Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums Showcase and Stories, Petroliana Rust-Oleum Restoration

Mike, are you using hardener? I always try to use hardener in the acrylic enamel. It helps with the cure, shine, and added protection. With the small stuff, I will even put in my powder coating oven. I have even used hair dryers, heat guns, and the sun. But you are correct, without the aid of heat or hardener you may be fighting an uphill battle. The only other thing is a lengthy cure time. Love your project.

I thought about trying the hardner for valspar tractor paint. I may have some. I'm worried about reaction between layers.

2nd coat tonight (no pictures). A few thoughts and first impressions:

1. The paint seemed super thick on the inside. I thinned it a bit, and it seemed really watery on the outside.

2. Odor is acceptable, but a bit strong at first.

3. This seems to be really messy. I usually keep the area clean when I'm paining, but this stuff just seems to go everywhere for some reason.

4. Reset side got a light sanding with 800 grit before recoat. I want to compare that to nozzle side and see how the paint reacts.

5. This stuff take forever to dry.

6. Dirt is a real problem. I know my shop is not the cleanest, but come on! It looks like I painted it outside in a dust storm. It will take a lot of post paint work to make it look nice.

7. Orange peel is a fact of life here. Thinning helps, but it only lays down just so much, and then that's it.

8. I didn't realize how wonderful surfacing primer really is. It will take a lot of paintwork to hopefully fill all the sanding scratches that primer normally would. It seemed ok untill I got to see it with some gloss.

9. On the positive side, paining is actually fast and easy. I can do a coat on all the red parts in about 10 minutes. When I'm done, I wrap the roller tightly in a plastic bag and that keeps it from drying out.

So I had decided to wait to try and sand down the orange peel. Years ago I read an article in Hot Rod Magazine about paining cars with rust-oleum. They advised sanding with 600 grit between each coat. They said it makes it much easier. I had planned to build up the paint then cut it down. After seeing the second coat, I was really concerned about the scratches in the filler coming through the paint. I was relieved to see that the paint cut well with 800 grit and the scratches seem to be filling well. You can see the scratches in the first picture as the dark red lines. The second picture is after they sanded out.

It sure is a mystery where all this dirt in the paint is coming from. I just can't figure it out. Oh well, some mysteries will never be solved I guess.

After much hemming and hawing I decided to make the uppers red. White is original, but I like red more. I cut them in with spray paint

I gave all the red parts four coats of paint. I started to knock down the dirt and orange peel on the sides. I roughed it up with 800, then moved on to 1500. There was so much dirt in the paint.

In the interest of science, I broke the experiment up into two parts. I sanded the sides between each coat, but the top I just layered on more paint. Although the paint on the top cut just fine, I noticed it took MUCH more effort to get the orange peel out. I ended up cutting through the paint in several spots trying to level it out. Lesson learned: sanding in between coats is the way to go. I will have to put one or two more coats on the top. Oh well, I have to paint the valances anyway.

The suspense was getting to me. I decided to focus on wether or not this is going to work. It will succeed or fail in the cut and buff process. I sanded the reset side down with 1500. I got MOST of the orange peel out. There were a few tiny specks here and there, but this is when better is good's worst enemy. It is easy to cut through the paint trying to get one tiny blemish out.

The moment of truth. If the paint didn't harden, it will melt into a gooey mess that smears all over while trying to buff it. Years ago I painted a Tokheim 39 with an industrial paint. When I tried to buff it, it just smeared all over. It was a huge disaster. I'm using a cheap buffer from that Port Cargo store. It works well for me. The secret is to get good buffing heads for it from a real auto body supply shop.

So far so good! The paint seems to respond well to buffing.

Initial buffing went well. I got the rough shine on. Sanding scratches and orange peel buffed out well.

Next is a foam head with machine pollish. That shine looks pretty good to me!.

I have been following your journey since the start. I wish I had seen this before I hired someone to shoot automotive paint on my restoration. To me, a restoration should look like it would have back when the item was in service. Paint jobs were not nearly as good in the 1950s as they are today. I also distinctly remember seeing in-service pumps that had been "refreshed" with brush-on paint. I like what you have/are doing and think the final product will look great!

The reset side is done. I wanted to make some progress, so I decorated it. Looks good.