Painting the rain gutter

[RyanTomorrow]

So I finally took the advice of you smart folks and deleted my rust-magnet drip Moulding trim pieces. Only hitch is it looks like whomever painted the truck knew they would be covering their masking work, and cut some corners.

So now the question: how best to paint these? My instinct is to brush so I don’t have to mask off the whole damn truck. But I also don’t want it to look shoddy. Thoughts??

 

[baldilocks]

Rust-Oleum Stops Rust 8 oz. Protective Enamel Gloss Black Paint 7779730 - The Home Depot

An ideal choice for your project, the Rust-Oleum Stops Rust 8 oz. Black Gloss Protective Enamel Paint is designed for both indoor and outdoor use. This paint can be used on a variety of materials including

www.homedepot.com

I have used this stuff in white on my white monstalined sheet metal to touch up smaller sized wheeling damage and it seems to work fine when used with primer which is available in the same size can. You’ll need an artist brush and something like red scotchbrite to prep the area.

 

[Fj81]

Semi gloss black will leave that black color that the pillars have! I did that to mine when I added roof rack. I got ober spray on mine since i didnt mask it much and I dont care about the roof. This truck is my yard donkey!

But that rustoleum semi gloss looks good up there. Just let it set a good while.

 

[Red Merle]

That might be factory overspray since they knew it was going to be covered. Mine had some of that that I just followed with my new paint line when I repainted the hole that the driver's side rear slider occupied when I replaced them with better units.

That said, I think I am going to scuff the raingutter up with some heavy grit sandpaper and then POR15 them and then do 3 coats of John Deere satin black spray paint. Taping it off should be easy with a roll of taping paper and some drop cloths tucked underneath to cover the roof and the hood, etc. Maybe some cheap plastic sheeting if the breeze requires it. There is also some body caulk up there and on my truck, it looks great. I don't want to poke the bear and cause a rust problem that doesn't currently exist, it's just that the trim pieces have some visible wear from where the rack gets installed and I think I could make them tougher by going this route/

I use a Yakima 1A Rain Gutter rack system and I want the rails to hold up to marring and that's why I want the POR15 on there. That stuff is tough and hard to chip or wear off like paint.

 

[smritte]

I just masked the truck, sanded, primed and hit it with rustolium. I was doing the pillars too. Running a strip of 3" masking tape wasnt that bad. Very little over spray and what there was cleaned with some acetone.

 

[rghouse]

If you don’t mask the whole truck, odds are you will get overspray somewhere. Over spray can be cut and buffed out but that is a pain. An easy way to mask is cover the whole thing and cut out what your painting. Home Depot should have the thin visquan they use to make walls for construction dust.
Don’t take short cuts if you want it to turn out good. Make sure you sand/prep/prime gutters properly or paint won’t last.
A trusted liner brushed on might be the easiest, not cleanest but it’s the gutters

 

[ERG80]

I painted my gutters today. My gutter covers were peeling and dented and look terrible. I had the same type of black overspray like Ryan above. I got a 10x20 2mil dropcloth which covered all top surfaced and down to the top of the fender flares. I also got two 9x12’s. Cut those in half and each one covered two doors completely. I taped it all up, then sanded everything and painted with ace rust stop and duplicolor colormaxx satin black.
I like it better than the gutter covers.

 

[RyanTomorrow]

Following up on this ancient thread, my detailed actually plastidipped my rain gutters and the frame bit of my rear bumper. Years later, still holding strong.