DIY Paint Job Using Nothing But Rattle Cans

- Hey, how are you doing, do you do it yourself? I have a good one for you today. Today I'm going to show you how you can sand,

paint

, and fix the hood of this F-150 truck

using

nothing

but

rattle

cans

. So if you look closely, we have two areas that are very damaged on this hood. We have this area in the left corner, which has a lot of scuffs, scratches, and peeling clear coat. And then this area in the right corner with a similar type of damage. To do this repair, you'll need a couple different grits of sandpaper, a sanding block, some primer, and a color-matched urethane base coat, in a can.

And last but not least, some 2K clear varnish. Now there may be a couple more things you may need, like duct tape and other things. But if you're interested in any of the products I'm going to use in this video, I'll put links where you can buy them for cheap below in the description box. So don't be afraid to click on them and check them out for yourself. So obviously, as one might imagine, doing this with

rattle

cans

is not going to be as good as spraying the base coat and clear coat with a high volume, low pressure spray gun.

But that requires an air compressor and a garage which not everyone has. Hence our attempts to do this with rattle cans. Now I haven't

paint

ed a panel before

using

just rattle cans. But I have a good feeling this will turn out really nice. And as long as you follow the steps in this video exactly, you should get the same results. So make sure you watch this video until the end. Alright, enough of that, let's move on to the repair procedure. So what you'll want to do next is grab a bucket of clean water. Pour some car wash soap.

And then, with a sponge, thoroughly clean the panel you are going to repair. Some of you have mentioned that it is actually better to use dishwashing detergent to clean the panel before painting it. Because these car wash soaps contain some wax preservatives. And that could ruin a paint job by causing fisheye. But dishwasher detergents, unlike these, actually remove grease and wax. As it says, right behind this thing, right here, it says, “Dishwashing detergents “remove the wax protection and leave the paint” vulnerable to the elements.” but I don't have dishwashing detergents here in the store because dishwashing is for women.

Plus, I'll use some wax and grease remover later, so it won't be a big deal. Look, that would be useless. I only use paper plates, plastic forks and foam cups, no need to wash dishes. That's just for the ladies. Very good, next we drink a bucket of clean water. And using a clean sponge, we thoroughly clean our panel. And needless to say, this would be much more efficient if you had a garden hose. Okay, now with the panel completely clean, you guys might know better what's going on. Now, if you're wondering, this line here is because I had masking paper here.

I was going to try to repair just the clear coat on this panel. But then I realized that this clear coat was gone. Also, I think more people are interested in seeing how you can spray both base coat and clear coat using rattle cans. Okay, now your base coat, that's the coat that gives color to your car, it's very, very thin. Which means it can't fill or cover deep scratches or rough surfaces like these. You can only fill and cover the scratches left by 400 grit sandpaper. Now, 400 grit sandpaper is not a particularly thick sandpaper. So to remove the chipping paint from this panel, we're going to use 220 grit sandpaper.

Which is a little bit coarser than 400 grit sandpaper. And it should make the job easier with this peel-off clear coat. So the plan for this panel is to apply a base coat to the front where the damage is. And then combine it with the middle section of the panel. And apply a clear coat to the entire panel. Also, if you are new to this, I recommend using masking tape to create boundaries for the repair areas. Because let's say we're going to sand this area up to here, with 220 grit sandpaper. After that, we're going to apply primer and go over a few inches, just to make sure we cover everything we sand.

And after we apply the primer, we're going to sand it with 400 grit sandpaper. And again, we're going to go a few inches above that. Because there we will apply base coats. So if you're not careful, your repair area can expand. So get some masking tape and create a boundary, below which you'll sand with 220 grit sandpaper. Alright, here we see the boundary we have so far. Also, if you remove the tape this way, this will help ensure that the sanding block doesn't accidentally run over it and scratch further. But anyway, when you're sanding, try to stop about an inch before you reach the limit line.

Also, it is very important to get some masking tape and place it on the edges of the adjacent panels. So as not to accidentally scratch them when sanding. Now you want to do this all the way up, on both sides. Because you'll have to sand the entire panel anyway. Next you take a sanding block like this one. I like to use these soft sanding blocks. And these, the gray side is a little bit softer than the black side. And if you're wondering, for this job I'll use the black side, which is a little firmer. So you want to make sure it lies flat against the panel.

Alright, next we just wrap the sandpaper around the sanding block. And then just continue until you have a smooth surface. And for this you are going to need a little effort. Again, link in the description box below. So here's a close up of what you'll need to do. Basically, you want the areas that look like this to look like this, nice and smooth. Just keep going until that happens. Look, we're expanding here. And these white marks, these white areas, this is your base. You don't want to sand them too much because you don't want to go through the primer and get to the bare metal.

Then you should stay away from areas where you see white. So, yeah, we're just going to go down. Additionally, it's a good idea to have a damp microfiber towel to clean the area while you sand. So you can check your work and know exactly where you are. Oh yeah, you could have one of these too. Alright, 25 minutes later, this is what we have. On this side where we had deeper rock fragments, I had to go deeper. As a result, you can see some of the white primer that was under the base coat. But, in this area where we have the smaller rock fragments, the primer should be able to take care of them, no problem.

And here we are also looking at the other side. And I managed to stay close to our border, for the most part. Alright, next in preparation for spraying the primer, I'm going to remove the masking tape, where our border is. Because, as you can see, there's some sanding dust trapped right underneath. And we have to clarify that. Because when you start spraying primer, it will fly into the air and spread everywhere. And you don't want that to happen. So we'll just delete that. And then clean that up. And then reapply our masking tape to the exact same area.

Here we go. So, once again, we will clean the area with some clean water. Make sure you are very thorough. Next, get yourself a clean microfiber towel. And then dry the repair area. Obviously, you can air dry it if you have an air compressor. Next we will take some grease remover and wax. And then using another clean microfiber towel, we will thoroughly clean the area where we will spray the primer. And you know, you could do two passes and then flip the microfiber towel over and do the rest. And this works very well. And it also evaporates quickly.

So once again, we'll mark our repair area. And you want to go an inch, an inch and a 1/2 just above where you see the 220 sand scratches. Alright? And again, remove the adhesive tape. Alright, now as to what type of primer you want to spray, you need to keep a couple things in mind. The first thing is to spray a high density primer so you can fill in the 220 grit sand scratches and rock chips you see here. And the other thing is that you should choose a color that is the same or very similar to your base coat.

Here our base coat is practically black, so we prefer a black primer or maybe a gray primer. But most important of all, you need to choose a primer that is compatible with your clear urethane-based base coat. Check out these Rust-Oleum primers sold at AutoZone; They are not compatible with your clear base coat. These are lacquer-based primers. And if you spray them on your panel and then spray your urethane primer, basecoat, and clearcoat, these will leach out. And you will be able to see it. And it won't look good. Also, if you can afford it, you should use a 2K primer, which is what I have here.

Instead of a 1K primer. You see, a 2K primer is basically a two component primer. It has the primer inside and the catalyst facing down. And you mix them right before you're ready to spray it. And the way to mix them is to first shake the can for two minutes straight. Next, you will remove this red plastic cap on top. And then place it in the background like this. And turn the can upside down. And with your hand press this all the way in, like this. And now, the catalyst is mixed with the primer. And once again you will have to shake the can for two minutes before you start spraying.

And generally speaking, these 2k primers are much more durable. And they also sand much better. Oh yes, before we start spraying, we must cover our car. And for that I like to use these plastic cloths. They are 10 by 20 feet. And they make the work much easier. Oh, and if I remember correctly, they only cost about five dollars or so. Just open it. Throw it over the car like this. Then get yourself a razor blade. And simply cut around the area to be painted. Then just remove this. To the border. And then get more duct tape. And then just tape the plastic in place, like this.

As I said before, it is important to mask the tape in the middle of the panel. So that when you spray the primer you don't have a big line here. Very well before you start fumigating. We're going to maximize our fan area that's going to come out of this can. Turning this plastic cap clockwise, like this. And the absolute last step, before we start spraying our primer, is to secure our panel with a tack cloth. And we're going to spray with a 50% overlap. And be sure to start spraying before you start moving your arm. This is what it looks like after our first pass.

So now we will wait 10 minutes and apply a second coat. And I'm not sure what color this primer will look like on camera, but it's gray in real life. Alright, it's time for our second pass. I'm going to put this a little heavier. 10 minutes later, it's time for our third and final coat. Alright, next, since the temperature is frigid here in Southern California, which is exactly 65 degrees Fahrenheit, we're going to have to wait an hour before we can start sanding this. And that means it's time for lunch. And what's for lunch? A California Burrito, what else?

And this is what you want to get in your California burrito. No sauce, sour cream, chips, cheese and just grilled meat, and that's it. And then you add your own hot sauce. And this is going to turn out super well. I'm giving you a lot today. Alright, an hour has passed and now we are ready to start sanding the primer. But before we take off the masking paper, it's a good idea to quickly spray a different colored primer or paint over this base. And I'm going to use this 1K red foundation for this. And this is basically a guide layer.

This will help you know exactly where you have sanded and where you haven't. And here you have it. This is how you want it to look. Alright, once again we take a razor blade and we're going to cut this plastic all the way to the top of the hood. And then we just remove this. And again, about an inch above our primer, we're going to put down some masking tape to limit where the 400 grit sand scratches are going to be. Okay, next we're going to grab some 400 grit sandpaper. And again, using the side black from our sanding block.

Let's sand our panel. You don't want to go super crazy. You just need to make sure you have a smooth surface. Here we go. And this guide coat that we sprayed here will really help us figure out exactly where we've sanded and where we haven't. And the most important area to sand properly is going to be this edge here. We want to make sure this looks like this. So that when you spray your base coat you won't see it later. Because if you leave it like this you will see. This is what it looks like after 15 minutes.

Do you want to guess where we should continue sanding? And this is how it all looks done. And we were able to effectively get rid of our lead. Now we are going to remove the adhesive tape that we had here. And now we're going to sand the rest of the panel with 1500 grit sandpaper. You know what? Since I don't want to wet sand this panel, I'm going to use a gray Scotch-Brite pad to scuff it up. And I don't want to get wetsand, because if you wet sand and water gets on the primed areas, then generally speaking you should wait about four hours, or maybe even overnight for the primed area to dry completely before you start spraying your coat of base.

Just make sure to scrape down the edges. because if you don't, that's where your new clear coat will start to peel off. Also make sure to go a few inches into the areas where you have 400 grit scratches. Because the base coat can adhere to 400 and 1500 grit scratches. But it can only fill and cover 400 grit and finer scratches. Oh yes, this is not a Scotch-Brite notebook. This is a Scotch-Brite pad for auto body and refinishing. Again, link in the discussion box. Very good, everything done. As you can see, our panel is very worn. Alright, next you're going to need to completely clean this panel before we start spraying our base coat.

What I'm going to do is use a lot of grease remover and wax in this area where we have the clear coat. This area where we have the base layer is quite clean. So I'm not going to rub too much grease remover and wax on that. But this area will be completely clean. Plus, we have sand dust everywhere. And we have to clean all that up. Now you at home may have no choice. But it might be a better idea if we just used a garden hose. And wash your car thoroughly with water before moving on to grease and wax remover.

But here I have an air compressor. Then I can use that to dust the car. Oh yeah, don't forget to dust yourself off. Now is the time to perform a grease and wax removing action. And the next thing we want to do is start spraying our base coat. What you need to do is get your paint coat, which is usually found on a sticker inside the driver's side door, in the glove box, or in the spare tire well. And take it to your local body shop supply store. And have them mix that up and put it inside a spray can like this one.

And I hope one of these does the job here today. But you may need two. We're about to find out. Also, not all auto body supply stores will put this in cans for you. But again, if you want to buy it online, link in the description box below. And again, the last step before you start spraying is to secure the entire panel. Then we start spraying, same pattern and everything as we sprayed our primer. Uh oh, Houston, we might have a problem. I'm kidding, this is normal. We may still have a problem, but it's too early to tell anyway.

And now we wait 10 minutes for our second layer. But maybe I forgot to mention that for now we will only spray on the primed area. After covering this area, we'll blend into the rest of the panel later. Alright, 10 minutes later, first let's fix our panel once again. And make our second layer. Here's a look at our second pass. Now this is starting to look more similar. 10 minutes later, we nail it again. And now it looks even better. After all, we might be able to accomplish this with a can. I think just one more coat. And then do the mixing area.

And that should be enough. Alright, we got pretty good coverage on our primed area. And now, to make our blend, what I'm going to do is just put a middle layer here. And then go up 50% and apply a light coat. And that should be combined with the rest of the panel. So there you have it friends. There is some brightness in this image, I know. And it's going to be a little difficult to see what's going on. But I think you guys have the right idea. And now we just wait an hour and spray our clear coat.

Alright, now we're ready to start spraying our clear coat. Now, what kind of clear coat do you want to spray? Well, if you can get your hands on one, you'll want to spray a 2K clear coat. Because you'll probably need to wet sand and polish the clear coat later. And you can't really polish a 1K clear coat. You can probably handle it. And these are mixed in the same way as the primer. You move this from above. Put them in the background. And push them in, like this. And then you shake them for two minutes. And then you put the panel in place one last time.

After this, of course, you will not be able to secure the panel. And then you start spraying. There's 1/2, not bad at all, huh? And here is the second 1/2. Now we just wait about 10 minutes before spraying our second coat. Alright, after our second pass, this is what we have. I don't know if you can see it, but the clear coat was a little streaky on this end. And also some orange peel, but that's to be expected. After all, you are spraying a clear coat with a spray can. But both problems can be solved with a little wet sanding and some polishing.

So next I'm going to wait another 10 minutes and then I'm going to spray whatever clear coat is left on that can onto this panel. And then finish with a clear coat. Alright, 10 minutes later, and with what's left in this can, I'll go over this, where I see the stripes. I'm going to stop by here. Towards the side of this panel, so I hope I can get rid of them. And now I'll just wait an hour. And then remove the tape and this plastic sheet. And give them a final look. Alright, an hour later, here's a look at our dashboard.

We got really good coverage with the base coat and were able to blend it out pretty well. You can't tell where the primer was and the repair area. But it will need some sanding and wet polishing, as expected. Adjacent panels also need to be polished. Just so the newly painted panel doesn't stand out on your car. And with that said, let's conclude with this. If you enjoyed watching this video, do me a favor and share it on your favorite social network. And also check out these other related videos that I'll put links to on this side of the screen that you can click on.

There will also be links in the description box below. Very good, thanks for watching. I'll see you next time. (electronic music)