Well it's been a while. I haven't posted anything to this forum in a few years. Life got busy. I sold my last Fiero in the fall of 2009 but soon had another in the spring of 2011.

This time around I picked up an 86 GT with 125,000kms on it that needed a bit of work, but not a lot. Here she is the first day after I drove her home from Niagara Falls(400km trip).


It actually looks pretty good in that picture, but up close the paint was terrible. Peeling clear coat and deep swirl marks made it look really bad.


So after doing some research and financial calculations I decided I would give the old roll-on paint job a try. I figured it would be a neat experiment and if it didn't work out, I would only be about $100. So I set out to pick up supplies and started sanding. Sanding became the bane of my existence. If there was one thing I underestimated with the project, it was how much sanding is needed.

My first test piece was my front passenger side fender. I decided that since I had two of them, if I totally screwed this one up, I would just throw it out. I also figured since it was one of the more complex body shapes on the car it would be a good test to see if I had the dexterity to pull it off. It went phenomenally well.


There was little to no orange peel after the first two coats. For those of you who dont know the process goes: Roll on two coats, sand out orange peel with 400 grit, roll on two coats, sand smooth with 600 grit, roll on two coats, sand with 800, 1000 then 2000, then polish to a mirror shine. So I finished the fender and moved onto the roof section.


After my first coat on the roof section I realised that I was getting lots of... grapefruit peel, my paint was clearly laying down as if it was textured. I experimented with the paint to thinner ratio in the next few coats to try to reduce the amount of sanding I needed to do. It worked really well.


I finished off the doors and rear lower sections with a much thinner mixture. It smoothed out so much better and allowed me to only have to do minimal sanding on the subsequent coats.


And this last picture here is the final coat on my roof section. The paint in this picture is still tacky, but this is exactly how it dried, its glossy and free of orange peel.

I'll keep updating if people are interested to see how the rest of the car turns out. Sorry for the quality of the photos I'm too lazy to get my actual camera out.

I find this fascinating.
What type of paint are you using?

quote Originally posted by indyfiero2m4: Sorry for the quality of the photos I'm too lazy to get my actual camera out.

You do ALL that work and you're "too lazy" to bother with a real camera to document this job? People are weird.

Looks good... from what we're able to make out.

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 07-31-2012).]

quote Originally posted by Ayrow: I find this fascinating. What type of paint are you using?

Tremclad, I know, I know, bring out the pitch forks. Looking back at it, I should have bought a single stage enamel from an auto paint store. But the goal was to keep the cost down, and I couldn't find any examples online of people using enamels for the rolled-on jobs. Either way, my car, my choice.

Congrats, I have tried this before and the paint can and will look excellent IF you do the work and wetsand it and more importantly buff it out with a high speed buffer. It really looks nice and I found in the approx year and a half after I did my decklid and wing that it help up just fine. The nicest part of this setup is that if you do manage to get a scratch or dent you can easily repair it and it will look nice again. Please take your time here and do it right so that people can see what it can look like when it is done right. I am convinced that this is a viable option for a very inexpensive paint job and can look very very nice as long as the person is willing to do the work thru to the end. Many get that orange peel and just keep slapping on coats and never get it sorted and then just bail out on it leaving a terrible job and a bad rep for this process. If you can afford a quality automotive finish with a spray gun done by a pro or even by yourself if you have the space and equipment to do it right then you will be better off in the end but again for a very low money output and a lot of work this can result in a nice looking car.. Good luck man and please get a better camera...peace

Pete

I have read about roller paint jobs and they are a lot of work getting the right mix of paint and thinner, Then lots of work with sanding, repainting and more and more sanding. If you like all the work to do the job right, it may come out quite well.

So far your work looks damn good.

quote Originally posted by indyfiero2m4: Tremclad, I know, I know, bring out the pitch forks. Looking back at it, I should have bought a single stage enamel from an auto paint store. But the goal was to keep the cost down, and I couldn't find any examples online of people using enamels for the rolled-on jobs. Either way, my car, my choice.

As I see it, if one of those "you're wasting your time and money, it'll never look good, you NEED the GOOD auto paint!!!!!11111111!!!!!!!!!" people would wheel their compressors, paint guns, spray booth, and all other needed equipment to people's houses, I'm sure they would be more than happy to spray their cars with "proper" paint instead of rolling on whatever. They don't seem to understand that just because they have thousands of dollars of compressed air equipment doesn't mean that everyone else does as well, or have the facilities to spray paint themselves. There's a decent amount of money that needs to be laid out to spray a car beyond just what the primer, base, and clear (or primer and single stage) costs. Actually, the paint is rather cheap compared to everything else. It seems awfully silly to drop several hundred bucks in tools just to paint one car yourself, especially considering first timers aren't likely to get anything better than what Maaco will lay down for a couple hundred.

I've got the equipment, and the place to do it, yet I've still rolled on a few cars, and am happy with the results. Is it show winning? Can be, if you're willing to invest the labor into good sanding/polishing work. Yes, I've seen a rolled on paint car win awards at the local level. But the amount of labor going into making that paint look good can be obscene. On the other hand, some people have a lot of time to kill. With no significant other/kids, a 40hr/week job, and no other obligations, spending a few weekends color sanding a car might not be a big deal.

Personally, if I'm intending on showing the car at all, even at the local cruise nights, I'm going with a decent paint that's sprayed on. A daily driver that just needs to look presentable? I may very well roll another paint job, especially if I only have the time to do a panel or two at a time.

I figured I would post a recent picture of it since it's been done for almost a year now. This was a painstakingly long process, and I still have the final buffing/color sanding to do at some point but I'm really happy with how it looks.



I've had no problems with peeling or fading at all and no one has been able to tell that the paint was rolled on. Other than the odd bit of orange peel here and there, it looks pretty good from 6 inches. From 5ft you can't even tell.

[This message has been edited by indyfiero2m4 (edited 07-24-2013).]

Hey man congrats on finishing the car. You did a nice job and I know it is a lot of work. You really do need to wetsand and buff it out tho that is the finishing touch that makes it really pop. I did the decklid on my last fiero and was gonna do the whole car that way but I wound up having to sell it when my truck died and I needed to get my wife another car. My new 85GT is already red and looks kinda crappy as someone painted it and did not prep it worth a damn so who knows. I was gonna paint it white. Oh and I did not roll on the red on that decklid I sprayed it on in three or four coats. Took out a TON of the sanding work and made polishing it easy. Peace

Pete

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"May the grins begin when you turn the key and hear the engine roar over your shoulder" ......Gall57 (slightly modified LOL)