The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Can You Paint Over Rustoleum?

Here is my thoughts. Not ready for exterior paint yet (still working on the mechanical side of things) but the interior is gutted. The PO had shot the exterior with a really bad paint job (which will need to be removed later) with lots of overspray onto the dash and interior doors. For now, I would like to sand down the interior (overspray on dash and paint brush applied bed liner material around windows) and complete some of the repairs, then shoot it with rustoleum primer(sandable) and a top coat of rustoleum dark grey paint. This will let me install the interior for now. Down the road, once I have decided on a color, I will remove the interior and windows and have the truck interior painted the same as the exterior.

My question....Can you shoot a sealer or something over the rustoleum which will allow the application of a single stage urethane later?

After the rustoleum has cured i dont see a problem .the experts will have more info on this .
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The short answer is yes, you can paint over the rustoleum primer. The long answer is any topcoat is only as good as the base coat it covers. You could put million dollar paint on as a top coat but if the base coat fails it'll just be million dollar flakes of paint. Having said that, I've never heard anything bad about rustoleum primer failing when applied to a properly prepared surface but you need to be aware of the possibility.

I agree the primer is not the place to take short cuts

I'm definitely a newbie when it comes to painting. What are my options for primer then? I have an air compressor, but no paint gun or air/water/oil seperator and virtually no experience mixing and shooting primer. Just need to paint my dash, but want a good job. Do I need to take it to a paint shop for this small area?

I know it's probably not what you want to hear but if you're not comfortable with doing it yourself, knowing you may not be happy with the results, I'd take it to a pro. It'll cost a bit more but it's more likely to be done right. Also, if it fails you have someone to take it back to for a fix.

I wouldn't do it. You need to have a good base coat. Your paint job will only be as good as what is under it. Do what you want, but i don't think it will hold up.

you can but the rustolium primer wont stop rust its not a water seal i know i tryed it on a car that was parked outside i was doing the body work and driving it and would primer it it always had rust coming threw so right before we painted it we spent a day wet sanding it then put epoxy 2 part primer then a primer sealer then the enamel that was 5 years ago and no rust so far so if you do it that way you will need to respray the areas that start rusting every week would be better to prime it and keep it under a tarp but still resand and reprime when you do paint it

Okay, this may be a little self serving because I'm the Zero Rust guy, but I'll make a suggestion that I know will fit what you need to do and marry that solution to the equipment you have. Step #1 Apply rattle can Zero Rust to lock down that surface and keep any rust in check.... Step #2 Whenever it's convenient, do a light scuff of the Zero Rust and apply U-POL's high build sandable polyester primer, sand for flat and straight and apply your color coat (or have someone with a gun shoot it).
Both products come in aerosols and I have used both together and they worked just fine...... Oh, and neither products contain any Isocyantes.....

Bruce Palmer
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My choice is a strong suggestion towards removing ALL the rust before painting it. Anything less is a compromise and your paint will eventually fail.