Touch up paint

[HOWDY69]

I have seen a few comments that you can get good results with a rattle can if you do it right. I would like to fix the chips and rust spots on my truck and then overcoat the original paint with the original colors. Basically doing a touch up that would over time cover the entire truck panel by panel.

By "do it right" I assume people mean proper compatability of paint, preparation, sanding, dust free environment, even application, etc. All of the same things you would do if you were going to shoot with a paint gun.

My other option is to buy a self contained system like accuspray but even at $10 to $25 per can you can buy a lot of cans for the price of a good gun.

[fordman]

it depends on your skill i would think. how much practice have you had? i've seen some spray bomb paint jobs before. most were bad 1 or 2 weren't to bad. a compressor and a gun wouldn't be that expensive to get. i'd really go with that it will look a lot better with a gun.

[jzjames]

Whats the color of your truck you want to paint? There is matching paint for some colors in the Truck and Van Paint line of spraypaints. I know you can get Wimbledon White...

[dcbullet]

I painted the hood of my truck with automotive paint put in an aerosal can. I'll tell you, I did it a couple time to try to get better at it and in the end, it looks OK, but you would never mistake it for a professional paint job. I think the problem comes from painting large areas. There are always portions of the surface that get that "dry" look to it from the periferal spray. To compound the problem, when you are painting that large of an area you run the risk of the aerosal can "burping" a splatter of paint while your doing it. Then you have to decide whether that's ok with you or wait until it's dry and sand and paint again.

I do think you can do small areas, like the ashtray door or glove box door, and have it come out really nicely.

I've taken pictures as I've been doing it and will update my project page next weekend so that you can get an idea of the results you might have.

[jzjames]

Id estimate that a can of spraypaint would cover a 3' X 3' area really well.
And it would look pretty good if you've done the right preparation, and are fairly good at moving the spraycan. The hardest parts of the truck to spray are the flat, horizontal surfaces (hood, roof) because as you use up the paint in the can, you will start sucking air because of the angle of the can.
It helps if you can spray the panels vertical, - as in remove your hood and stand it up - or if not, use the new portions of the cans for the final coat.
(To remove hoods and be able to get good alignment putting them back on I have used a trick of drilling two 1/8" locating holes through the hinge into the hood framework. Drill two holes on each side. When bolting the hood back on just stick your drill bit through the holes to locate it and bolt it up. You get the identical alignment as when taken off.)

[dcbullet]

How about painting the hood in it's "up" position? If you have a step stool I think that is no problem as far as the height. Might be easier than removing the hood.

Of course, I didn't think to do that.