$50 Dollar Paint - One Year on the Street
It's hard to believe nearly a whole year has gone by since I roller painted the Corvair. It looks great. I smile every time I walk up to it in some parking lot. I can see no difference between now and when it was first polished. I'm going to call the $50 Rustoleum with a roller experiment a -complete- success.
I've seen a lot of commentary on the paint page, on tons of different forums and blogs, with the majority of feedback being positive. I see a lot of talk about the "endless" sanding; but it wasn't really that bad, certainly not "thousands of dollars worth of labor". It was enjoyable working toward a finished product knowing it was turning out well. The satisfaction factor was large. And, it was an honest $50 in materials, a couple hours of painting and sanding everyday for a week or so, and then the buff out. True, the buffer I bought cost more than the paint materials (and bodywork materials, come to think of it), but it's a -great- buffer.Here it is, one year parked on the street, no visible changes in gloss or look of the finished paint, I can definitely say it was worth every second. It hasn't faded, or "turned to chalk", or started to peel, as several pro painters have (very loudly) warned. They also said real Automotive Paint wouldn't stick to Rustoleum. Whether it will stick, or disolve, or explode, or whatever, I don't know. But, who'd be dumb enough -not- to strip a car down to metal for a $5000+ paintjob anyway. If a car is worthy of getting a super high zoot paint job and full blown restoration, is a quickie scuff and shoot going to happen?
I've come to the conclusion there is no middle ground with auto painting. Either go as cheap as possible, accepting the limitations and flaws and enjoying the feeling of doing it for nearly nothing, or, go all out. Anything in between is going to be a disappointment, no matter what. There is no such thing as a satisfactory "mid-level" paintjob.
Below are some pics of the car on the street. I got around to waxing it, but it hadn't been washed for a couple weeks in the below pics (I was taking "3D" pics at the time, not "website" pics). I did hose the bird poop off three (four?) days before these pics were taken, but it still looks a little dusty. I'll take some pics of the car, freshly washed pretty soon.Click pics for cross-eyed 3D versions in new window (detailed viewing instructions).
I'll do another update early next fall, maybe. In the meantime... On to new projects!
