Ok I decided to test out what would happen if you decided to get your car painted after you did a "$50 paint job"

Started with a extra hood, sanded with 320-400 grit


Paint tested-
Color Place (Black)
Krylon (Emerald Green)
Rust-Oleum-painters touch (Jade)
Rust-Oleum-bright coat (Chrome)
Rust-Oleum-"Roll On" (Gloss Black)
Quick Color (White)
Dupli-Color (Jewel Green)

Setting up the test



Sprayed and rolled the paint on (didn't roll. used foam brush)



Once dryed I set up what paints I was going to use.
(ended up not spraying all of these and you can see why later)


The Transtar true finish URETHANE clear i used can be found here
http://www.levineautoparts.com/transtar.html

Masked off the different areas to be refinished


Then i made little cut outs to test hardeners which is found in primers, sealers, and top coats. Also note that a lot of the "cheaper" shops will reduce there primers with acetone which will lift or dissolve aresols



applyed with a brush


Here are the results only seconds after applying

Color Place (Black)


Krylon (Emerald Green)


Rust-Oleum-painters touch (Jade)


Rust-Oleum-bright coat (Chrome)


Rust-Oleum-"Roll On" (Gloss Black)


Quick Color (White)


Dupli-Color (Jewel Green)


In the pics above all paints have been dissovled, lifted, and or cracked.
With hardener/reducer used in amost every automotive coating it would be almost imposible to paint over this stuff without sanding or grinding the "$50 paint job" off.

So I then tested Transtars ready to spray sealer
Instead of spraying it with one of my guns (didn't want over spray messing up the rest of the test) I just put little drops of it on the paint.

Every single brand did the same thing. The sealer wound not stick or dry and dissolved the paint under it.
Like this-


And this is why I didnt spray the basecoats because i couldn't even get a primer/sealer to stick to the "$50 paint job"

So i skipped the basecoats and went straight to the clear.

Color Place (Black)
Its hard to see but the black lifted and bubbled.


Krylon (Emerald Green)
the Krylon cracked and bubbled


Rust-Oleum-painters touch (Jade)
Ill just let the pics do the talking on this one.


Rust-Oleum-bright coat (Chrome)
Bubbled and dissolved


Rust-Oleum-"Roll On" (Gloss Black)
The roll came out the crappyest


Quick Color (White)
Bubbled, lifted, dissolved


Dupli-Color (Jewel Green)
cracked



"MY" results = Make sure there is no "$50 paint job" left on the car if you decide to get the car refinished You save money now but it will cost you a **** load later.

 

ive been telling people this since day 1 of that ridiculous 50 dollar paint job bullcrap. It will have to be totally stripped for any shop or person to guarantee it and get a quality finish. we charge alot to totally strip a car and then etch prime it once its down to metal. If your ever wanting to get a nice paint job on your car, i repeat. do not, do not do the 50 dollar paint job unless your wanting to pay even more later on. The solvents, cleaners, and catalysts in real automotive materials just destroy any of that crap.

 

yeah i've been saying the same thing but i guess i had to take pictures to show people.

 

I never understand why people are proud of a $50 dollar paint job.

 

nicely done. clear coat does not work on the paints listed above. but a $50pj, all it need is the base..sand buff/cut whatever and it will shine better than attempting to clear

 

The problem is, when you go to have the car repainted its going to be a total pita.

 

and i know this because under the carpet in my project (in sig) is rust-o smoke gray and im haveing a hell of a time grinding this stuff off in all the tight areas. (total waist of time)

EDIT- don't get me wrong. The $50 paint job is great for track cars or even weekend warriors.
When i see people sanding down there not so bad paint to do a $50 paint job I damn near fall out of my chair because i would hate to be the painter who has to respray the car. Spend the little extra money now instead of down the road when it will cost you 3 maybe 4 times that later.

I type this mostly for you EF_sedan because your good with this stuff. Just think how much better your work would be with top of the line paints.

 

only reason why i did it cause im from a family that doesnt make too much. i dont have a job and the $50pj is a better option rather rolling around in a prime bucket. (i drove a year primed gray)

i understand that the rusto and auto paint will react bad (saying this from your experience) and i will take the time to sand down every bid of rusto paint off my car when i decide its time for me to shoot with auto paint.

i wish they had auto body and paint at my college (CCOC does) i wanna start messing with real paint and invest in a better gun as well.

:thumbsup: to your demonstration. now wheres that other dude that ask about clearing rusto!

 

I am definatly going to have to show this to my b/f. He's a huge fan of the $50 paint job.

 

he fails.

 

when it comes to clearing off the $50 paint job cant you just use paint thinner, wipe, repeat to get it off? maybe with using a circular sander inbetween?

 

second thoughts on a $50 paint job

 

Doing this would only make things even more of a mess, likely just smearing each coat around and not really taking it off.

Any car that has had a $50pj done will have to have one of the following before repainting with a true automotive finish.
acid dipped
sand blasted
scuffed with 80 grit, air craft remover, and sanded down to bare metal
sent to the junkyard

mfef4dr, nice write up. Its always nearly impossible to get people to understand why rattle can paint does not work. No matter how good they are at spraying it.

 

i use 80-120 dry sanding to remove my rusto paint..really isnt that hard..just time consuming.

 

Do it right the first time or dont do it at all.

 

I did the 50 dollar paint job on my busted *** 900 dollar civic and it turned out great. Looked awesome from like 10 feet away lol, but I would NEVER do this to a car I loved. I remember a guy in the 50 dollar paint thread who rolled on his 2003ish civic. That car is ruined, lol.

Tell me this doesnt look good, this civic was at the end of its rope and it looks a lot better than it did. Im not about to spend 500+ to paint a car like that.


O yeah and one more reason I would never do it again, is that it take an ungodly amount of time sanding and rolling. But me being able to do this, I learned soooooo much about bodywork, and I would hate to have to learn while painting a nice car with expensive paint.
moral of the story is that the 50$ paintjob does have its applications

 

nice demonstration you did there.
i know a couple people who've done the $50 paint job or the "spray bomb" as we call it around here. looks like crap, smells like hell for months. you could seriously smell it half way across the parking lot...what a waste.

 

Wow, excellent thread, mfef4dr!

 

why not a 200 dollar paint job?use cheap base and clear at least its auto paint.and you still have to prep the car.if i was going to go to the trouble of prepping the car i would at least use cheap auto paint.

 

Thank you all for the kind words. Just trying to save some people time and money.

 

Would this not be caused because you are mixing two different types of paint?

 

I dont understand your question fully. But yeah they dont mix.

 

I meant as in the rusto paint is oil based and the "top coats" you put on aren't.

 

its ok to just throw on some primer though right?

will it need to be completely removed and be more money later when painted by a pro?

 

one of his tests show that primer over the rusto bubbled the paint.so yea they are saying you would have to strip the car down to repaint with auto paint.