Paint Your Wagon - with a roller!

[Mr Bean]

hi covkid cracking job on your van like it alot looking spanking just out of interest could this be done out side? im just imagining dust and flies sticking all over the way paint grrrrr,im seriously thinking of going down the route you have taken as i cant afford to splash out £2000 for a spray job

Unless you have a really large very well illuminated garage you are much better of to work outside. Pick your weather and time of day so you get the very best daylight posible. Sweep up and chuck a couple of buckets of water down to prevent airborn dust and if an insect lands on your work just leave it. The six (or is it eight) litle feet will not show when you apply some polish to the finished job.
I have a real "R"sole of a neighbour who is getting worse with age and ill health. Imagine sitting indoors all day in self induced misery hoping to find something you can moan at your neigbours about! I will probably have to dump my spraygun in favour of a roller next time. I have to admit that rolling enamel is not a silly as it first seems.
Incidentally when spraying I found that cellulose flashed off quick in the warm and slower when it is cooler. While enamel does exactly the oposite which took some getting used to so as to avoid sagging and runs. Especially as I like to pile the paint on and spray to a finish with the gloss laquer givng the final polished appearance. I shall have to do some experimentation. Now wheres that old fridge?
Cheers
Wolfie

[rainman]

I've been putting off doing this but I know it has to be done, i'm just afraid of what i'm going to find when I start poking at the rust bubbles. I've read through this thread (all 40 pages!) but still have to ask what is probably a really stupid question - why is the colour chart (here - http://www.rustoleumdirect.co.uk/colours.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) divided into three sections, what's the significance of 'RAL' and the BSwhatever?
My van is cream over a few shades of brown and I don't really want an exact match but something fairly similar. I'd also quite like to keep the decals if possible.
I've got some Jenolite left over from my morris minor days, is it worth getting Vactan instead?

[weldore]

Howdy,
ive been preping my van today and rubbed down and filled one of the arches.the guy that had it before me said he had rolled it with hammerite.so after the prep i sprayed on some undercoat,that acrylic stuff in the can ,says it might react if its sprayed over cellose and its reacted with what i think is the original paint under the hammerite ...nice crazy paving effect.looks like i need a different undercoat
so anyways i was thinking of going down the rustoleum route and was wondering if anyone had ,had a reaction with any other sort of paint it was rolled/sprayed onto
also ive been on the rustoleum website for a price and its come to £33 for 2.5 ltrs with postage and vat,is this about right?
cheers...Dave

[CovKid]

Rustoleum not known to react with anything. Also I noticed that in the U.S. they do a 50/50 mix of white spirit and rustoleum but presume the much higher temperatures require that. Certainly when I've used it in scorching temperatures I've had to increase thinners which is why there is no exact science to getting the mix right - all depends on when,where,how etc. Agree on wee beasties in the paint. Big uns can be removed with tweezers as we mention in the video at the bottom of the WIKI but otherwise they vanish when flatting out or polishing.

By the way, I still get asked things like "Can we drive out and see your van first" etc. Have to decline. I'm a busy bloke and the reason I created the WIKI was to avoid all that. Theres loads of info not just by me but all those that have succesfully followed suit, as well as photos. Speaks for itself and if you do make a pigs ear of it, chances are, no practice rollering was done first, or its been mixed like toffee, overworked, or mixed like water. There are still a few who moan that they haven't got a £6k paint job but heck what do they want for fifty quid? Besides, if elbow grease is applied it can still come up mirror finish. Quite happy with mine.

[rainman]

Gah! My paint arrived today and it's a really horrible colour. I know looking at the colour chart on my laptop is not going to give me an accurate idea of what it's going to be like in the flesh but this is one seriously ugly colour, like bad baby diarrhoea (RAL 8001). The cream colour looks good though, just like on the chart (BS 381C 352). Not sure what to do now, try to exchange it or slap it on anyway. Haven't even started prepping yet, so painting's a long way off.

[rugchucker]

Hi,
Have you tried stirring it yet? You may find the pigments have separated in transit. Good luck or you might be able to sell it on if you are lucky. People bought marina's & allegro's which were similar colours!!

[rainman]

I'm afraid no amount of stirring is going to help here, the colour's on the lid and the paint inside matches it exactly. I spoke to the suppliers and they'll exchange it but charge me £10 for delivery (from Bury to Cheltenham) which is fair enough I suppose. They're sending me a colour chart in the post. I'm not that fussed about getting an exact match but this brown really is something else, I can't imagine what anybody would want to paint with it. It's a bit like butterscotch Angel Delight, only not as nice.

[rugchucker]

MMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmm

[Adrian244]

Weldore - did you crack that crazy paving prob....?

I painted my van last Aug. The one side took two coats really well. I had one side (of the van) that reacted really badly to the paint. I couldn't explain why as the prep and materials used were the same on both sides. Just got a really bad orange peel effect like the paint was boiling off the surface when drying. This was on the second coat so hard to understand why.

Its only now I've had the time to start flatting back and attacking it with Farecla compound. The orange peel is so bad I've almost taken off all the paint I put on on my second coat - but only on one side... odd

All in all though the finish is very good. The benefit is the ease of masking and ability to paint the van outdoors. I'll post a pic when it's done. here's the just painted look......

[murdoch]

had a bit of spare time ( and energy!) on sunday, after washing the van i had a go at flatting off the tailgate, using the warm soapy water up. didnt need to flat it really i just was curious to see what it came up like. gave it a good t-cut aswell , and wow, hell of a shine, really deep and glossy!!
post some pics when i get time

here ya go

[excit]

Being unable to afford a pro job right now and having struggled with spraying 2 pack paint earlier, this thread is just spot on for my needs. Will be giving my `91 Syncro a few new panels and the seams a de-rust this summer.

Does anyone know, or vare to guess, what shade of Rustoleum can come reasonably close to my cars original shade, Flashsilver metallic? I do understand I cannot replicate it with a roller, was thinking some shade of grey perhaps.

Tron

[CovKid]

Best to ascertain the nearest RAL colour. The WIKI helps as does sending for a colour chart but no substitute from finding a near match by a spray shop with all the relevant charts.

Good show Murdoch. Not much work to flat it down really and you'll be amazed at the result if you've applied enough paint beforehand. Go and compare the finish to some brand new cars out there - theres not much in it.

I'm intending to lay down two more coats this year then a final flat at the end of the Summer as it'll have had five coats by then.

[weldore]

Weldore - did you crack that crazy paving prob....?

I painted my van last Aug. The one side took two coats really well. I had one side (of the van) that reacted really badly to the paint. I couldn't explain why as the prep and materials used were the same on both sides. Just got a really bad orange peel effect like the paint was boiling off the surface when drying. This was on the second coat so hard to understand why.

Its only now I've had the time to start flatting back and attacking it with Farecla compound. The orange peel is so bad I've almost taken off all the paint I put on on my second coat - but only on one side... odd

All in all though the finish is very good. The benefit is the ease of masking and ability to paint the van outdoors. I'll post a pic when it's done. here's the just painted look......

erm...no i havnt
im gonna do the rustoleum thing but theres a lot of prep to do first.i have asked about the reaction thing..see 'paint reaction' in the other threads(its at the top at the mo)
thing is with mine its already been rolled and never flatted back with some paint that dont stand up too well to the elements or its been on it a long time...gonna get some primer/filler tomoz and try again
the reason im priming it is because it gives you a good idea if everything is smooth,if it wernt for the paint thats on now i'd just rough it up aand roller away(might even have a go with the spray gun i got with me compressor and never used...yet!)

think i read somewhere you get the orange peel effect if the paint is too thick

murdock,that looks awsome dude

[murdoch]

cheers, its only one coat though, got a few more coats to do before its finished, beauty of doing it this way is you can do it at whatever speed you want and whenever time allows. dont know about anywhere else, but here in cornwall, two coats in one year is rushing it

[weldore]

wot did you use on it..1200 grit? and how much different was it b4 you flatted it back..and did ya arm ache after???