Can I spray paint a beach cruiser that has rust?

I've been dying to get a beach cruiser forever now so I took my moms old one. It's really cute and it's a classic but the only thing is that I hate the color and it's faded. I've been thinking of spray painting it white and it's already blue now. It's about 17 years old and it has some rust on it now. Can I spray paint over the color and the rust?





I'll give 10 points to whomever answers the question best!Can I spray paint a beach cruiser that has rust?
You could. but it wont last long. Now, you CAN get a good paint job with spray paint, if you do it right, and buy a good brand.





as for the rust, sand down as much of it as you can, and prime it with special rusty metal primer.





First, sand down the paint job, something around 150-250 grit.





sand down to at least primer.





Next, buy some wet sanding sand paper, around a 500 grit, then sand down the paint again, lightly, this will smoothe it out. now, get about an 800 grit wet paper. Make sure you keep these high-grits wet while you sand.





after your all done and sanded down, the body should be quite smoothe.





If not, keep working.





Now its time for your primer, make sure you get primer for metal. You'll need several cans of this, you want to cover it well.





Put on a coat of primer.





let it dry completely, now go back and get your 800 grit wet paper again, sand it lightly, dont take off too much primer.





Hose it down, wipe it off, make sure its clean. Now, Spray down another coat of primer.





Let it dry completely, then sand it down a bit more. Clean it off, should be looking good now, and be quite smooth.





Now, go buy the color you want. Make sure you get enough to lay down two coats.





Follow same procedure as with primer. 2 coats of the colour.





Next, go buy clear coat. enough for one coat should be plenty, it doesnt need to be thick.





Make sure you've sanded down the clolor paint with the 800 first. clean it up good, and shoot it.





Let it dry, and you should be good to go.





It costs about the same as a MAACO paint job, but doesnt suck so bad.





(Maaco doesnt do the sanding, they just clean it and paint. theres always alot of overspray, too..)Can I spray paint a beach cruiser that has rust?
Try using some ';Navel Jelly'; it's this pink stuff you can brush on with an old toothbrush. You can find it @ any hardware store. Let it sit on the rust for like an hour and it will take a lot of it off. You just hose it off, no sanding. Clean the bike with soap and a good degreaser and water. Dry it...





Then spray paint it with a primer first then whatever color you wish. Believe it or not that ';Testors'; plastic model spray paint lasts better than your typical ';Rust-o-leum';, in my opinion.





I've painted some frames in my time. : )





Good luck.
whoa! dont listen to james.. he has the wrong grits needed for the job. if its small rust spots, you can sand by hand, but its hard work. use 36 grit, not 150. to wet sand, you would use a fine grit paper of about 2500. but... theres no point in wet sanding this vehicle. if you are not going to remove rust properly, then just use the 36 grit to get most of it off, the go to 80 or 100 grit. after that you can by spray paint but use one that has filling qualities in it.





---ct certified autobody collision repair specialist
The rust should be treated before spray painting. Krylon spray paints has several types of products that may be of help. Also check with auto paint supply stores.
wet sand it to knock off what little shine it has and primer it and then paint it... but for the rust you need to fix it before either bondo or body filler
Yes brush off the rust wit a wire brush and then get Rustoleum spry paint or get it in can .. then u can paint it .. 2 coats ok..