Your thoughts,on home brewed bodywork, paint ,&; patience
Getting back to the basic question; if you have the basic tools and the patience you can achieve darn good bodywork. That's the foundation of a good or great paint job. Most of us have the same thing the body shop uses - sandpaper and block sanders. Tips and instructions are available all over the place just for the asking. The most expensive paint laid on top of crappy body work will look pretty crappy. Conversely, the cheapest paint on top of good body work will look pretty decent. That bodywork requires patience - and that is something you have at home (or can have) that the body shop doesn't...
Paint is something else. And it comes down to "how much do you want to spend"? I've used very high dollar bc/cc in a paint booth and achieved very acceptable results. I am actually quite proud of that paint job. I have also used Rustoleum in my garage at home and achieved results that I am very happy with. In both cases there was no color shot until I was satisfied with the unlaying body work.
A little more on the Rustoleum. My goal for the car was to do a complete resto-mod as cheaply as I could. With two kids in college, I had a lot more time than money to put into it. I shot the interior shell with the Rusto and it looked pretty good - and you don't see any of it! But since I was changing colors I wanted that "complete" job. I painted the engine bay with Rusto and again was pretty happy with it. When I got around to shooting color, I shot 3 coats of gloss white over 3 days. The Rusto and my cheap Harbor Freight paint gun left a lot of orange peel, but I had the time to wet sand. I don't recall offhand how long I waited, maybe a week or two and then I taped it up and sprayed 3 coats of gloss black Rusto over 3 days and then more wet sanding. It was a couple three weeks later I added the vinyl stripes and about 2-3 months later I added three coats of a cheap clear. Then more wet sanding.
My thoughts on Rustoleum some 3 1/2 years after the fact...
Would I do it again - maybe. I achieved what I wanted with the Duster. A good looking car at minimal cost. My Duster is a driver, not a show car. Last year I took it on a 2,000 mile trip and had a blast. That said, I am having my truck painted this week - with bc/cc.
Do I think the Rustoleum/tractor enamels/similar paints are good quality - yes I do. I can point out a heck of a lot more old farm equipment still wearing original paint with absolutely zero care taken of it than I can any car with a bc/cc that is parked outside 24-7, even cars with routine wash & wax. This will be my trucks third bc/cc since 1999; and I do take reasonable care of it.
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