Some of you may recall a topic several months ago regarding how to paint your car with a roller or foam brush. The '49 2R17A fire truck that I got from Asa Hall has weathered considerably the last couple of years so I decided to give it a try. Below is how it looked when I started this morning.
I began by trying to grind off the rust bubbles, but found it much faster to attack them with a sharp putty knife. Once all the scale was removed I started with 50 grit sandpaper, progressed to 80 grit and finished it off with 220 grit. I washed it all off, let it dry, masked it and attacked it with a 7" roller and a 2" brush. The brush left streaks, so I used it only to cut in and did all the rest with the roller. Here is how it looks now that I am done.
It went better than I thought, my biggest mistake being that I used a 3/8" nap roller when I should have gone shorter. This resulted in somewhat of a texture, but that may clear up as it dries.
I wanted it "spiffed up" before our tractor show next weekend and in all probability I will sand it down and then do a second coat with a shorter nap. It looks good at 30 feet, but it is not perfect up close. This is due to the previously mentioned texture issue, plus it only has one coat on it.
A gallon of "Safety Red" Rustoleum was only $28.00 at Lowes, but I ended up buying a new sander and respirator. The sander has a built in dust collector which eliminated virtually all the dust.
The only lingering problem is that the roller would not fit in between the cab and body, so I will need to use a foam brush on that. I think I may also attack the '48 M-16 grain truck I got from Asa as that also has surface rust on it and this will better protect it.
I began by trying to grind off the rust bubbles, but found it much faster to attack them with a sharp putty knife. Once all the scale was removed I started with 50 grit sandpaper, progressed to 80 grit and finished it off with 220 grit. I washed it all off, let it dry, masked it and attacked it with a 7" roller and a 2" brush. The brush left streaks, so I used it only to cut in and did all the rest with the roller. Here is how it looks now that I am done.
It went better than I thought, my biggest mistake being that I used a 3/8" nap roller when I should have gone shorter. This resulted in somewhat of a texture, but that may clear up as it dries.
I wanted it "spiffed up" before our tractor show next weekend and in all probability I will sand it down and then do a second coat with a shorter nap. It looks good at 30 feet, but it is not perfect up close. This is due to the previously mentioned texture issue, plus it only has one coat on it.
A gallon of "Safety Red" Rustoleum was only $28.00 at Lowes, but I ended up buying a new sander and respirator. The sander has a built in dust collector which eliminated virtually all the dust.
The only lingering problem is that the roller would not fit in between the cab and body, so I will need to use a foam brush on that. I think I may also attack the '48 M-16 grain truck I got from Asa as that also has surface rust on it and this will better protect it.
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]. Big improvement. That one is probably good to go for another 50 years or so. Like Dave says...if you have more time, some additional sanding and more paint will make it even better. Maybe rattle can those silver running boards. (Now I'm getting carried away 
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