Prepping for roller painting questions

I'm working on prepping my Jeep for paint. I'm currently planning to paint it using foam rollers and Tractor Supply paint. It's going to be used around town and on the trail. I did but repair any of the numerous dents, dings, bumps, or bruises. It's 73 years old, I don't expect her to be a supermodel. You wouldn't send grandma in for a butt tuck, so I'm not going to with this ole girl either. I honestly just want it to be one color. 
 

I've currently sanded the entire Jeep with 250 grit paper. I finished that up about midnight last night and called it good. From what I read on the internets or watched in YouTube there isn't a clear direction here. Some say I need to sand to 400, some say I can paint, and others say prime then paint. So...

Do I need to sand to 400?

Do I need to prime before I paint?

Do I need to sand the primer prior to paint?

If I need to sand the primer what grit do I use?  
 

Do I have to sand after each coat of paint? And again if so, what grit do I sand with? and if I am sanding, do I wet sand it? 
 

Has anyone on here done this and how did it go? 
 

Thanks 

This is how she currently sits. 

Did it many times in the 70s when i was brown dirt poor.  Ended up with good 50/50 paint jobs.  (from 50 feet away at 50 mph)

I always used Rust-o-leum.   Oil based enamel.     I would say you are good to go.    You may find you get smoother finish and easier to apply with high quality brushes.   Keeping a "wet edge" in hot weather can be hard.  You can add Flood Floetrol to make it smooth out better.

Example:

If it were me, I think it looks awesome the way it sits, so I'd just put some clear coat on it and call it good,  but it's not my rig.

In reply to Puddy46 :

Thanks. I kind of like it too, but my 9yo is dying to have a blue Jeep so...

In reply to octavious :

If that isn't a good reason to paint it, then I don't know what is.

In that case, I'd definitely at least add a layer of primer so that you have a consistent color underneath the blue paint.

I would also consider a primer coat.  I would un-bolt some of the easy stuff and paint them separately (hood, windshield frame).

Purple Frog - I did the same... also in the 70's.  Yours came out better than mine.  

Not sure why you wouldn't primer.  I think I would get a gallon of primer and have it tinted so it's a medium gray so that you're close to a base layer which is similar to the top/color coat.  

Can't imaging not sanding the primer at least once before laying on color.  Every guide I remember reading on rolling paint was to sand every couple of coats.  You'll want to thin the paint as well.  A ton has been writen on the subejct.

That tractor supply paint likes primer.  It's pretty good either way, but if you have an option...

Lots of how to videos on YouTube.  I have a friend that does rallycross cars in various liveries this way.  It turns out decent for that purpose.  

I did not primer my E30 race car, but it had a better surface than that Jeep. I think I would prime that.

250 seems pretty aggressive. The paint will sink into the scratches if there are any.  I can't remember what I used but I want to say it was in the 300's (380?). 

Yes, you should wet sand between coats to give the next coat something to stick to. Additionally, the one coat I tried to cheat the foam roller just wanted to slide over the glossy finish vs roll. 

If you prime the whole thing you could probably just hit it all with 400. Wet sanding is best.

It's a lot of work. Roller painting is easy BUT very time consuming when you factor in all the coats it will take to get decent coverage. I'm not down on it though; I would do it again. Also nice not having overspray on everything in the shop. And no, the homemade paint booth won't prevent that. 

There is a technique to getting a nice finish. Roll on, follow quickly with one of those foam wedge brushes and just glide over it to knock down the air bubbles or any runs. With a little practice it goes pretty quickly.  Obligitory photo of my car:

Yeah lots of vidoes and articles but no consistency about primer/paint/etc. 

I assume if I do a primer I want to roll it on? Or do I use the rust oleum self etching spray primer? 

If I was painting that, I would get some of those spray cans of 2K single stage (urethane w/ hardener) in the blue that your kid likes. Probably three or four cans would do it. Also, I would spray primer on first. You might spend a little more $$, but the process would go faster and probably be more durable. Pick a non windy day!

Roller painting was a big thing about 20 years ago maybe longer , I think it started on a MoPar forum and got to 100s of pages , 

the idea then was to put very thin coats on in the evening , let it dry overnight , sand the bad parts and repeat...... 5-10 times ....

this paint does not totally dry overnight if it  was rolled too thick ......

They do make a hardener for it so that it hardens in a day or 2 , 

I did a camo paint job on my "movie" Kubelwagen  and it took weeks to harden,

You are rolling and tipping? If you do not tip it, the paint will not be smooth.

Not sure on tipping. It will just be me and the kids. Which may make that difficult. 
 

FYI I didn't know what tipping was regarding paint and just looked it up. It kept mentioning "top side paint", which I always thought was for boats. 

yes, it works on most paint. you roll it out and while it is still wet, you run a brush over it. With the proper amount of thinner, it levels itself out nicely. I have done two boats so far with only minimal peel or even runs.

I alluded to the tipping in my prior post. Absolutely essential for it to look good. When you roll the paint on the foam will leave hundreds of little bubbles that don't all dissipate on their own. The 'tipping' with the foam wedge brush removes them and also helps any runs. You just glide the brush over the surface; don't really need to apply pressure. It's very easy. 

I used the Brightside paint on my BMW because the finish comes out nice and glossy and doesn't need the buffing to shine that the Rustoleum and tractor paints seem to. 

I have a fair bit of rolling experience with rustoleum on various furniture, tools, machines, etc. I'll share my observations, which should be taken with a grain of salt

-Primer? Absolutely. Doesn't need to be consistent, or thick. Make it thin enough, and it shouldn't need sanding. Use Rustoleum rusty metal primer-the red/copper stuff. It will help stop rust, as well as promote adhesion of further  coats.

-For the rest of it, I'd add hardener from TSC (note, I have not done this step, and make the suggestion on the advice of others-it's a longevity thing.  Your paint will fade and chalk up in a few years without it, but can be buffed back to a shine-your call.

-Rolling? Thin your paint Waaaay out, and do TONS of ultra thin coats. Don't even worry about coverage. Just haze it on. It is best to do this once the last coat is dry, but not too dry (an hour might do it.) Once you have a E36 M3load of paint on there, let it cure for a week, then you can come back. Leave it if you are satisfied, or wet sand with 1000 grit moving up to as much as 3000. After that, rubbing compound, and finally the automotive wax of your choice.  It is a lot of work, and you can get as good a finish as you are willing to put the time in to achieve Good project to get the kids in on, too. The key is to get a lot of paint on there so you don't sand through it. 

Here's the dining room table I did a while back. Note the finish was left rough to make it appear old, and not because I said "meh, good enough".

A thought: mix your own paint. Blue plus Flat Black and or Flat White? What I'm saying is flat blue could look good and save some hassle.

https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/24458.html
 

here is the original MoPar forum thread , 150 plus pages

I'm far from an expert on this, but I would sand/scrape the loose rust off - sounds like you're there already, then hit it with a rust neutralizer (Loctite or similar) before painting.  Wouldn't hurt to prime it first, and I'd use a bonding primer since it seems to grab onto poorly prepared surfaces better.  Then paint. 

Wonder if the old Wagner Power Painter type sprayer would work for this?  Would definitely be a lot faster.

I wouldn't custom color. It's so nice to be able to just grab a spray can of the color off the hardware store shelf to do touch-ups later.

Can you get some blue tint rhino liner or similar for extra sweet jeep status?

The paint needs a little tooth to hang on to, but 240 is a little rough.  I painted my sailplane trailer with a foam roller and satin white Rustoleum, then foolishly waxed it to fend off rain etc.  The wax is what causes the black lines when a car lives outside