SirLips

I know there are a few threads (several in-fact) that talk about the"art" of rattle canning our Jeeps. However i am looking for a few specific answers as i have been told the quality of this task will come down to detail and taking your time to not only paint but to also be diligent in the"prep" work.

So far I have decided on the colors. I am going to do the main portion in a Satin finish Tan color exactly like this:

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3354/5743959853_1774d07b31_z.jpg
(This is from Highrollers post on painting...love the color/finish, love the way he did the back panel dark with the fuel latch light)


...But i will be doing a Satin Finish black (rather than dark green) for the lower section, including bed liner on the rockers and the underside.

I know that this is not going to be the "best" quality i could achieve, but i want to do this entire build myself and with the help of Forumer's ,so any advice would be greatly appreciated. ( I started a build thread on how i hope to do this build)

Here is my plan, and some questions or needed opinions:

After obviously fixing the door rust, small bumper rust and installing new rocker panels, i will be at bare metal on the door bottoms and rockers, so i plan to just prime the entire vehicle. (Suggested primer?)

I will sand down all areas that need attention, and loose paint that is peeling, small rust spots, etc...

Then I will use lacquer thinner to clean the entire area, to remove oil,grease and other nasty things that paint doesn’t like to stick to.

When everything is clean, i will then tape off the entire vehicle, to prevent over spray in areas that should not be sprayed.

One last cleaning with thinner, a clean cloth, and a tack cloth.

Prime entire area that will be painted, including both Tan and Black areas,and the areas that will be bed lined.

Allow to dry and then apply 2nd coat to ensure coverage. (how many coats should i plan on doing??)

When primer is dry, i will then use ???? Grit sandpaper to smooth out the primer, to ensure no imperfections and that primer has filled the"remodeled" areas fine. I believe dry sanding the primer is fine,correct???

I will run a tape line for the black paint and bed liner. I should not be too concerned with over spray into the areas that will be painted lighter color next. I figure it will be easier to cover the small black areas when painting the Tan second, rather than the other way around. (is this the correct process?)

Paint the Black on, with light coats. (How many coats would you suggest???)What Paint would you suggest?? I don’t want the color to be glossy, will Satin accomplish this? (a bit of shine is ok, but not glossy)

Allow to Dry. Tape of Black areas and bed lined areas. Spray several light coats of Satin (???) Tan color.

Now here is a big question.... Is there an "over coat" or"protectant" or "finishing" coat that i can use, that will NOT make it glossy? If so, then can i wet sand the base color first, to make it smooth and remove any "orange peel" if it occurs? Then apply the"clear coat".

Again, i want to clear coat it if possible, to protect the paint, to help mework out any blemishes, etc..but i do NOT want it to be glossy.

What are your suggestions on this?

My concern is that most of the things i have painted "flat black"will mark up very easy, even just rubbing up against it sort of takes the"matte" finish away. I dont mind if it has a little bit of shine, but i dont want it to be glossy. The more "matte finish" the better, but at the same time i want to protect the color with a top coat of something, and want to be able to sand either on the color or clear coat, to make it look good.

( Ok, i beat that horse to death)

Final issues, questions, things to think about...

I only have a small compressor. I could/would buy a spray gun for $35 then spray the jeep instead of rattle cans, as the price of paint and a gun are about the same as buying 6-8-10 cans of paint/primer. I know people say that gravity feed sprayers are the best, but i'm not able to buy an expensive gun and large compressor so do you think this...

http://www.menards.com/main/tools-hardware/power-tools/compressors-and-pneumatic-tools/air-tools/spray-gun-kit/p-1655231-c-12915.htm

...Would work fine?

I only have a small 1.5 gallon "pancake" air compressor. I could rent one, but i figure with dry time, etc... this is going to take me several days of spraying. (possible to do in 1 weekend?) So i don’t think renting one will be in the budget. I don’t have a problem with using a small one, and taking my time, but i need to know if it will at least work, even if it is slow.

How long do i have to wait to drive the jeep, after final painting is done?I have heard that low-speed in town driving should be fine after the paint hasset for a day, others have said not to use it for 30 days, or until it cures!(that aint happening)

A sand blaster? Is it worth the money to rent one? I have not looked into ityet, but i would guess the local rental place rents them, then i suppose there is special sand, etc...is this a pain in my back side to think about using, orare they pretty novice friendly?

The key to all of this, is cost. I do not wish to spend more than $100-$150bucks on tools and material for this entire job.

Well, that should be plenty of questions for now. As always, any advice and opinion is appreciated. Please provide links if you are explaining products onthe market that I will need/want.

THANKS EVERYONE.

freegdr

Narrow that way down get better answers .

SirLips

Ok....


A) Satin paint or Matte finish? ( i can live with a little shine, but dont want it glossy)

B) Can a top coat still be aplied to matte and satin finish, that wont make it glossy? If not, what are the "protection" options? should i worry about it?

C) Sand blaster rental worth it? needed?

D) Is my prep work on par for what i am trying to do? thinner, Sand, thinner, prime, sand, clean, paint, top coat.

E) Will that Sprayer do a better job than a rattle can? Will my 1.5 gallon work for spraying with sprayer?

F) How many coats of primer and then paint and then top coat (if any) should i expect?

G) How long before i can drive it with out too much worry about it effecting results?

Thank you.

Atmos

I love satin!

I read through most of your first post. sounds like you know what you're doing. I have also decided to spray paint my jeep as I have given up on it ever looking really good again. any spots you take down to bare metal, yes reprimer. here's my thoughts

couple things I wont be doing
-primer. since all my old clear coat has peeled off over the years, I am scuffing out the old paint thoroughly with 320. plenty smooth for spray paint. if you've got clear left over I would remove it

when sanding your spray paint primer I'd use 1000 personally

something else I have encountered when using spray paint. clear does not like going onto even slightly wet spray. make sure your clear is compatible and your spray paint has been drying for over a day. as for base coat I'd do 3 layers. first to cover the car, second to fill it in, third to cover anything you missed and be a clean final coat. I've had good results with rustoleum satin

sanding impurities out. difficult. since you will not be buffing, and sanding out and respraying one spot will be painfully visible, I would be leaving small imperfections alone

clear coat is probably always going to make it look glossy. and since you're going to have a hard time getting it all consisten, you may get a blotchy look as well. I wont be using any clear coat. if you do decide to then I'd recommend practicing. and if you're not handy with a spray can I'd practice that too. a lot. theres definitely a method to it

as for buying a gun. do you have any experience mixing paint? I have a 5gal compressor and it wont even run a DA hand sander..

a sand blaster is not a tool you should use in your drive way. wrong tool for the job. by hand will be better


you'll be spending much more than $150 on materials for the way you're wanting to do this. it sounds like you really want to do a good job, at which point I would just be taking this jeep to miracle and having them spray it with some decent paint and you can have it clear coated

since you are not using a booth. I would wait 24 hours between coats just to be safe. 2 days after the final coat before driving it. keep it parked in a clean garage. painting the way you want to is a big process




this has all been in my humble experience. any questions feel free to ask

Gee oh Dee

I rattle canned mine. Did a decent prep. did a few coats and left the clear off, just so touch ups from dings and scratches are easier.

Its been 2 or 3 years now, in Wisconsin. Lots of weather changes and extremes. Salt, dirt, mud, never been washed. Just rained on.

Its held up really well. ALOT better than I ever expected. I used duplicolor from walmart.

mmarty

What I'm going to do on the cheap is this. DA (dual action sander) the whole vehicle with 220 or 180 if body work to be done use 80 in that area. 3 good heavy coats of dupli color primer surfacer, block sand with 220 wet then move to 400 wet, 3 quarts of dupli color blue, followed by dupli color matte clear (optional). I like dupli color paint for cheapie because you just pour it from the can into the paint gun and spray, also it doesn't have a recoat window so you can spray over the course of a couple days. The dupli color system is called paint shop system. Pretty good results.
I would avoid sandblasting anything but rust areas because you cant prime over sandblasted metal and expect it to stick. UNLESS you use self etch primer $$$$.

Atmos

I've never understood the thought process behind wet sanding before spraying. for me I've always learned that wet sand is for the final coat and clear. anyway 80 is going to remove a lot of material. I only use it for removing excess bondo because it causes such deep sand scratches

SirLips

Thanks for all the input, keep it coming. Any thoughts on that cheepy sprayer i linked?


Matte clear coat you say? hmmm... gonna have to check that out.

mmarty

The 80 grit is only for prepping the area that needs filler work and also rough shaping body filler. Wet sanding is better for final primer sanding, reason being the sand paper doesn't get clogged with material as easy as it does when dry sanding. Final primer sanding has to be done with 400 grit for solids and 600g for metallics. That being said dry sanding can be done easily when using 320g or rougher.
The cheap gravity fed paint guns are ok for what your doing. The hvlp (high volume low pressure) guns are better at utilizing more material with less waste than the siphon feed guns. Our local advance auto has budget guns for around 40 bucks or so.

Atmos

oh no I understand that. I just learned to block out the primer then spray coats and wet sand the paint and clear afterwards, then buff. I've never really noticed an issue with clogging when dry sanding primer. different folks different strokes

CrawdadSlim

You're totally overthinking this if you are planning on spray painting (rattlecanning) your xj. It will turn out half *** no matter what skill or work you have put in it. Buy a spray gun (hvlp or a real syphon fed one.) And enjoy superior results.

JeepingDan

I hit mine with a orbital sander and then sprayed it with a gun. Came out pretty good and shiny.

Now it's ruined from all the trail rash lol.

Gee oh Dee

Not really. When I first did it any folks had no idea it was rattle can.

Most thought it was factory.

caged

here's how i did mine. scroll down to 69chargeryeehaa's post.
8 years or so later, it still looks pretty good.

http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/...Number=2331682

up here in canada, we have tremclad, but south of the border, you guys have rustoleum. same thing.

trust me, if you're gonna rattle can it, you are gonna have some really sore fingers and thumbs, because when your finger is about to fall off, you will start using your thumbs.

Gee oh Dee

That brings back memories...