Paint, I mean. After reading several articles on the Interweb about how to paint a car using cheap paint and a roller, I decided to give it a try.
Proper automotive paint from PPG or Dupont costs about $150/gal these days, but a gallon can of Rust-oleum, mixed to your preferred shade, is less than $30 at Menards and many other fine outlets. I did halfways decent prep work, removing trim pieces and using Goof-Off to remove leftover adhesive, even pounded a few dents back into some semblance of straight. Then I sanded the entire surface to be painted with 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper. Didn't really mask anything, just tried to be very careful around the windshield and rear lights.
Since a paint roller does not work well on bends and small areas, I began by painting those with a foam brush. Then I poured some Rust-oleum into the roller tray and began application. It took less than half of that gallon to cover the car once, so I will probably go over it all again.
The end result is that the Saab LOOKS like it was painted with a roller. Not all that bad from a short distance, but easy to tell when you're up close. The paint probably would have flowed better if I had thinned it with mineral spirits. It might look better after some sanding with #600 or #800 sandpaper, followed by some buffing with the electric polisher, but don't know if there will be time for that before the race.
