Great, this is all we need, another crappy spray paint comparison write up!
Well, hear me out, this is not going to be a how to paint your entire truck with a rattle can, all we are going to do is find the "best" product to paint some parts, maybe the engine bay, firewall, possibly the inner fenders, etc. so UV and weather resistance may take a back seat.
We will make stuff up as we go in terms of criteria, but off the top of my head:
- coverage (does it shoot a proper wide pattern or narrow tiger stripes)
- durability (how well does it hold up, what does it look like 2 years down the line, does it peel, did it rust?)
- availability (can you get it at AutoZone or do you have to give up your first born to find it, can you get all three products in one store? will it still be around 2 years from now when you want to paint more parts and have them match?)
- cost (is it expensive, do you have to buy in bulk to get it, ie at least six at a time)
- nozle comfort (I'm a whimp so will this thing make my finger fall off after 3 minutes of spray painting type of thing)
I simply believe in buying into a system completely, what I mean by that is supposedly you get best results if you use the same brand of primer, paint, and clear, or at least you are guaranteed there won't be a negative reaction
to keep things simple and stay within our scope we will only be looking at BLACK paint, more specifically Satin, Semi Glass, Semi Flat, Matte you get the idea, or what ever your vendor of choice likes to call their product (and we can argue the differences later, but to me they are pretty much all the same, not quite glossy and not quite flat, but somewhere's in the middle)
LESSONS LEARNED... so far:
# 1. You can drive yourself crazy doing this!
#2. Manufacturers like to sell the same product (formula) under two different labels for twice the cost. I'm looking at you RUST-OLEUM. See post #26 below.
Acrylic means water based (no thank you)
Enamel the term simply means "hard surfaced paint" ie how it looks/feels when dry, however it's mostly associated with oil based (better in my opinion) technically Alkyd means oil based (so Alkyd vs Acrylic, not Enamel vs Acrylic)
Acrylic Enamel so "hard surfaced" water based paint (again pass on anything Acrylic for your automobile)
Semi Gloss = too shinny
If you find a spray paint that you like, buy all of it that's on the shelf! Paint companies like to discontinue their products and two years may seem like a long time but in Project Build Time (PBT) it goes by real quick, you go to touch up something, or paint that last part you forgot to paint originally and next thing you know you can no longer get the paint any more.
Denatured Alcohol cleans clogged nozzles. Got a can 2/3rds full but nothing will come out when you press the nozzle, don't toss it just yet, pour a quarter cup of Denatured Alcohol in a red party cup, remove the clogged up nozzle and drop it in, go do something else. The next day give that nozzle another go, hopefully it now shoots as good as new.