88w/300K!!!

Hello All,

I'm thinking of repainting the removeable top on my '88 4Runner. It's black paint is fading and getting very thin in some places, with white showing through. I'd like to get it back to an original look. What's the best way to clean any old chalky wax, etc. off the textured surface before painting? I've successfully repainted bumpers, valances, and trim with Duplicolor spray primer and paint, and might do it this way again. Is there any reason NOT to do it this way on the fiberglass top?

Thanks, Craig

bike4miles

If you really wan't it to last and you don't keep it in a garage, I would get it sprayed profesionally. If you do the prep work you should be able to get it done at a reasonalble price. Automotive exterior paint is just so much better than any rattle can.

mt_goat

It is very hard to get an even coat on a big surface with a rattle can.

Here is some info I found on painting written by a guy named Dan. I did not write this, I just copied and pasted it.

You have quite a bit of work ahead of you but you can actually get a really nice job done if you are careful. I did a bit of time as a sander/prep/primer in a body shop but it was a while ago. I will try and give you a run down. OK, here goes:

Sanding:

You can sand by hand if you want, or go rent/borrow an orbital sander. It will make your life sooo much easier. You will need to use several grades of sand paper as you go through the job.

Start with about a 200 grit paper either by hand or on the orbital. Using an orbital, apply light but firm pressure and sand in a circular motion. Use the edges for edging...the center for nice big flat surfaces. If you use hard pressure on the edge you will put lines and divots in your surface that will show up later.

You do not need to go down to bare metal anywhere UNLESS you hit rust. Anywhere there is rust, you must go down to bare metal and keep grinding away until you have exposed all the rust. To give you an idea, a rust 'spot' or bubble the size of a dime will probably grind out to an inch to two inches across. If you don't get all this ground out then you have wasted all your time because it will come back really fast. Once you have ground out the rust, apply a good rust treatment such as Rust-Mort. Let this dry for 24 HOURS, if not you will be sorry! Also, don't let it dribble onto the rest of your paint.

For all the non-rusty areas, you need to go down through the paint past the 'orange peel' stage (you will know what I mean when you start sanding because the shiny finish will start to look all dimpled like the surface of an orange, and then will finally sand out to a chalky uniform surface.) The orange peel look is what happens when you sand off the tops of all the ridges and valleys of your paint. When you put on a clear coat, it fills all of these and you don't notice, but when you start sanding you will really see how many small imperfections there are.

Anyway, you have to cover every inch of your truck that you want to paint. No shiny patches can be present at all or the new primer and paint won't stick and it will start flaking.

Once you have made it down to the nice soft, chalky stage you are ready to fill any small dents or imperfections that you come across. If you need help with that, let me know and I will describe.

Otherwise, you are ready to prepare for priming.

See next post for the next stage.

Prepping and priming:

To find good supplies, look in your yellow pages for auto-body supply store. They should have everything in good quantity and quality. Right now, you need to buy:

2 or 3 tack cloths - a sticky kind of J-cloth used for wiping up dust.

A primer. you can either mix yourself or buy pre-mixed which is easier. Take some rough! Measurements of your truck to get an idea of the surface area you have to cover and then buy double that amount because you will want to do two coats of primer, or at least one good coat and then a film coat after you sand the first one. A couple of brands you might find that are good are: R-M and Mar-Hyde. Decent primers/reducers/thinners/ etc... Ask your paint supplier for advice on mixing and using a graded mixing stick if you are going to mix your primer, and also for your paint.

Automotive masking paper!!! A must. It is pretty cheap and sooo much easier than trying to use newspaper. A 24" wide roll should be wide enough.

Masking tape - the green kind used for paint masking.

Plastic Poly, 2-4mm to make an enclosure in your garage.


Now back at your garage:

First, vacuum your entire work area, everywhere!!!! The truck, your floor, your bench, your clothes. Dust is now your enemy and will be until your paint dries. The cleaner you are now the better you paint job will look. Then, wipe down your entire truck with a damp cloth. Rinse it frequently and try to hit every nook and cranny with it. Let your truck dry for an hour.

Next, take one of your tack cloths and feel up your truck. Keep turning the cloth over and over, and using all of it's surfaces. You will be surprised at the amount of dust that comes off even though you just washed the truck down.

Once you are sure you have gotten most of the dust you can begin to mask the truck. The easiest way is to put a strip of tape around everything you will need to mask. So, put a strip around your windows, make sure to cover very! Carefully cover all the rubber and weather-stripping. Also around your bumpers, your grille, any trim etc.... This strip will be the exact line that will show when you peel it off after painting so make sure it is really well done.

Now you can begin to apply the paper. Tape the paper to the strip of masking you have just done around all of the places you are going to mask. You don't have to worry about being neat with this one because the first strip is your finished line, just make sure you don't leave ANY openings. Paint gets in even the smallest crack and cleaning overspray sucks!

Once you have masked everything, you need to put up a temporary enclosure around your vehicle. This prevents paint from getting out, and dust from getting in. If you don't, your entire garage will be coated in a nice film of primer and paint, it is atomized so small when you spray it that it just gets everywhere. Make sure you hang it from floor to ceiling and leave enough room to move without touching the plastic.

Now, finally, you are ready to prime. Make sure you are within the temperature range for the primer that is written on the can or it won't spray or dry properly. Practice on a cardboard or wall first and try to get a feel for how close to hold the gun and how fast to move it side to side. You want a nice even and fairly thick coat, but if you go too close or too slow the primer will RUN. NOW is the time to practice this because you can always sand out any RUNS you get in the primer. You don’t have a second chance with the paint!

Don't worry if you spray it a little thin, you can always sand and re-coat it. Up to 3 coats of primer is just fine and makes a nice smooth base for your paint to adhere to.

Once the truck is all primed and dried, you need to sand it again. By hand only this time. Use a 400 grit paper and gently but firmly sand the entire truck by hand. you will find that the primer quickly sands down to a smooth finish, you don't need to go any deeper than this. It will feel gritty one second and then smooth the next, you will see what I mean.

NOW, repeat the whole vacuuming, damp cloth and tack cloth all over again.

Now prime again and sand again.

After the second coat of primer you are ready for the paint.

See next post. Getting tired yet?

Now for the painting:

My suggestion for paint is to go with an enamel because it does not need to be heat baked to get hard. There might be a good base coat/clear coat combination out there now that doesn't need to be baked but ask your supplier for advice. The easiest by far is an enamel paint.

This will require 3 coats minimum! They will all be about the same thickness. The idea is to build up to a nice even and shiny finish. You don't want to have it perfect on the first coat, if you try you will get RUNS which look crappy and you will not be happy! Choose your color and get the appropriate amount of Thinner and Reducer and Hardener (again, R-M or Mar-Hyde are pretty good brands) to mix with your enamel paint. You can get a graduated mixing stick that makes this super easy. You just pour in the amount of paint you want, then fill with thinner and reducer up to the lines matching the amount of paint you just put in.

Once you are back home with all your supplies, set up a clean mixing area inside your enclosure, but far from your truck so you don't bump it when you are spraying.

Once more, go through the entire vacuum/wiping/tack cloth process. This is the most important step. If you don't, any little pocket of dust in a nook or cranny on your truck will produce a little dust explosion that will look all dull and spotty compared to the rest of your nice shiny finish. I know this sounds like a whole lot of work but it is worth it I promise.

Once you are convinced that your truck/enclosure/tools/and clothes are pretty much dust free then you can mix your paint. Mix up enough to cover your whole truck once, plus about 1/4 more because you will waste some trying to be careful on the first coat. Make sure temperature is good, your gun is set to the right pressure (only a few psi, I think most guns shoot paint from around 4-8psi).

On the fist coat, you want to cover the entire surface lightly, but the primer will still show through somewhat. This will not look nice or shiny, in fact it will be kind of dull but it will mostly cover the truck. The key here is to get an even coat with NO RUNS. I know I keep stressing this but they look like crap and it is sooo hard to sand them out. You have to use a 2000 grit or higher wet sanding block and be really, really, patient.

Allow this coat to dry as specified on the can.

The next coat is applied directly over the first, no sanding. It will completely cover up the primer and you will start to get a nice deep color and a bit of a shine. Don't go crazy heavy here though, the more coats the easier it runs. You have to build it up nice. Let this dry again for the time specified on the can.

Third coat. Here's where you get your shine! This will go on looking really wet and you will have a practiced hand by now. You just cover the whole truck with a nice shiny wet coat and then let her dry. An enamel paint will naturally show up super shiny after it is dried and hardened. It will take at least a full day to cure so don't take down your plastic or touch it or anything. Even after a few days, this paint will take a finger print if you leave it out in the sun for a long time. It will take a good week to harden right up. Just the nature of the paint of you can't bake it.

Above all...Don't Touch Your Truck after you have put on the first coat of paint!!! It will totally show up even the slightest brush or print.

Hope this all helps, have fun. It is a lot of work but when you get done and it looks so nice you will be really proud of the job.