White roof paint roll / brush suggestions

[CoconutFiasco]

Hi all,

I am mid project sealing closed the sunroof hole, and its coming along well. I figure now is an ideal time to paint the roof. I am going for white on the roof and will paint the rest of the body later on. Does anyone have any suggestions for roll on or brush on paint? I am looking to just knock it out in my driveway. the jeep is lifted a good bit so no-one is ever really looking up close and personal at the roof.

Thanks!

[tgreese]

What's wrong with spray cans? Any roller or brush will show marks in the paint. I've tried the foam rollers meant for smooth surfaces and they leave stipples. You can rub them out (see online articles) but you don't want to invest a lot of fine. The Ace Premium spray cans work well, and are easy to spray. Should not take more than 5-6 cans; estimates of spray can coverage vary. I would guess about a square yard per can, maybe a little more? Or buy an airless sprayer can a quart of Rustoleum enamel. Higher cost up front buy you can use it for other projects.

[Scotty54]

This may surprise some, but I have used touch-up foam rollers with ordinary Rustoleum paint with great success. No roller marks and almost looked sprayed on. I haven't done anything as big as a roof, but have done inner fenders, under the hood, etc.

I will also add that my local auto paint store will place Nason paint in a spray can after a custom color mix. It has no hardener but even without that it's still a very durable paint, goes on very nice and dries fast. I would imagine most auto paint shops can do this with other brands as well. I have used it to touch up body panels, and after a 1200 grit wetsanding and 3m polish, it looks professional. I would go this route for a roof, if you have a dust and wind free place to do the painting.

[Scotty54]

I think Eastwood makes a primer designed to be rolled on. The paint is easy - put some effort into the prep and primer.

[Stuka]

Please don't roll or brush paint on your Jeep. I know its the roof, but it really looks bad. Its going to be really hard to get an even amount of paint with the ribs that go across the roof. Though I have no experience with the eastwood paint noted above.

You can get good quality automotive rattle can paint that will last a decent amount of time.

[CoconutFiasco]

OK i'll go the spray route. do you all think gloss or semi gloss would end up looking better?

[tgreese]

Gloss is more durable. Paints start out glossy, then dulling agents (like talc) are added to make glossy paint dull. The dulling agent makes the paint softer and less resistant to scuffing.

[SJTD]

Maybe look at an insulating paint.

I sprayed Raptor with an undercoating gun in the interior. Not smooth at all but I wasn't looking for that. After using it, the roof is the only place I would use Raptor on the exterior.

[letank]

I have done a few FSJs roof, and even the whole body with foam roller, unfortunately google archive is off and I am retrieving the files.

It is fairly smooth, I used marine expoxy paint from weest marine, but it is not too durable, need to be redone after 3 years. I have done whole body with metal garage door paint, it was the flat paint, but not too durable because of the flat quality.

Here was the first coat:

PaintRoofDSL.jpg

and another FSJ, I did not bother too much with the roof rack holes on this roof, you can see the epoxy swirls

PaintRoofBro.jpg

the problem with the spray paint is the fact that the roof is flat, so at some point you run out of paint while still having a half or a quarter full can... and when you reach that level, it splatters paint... ruining your work!

[threepiece]

Spray cans will be a loooong process on an entire roof. I expect you will get frustrated half way into the first coat with one or two more to go.

Manually applied paint can lay down nicely if it is reduced and applied properly. The trick is to experiment a bit on small panels beforehand.

I painted cars in my shop exclusively for four years in a purpose built spray booth. I discovered later, outdoors was often as good of a place to paint. In my neck of the woods there is often a perfect window of opportunity in the morning to paint. This window is before the wind kicks up the bugs come out and sun shines directly on the work.

I use to have everything ready the night before with the car in the shop to prevent dew accumulation. When the time was right I would roll the car out and spray.

[Phils67]

If you go the foam roller/rustoleum route, cut the paint with mineral spirits to get a smoother flow and no roller marks. I did 75/25 mix and it rolled out like water, dried fast and gave an impressively decent result. Rustoleum after a few years starts to fade a little, just rub it down with boiled linseed oil and it'll shine right back up.

[Yeller]

For thinning rust oleum I prefer acetone or xylene, dries faster. Another trick is to add hardener to it, will make it last much longer and be shinier.

[letank]

For thinning rust oleum I prefer acetone or xylene, dries faster. Another trick is to add hardener to it, will make it last much longer and be shinier.

very good idea about the hardener... how can we do that... use the one that comes with bondo?

[Yeller]

For thinning rust oleum I prefer acetone or xylene, dries faster. Another trick is to add hardener to it, will make it last much longer and be shinier.

very good idea about the hardener... how can we do that... use the one that comes with bondo?

Here ya go
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/produ ... f-1-2-pint

[letank]

thank you