Whats wrong with my paint?

[The Dat-side]

What are the wheels made of? I want to paint mine, but they're aluminum and everything I've read says painting aluminum is really difficult

Aluminum. Yeah I sprayed some but it wiped right off. After dried. But the metal was COLD.

[Figbuck]

Mineral spirits is what causes paint failure like that.

 

Simple Green sucks. A real industrial degreaser like LPS is what you need to wash the existing paint finish before you sand, so that you don't grind contaminates into the metal.

 

If you grind down to metal, you need to use acid cleaners and conditioners to prep the metal.

 

You need to shoot your primers almost right away because bare metal will start to rust from humidity in the air in minutes.

 

If you are going to go to all the trouble to strip back to metal... or even try to paint over sanded factory finish, you need to use a two part epoxy primer.

 

Primer is everything in paint adhesion, just like prep is every thing in a quality finished job.

 

What Datsun/noob said about going to an auto or industrial finishes supplier and getting wax and grease remover is right.

 

Lacquer thinners, Acetone, Toluene, Xylene, and MEK are better than nothing but, way more expensive and toxic that wax and grease remover.

 

I painted my rims, chrome bumpers, pot metal door handles and a bunch of other stuff with Rustoleum a couple years ago. I used degreaser, then shot PPG two part primers, then thinned the Rustoleum with a little bit of acetone. Three thin coats are way better than thick coats. It is obvious from the picture that the paint coats were too thick. Cold is a problem too... duh. Read the label.

 

It takes days with the dry times to shoot Rustoleum with the correct dry times, or you end up trapping un-evaporated solvents in the first coats and having a big mess.

 

After almost three years of daily driving with my truck sitting out in the rain and sun, the Rustoleum is holding up way, way better than I every imagined. It is easy to touch up rock chips or dings. You don't have a lot of color choices though.

 

One thing that is happening is that the Satin finish I used is starting to oxidize in spots. I think if I cared... that wax could fix it. I took and oily rag, rubbed one spot and it looks like new again. I never saw a clear Rustoleum before, but two coats of color and one of clear should do the trick. Maybe two thin coats of clear to rub out any orange peel... but if you are that picky then use real automotive paint and avoid the drudgery.

 

One problem with any kind of paint is, if the coats are too thick it will fail in time too. The metal and finish expand and contract differently and the least material you can use to achieve "hide" is probably the best. That is why automotive two part urethanes are used in the refinishing industry as well as clear/base systems. It allows them to paint fast because the dry times are quick and they get vehicles in and out of the shop fast. They don't have cars sitting around drying over night for every coat.

 

If you are broke however and have the space and drying time, you can get Rustoleum to work pretty well.

 

I assume however that you are spraying out of a cup gun and not using rattle cans.... they really suck.

[Dirk Diggler]

Actually I'm using rattle cans for the time. I did those parts to learn the procedures. Rustoleum makes auto paint that I'm going to try out also. Thanks for the tips

[SRSANDS]

Use spray away glass cleaner.....its what all the painters I know use. Its cheap and cleans grease and wax great