Practically Classics Forum

You can very quickly run up the cost of a useable spraying set up in rattle cans, Aldi do a reasonable sized compressor for around £90 and a usable spray gun can be had for £30 or less, cellulose pant can be bought from ebay at around £15 per litre which when thinned is equalent to 2 litres or more of the cans.

None of it is difficult just need to be methodical and take plenty of time, if the existing paint is rough the best course is to strip it off and start again, the modern strippers work well if covered in cling film and left overnight. The common mistake with top coats is not to thin it enough I use something like 2 parts thinners to one part paint laid on in several thin coats, just make sure the gun is always moving to avoid runs.

^^^WHS^^^

Especially as Aldi seems to be awash with compressors and air tool sets at the moment! OK, two daughters at Uni is expensive - but (going on my friend's experience) the cost doesn't go down they graduate, so you will never be better off

I confess that Aldi is a dangerous place - I saw a wetstone grinder there today (for about £30) and just had to buy one! I used a Tormek at the last place I worked and that's well over £400!!

There again, I have no children: dogs are cheaper and more affectionate!

It's funny how long you can put up with niggling problems for years. More depressing is the amount of times I eventually got them sorted on a car, only to sell the car a month or two afterwards! That's not going to be a problem with the Land Rover though - there will be enough niggling faults to keep me going for years!

Aldi is a good place for tools. I bagged myself one of the compressors which ad been reduced from £89.99 to £49.99. At that price it was far too good to miss and they don't hang around forever. I've just got one of their handheld LED worklights for just shy of a fiver. With the darker evenings upon us it will come in useful when I'm doing the spannering.

The costs of painting one door with rattle cans are approximately:
1 can of etch primer £7.50
1 can of high build primer £7.50
1 can of primer £7.50
2 cans of colour matched paint £22
2 cans of lacquer £15
£59.50
plus some sand paper and compound

Not that I have just painted 2 doors, 2 wings, a tailgate, one sill and wheel arch with another sill and wheelarch to go or anything.

The finish after mopping isn't at all bad. Not a factory paint job but for the cost and doing it in the garden, it's acceptable.

What makes you think your paintwork looks tired? Have you tried some T-Cut to take out the scratches and make it shiny again?

Thanks for the advice all,

I know what you are saying about costs of compressor vs rattle cans but the beauty of rattle cans is you can buy them gradually a couple a month or so whereas stumping up 90 or more for a compressor (Swindon aldi's don't seem to have them at the mo.) plus all the paint and thinners and spray gun might be difficult. I know it's pathetic but I really am terminally skint!

Don't you need to do plumbing for a compressor including vapour traps etc?

Also I have no where to store a compressor. I have no garage at home and would be doingthe spaying on my drive.

Terry, The car was last spryed in the early 90's before my ownership which believe it or not is over 20 years ago!! and it is red. I've tried all sorts of "cutting pastes" T-cut, autoglyms paint restorer and my last effort was with a maguires gunk and electric polisher (which is part of the reason why the boot lid is so desperate ) I have then lavished copious ammounts for various waxes and protective liquids and the car looks absolutely great for about 3 weeks...then it fades back to a dusty pink sort of finnish.

Fairy nuff. If you want to have a go there are a couple of tips that everyone else probably knows but I have picked up by doing it wrong.
The below is what i have done, not necessarily best practice or the "correct" way to do it.
Painting outdoors on a still warm (not hot) day is possible.
If you are painting in your garage put a plastic sheet under the roof or dust will magically land on your new paint and flatting it back to paint it again is time consuming, messy and expensive.
buy tack cloths and use them before painting.
Warm the part you are painting before you start. It reduces drying time dramatically.
Use a decent size sanding block not the silly little things you get from B&Q.
satin black is CHEAP and a quick dust over your high build primer before a quick sand will show you any high / low spots that need more work.
Wet on wet seems to work best for me (ie wait a few minutes not overnight between coats).
I use 240 grit paper to remove old paint, 800 on the etch primer / high build, 1200 on the primer, 2400 on the colour and i mop the lacquer.
When you think you have put enough coats on, add one more so you can flat it back without worrying too much about going through.
Paint drys thinnest around the edges so be super careful when flatting back.
Keep rabbits away from you while painting in the garden or they sit right behind you so when you take a step back you fall over them.

TerryG wrote:......
Keep rabbits away from you while painting in the garden or they sit right behind you so when you take a step back you fall over them.

That's priceless and one of those phrases best read when you don't have a mouth full with tea! (Unless of course you want your warm beverage to come out of your ears)..

I can't add much, but standing the cans in a bowl of very warm water before using is a good way to get a decent flow out of them, just make sure & dry the cans before use or the water droplets will find the dead centre of the most visible area of the job!
I've painted a few complete cars with rattle cans and haven't made any of said cars look significantly worse by doing this, so with better prep and some talent (I'm too impatient for the first and have too little of the second) a car sprayed from decent cans will be just fine. Not concours winning, but perfectly satisfactory for keeping your P & J (or P of J) looking good.

Our last dog had a brown tail for a few weeks after I had sprayed bits of my little tractor!

It's a shame you aren't "up north" as I have a spare compressor (and spray gun!) that you could have borrowed. It's amazing how much more paint you get per pound when you buy it in litre tins!

My best tip: wear decent gloves (nitrile or vinyl - not latex) as your fingers will be red (apart from being red raw from pressing the cans' buttons). Wear them when you are cleaning the panels prior to spraying too - it stops sweat (or perspiration - only horses sweat!) and grease getting on the area to be sprayed.

And - most importantly - practice on an old panel first. I'm sure Mrs FB really wants a nice red freezer - though might not like the patchy red fridge or the washing machine with paint runs on it.

Oh yes, you will definitely have tired fingers for a few hours after pressing the button on the top of a rattle can 100+ times.
I haven't managed to paint a pet yet. Fuzzball is primer coloured so if i was a bit tired and he was sitting next to the car while painting he may get turned green

Tractorman's point about an "aching" finger when using rattle cans for extended periods is a good one - the discomfort can get to the point of impacting the quality of your work. I'd recommend getting one of those clip-on trigger devices, that have a handle and trigger that you can squeeze in the conventional way and make the process feel much more like proper spraying - a small but worthwhile investment if you're going to be doing a lot of work with cans.

Like this one:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/3M-Paint-Defend ... B00BHH1QT4

Just a thought - other than that, I agee with the folk who say to save up for some proper kit!

Cheers