My thoughts on this...
Alright, so many of you are very skeptical and others who have $$$ to spend usually say this gives MKIII owners a bad name. I've followed numerous rolling paint job threads for months and have collected a great knowledge of the technique etc.
This method is intended for:
-people who have A LOT A LOT of patience
-TIME
-little money to invest in
-skills to wetsand, bodywork etc
The outcome of the paint job is all pendent on how much EFFORT the person puts into it. You can be very very anal and wetsand forever in hopes to get rid of as much orange peel as possible or just slap on the paint and call it a day.
The so called "internet" originator of this type of painting method can be found on the Moparts forums with a screen name Charger69.
http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=2655425&page=0&fpart=47&vc=1
The best rollering paint job I have seen throughout the internet with good results is a guy from Australia who painted his miata black (darker colours are much harder to do since any body imperfections are more apparent).
This is part of the final result after a lot of wetsanding, special buffing compounds, a good buffer and a lot of patience/time!
Using Tremclad/Rustolean paint usually yields a duller look than a Base Coat/Clear Coat job or a single stage one. However, the use of BOAT PAINT (such as Interlux Brightside), seems to be the better choice as it gives a shine almost comparable to a BC/CC and is supposedly more durable. After reading reading up on some marine boat forums, I found that the paint only holds up for so long as well (usually 2-5 years), but then again the paint is exposed to harsh elements throughout the year on a boat.
If one were to roll paint, I think the optimal way to do it is use BOAT PAINT with some additive (mineral spirits) to thin it out. Also use some GOOD swirl/polishing compounds with a variable speed buffer. Just read the 80+ page thread on that moparts site and all your questions will be answered!
Someone asked if you could just roll on regular automotive paint; you can't because it doesn't have self leveling properties. When you roll boat paint, you get a bunch of orange peel in the beginning, but after it will "self level" out to a more smoother surface.
I haven't done this or will not do this because it doesn't last as long, the paint takes a long time to cure rock hard (I mean COMPLETELY cure), it doesn't provide a nice shine like a BC/CC and I don't have the patience to do it. Some say spraying is much easier and yields results that are 10 times better and that seems like the path I'm taking.
In reality, a person doing this will be looking to spend at least 200.00 easily with BOAT PAINT, sand paper, polishing compounds, high grade polishing machine. This is till a bargain, but how much is your time worth? If you got the time/skills/patience, go for it.
