Originally Posted by
Andy_K
I know a bunch of people here have experience with rattle can paint jobs. I'm doing this for the Clunker 100 Challenge, so hold onto your "powder coat is cheap" recommendations. I'm looking for advice on choosing a spray paint.
Right now, I'm looking at two options "
Rust-Oleum Stops Rust Gloss Protective Enamel" and "
Rust-Oleum Stops Rust Metallic". According to the label, the Enamel dries in 4 hours while the Metallic dries in 30 minutes. I'm not sure what that means for durability and self-smoothing. I've used the Enamel before and been happy with the results. I'm trying to decide if I'll be happy with the Metallic. Yeah, it's for a bike that I'm going to be giving away in a few months, but it's destined to be a window display item if I can get it looking nice enough. I know, that sounds weird for a Clunker bike, but in this case it's true.
FWIW, I've taken the bike down to bare metal and will be using a proper primer. If I use the Metallic, I'll probably also add a clear top coat.
Any advice? Other recommendations?
I highly recommend using Dupli Color. It's a laquer paint that was used for auto's back in the day. Very fogiving to use and after it has fully cured nothing beats the luster and glow of a hand rubbed laquer finish. You'll want to clear coat it with a good enamel clear (or 2K if you want to go nuts). Dupli Color makes these as well.
Also pay attention to the primer(s) that you use .. ideally stick with the same brand for primer/paint/clear.
With practice you can achieve results as good as a pro for a fraction of the cost - though it is time consuming.