Rattlecan paint job.

Iamzod

Iamzod

Iamzod

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Joined
7 Dec 2002
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Yes I know the first thing you thought when you read the title was "Idiot" but no I am not planning on doing one, it's just a curiosity as I've just finished the base coat on a pair of front & rear valances for my dads car in metallic black.

What's to stop someone from doing a decent job with cans? I have looked into it but all I can find is stuff on forums where people have sprayed a car matt or satin or not even prepped/finished it properly.

What's to stop me from getting a decent can finish? I have done quite a few repairs using the stuff and apart from a pair of cans that I think were contaminated (mixed to order not off the shelf) which developed fish eyes I haven't had much problem getting a decent finish with some hard work flatting it back & then polishing the hell out of it.

The hardest bit is blending in as cans never match factory that well but this would be irrelevant on a whole shell.

I have painted the entire engine bay on a car two years ago and that still looks fine although admittedly the car hasn't moved yet as it still isn't finished and I've also done several repairs on my Mondeo which are fine still after 3 years.

Here is a door repair I did after some twonk was careless in a car park 3 years ago, this thing was the size of a 5p-



After, there are some ripples as you see but it was done from start to finish in a single weekend, had to buff it out a 2nd time a few weeks later again once the paint hardened but it's been fine since-



Again, a quick temporary wheel arch bodge repair to get rid of a scab done in less than a day, even had a downpour 30 minutes after the clearcoat went on-





Is the issue durability/resistance to UV, or just most people don't have the time or inclination to do it properly?

I see no end of cars with replacement wings & bumpers still in primer or painted really patchy, not polished out, paint peeling off, run mark galore.

What gives?
 
I think its mostly that people don't spend the appropriate amount of time on it, lack basic skills and potentially expect it to look too good when finished tbh

Cans just don't have the same nozzles/coverage as a proper gun which I think is what leads people to rush or put far too much on and not be able to or realise they could flat it back to good

In terms of an entire car it would cost an absolute fortune in cans for it to then potentially look really, really **** at the end
 
I remember when I was much much younger my friends older brother had started driving and he had an Escort van.

His dad stipped and painted it flat red with a roller, prepping each coat properly. It came our remarkably well, I remember it being a talking point. He did use to work on coachbuilding at one point so knew what we was doing.

It's certainly not impossible. But it's all in hte prep and requires patience. Need to secure a decent workspace and prep the area just not the car (water down for dust etc). You also need to let paint cure properly and proper booths have ovens.

Cans would be very expensive though! So pretty pointless beyond the odd panel or small part IMO.
 
All in the prep. I painted one of my Sprints, with rattlecans in terrible conditions, and it came out well - because I really worked on the prep and put time into it. Managed to keep it dry, too, which helped no end.
 
I'm going to be doing a bit of this on my car soon, so this is a very timely thread, and I'm glad yours has turned out so well.

I bought the car with a few scrapes on it, and split the splitter of my own accord, so I'm looking to repair the splitter and repaint the part that's broken, maybe doing any stone chips in the process, and then go over the small scrapes somehow (like where some has just touched the car).

Then, I'm going to respray both corners of the rear bumper, but they're going to need filling etc.

Please make a guide to show up all these others that you've seen that suck!
 
I'd love to see a good guide on doing spray can repairs, have a number of scuffs and things which are well beyond touch up paint but wouldnt be too scared to give it a go
 
Rich1988 said:
the factory paint looks really thick on that wheel arch! or is it an illusion? / filler
Click to expand...

There is filler & fibreglass in it, didn't expect it to be so bad & the weather was too bad to weld, going to re-do it in the next couple of months & put a new arch in, hence why it was a bodge repair.
 
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