Being an early retired Leisure Freak means I always look for ways to save money. Or at least spend it sensibly. Car repairs are something that can strain the budget. I try to do what I believe I can do or handle myself. One of my money-saving efforts was Frugally DIY Painting a Car for $90. In this case my truck. I painted it at home without special painting equipment or skills.

This paint job is now in its third year and is holding up great. It is doing far better than I expected or was warned about. I thought I would share what I did and where I got the details on how to pull it off. Anyone with some time and a little space can do this if you have an older auto that looks like crap and you would like to have it look more presentable while offering surface protection. The bonus- Not having to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars.

                                                              My Situation.

My 1981 SR5 Toyota custom pickup that I have driven almost daily since 1993 finally had a life ending catastrophe. The frame had rusted through and cracked over its then 31 years on the road. There is a reason you see few old import cars/trucks on the road, RUST. This truck has huge sentimental value as it was my son’s and my first automotive project together. He was just short of 13 when we turned the truck into a hardtop convertible. We had many father and son adventures with it spanning 5 western States.

 

It took some months for me to find a suitable donor truck where I could harvest a good frame to resurrect my long-time truck. I also kept the bed from the donor truck as mine had far more rust in it. Even this new bed had some rust bubbling on the side where the inner wheel well is. That rust is another reason I elected to go the frugal paint job route.

Please note that buying the donor truck and paying someone to complete all the work for the frame/bed swap cost me all I could logically spend regardless of sentiment. That was another reason for a frugal paint solution. The lowest painting bid I got was $1400 and there is no stopping rust. After a few years it will return. I could have waited for the local MAACO Discount paint shops to run a sale but that would still cost hundreds. My truck was a light Yellow and the new truck bed was Red. I was ready to roll in it so I needed to do something about the yellow and red Ronald McDonald color scheme.

Frugally DIY Painting a Car for $90 – The Rustoleum Auto Paint Job

I decided I would look into painting the truck myself. I kept coming across all these posts and You Tube videos where people had done a fair paint job using non-automotive Rustoleum Paint and a high density foam roller. That’s right, Rustoleum. The same oil based enamel stuff you get at Lowes or Home Depot to paint your patio furniture that comes in the little quart cans.

I then came across another site where they just used high density foam brushes.  The roller method can leave a lot of bubbles and require a lot of sanding to smooth out. I decided to follow this one guy’s brush technique and I have to say it went real well. The point was to reduce the amount of sanding to do. I will admit there was still sanding needed but I have to believe far less than I would have trying to remove bubbles.

Frugal Car Painting Supplies Needed

• Rustoleum high gloss paint – 4 Quarts. For me to get a light Yellow I needed a 3 Gloss White to 1 Sunburst Yellow mixed. Most cars will take only 2 or 3 quarts depending on size, SUV or full-sized PU more. I had over half of my mixed paint left.
• Odorless mineral spirits – 3 quarts to a gallon. (Used for surface cleaning, prep, and paint thinning which allows paint to dry faster and for it to flatten out after brushing on).
• Rustoleum Primer spray paint – 1 Can (I needed 3 to cover the truck bed, always best to use the same brand of primer as the paint)
• 3″ High density foam brushes – 10 ea.
• 2″ High density foam brushes – 10 ea.
• Paint trays – 3 ea.
• Wet Sandpaper – 3 packs (600, 800, 1500 grit)
• Painter’s tape – 1 Roll
• Old Newspaper or plastic for masking work
• Rubber Gloves
• Spray Bottle

The Frugal DYI Rustoleum Auto Paint Job Process

At a high level the job goes like this:

Getting the Car Ready

• Wash the car and if there is any dents or body blemishes you need to fix get some auto body filler and make repairs. For small blemishes just use auto body finishing glaze/putty that is easily sanded. I had old peeling decals I needed to remove so I ordered from eBay a decal remover eraser that you run in your drill to get all the old and nasty decal stripes off.
• Wipe car down with mineral spirits to clean any oils from the surface. (Read and follow all safety and warnings posted on the product can while handling product).
• Remove anything from the car you can that you don’t want painted.

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  Mask around everything on the car that you don’t want painted.

• Sand all surfaces to be painted with 600 grit sandpaper. If there are areas like rust that need to be smoothed get lower grit paper to smooth it out. You are sanding to rough the paint and level the surface not remove all the existing paint.
• Primer any areas where sanding went to bare metal. In my case I also primered the Red truck bed to Grey to help with Yellow paint coverage.

Paint Time

• Mix your paint with the mineral spirits using a 50%/50% ratio. (Read and follow all safety and warnings posted on the product can while handling product).
• Prep the paint surfaces by wiping your car down again with mineral spirits.
• Apply the paint and allow to dry. The 50%/50% is very thin and should dry in a few hours. I did this while still working (Career #2) so I waited until the next evening.

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  Repeat – Prep the paint surfaces with mineral spirits and apply the paint and allow to dry.

• Repeat – Prep the paint surfaces with mineral spirits and apply the paint and allow to dry.
• Once the third coat is dry, Wet Sand lightly with 600 grit to smooth out the paint and scuff for more paint to be added. I used a trigger pump water spray bottle to wet the surface and the paper instead of running a hose. You will question whether this is going to work due to a lack of coverage but the paint builds upon itself in all the layers. Just don’t sand off all your work.
• Repeat painting process 3 more times. The process is paint 3 coats and sand, then repeat as necessary.

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  Sand and inspect. Repeat painting process as necessary until you get the right paint coverage.

• Once satisfied with the paint coverage use 800 grit and higher grit to polish out any imperfections out of the paint including any brush marks easily seen at your discretion.

 

I know this is very high level.

If you are interested in trying this I recommend you get the more deep details from the source I used – Poor Man’s Paint Job  ( http://www.instructables.com/id/The-Poor-Mans-Paint-Job-or…-How-to-paint-your-c/?ALLSTEPS ) Note: If the details end with the disclaimer, scroll down a little farther until you see the Download/View all steps/Next buttons and select View all steps

Another good source of information about the use of Rustoleum paint to paint a car using a foam roller and foam brushes was the article put out by Hot Rod Magazine    (http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/paint-body/hrdp-0707-1962-ford-falcon-budget-paint-job/ ) Note: Just click on “view all 36 photos” or bottom of the first photo where it shows “1/36” to get a photo and step by step.

My Frugal DYI Rustoleum Auto Paint Job Results

I am sure everyone’s results are different depending on the car and color of paint being applied to and used. Your masking will also make a difference on your final results. Yellow is a color that does not cover well so I had up to 10 coats on flat surfaces like the hood and roof (I had some primer spots) and 14 on the truck bed sides to cover the grey primer. I also spent time sanding with high grit sandpaper to remove as many brush marks as I could. They are only visible in certain light but I wanted as close to a sprayed paint job as I could get. There are still a few spots that I can see brush marks but nobody else has unless I point them out and they look very carefully.

The Results That Really Matters

• I ended up with a great 5-footer paint job and maybe better than that.
• The Truck is protected from the elements and all one shiny color.

• I will be able to inexpensively do touch-up paint myself.
• It cost me 14 days and less than $100. The first day was a few hours but the repaint and light sanding was only 1 to 2 hours each day.

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  I wax it once a year and the paint has held up as new. However this truck is parked in a garage when not in use. Over time UV exposure will fade and oxidize Rustoleum paint so washing and waxing will help it look good.

• The Paint is hard and doesn’t easily chip or scratch as some have warned. Because it is built up from multiple light layers it holds up far better than spray can paint. I used Satin Black rattle cans for inside the truck bed and spray paint is a thinner coat of paint and does scratch way easier than the brushed on Yellow.
• After 3 years I am just starting to see signs of that rust on the bed. It is starting to bubble again so in a year or so I will grind, sand, finish putty, and repaint that area soon with the left over paint.
• Update June 2018: It’s now 6 years into this paint job. It still looks like the day I painted it. The rust area is still very small and barely noticeable. There are 5 small 1/16 inch raised circular blemishes but no discoloration. I haven’t felt the need yet to make paint repairs.

Final Comments

I can’t guaranty this is the best choice for everyone or that by doing it you will be completely satisfied. A perfectionist or traditionalist will probably not agree with this method, product used, or results. I get that and to each their own. No need for hateful comments.

Know that by using a paint like this if later you or someone else decides to take the car in for a traditional shop paint job that all the Rustoleum must be sanded off first. However it does sand off and you can do that or I am sure they will probably just charge extra to do it. I have no intentions of doing that given the probability of rust’s return and my satisfaction with the results. It looks great and I can repair it myself when needed at little or no cost.

Frugally DIY Painting a Car for $90 using Rustoleum was a fun experience and I would do it again on the right vehicle under the right circumstances. I may even try the roller method.

Do you have a car that isn’t worth the cost of a traditional paint job that you might maybe try this method on as a frugal DIY project?

Do you think it is just stupid to use a non-automotive paint on any car to save money?