ModernStyle

I have an 89 Ford Ranger that is pretty well beat up, the body isnt bad really but I dont want to put any money into it. I figure as soon as something in it breaks that cost over $200 thats the end of that truck.
I got it for free about 6 years ago because it needed an oil pump, which on these trucks involves pulling the engine out to get the pan off. The new gasket I put on after replacing the pump never sealed right, I must have messed up somehow, I refused to take the engine out again, so since then it has always leaked oil. The exhaust fell off, so I got some flex-pipe, a cheap muffler and some copper wire to hold it all together and made a new exhaust system, you can's see it so ....
Anyways the thing has a contractor cap on it that is white, the truck itself is maroon and grey primer.
So Friday I went to the paint store and bought 7 mis-tint quarts of red enamel. I mixed it all together and it came out a maroon real close to the color of the truck , well the original color of the truck.
My plan was to mask it off in the garage and spray a coat on it, my wife is away with the kids for the week so I get to do stupid things she would normally not allow. I go out to pull the truck in the garage and realize that it wont fit with the ladder rack on the cap. I cant take the cap off by myself so I get kinda discouraged. I thought about calling my brother to help lift the cap off, but I figured he was at the lake.
I was afraid to spray it outside, I am sure everyone understands that.
I was about to go in the house and give up when I seen a stack of Whiz rollers I had bought on e-bay in the corner of the garage......
So I rolled 2 coats of enamel on this truck, cut it all in with a brush as I went, no tape. It actually looks better then it did, but all of the neighbors were staring at me like " oh god, what is that hillbilly dumba55 doing now". The truck has a stipple to it now but from a distance it looks good. Anybody else do this? Or am I the only person dumb enough to use a roller on a vehicle?

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dougchips

Please post some pictures.

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GregWerner

I want to see some pics too. I won't laugh, honest.

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Greg
www.wernerbuilding.net

dougchips

I can't make the same promise however I will do my best to muffle my laughter.

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bigchaz

Shoulda just used spray cans. Would certainly look smoother and probably saved you money

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Charlie Soden
ApexDeckSavers
Deck cleaning and staining Wake County

Brushslingers

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Benn

ModernStyle

I wouldn't have saved money using spray cans, I paid $5 for 7 quarts. Besides even if people make fun of my truck I can always go with the Joe Dirt Reply " that'll buff out". If it had been my van I would have tried to do it right, but since it is the beater truck I didnt want to put much time in on it. If I get bored with it I could sponge paint it.

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Steve Richards

Made me laugh out loud...thanks

ron schenker

I hope you used a good 1/2" nap wooster roller and a 3" purdy angled brush for the cut ins. Bins 123 would have been my primer of choiceDid you sand between coats to get rid of the roller fuzz

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plazaman

at least you did it at home. I saw 2 guys rolling a truck in the parking lot of HD once.

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firemike

Believe it or not, there was this group of painters (basically side-job work for them, sort of hacks) that painted the apartments I used to do work for. They were nice guys, and the two 4 man crews drove older beater vans.

Anyway, one day one crew brushed and rolled the other crews van while they were in painting an apartment. As you can guess, retribution was in order, the other crew got theirs painted (windows and everything this time.) Throughout the next few months, it became sort of a game to see which one could paint the others van the most hideous color.

They got so good that they could pull up and brush and roll the entire van in less than 10 minutes. Too bad the vans looked better when they were done then the apartments they painted.

Got even more interesting when it rained, various coats would start to peel and sometimes it looked rather interesting.

I do hope you post some pics of yours!

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-Mike-

MarvinWilleyJr

You gotta get us some pics! ........But no promises on the laughing on my part....lol...............

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ModernStyle

I will try to get some pics on here tomorrow.
I drove it to my parents house, I knew my brothers would both be there, so I figured I would get that outta they way.
They made fun of me, which I figured would happen. Then they asked if I had also used a brush to cut in, I admited I had, they were still laughing when I left.
We used to use 18" rollers to backroll ceilings when we primed for my old boss. He hired a real winner one time and the guy decided to use his roller to paint the van while I was cleaning out the sprayer after a prime. He was so proud when I came out " the van looks better huh?" Then I informed him that the boss would fire him for painting the van with interior paint. He spent the rest of the day with laquer thinner stripping his masterpiece.
I still might yank the cap off of my truck and spray it, but I will get you guys your pictures first. If I had only had a foam roller .........

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mdshunk

Reminds me of the housepainter who I observed painting baseboard, door trim, and radiators with an automotive type sprayer. In all honesty, other than stinking to high-heaven, it was doing a really nice job. He said that he uses the automotive type sprayer for touch-ups and fine work. He was an old man, and was pretty masterful with it, I must admit.

Celtic

The two idiots across the from where I grew up did not understand that ...we called these morons "The Live-Ins" because every month for one week they would be living in their car (guess the landlady wanted her rent money LOL) ....

I digress...
So these two pillars of the community (or were they holding up the pillars in their drunken stupors?) decide to paint their home away from home (the car) ..probably because the cops were looking for a WHITE '83 Cutlass...a color other than white...

...and then it rained.
LMAO.

A million little pock marks like speckled concrete (when the masons texture an area like by a pool?).
Looked like a bigger POS than it did when it was white.

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Workaholic

LOL i too would like to see pics, my father inlaw and i joke about painting his truck with some industrial enamel.

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Sean

paint_booger

I had a kid who got sick of everyone making fun of his "beater" van, and he faux finished it. It was a very nice job of marblizing ... feather veins and all.

After that, my clients started comenting on how awesome it looked.

I slapped the company magnets on his van instead of mine.

I had Poloriods, but it was from the 80's, and they are probably burried in a box somewhere.

daArch

Maybe the funniest thread I've read on all six forums I read in the past ten years.

It's unanimous POST SOME PICTURES !!!

Now, two comments. I was always able to take my cap off my Ranger. Just get inside, on your back, and push the cap up with your feet, moving it toward the rear with each lift.

Second, my 69 Dodge van needed work. I cut out the rust and then primed with Rustoleum Yellow primer - with a brush. Talk about BABY POOP YELLOW !!. Those brush marks do NOT level. looked HIDEOUS. I think roller would have looked better. still do not understand why that kid bought it, but he totalled it soon after. Heck, if I kept it, I would have totalled it !!! Just out of disgust !

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ModernStyle

The cap that is on it is all aluminum with the steel ladder racks with the bar and lever to hold the ladders in place, it is pretty heavy. Plus it has glass doors in the back, I wouldnt want to break them. The cap itself is more valuable to me then the truck since I plan on buying a much newer Ranger once this one dies and putting the cap on it.
My wife called home earlier from her mothers in Kentucky and I told her what I had done.She asked if the truck looked good, I said no, she asked why I did it then, and I said because nobody was here to stop me. She then told me I was not to paint any of our other vehicles, my oldest son, who is 8, also told me to leave his bicycle and skateboard alone. I wish I knew how to use PhotoShop better, I would email her a pic of her van painted bright green.
Now that I think about it I do have a virtual paint program from ICI that I could make her van green with. I never use it because it is a pain, but for this it might be worth digging it out and loading it up.

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Dustball

I painted my Bronco inside and out with a roller but it was with bedliner paint with the rubber granules in it. It actually didn't turn out too bad.