FAQ #6 - Can I use "rattle can" paint on my car?
The following was graciously donated by MARTINSR.


There are many reasons why we would choose to us an aerosol or “rattle can”. The convince of a small container with no clean up, or the lack of a compressor, or the product needed commonly comes in an aerosol like spray adhesive. Now, I know that you are saying, “come on, what could I need to learn about rattle cans”. One of my job duties as a paint rep was doing the “defects” every month or so. I would go into the distribution center and find six or seven cases of aerosol cans among the assorted sandpaper and bondo that “didn’t work” for the customer. I say “defects” because there are very, very few actual defects, most were returned do to misuse. With about 99% of these aerosols only problem being that they were plugged up I figure there are a lot of people out there doing as I always did and some “basics” could be used.

First off, what makes the thing work? The aerosol can is simply a tank filled with compressed air that pushes out the product when you open the valve. In a 12oz aerosol can there is about 4oz of paint product, 2 or 3 ounces of solvent and the rest is the propellant (compressed air basically). The nozzle is hooked to the pickup tube that runs down to the bottom of the can into the product. If you were to turn the can upside down, the end of the pickup tube would be up at the bottom of the can in the propellant right? More on this following.

The propelent is at the top of the can pushing down on the paint product. When you push on the nozzle the valve is opened to release the pressure. The propellant pushes down on the paint product forcing it up the pickup tube, out the nozzle onto the surface being painted. About the only thing that can go wrong with this simple design is for the tube or nozzle to get clogged.

This is exactly what would happen to a huge majority of the aerosols in the defect department. There is a very simple procedure that will eliminate this.

First: Shake the can like it says in the instructions. Most say for two or more minutes. Look at a clock and shake it for two or more FULL minutes, not the 20 seconds we THINK is long enough.

Second: Turn the can upside down and give it a spray to clear the nozzle. Most of the time there should only be air at this point. You are now ready to spray.

Third: When you are done spraying, turn it upside down and clear the nozzle and pickup tube by spraying out all the paint that is in the tube and nozzle. Remember, the end of the tube is up in the propellant at the “bottom” of the can. It is like spraying air through a spray gun when you clean it.

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!

If you do this EVERY time you use the can, you WILL use it till it is empty and never throw away a can for being clogged again.

You can even save clogged cans with this method, I used to save cans in the defect department all the time.

Remember, there is very little actual paint in the can and it is very thin. You need to apply a number of thing coats to get good results. I have never did a mil thickness test on an aerosol but I would venture to guess it is somewhere .05 mils a coat. The average paint product shot out of a gun is about 1.5 mils (some etching primers are down to .05 all the way to high solids clears and primers giving 4 or 5).

So if you only apply a coat or two, you are not getting the mil thickness needed for good protection.

Advanced rattle can use: Aerosols you buy at the parts store are pretty limited. Limited to 1K (though there are some 2K aerosols now hitting the market). Limited to color or product you can get. But there are a few ways to use aerosol technology in your projects. You can move up to unlimited color, and product choice, even hardener!

One is to have cans “Custom filled”. This is a really neat process where the paint store puts the paint of your choice in an “empty” can (it already has the solvent and propellant in it). The “empty” can looks just like a normal aerosol, it simply has no paint product in it. The paint store employee puts this aerosol in a “press” like device. A funnel is install right into the top of the pickup tube where the nozzle fits. This funnel is actually a cylinder in which a piston is installed, after the cylinder is filled with paint product. The piston is pushed down with a manual handle or even air powered ram.

You then have an aerosol with any product you want, as long as it is compatible with the solvent in the can. They were limited to lacquer, synthetic enamel and enamel. There are now “universal” fillable cans that will take darn near anything. I have even seen a guy mix the hardener in with the enamel paint, rush home and paint with it before the paint “kicked”. Sounds crazy, but it worked.

Check with your local paint supplier, he may have one of these filler in the back hidden from view. The seldom make it well know that they have it being it is kind of a pain to use. Ask and you may be in luck. You may have to buy a pint of paint and then fill a few aerosols if you need a color mixed.

Another way is with a “Preval” system. I don’t know of any other brand names but there may be others. This is a glass jar with a removable, replaceable propellant can that screws on the top. The disposable propellant can has the pick up tube hanging off the bottom that goes down into the bottom of the glass jar into the paint product. The top has the nozzle just like a regular aerosol. I am sure you get the idea. Any paint product can be put in the jar and sprayed. This includes epoxies, or urethanes using hardener. Is that cool or what?

Some products may need some over reducing to get them out of the nozzle. Some may not work at all because of their high viscosity like polyester primer. But your range is much wider with these two advanced aerosol systems.

One of my street rod mentors who lived near me as a kid sprayed an entire “T” bucket hot rod with aerosols and showed the car! You can get good results, just give the preparation the same respect as you would spraying it with a gun.

VERY IMPORTANT

Just because you are “only” spraying with an aerosol doesn’t mean you don’t need to protect yourself, please do so.

great stuff!

i have a question; i am keen on aerosol murals on my car, i think the best way to execute this would be a matt black base coat, aerosol artwork, then clear coat. what is your opinion on this? do you think having more paint (albeit not much) would affect the paint in any way?

There are heaps of shit paint on the market stick to these brands Belton ,krylon,montana all the rest are crap..

my cousin's place is full of montana aerosols!! and the work he does always looks sweet!!

Do it Dog-O-War Style:

Roll it on!

Bronze.

Mate, I brushed it on with a house painting brush. Left a couple of strands of dog hair on the car, but it took 2 hours and was a pleasant change bin scenery...

Belton brands are the easiest to use, lots of colour choice and faster drying
than montana. there has just recently been an australian brand of artist,s aerasols released called IRONLAK wich sells for almost half the price, check http://www.ironlak.com  for retailers

I used "rattle cans" on our (the wife's as well) 69 type 3 convertible. I found it easier then using bulk air and paint. In my opinion and othters that have seen the car up close. It turned out pretty damn shinny.
The pic is of the bonnet after applying the clear coat.
Good Luck

Pierced-VW
Can you please tell me what sort of paint you used- with the clear coat also? I'm in Perth too, SOR, so could I have the name of the shop too? Your bonnet looks fantastic!!!

I sprayed my superkart bodywork with Dulux household enamel cans. The Dulux was the pick of the bunch with excellent coverage and very strong pigments that covered a variety of sins. These cans also have a superior spray nozzle compared to nearly all of the different brands i have tried.
The "gun finish" is great and with a bit of practise you can induce varying amounts of "character" into the finish and the olde fashoined enamel is pretty much impervious to fuels and quite chip and scratch resistant.
I found that quite a few consecutive dust coats followed up by one really heavy final coat seemed to do the trick and minimised sagging.
http://www.ozsuperkart.net/images/Ecreeksilkyrooster.JPG 
i sparayed my first F-Vee in the same house paint but using a compressor and gun. It was winter in Southern Tassie, foggy and about 5 degrees in an open ended shed and apart from the bits of dust the result was remarkably good.
I pissed the enamel down quite a lot with turps to get it out of the gun set up for automotive paint and added an accellerant.
L8tr
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I own a beetle that was sprayed with cans...
The job is not good and the paint has turned to powder and comes off all over you if you touch it or lean on it...
Horrible...

I had the body of my buggy painted twice by a graffiti artist who used automotive quality touch up cans. It was awesome and the paint was super tough.

I think I'll have to look at trying to get some spray can paint to touch up a deep scratch on my back fender. My GF tried to park the dub in the driveway but didn't have her glasses on... needless to say, the wall jumped out and attacked her. It's the only time I've ever actually sworn at her. *sigh* She could have at least done it to the dodgy old paint job at the front as opposed to the professional job at the back... but no, murphy's law strikes again. LOL

Considering I'm only touching it up so as rust doesn't set in (the scratch is through to the metal) do I need to put a bit of undercoat on it first or would it be fine to just spray on? Keeping in mind I'll be *hopefully* getting a new all-over paint job soon-ish.

LX.

If you want a good paint use Moltona ( not Montana ) as it is an auto paint but has a good range of colours. This paint is the paint of choice for graffiti by the importers of Montana,Moltona,Belton etc. I know this as I know the importer well.

I am also a graffiti artist for 16 years and have a lot of experience with aerosol paint. I also used to do reviews on all the paints in a fairly well know magazine and have tried almost every brand available.

sumo u have u2u

i own a skate shop that sells alot of paint etc and we have had krylon, belton and ironlak. ironlak and belton are by far the best and ironlak seems to cover better and have a nicer finish than belton and its only half the price so i would recommend that. but as for painting a car with it, would take a few cans but would be a hell of a rat look. i wanna do a matt black proffesional paint job then get my mates to graf over the top, would be so ghetto :P

Ironlak has a tendance to react with other paints and even with its other colours. I have had Ironlak Black fry up when used with Ironlak white!! but for the price its ok.

I remember seeing a spray can spray gun somewhere for sale. Wish i had grabbed it makes life alot easier. Was basically a little plastic spraygun and you fitted the spray can inside without the nosil on top.

hey guys where can i found the good brands in melbourne? south eastern subs prefered but i'mnotthat lazy....

and also what is the best way toprepare the metal for cans?

cheers

I have recently repainted my bullbar on T3 syncro matt black after all prep work and finish with 3 coats of matt black i am wondering if i should apply clear coat?
Is it overkill?
Remember i really dont want the glossy shine on bullbar and i think this is what will happen if i clear coat it.
But i alos dont want it to become chalky and overly dry, u know the dusty type of finish U get after about 6months in the sun.

Cool thread...must agree with most posts regarding you get what you pay for. It also helps if you do the prep properly, take the time to sand, degrease and clean the area you intend to paint with a decent product. let it air dry and as long as there is no silicone or residue of car wash/ wax, paint or whatever you should get a pretty even finish. letting the paint dry sufficiently also aids finish quality and even though "most" aerosol can finishes can't be buffed, please correct me and I'm sure I will be a couple of coats of clear acrylic will help to seal the generally good lustre that decent brand cans offer. paying a couple of hundred bucks for aerosol paint(X2 coats is better than one) and the associated stuff like masking tape for clean edges and acrylic clear certainly beats paying thousands for what can be a shit job that makes you wish you had done it yourself...and lets face it, at least you can say I did it, if you don't like the result...pick another colour and do it again, knowing that you have done it once, twice at least you know whats ahead of you and hey guys! It's YOUR RIDE, do what you want...for those with a few dollars more, check out POR 15 using their preval spayers and other equipment ,you can get a good quality finish for less than you think and it's great for chassis, underbody etc...also this one for the aerosol crew... http://www.eplate.com.au  ph (08)95724616 they do candy apple colours in a can to your specs and sell electroplating kits. Have fun Adam

Recently used the preval butane spray kit and what can i say it works a treat.
Instead of paying 27bucks for a matched can of aerosol i chose the preval sprayer, the only down side is paint goes on very thinly because of mixture ratio, so use at least a three coat acrylic system before thinking about rub down with paper.....
On the upside you can slap it on without the fear of overkill....
Otherwise a very good investment 1 butane can doe's about 500ml of paint maybe a little more.

We had an old 1973 L Bug that we just used to paint it with rattle cans. It was a bit of a rat bug.

In the 1970s old man re-sprayed our beetle with mums Volta vacuum cleaner on reverse and the optional spray bottle for the nozzle.

Had a finish like shark skin. Filthy!

Thanks for the interesting info everyone!