
Lyle

[GSmadness]

Here is a page that talks alot about the paint job with a roller. some people have had great results. Also look down about half the page then you will see stuff about it.

http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=2331682&page=0&fpart=1&vc=1

[t3rmin]

...he already knows about that page...

[LeeGS550E]

I would think you could spray the Rustoleum by thinning it. The back of the can should list the solvents that will thin it. Depends on your gun, too. I have an HVLP gun made by Porter Cable, and I've sprayed POR products that have a similar consistency to a canned Rustoleum...I think I thinned it about .25:1 per the POR directions. Just get the right thinning agent and start screwing around...you'll get it eventually.

[TheCafeKid]

There is a product called Flotrol that painters use to thin their paint (is for house paint but they may make one for auto paint or whatnot too) for sprayguns...just throwin that out there.

[USMC_SGT]

I shot the porch swing after sanding it with rustoleum. Lasted for about 8 years. Cant remember what i used to thin it though. Must be old age. Or too many fumes.

[GSmadness]

...he already knows about that page...

thats kinda what I thought, but it doesn't hurt for some more people to see it.

[OhioEric]

how do you do a custom color with the rustoleum? Are you limited to the 6 or 8 basic off the shelf colors? What about that suzuki blue?

[OhioEric]

thats kinda what I thought, but it doesn't hurt for some more people to see it.

thanks for posting it...

i cant spray in my basement...but rolling is a posibility....especilly with a low odor...

...hey, it's a long winter...

[Nessism]

I've sprayed Rustoleum before. Worked fine. It's been a while but for some reason I recall using mineral spirits to thin. Of course, read the can first to make sure what is appropriate.

[dwcopple]

the can tells you what to thin it with. And just so you know you need to cut it almost half and half...sprays nice and dries smooth as silk!

[BlackStar]

I have sprayed Rustoleum before. I think I used regular fast enamel reducer. It was 23 years ago. Be careful, it takes a lot longer to flash off than regular acrylic enamel so it is a lot easier to get runs. Which is why you can roll it on, it flows well. The cooler it is the longer it will take to flash. I sprayed it with a pressure pot gun so I had it as thick as possible. What ever reducer you use, if it doesn't curdle right away, it will probably work. Try it on a scrap so you can get an idea how long it will take to flash. Since it does take so long to flash, you will be very vulnerable to dust. It can be color sanded and buffed, but this stuff stays green (soft) forever vs acrylic enamel. Hope this helps.

[SDBuckeye]

Rustoleum tints

Thanks for the thoughts. I am waiting to hear back from my cousin on the results.

Regarding the colors, there are a lot of options--maybe 50 or more. I got my paint at Menards. They have a bunch of tints that they can do--no metalflake unfortunately. I'll be painting Brutus a color called "Red Velvet" that I thought was a nice scarlet color. It is about $6 a quart there--which is more than enough to do a motorcycle. If you think you are going to want to paint some misc. parts to match the main paint, then you may want to stick with the basic colors that have matching rattlecan rustoleum auto paint. I can't find info on the tints on the Rustoleum website, but there is a flyer at Menards that you can take home.

Regarding using it indoors, the mineral spirits used to thin it is really potent. When I was doing my trailer, my whole yard smelled. I wouldn't do it in a basement unless you want to blow your place up. I hope to do my painting in the garage this winter, but I'll have to open the doors to get the fumes out.

Regards,
Lyle

[BlackStar]

I hope to do my painting in the garage this winter, but I'll have to open the doors to get the fumes out.

Make sure you have no open flames (i.e. heater, or pilot lights in water heater or furnace) I don't want to hear of you blowing up!

[SDBuckeye]

Pictures of finished truck

Here is a picture of the $600 truck with a $50 paint job. Not sure how much time was spent on the buffing as I know they had to finish it in a weekend. Thanks for your comments and suggestions.
Cheers,
Lyle