Impressed by all you guys and your impressive restorations I have opted to do a body-on frame overhaul.
My frame is not excessively rusty and there is paint still on it but it is chipping and pealing and does not compliment the car. I sampled with my angle grinder and a wire wheel on the rear cross member underneath the spare tire and it turned out great. The wire wheeling is messy and time consuming but it is snowing here in South Dakota and I have plenty of time until the roads are dry. Any recommendations on a paint. I used Rustoleum on my test piece (Semi-Flat) and it looks great. I feel rather, wrong, using “graffiti paint” on my vette. The taping and papering is no time saver either. Any comments?
I will get some before and after pics soon.
Mark

 

....in my experience, the type of paint used is far less important than surface preparation so bear that in mind....my benchmark on all this stuff is the factory frame paint - if that swill lasted as long as it did, what you can buy today will be at least as good......

...i also use rustoleum after surface prep with a wire wheel, solvent cleaning (pick your poison, i don't think it matters), simple green and water and then a low flash point solvent (eg, brake cleaner or 2+2 gum cutter) to remove the water and prevent rust...................as far as paint systems go, i've used the eastwood stuff that is used as a primer for rusty metal and topped it with their chassis black and seen a lot of local work done with por15...i think the eastwood primer is superb (though the chassis black is so light on solids that it's not worth the price (despite their marketing claims))...and that por15 stuff is marketing personified - it's OK but if i did a frame-off, i'd clean the frame, use an etching primer and matching black semi gloss and feel i've done a better job than 99% of anything out there....

...long winded way of saying an oil-based semi gloss on a properly prepped frame (with-or-without a primer, your call) will do just fine, even if you use spray cans...


...if lars sees this post, i'm sure he'll have some good advice (i've followed his advice and been very happy with the results) and there are a few others who know a lot about paint - i'm an amateur :yesnod:


[Modified by Kid_Again, 7:20 AM 3/20/2002]


[Modified by Kid_Again, 7:22 AM 3/20/2002]

 

Kid again are you saying it can be done with a paint brush and get smooth results?

 

...nope, sorry...didn't mean to leave that impression....i buy all my paint in the smallest can possible (pints for the polyurethane, half pints for the rustoleum) and use a detail gun for much of what i do, two different types of airbrushes (single and dual stage) for interiors and other detail work..........for example, i used an airbrush to do the firewall behind the windshield washer motor...

...i use multiple, fairly thin coats of rustoleum and am very pleased with the results but that DOES take a lot of time......for large surfaces (e.g., the underside of the hood), i mechanically strip the paint, hit the filled sections with the airbrush, do the semi gloss out of a spray can and then touch up with the single stage air brush with the heavy nozzle (again, i will devote the time and don't give a rat's patoot about "correctness" ('though based on what i've seen "restorers" do and charge the unsuspecting public, i wouldn't starve)).....i've never seen a decent job done with a brush and you will do fine with the commercial spray can if you clean and mask around your target (especially the frame)

 

Thanks I was wondering. I just painted the door jambs last weekend and had to tape the whole car for fear of the overspray :crazy: even with white on white. I really don't want to get semi flat black on it. I use a touch up gun also really just becaue that is what I had. Thnaks I guess since I have all this left over thinner and hardner I should touch up the frame in the back.