I'm just about ready to paint the race car, I'm going to be using Rustoleum High Performance with foam rollers. Spraying with hardeners etc would be wunnerful but is not an option, unfortunately. Temps over the next couple of days will be in the 70's with humidity in the 60-70% range.
They claim it dries to the touch in about 2 hours and is ready to recoat in 24, is this y'all's experience too?
Shoot you can race it while you are painting it, just mask around the stickers...
Ask me how I know 
We spray bombed ours, so I actually have nothing constructive to add. Good luck!
http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/my-57-paint-job/16401/page1/
To your questions, dry time depends how you cut the paint...24 hours between coats and wetsanding between will give the best result
Is "High Performance" the regular stuff in a quart or gallon can at the hardware store?
I've thinned Rustoleum with acetone as instructed for spraying and applied it with a foam roller for flat surfaces and a standard brush for tubes. I think they recommend 15% acetone but I've definitely done more like 30%+ before. It dries super fast (30 minutes and you're ready to recoat) and lays down nice but you need a few coats to get it to cover.
I did my last cage this way and several people commented that I did a nice job spraying it. Just don't buy your foam rollers at HF. Either the paint or the acetone dissolves the glue that holds the foam to the center plastic tube and the roller falls apart after a few minutes.
Looks like I will need to cut the paint something like 4:1 according to conventional wisdom. Rustoleum says it can be cut with either mineral spirits (slow drying) or acetone (fast drying), given the weather conditions coming up which will drop into the 50's for highs, 30's at night I will go with acetone. Shockingly, I have put some actual prep effort into this; I've done some bodywork (not a whole lot because raceka), then deglossed the entire car with 120 grit and an orbital sander. It doesn't need to be perfect, as the rule says it's gotta look good 50 feet away at 50 mph. 
atm92484, yes it's the 'high performance' stuff. I did the roll cage with the same stuff and a brush, I didn't cut it. It took a few hours for it to dry. It does show brush strokes but that's because it's silver over black. I might break down and spray it come springtime but damn I hate spraying round tubes. I just don't do that well, hard to get it even.
Cutting the mix with some Penetrol will help it go on smooth as well. That was the big secret back when I last did a roller job.
That's good to know. Do you use it with, or instead of, acetone or mineral spirits?
I have sprayed Rustoleum but I preferred to use Xylol solvent instead of acetone. It dries slower so it levels out better but it's faster then mineral spirits.
You can get professional looking results with a spray can if you're patient. I painted the door on my Spitfire with some color matched paint after performing some bodywork. I think I put about 4 coats of paint on, scuffed it lightly with some scotchbrite, then 4 coats of Rustoleum clearcoat. It doesn't look good until you wetsand! That's the key to a glossy shine. My door matches the rest of the car and it looks brilliant. I'll eventually do all the panels one at a time now, at my leisure. Totally worth it!
-Hamid
Spray cans suck. Don't listen to him. 
When I painted my BMW I let it dry overnight. My method was then to wet sand it and let that dry overnight (because by the time I was done wet sanding the entire car, I was not interested in painting!). Applied next coat the following day, then repeat. The wet sending to me was important for two reasons: first, it gives the next coat something to grip on. Second, tied to that it makes application much easier as the roller/brush will tend to 'glide' over the unsanded glossy surface making application more difficult. It takes a lot of time, but if you've come this far may as well put a little effort into it. BTDT suggestion: before you apply the first coat, clean the car with a pre-cleaner made for painting. Don't just think lacquer thinner is going to do it. It won't. I've had paint adhesion problems because of trying to save $10 on a gallon of pre-cleaner. Sucks when you try to pull some vinyl off and the paint comes with it.
Tube/bar painting tip: wear a rubber/nitrile glove and use a wash mitt.
I used rustoleum spray paint on my Camaro fender. I tried to buff it using a rubbing compound just to see how it came out, and it looked like crap. I had to put another coat over it. It's my race car so I want the flat paint look, but I may put clear coat on one panel for experimentation. It looks good from 5 feet away; the bad parts are the runs that wouldn't sand out and the gouges from too coarse sandpaper I used. I learned real quick that body and paint work is no joke; I don't complain about body work prices anymore.
Yeah, I can't do good work on big panels with spray bombs. I have HF HVLP gravity guns a compressor and experience running them but I'm not gonna go through the aggravation of building a booth inside. The prep work is key to any paint jerb and mine is 95% complete; tomorrow is a last quick sand in the AM, then wipe down with pre cleaner and start sloppin' pigment! Pics will follow.
The temps right now are in the mid 70's, humidity 57% and the stuff is not drying quickly. 
I used the Penetrol and acetone, it has to go on thin to avoid air bubbles. I finished the first coat about 11:30, it's now 2:45 and it's still too tacky to recoat, I had really hoped to get at least 2 and preferably 3 coats on it today, that probably won't happen. Oh, well; I have a convection heater that should keep the garage toasty tonight, the temps will be cooler tomorrow
The good thing: it's laying out (self leveling) better than I expected. Maybe there won't be as much wet sanding as I was thinking... and Penetrol sounds like something you'd need to take along with Viagra. 
I look forward to photos (I know how it get be a pain to take some when dealing with the mid stage processes and messes of paint
RealMiniDriver wrote: Tube/bar painting tip: wear a rubber/nitrile glove and use a wash mitt.
Thinned or full strength?
Just as an FYI, I thin it with Mineral Spirits (not "slow") at about a 2:1 ratio of paint to thinner, then spray with the HVLP gun. On smaller things, I bake in the oven first, spray, then bake again at around 250F for 20 minutes or so. I just did the wheels for the RAV4 this weekend this way with Rustoleum Professional flat black. They turned out real nice. Mounting the tires only scratched one a little at the outer rim, easy to touch up.
In your case, if you used "slow" mineral spirit like thinner, that's your problem.
I used acetone and Penetrol, acetone is 'quick dry'. I think the Penetrol is the problem with dry time. I got two quart cans of paint, I think tomorrow's mix will be with more acetone and less Penetrol. It's supposed to only get to about 60 deg tomorrow so first thing I will run the heater to jack the garage temp to around 80 or so too. I wish I'd done this back during hot weather but my back had other plans for me at that time...
I've used Rustoleum glass black on my chassis/pan with mineral spirits Japan Dryer added. Not a lot of mineral spirits, just enough to help it flow out.
It came out TERRIFIC, like gloss black powder coat !
I'm hoping to try it again on the MGA body when it's ready for paint. Already did a test mix; 3/4 Hunter Green, 1/4 gloss black. A beautiful BRG color match. Can't wait . . .
I shot a coupon with straight Hunter Green and passed it around my English car club, asking, is this BRG? Everyone there said yes, including people that have been into English cars since the 40's.
Yeah, if you want an oil based paint to dry quickly Penetrol was a bad decision. When I used to paint houses I've lost days of work in the winter over that stuff. Show up in the morning and all the trim is still tacky. If you're going to have to wet sand it anyway I'd skip it and just thin it with a solvent.
Curmudgeon wrote: I'm just about ready to paint the race car, I'm going to be using Rustoleum High Performance with foam rollers. Spraying with hardeners etc would be wunnerful but is not an option, unfortunately. Temps over the next couple of days will be in the 70's with humidity in the 60-70% range. They claim it dries to the touch in about 2 hours and is ready to recoat in 24, is this y'all's experience too?
And here I am thinking about painting over the next week and its supposed to be about 30 degrees...
also, rollers work well, did not thin it but it looks good in photos!
http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/1985-frankenburban-grassroots-hauler/58298/page6/
bgkast wrote:RealMiniDriver wrote: Tube/bar painting tip: wear a rubber/nitrile glove and use a wash mitt.Thinned or full strength?
Thinned, a little. Experiment, to taste. A wash mitt isn't as 'flowing' as a regular paint brush.
"I shot a coupon with straight Hunter Green and passed it around my English car club, asking, is this BRG?"
It most likely is a perfect match straight out of the gallon can. I was looking to kick it back a bit/lessen the yellow and shoot for more of a non-metalic Jaguar Racing Green and ended up with something really nice. In some lights, the true BRG can look almost too bright, too cheerful I guess. I want the older, brooding, look of the Blower Bentley and older Jags and the like.
But either way, that Hunter Green is a real treasure, isn't it ? ! ? ! ? !
It's finally dry to the touch, 7:30 PM. I think I will cut WAY back on the Penetrol tomorrow.
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