[Greg Reid]

Originally Posted by 400 4spd.

Greg, I'd like to know about the paint on your '68 engine. It looks really good. Spray can or out of a gun?

Thanks Steve. Everything is rattle canned except the firewall which is brushable Rustoleum thinned for spraying.
The Pontiac blue paint is just the regular stuff, Duplicolor or VHT. One thing I did kinda different though was give it a coat of '64-'65 light blue first and then a light coat of the metallic on top. Seemed to get coverage with a ligher coat.

Originally Posted by Chris65LeMans

I was thinking of getting some flat black rattlecan paint, spraying it into a cup, then brushing it on? Sound like it'll work and look decent?

Personally, I hate the look of zero gloss paint under the hood. It should have just a bit of sheen to look right to me. As someone said earlier, mixing the finishes a bit looks 'right'.
Aside from that, I'd say brushing flat paint from a rattle can is likely to streak. It's very thin for brushing. The Rustoleum in the quart cans brushes nicely but I've never used flat.

[PMD1969]

Originally Posted by Singleton

Quart cans from hardware stores, Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart. The satin seems harder to find than the gloss or semigloss. Had the order the satin from amazon.

In a mixing cup, pour in the amount of paint required, add appropriate amount of valspar hardener, stir, and let cook off for about 20 min or so. Then thin it down with paint thinner, (or lacquer thinner for even quicker drying), and spray. With the paint thinned down, you can even paint some areas with a brush and the thin paint will flow enough to fill-in the brush marks.

Originally Posted by Tempest

I do what 'Singleton' does with the Rustoleum from a Home Improvement Store.

Mix up the Gloss and the Flat (with thinner) and you can get any sheen you want.

More work than a 'rattle can' to mix, but I like the look of different sheens of black under the hood.


I have found that 1 part gloss, to 2 parts flat, give about a 60% gloss. FWIW

Awesome guys! I bought the mini sprayer with some spares and also bought a can of the hardener from eBay for $16 free shipping. I see the mix there buy how much hardener do I put in?

For all of this trouble is this mixed up paint going to give paint that is "tougher" than just straight out of the rattle can?

[Singleton]

Originally Posted by PMD1969

Awesome guys! I bought the mini sprayer with some spares and also bought a can of the hardener from eBay for $16 free shipping. I see the mix there buy how much hardener do I put in?

For all of this trouble is this mixed up paint going to give paint that is "tougher" than just straight out of the rattle can?

Yes, it should be a lot tougher.

The entire 8oz can mixes with one gallon, so 2oz would mix with 1qt can of paint. Don't mix your entire quart of paint though unless you plan to use it all at once. Just mix together what you plan to spray, let it cook-off for 20 minutes or so, then thin it just before you spray. What kind of mini sprayer? one of those Prevail types?

[PMD1969]

Originally Posted by Singleton

Yes, it should be a lot tougher.

The entire 8oz can mixes with one gallon, so 2oz would mix with 1qt can of paint. Don't mix your entire quart of paint though unless you plan to use it all at once. Just mix together what you plan to spray, let it cook-off for 20 minutes or so, then thin it just before you spray. What kind of mini sprayer? one of those Prevail types?

Yes its a Prevail Home Depot unit. They had Rustoleum Semi-Gloss black so I picked up a quart of it. Right now I am just test spraying on some pulleys and other non essential parts. From your posts can I assume that this stuff (hardener) will dry fast and will ruin anything in a hurry if not cleaned out?

What's the best chemical to clean the hardener paint with?

[Singleton]

Originally Posted by PMD1969

Yes its a Prevail Home Depot unit. They had Rustoleum Semi-Gloss black so I picked up a quart of it. Right now I am just test spraying on some pulleys and other non essential parts. From your posts can I assume that this stuff (hardener) will dry fast and will ruin anything in a hurry if not cleaned out?

What's the best chemical to clean the hardener paint with?

Paint thinner or lacquer thinner to clean the sprayer out.

Not sure that you will get the best result with that tiny sprayer. It would be much better with a cheap $20 gravity feed gun on 30-35 psi compressed air.

[PMD1969]

Originally Posted by Singleton

Paint thinner or lacquer thinner to clean the sprayer out.

Not sure that you will get the best result with that tiny sprayer. It would be much better with a cheap $20 gravity feed gun on 30-35 psi compressed air.

DO you have a gun to recommend?

[Singleton]

Originally Posted by PMD1969

DO you have a gun to recommend?

Nothing specific, any generic gravity feed gun from Harbor Freight, tractor supply, ebay etc. Something to get a better coverage than what you're using. Those prevail sprayers are ok for small jobs like a bracket or a pulley, but not up to the task of painting a firewall or inner fender for example imo.