Well here she is before.....


Not bad for $650.00 but definitely needed some new paint. After checking out 3 different paint places with price ranges from el cheapo to several thousand dollars for a color change, I decided to try it myself! Took 9 days of spare time and $68.00 in paint and supplies! I still need to paint and install my new rocker panels, rear quarter sail panels and a new windshiled which will all get done this week. I primed and put 10 coats on. Will do a final wetsand in a few weeks after the paint really hardens and then a complete buffing to really bring out the shine!





Thanks,
Steve

[This message has been edited by Centex Pilot (edited 07-12-2010).]

Big spender you are! Looks decent from the pics though! Did you rattle can it, or regular paint?

Looks great. What brand of paint ?

Wow.... I can't believe I left that info out. I need to go to forum posting school. It was rolled on rustoleum sunburst yellow.

Wow man good lord you did that fast!!! I am all wondering where I am gonna find the time to do mine completely and you already got yours done and its looking real good!! Wait till you hit it with the high speed buffer and wetsandpaper,,,,, like night and day!!! Congrats on a nice job man.... peace

Pete

Thanks for the compliments. It has a better shine then these photos. It's under a canopy and is not getting direct sunlight. I am amazed at how many folks kind of chuckled when I started but they all stopped by to say they could not believe it turned out so nice. I wet sanded every 2 coats and after the 8th and a wet sand with 2K, it was really starting to shine! I found that I could put a coat on in the morning and then one again in the evening. Then, wet sand the following morning followed by 2 more coats. I did not want to drag it out too much figuring adult ADD would kick in and it would never get done!! It's a very rewarding project and I would definitely do it again.
Steve

Well whatever you did seemed to work.... looks good!! I am gonna spray mine and I am gonna tear the car apart so it will probably take about the same amount of time when you consider the sanding between coats you need to do to roll on. At least that is what I am hoping. I gotta get it done soon but I did paint the rear decklid and the wing and they came out real nice and I have been driving the car for two weeks now and it sits in the sun all day... I know that is no time really but I have seen no problems and I intend to do the rest of the car this way very soon. I got some issues on the roof that I need to fix but I gotta order up some of that everflex stuff.... Anyways congrats.... peace

Pete

Post some more pics when You get it all wetsanded and buffed out as I am sure it will look even better than it already does...

Will do Pete and thanks. I am not counting the sanding, stripping, minor body work prep in my 9 days! That was done over a few weeks prior. Best of luck with yours!
Steve

quote Originally posted by Pete Matos: Well whatever you did seemed to work.... looks good!! I am gonna spray mine and I am gonna tear the car apart so it will probably take about the same amount of time when you consider the sanding between coats you need to do to roll on. At least that is what I am hoping. I gotta get it done soon but I did paint the rear decklid and the wing and they came out real nice and I have been driving the car for two weeks now and it sits in the sun all day... I know that is no time really but I have seen no problems and I intend to do the rest of the car this way very soon. I got some issues on the roof that I need to fix but I gotta order up some of that everflex stuff.... Anyways congrats.... peace Pete Post some more pics when You get it all wetsanded and buffed out as I am sure it will look even better than it already does...

Spray mine too!

Thanks for the pics! I was considering Rustoleum Sunburst Yellow for my Mustang and my 300ZX.

Nashville,,.....
Hey man I am gonna be spraying the rustoleum sunrise red which I like very much and I am shooting it in my garage shop so if you want to spray yours maybe we could actually help each other out. I intend to take my car mostly apart except for the roof and sail panel section. The rest I am gonna shoot on sawhorses and then wetsand and buff the same way I did the decklid and the wing. There is a thread somewhere around here that I posted some pics in where you can see them. I think they came out real good considering I only did it as a test..... peace

Pete

quote Originally posted by Pete Matos: Nashville,,..... Hey man I am gonna be spraying the rustoleum sunrise red which I like very much and I am shooting it in my garage shop so if you want to spray yours maybe we could actually help each other out. I intend to take my car mostly apart except for the roof and sail panel section. The rest I am gonna shoot on sawhorses and then wetsand and buff the same way I did the decklid and the wing. There is a thread somewhere around here that I posted some pics in where you can see them. I think they came out real good considering I only did it as a test..... peace Pete

You know, now that you mention spraying this on, and having done it with the spray can... I wonder if you could use one of those "spray cans" from Harbor Freight Tools that you pressurize... You could thin it up a little and spray it on...

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-Brian

My 87 GT Poly Suspension Upgrade (all pics) thread
Removing the roof panel

I believe I saw that car at a shell station in San Francisco! Tell me, does it help if you take the trim off before you paint? Safety yellow would have been a nice color choice as well! I painted my Yugo that color!

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Hank S.

Mulletproof,
I am not spraying this on with a rattlecan, I bought the paint in the quart cans and use my automotive style paint guns to shoot it. It comes out really nice and is from what I can see a lot faster and easier than rolling it on as you do not need to sand and recoat numerous times. The paint is very easy to work with and I have been thinning it to spray the same way I thin all of my paint testing it with a stir stick and watching how fast it runs down. Once you shoot it on you just wetsand it and use a high speed buffer on it and it really shines nicely.... Perhaps not a show quality professional job but for the money and if you are willing to put in the work with prep and wetsanding the paint and buffing it right you can really end up with some nice looking car.... peace

Pete

Update? Pics of the final shine after buffing?

Pull her out in the sun so we can get a good look!

Will do. Probably won't do the final wet sand and buff for another week or so.
Thanks,
Steve

This is the weekend for final sand and buff. Even better, the car is now legal! Got the tags and she passed inspection so I am one happy fiero driver now. Car is all back together and complete now. Will post photos after the final buffing.
Steve

quote Originally posted by MulletproofMonk: You know, now that you mention spraying this on, and having done it with the spray can... I wonder if you could use one of those "spray cans" from Harbor Freight Tools that you pressurize... You could thin it up a little and spray it on...

No. Those dont work at all. I got one just to try it. I was gonna use it to spray black like in fenderwells and underneath bumpers. It dont work at all for painting. Now I use it to spray weed killer.

Here she is. Still need to polish a little more but overall, I am very happy with the way it came out.
Steve

Thanks for the update. It looks way better than what the local Maaco turns out.

Thanks! Wish I could take photos that do the shine justice.
Steve

Damn. Niccccccccce.

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So if I bring my Formula over to your place, give you 200.00 and come back in 2 weeks, will you paint my car? I wish I had the time - and patience to do it myself. Your car looks great. Definitely got my thinking!

Pat

Damn man that looks FAN FRIGGIN TASTIC!!!!! probably one of the best roll on jobs I have seen yet.... nice work. Could you bother to again please tell us exactly what you did and how you did it.... peace

Pete

Thanks for all the compliments guys. I really appreciate them! I used the same formula as described in the original mopar thread on this. Also, www.rolledon.com is a great site with tons of info on these types of jobs. They say you do not need primer with rustoleum but I did anyways. Just did the normal body prep and prime and painted it with a 60% paint to 40% mineral spirits. 10 coats of paint wet sanding between every other coat. Used 400 grit, then 600 grit, then 1000 grit and then 1500 finishing the final wet sand with 2000. Biggest key is getting the mixture right which will depend on the temperature and humidity of where you are painting. Also, making sure to use high density foam rollers. The above threads can spell it out much better then I can.

Thanks again!
Steve

"Wow.... I can't believe I left that info out. I need to go to forum posting school. It was rolled on rustoleum sunburst yellow."

You have my full attention on this "roll it on" business. Nice pictures, and I don't see a whole lot of orange peel. Can you post a shot of the Rustoleum paint can, just so I know we are on the same page and this isn't some gag or that my idea of rustoleum is a different product than your using.

And will the rustoleum paint really hold up like spray on auto paints???

Pete

[This message has been edited by thx569 (edited 07-26-2010).]

Wow. I'm surprised. Very nice. You would never know it was done with only $68 and some patience. Take that Chip Foose and West coast customs, with your thousand+ dollar paint jobs! Fiero+cheap paint for the win!

I know....that was my first reaction as well. No way!! Anyways, here is what I used.


They also make the same Sunburst Yellow in rattle can form for those few really hard to get places. A perfect match. Over on the mopar thread, they talk about rustoleum being branded as Tremclad in Canada. I also know on www.rolledon.com, there are threads about people using other brands of this type of paint. Rustoleum also carries a "professional" line but it only came in safety yellow. From what I have read, the professional line dries a bit quicker.

With regards to uv protection, etc..only time will tell. However, there are a large number of folks who have shot photos of their cars 2 and 3 years after painting. Many of these cars not garage kept. Good news is that it's as easy as putting a few coats on it to freshen it up. Not sure how scrape resistant it is but I opened my car door and hit one of my wife's flower pots pretty good and did no damage so that is a very good sign.

Steve

quote Originally posted by katatak: So if I bring my Formula over to your place, give you 200.00 and come back in 2 weeks, will you paint my car? I wish I had the time - and patience to do it myself. Your car looks great. Definitely got my thinking! Pat

Let's do your Formula Pat! I'll help. If it works out good, we have 5 other vehicles to paint between us.

Centex, your car looks amazing period. You did a great job. If you told everyone you spent $2500 for the paint job, nobody would question it.

quote Originally posted by Centex Pilot:

Oh, yea. You're running over your power-cord by the way.

I'm contemplating rolling on too. I remember reading some painters suggesting adding a hardener to the paint. Any thoughts on this?
Would anyone know if rustoleum's sunrise red is close to the Fiero's bright red?


brian

Once again, thanks for all the compliments! Yes, I know I ran over the chord but I really got in trouble for running over the hose end and ruining it Wife was still happy since we no longer needed to budget for a paint job on the fiero.

Once again, I don't have the link but if you check under "$50.00 paint job" in any search engine the 200 plus page mopar thread comes up and it is a huge read but a wealth of knowledge on what the guys that do this really well are doing. I remember reading something about putting hardener in but for some reason I don;t think it worked. In hindsight, it was much easier to do and the results were much better then I really though they would be. But, I spent hours learning from the best by going through that thread and the rolled on site. I will gladly answer anyone's questions but those two things are a must read. Rolledon has a couple of primer sections just to go over everything you need, the technique, mistakes to avoid, etc. The low amount of orange peel on the car is not much worse than my wife's brand new VW CC and that's because I spent a week on those forums reading everything I could and learning all the little tricks.

I originally was not going to try this on my 77 SE Trans Am but after seeing the results, I might just do it on that car as well.

For any of you out there on the fence, I really suggest you give it a shot. I have 2 friends right now restoring cars and both laughed until they saw this fiero in person. Both of them are going to try this instead of paying someone huge $$ to paint their cars. Time will tell how well it will hold up but replacing the shine is as simple as a few more coats. Well worth it in my book.
Steve

I might try this in the sunburst yellow also, or a blue if I decide on that. Many people have given many suggestions to the color but that yellow is hot, let me tell you. Your car looks fabulous and makes me anxious. I'm struggling between keeping the original factory paintjob which is not in such bad condition or painting it. So torn.

Your car looks really great. I started to do my 85 GT with the roll on method. I did the spoiler and found it to be very time consuming for me. So, last week I decided to prep and spray it with Rustoleum Industrial enamel. I'm not much of a painter, the last car being done prior to 1990. My results are fair. It is great at 10 feet, with lots of gloss. Up close, after all the careful prep and so on, there is dirt, fish eye, and some orange peel, etc. After two buffings, this is what it looks like.:
I read a lot about the roller methods, but could not get the results that you have been able to achieve. After seing the disaster my shop became with overspray, I may revisit the roller method on the red 84 which is up next. I hope I have not hijacked your thread, because I now think the roller method may have less drawbacks than spraying with the rustoleum. I thought a second point of view might help people decide if rolling is for them.

Looks great Mr. Centex.
Do you know Revin? he lives in plugerville. Next time I am around Austin I will have to come look at your car. Is there a hangout place you and Revin go to, there? We have a sonic that draws a crowd on Fridays.
Jay

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1985 Fiero
farm livin' is the place for me.

[This message has been edited by 10speeder (edited 07-29-2010).]

Hey Bjc...your car looks great and your not hijacking anything The thing about rolling is it allows you to take care of the little imperfections as they happen. Bugs, hair, orange peel, etc can all be wet sanded out in between coats. Yes, it does take longer though!

Hey Jay. I just talked to Rev on the phone this afternoon and we were talking about meeting up at one of the local sat. night car hangouts in a few weeks. We are working on the details and once decided, I will post a note in general about it. Would love to have you come check out my fiero!
Steve