The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Whats the hardest spraycan paint?

I have a truck that needs some rust stoppage. I am the gran can master, and although I don't take any pride in the task before me, I can't justify "real" paint.

What is your favorite paint that comes from a can? I'm interested in the "hardest" finish I can obtain from a can...I guess majority will rule! Thanks

Tomcoe,


If you are only talking HARD and not a specific color or rust inhibiting ability, I will vote for hammertone paint in a pee can! I don't know what makes it hard as Kryptonite and fast drying, but it is tough stuff. My two cents!

Stuart

yeah, the stuff called Hammerite ... don't know if the same is available in the US

Bill

THAT'S IT...that's the stuff.


Stuart

zero rust has spray cans - suppose to work like por 15 but without all the dangerous vapors. they have it in black and a few other colors. i have some ordered but have not used it yet. kind of expensive $7.95 per can i think. (has to be top coated if used on outside pieces) doesn't take the sun etc.

I have had good luck w/Plasticoat brand-about $5 a can, very hard for canned paint. Brian

I think the hardest type of paint you can get in spray cans is epoxy type.
Dries much longer, but has more solid build and rock hard.

However, the harder and thicker the paint, the more likely it will chip !
Hammerite, epoxy and other hard finishes will eventually crack and ship right off to the primer on metal outdoors.

I had good luck with rustoleum exterior paints, which come in all colors and need little prep work.
They actually recommend spraying right over the rust and seal it with the paint.

Like all paints, it will eventuall come off, when the paints adhesion strength starts to diminish from weather and baking in the sun.

As with all paint jobs - the better your prep work, the better and longer lasting the finish.

what are you trying to do with the paint???doc

...well, you had to ask....

Actually, since I know it isn't the pro way to go, I'm not really that ashamed of it. I'm going to rust prevent a 41 cabover. I'm not ready to restore it, but want to have fun and stop some of the surface rust patches. I just figured in finding a green that is close and doing individual spots for now. Then when the shop is built...eventually, I can do a full teardown, and in the meantime, just get the truck driveable...and stop further deterioration.

As a disclaimer, I have done pro body work, but just don't have the time and shop to do it properly for the moment

oh, and if it fades, all the better. I just don't like when you touch paint a year after it was sprayed and it still feels vinyl-y to the touch.

Hammerite! Very user-friendly too. I think it is made in the UK. I've used a few cans over the years but cannot find it to buy anymore. All I can get now is a product by Rustoleum which is a hammer finish but not nearly as good as the original Hammerite. If you can locate a can of Hammerite in a rattle can try it and see what you think.

I heard a rumor that Rustoleum bought out the Hammerite company... if that is true, then you might not be able to get it any more.. I've been looking for it, but to no avail.

I've had incredible success with This Stuff

Comes in a variety of colors, levels itself out very nicely and the stuff is bulletproof.

They make it in rattle can form, my brother in law used it to paint one of the tractors at the plant, and it held up just as well as my paint brush '46 1/2 ton.

$8 a quart, or $21 a gallon. Using a brush, I think I needed all of two quarts to paint a '46 1/2 ton cab and bed.. so $16.

Having painted several vehicles in the past with a variety of rattle can paints, I can honestly say I haven't ever seen anything else in a rattle can come even remotely close to the quality, look, and durability of this stuff.

For painting over rust I use Rustoleum Rusty metal primer. Great stuff. You can color coat it right after it flashes over or wait till the next day. I like Ace hardware premuim enamal for color coat. It flows out real good without runs & has a shiney gloss. For under hoods & under fenders I like Krylon semi-flat black.

Fumblin46

What stores carry this AG SPECIALTY paint. I realize your in Nebraska, but possibly the same chain store may be in the Dallas area. Possibly Tractor Supply here may carry it, but I don't recall seeing it in the store.

I bought mine from the local farm store, which is just a regional chain.. so I wouldn't have any idea what national chains might carry it.

You could send 'em an eMail with your zip code, and they could probably tell you who your closest retailer would be.

Somebody else here was interested in their paint, and told me they'd eMailed those folks and they were quite friendly and helpful.

Best paint in the world as far as i'm concerned. I put it on in November of last year, and not only did it sit out in the snow and sub 0 temperatures all winter, but I used the truck for all sorts of farm related work.. it was very resistant to scratching, and stopped a big rust hole in the passenger side running board dead in it's tracks.

I sold the truck to a guy, who sold it to another guy, who had it up on eBay recently.. it's in New Mexico now.. have a look at what the paintbrush applied paintjob looks like over a year later..

[img]http://i6.ebayimg.com/07/i/000/80/74/60af_1.JPG[/img]

I should also mention that my 'prep' of the surface before painting was limited to knocking any dirt or sand off the truck with a broom.

My original motivation for painting the truck was largely the same as the original poster in this thread.. the truck had a glaze of surface rust on it, and I just wanted to put something on the truck to help prevent any additional rust.

That and my wife wouldn't shut up about how stupid I was for trading the '67 for what she called a 'rusty old pile of s#it'.

What it looked like pre-paint job

So being famously broke all the time, and having a low tolerance for my wife complaining about yet another hunk of junk in the lawn, I needed something I could apply fast, right out in the yard on a windy day.

Which is why I went with the paintbrush method instead of the spray cans.. spray cans in the wind ain't no fun.. and using the brush kept me from having to take the time to mask anything off.

I'm confident that had I taken a little more care in the prep and application phases, it would have come out looking 10x better.. and dare I submit.. good enough for a 'daily driver' paintjob.

I feel a little better knowing I won't be the only guy whose going to paint his truck with Rustoleum and a brush!

To help the finish, you can mix Rustoleum with thinner to help the paint "level" out as its drying.

Hey, welcome to the Bolt, RabidScott!

There are some folks around who'll bust your balls about even thinking about painting a truck with a brush.. and many more who are just too polite to come out and say anything at all.

But i'm not the slightest bit embarrassed about it, and i'll be using the same paint to do up my '46 2 ton this spring.. altho i'll take the time to do some actual prep work, and will probably paint it with a sprayer, just because that way I can get a more even coat that way and it saves your wrist!

Not what i'd reccomend for a concurs class deep mirror gloss show truck, but for a working daily driver, i'm confident that $30 worth of that paint and proper prep and application techniques will yield a more than acceptable working truck/show and shine paintjob.

Well, thanks! I've been lurkin' awhile, but I had to chime in for this thread!

Lots of early (1920's?) high-end cars were painted with a brush, as that was the only way to do it, and they still do it on some coach-built car restos in England.

You may want to check this out, somebody else has had great success painting cars with "roll on paint". It couldn't hurt to try it on my '57.

http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads...=2331682&page=0&fpart=1&vc=1

Interesting to read, at least!

What a great thread!

I like the way it starts out with people saying they had to pay $9,000 for a no frills paintjob that was going to be done 'in between insurance jobs'.. costing them not only a ton of money, but also tying up their car for months.

Then along comes this dude who painted his car with a ROLLER and had all of $50 invested, and from the looks of the pics, came out with some pretty good looking results.

Jesus will come back, hell will freeze over, and i'll be able to poop neopolitan ice cream before i'd ever pay $3000 for a paint job, let alone nine large.

I can certainly understand many folks skepticism on the subject, tho.. we as a society have been conditioned that certain things just cost a lot, and for whatever reason, we just accept it without question.

You think it costs GM even $1000 to paint those new cars? Hell no.

I could understand if there was extensive body work to be done, repairs, etc.. but you can't tell me that a quality paint job takes weeks to do.. look at the guys on those 'pimp my ride' kinds of shows.. they got the car painted overnight and delivered the next day.. many times with intricate pin striping or other such appointments.

Reading further down into that thread, it sounds like tremclad or whatever it is is a Canadian verion of our Rustolium....So I would still think a can would be better than rolling, but wet sanding and buffing sounds like a winner. The Ag product link above advertises their "leveling" qualities. I'll have to read the Rustolium stuff, especially if it is a buyout of a highly recommended product above in this thread.

We've had good luck with the equipment paint from TSC. In the past I've used Rustoleum with good results. My 48 Willys is painted OD green with Krylon from Walmart, and it has lasted several years, makes touching up brush scratches easy. The only trouble I've had with it is where the PO put galvanized metal on then bondo'd over it, it does fall off. :rolleyes:

I have been lurking on that $50 Paint Job thread for 3 months or so. I plan to eventually roller paint my '67 Chevy work truck.
Some posters have been experimenting with a marine single-stage polyurethane manufactured by Interlux called Brightside.

Welcome to the board, dogris!!

Wow.. two new guys drawn out by the brotherhood of the brush! (or roller as the case may be!)

Glad to have you here!

On a side note.. my '46 1/2 ton had been painted many different colors over the years with a brush.. it was quite obvious that they were even less concerned with tequnique than I was.. or even what kind of paint they used.

I figure they probably painted their house every 10 years or so, and whatever color the house got, thats what they painted the truck.

So when I hit the truck with a brush during its tenure here on my farm, I kind of felt proud that I was carrying on a fine tradition, ya know?

This spring i've been thinking i'd like to paint my '88 K2500 because it's currently got two different color doors on it, one blue, one maroon.. and the rest of the truck is red.

I might have to try that wet sand method that guy used on that thread when I get around to painting her... altho I think if I just thin the paint down just enough to get it to run thru a sprayer, I might not have to bother with too much wet sanding.

I'll have to try it with an old fender inside and experiment with what works best.

Hey Fumblin 46. Thanks for the warm welcome! Glad to be here, you can be sure!

Welcome Rabid and dogris...kinda go together huh? Glad you guys are here.

Thanks for the warm welcome, fellows!

If you all are interested, I'll post pictures when I do it, probably within the next two weeks.

I went to speak to a guy about a paint job. You could've hit me in the a** with a big red apple when he quoted me $15,000.00. I asked him if the paint was made out of unobtanium! For God sakes, I ain't bringing it to Barrett Jacksons! He said, "all we do if frame off paint jobs here. I'm gonna give the $50.00 job a closer look!

More than likely the guy's way of saying "take your silly a** project and go away"...... Body shops live on bump repair quick turn jobs and if they needed a frame off once in awhile at that price they would not need many of them.....

A friend of mine has a small shop 2/3rds full of the time consuming low budget jobs that looked semi attractive when he took them and now are in the way of his making some badly neede money from winter crunch stuff he can't get in the door....

Of your 15K quote it would be interesting to know how much of that was figured as materials......

Tomcoe,
Are you still looking for Hammerite??
Just saw it at this link:

www.jamestowndistributors.com

Chuck