$100.00 Rustoleum paint job I did on an old Datsun 510 wagon.

[Sean1978]

I did this project about 2 years ago, and just got around to making a video of it:
Datsun 510 wagon paint

Here's the final product:


It was super simple. I didn't have the time or money to make this job complex, and the goal was to make it one color and slightly better than a rattle can. It exceeded expectations.

I removed everything I could easily (taillight, bumpers) Cleaned it really well. Used a wire brush on rust patches, sprayed rustoleum primer from a can onto bare metal rust spots, sanded the entire car with a single grit of paper (I think it was 300), and then my friend sprayed it (Had access to a booth at the time)

Total prep time was around 2 hours (that included pulling parts off)

My friend didn't want to use his nice gun on the rustoleum paint, so we used a really cheap gun (like the cheapest you can buy from a home improvement store). We thinned it with mineral spirits as per the directions on the back of the pint cans.

I used 1 pint of Safety red and 1 pint of safety yellow to make the orange color.

Rustoleum self-levels so the completed job actually was very glossy in every part that didn't have surface rust scabs. The zinc content in the rustoleum will slow the corrosion proccess significantly until hopefully someone tears her down and does a full restoration.

I sold this car about 2 years ago, just got around to making a video of the process. I have another immaculate wagon I bought from Arizona.