I've been reading this thread because I was going to be painting my truck soon. It's my first paint job, so I have some questions that are probably stupid.

1. What exactly do i have to do to prep metal for painting? Before I bought my truck it was painted in a rush without taking the time to prime it, so all the paint is coming off.
2. I know of a couple spots that need bondo. I did a patch up job before last winter and where I applied bondo the metal underneath has since began to rust and caused the bondo to chip out. (This is only around the rear fenders) How can I make sure this problem doesn't reoccur?
3. After I apply primer and it dries, can I spray the paint or do I have more to do before that?
4. What is a good line of paint?

I am probably getting in over my head, but there has to be a first time for everything right? Any advice/recommendations are greatly appreciated.

 

PPG paint is what I have always used. Prime before you use any body filler.
There is some stuff out there way better than bondo.

You can lightly sand in between layers to get a better finish.

 

What stuff is there that is better than bondo? I know they have that fiberglass stuff. Depending on how bad some of it was I was going to just cut out the bad spos and weld in some sheet metal.

 

There is a plastic body filler you can get but I cant remember the brand name.
New metal would probably be the best option.

 

yea new metal would be better!

best thing i can tell ya..take your time...if possible..let it take a whole weekend or maybe even 2

sand the body down and fix/bondo whatever needs to be fixed.

sand the body down some more....then when your done with that...sand it some more..get the surface as SMOOOOTH as possible..

after you're done with that, prime it, sand it with like some 600 or 800 grit paper...lay another coat of primer, sand it..lay another coat and sand it.. using higher grit paper each time.

make sure to clean the surface each time too of course....ALWAYS make sure the surface is CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN before you spray ANYTHING down.

when the primer is how ya like it, start sprayin some paint!

it's better to do a bunch of light coats than a few heavy coats.

after the first coat, sand it, lay another coat, sand it, lay another coat and WET-sand it..and so on and so on, until the paint looks great to ya!

when ever it looks great to ya, you should probably BE VERY CAREFUL, wet sand it one more time with like 1800grit paper or higher, and spray it one more time LOL

theres also final touches you should do, but honestly....i can't remember them lol

you can add clear coat if ya want, i didn't because when i get a scratch, i just sand the paint down and paint it, if i would have cleared it..it wouldn't look the same.

 

Thanks for the help guys. Hopefully I will have the bed off this weekend so I can start on that while I ship the rest off to my uncle to have the rockers done. Meanwhile the search for new doors continues... My wallet feels thinner already.

 

Just finished this weekend. OD Green Krylon rattle can.
I'll post more pictures later. I already got it muddy. Hah.

 

Here's my rig.





All done with rattle cans. I repainted all the black about a year ago and along with adding the blue.

 

Yellow!

 

Just did the yoda Sail Blue- strictly wheeler didnt do any body work- its lucky it got paint at all lol.

Stay away from laquers (Dupli color paint shop) Rustolium enamel would be a better choice...really. If your going to spend anything stick with a single stage enamel, simple and forgiving. PPG concept is a good quality value line. the only thing I have seen to add to what everyone has had to say is after color sanding, hit the paint with a good finesse with a quality bonnet.

 

I laughed so freaking hard.

 

$60 dollar gallon of flat black and an $50 spraygun from napa and this is what we got.



10 months later and she's alot more agressive looking, dirty and scratched up quite a bit from the trail/people keying me for not liking me.




My old 84 I just did a flat Black rattle can job. Looked good though.

I miss that old little truck.

 

Looking to add factory stripes, and step bars still not back on yet.

 

A lot of cool lookin trucks here. I am slowly replacing and painting parts on my truck myself with the ol' rattle can method. Im using a flat black bed liner on everything, fenders, hood, grill, bumpers...is there any way to put a clear coat on over the bed liner to protect it from fading, I dont want anything shiny, just to protect! the bed liner isnt smooth, it is very rough and rock hard, i think if you rubbed against the fenders you would probably cut yourself!

 

I have a 1993 Toyota pickup I wanted to paint this summer. My question is I want to paint it with a flat paint (not glossy). If I go and buy some quality paint will the flat paint hold up well (compaired to gloss)? The body on my truck is pretty clean and I think the flat paint would hide the little inperfections better than gloss and be easier for me to paint.

 

The flat is alot easier to apply, but you should do the same prep work. Immperfections will show through the same as gloss, just might not catch your eye as quick. PPG makes a good paint, just have them add some matt to any color you desire. Will have to use a single stage I think, not sure if a matt clear is offered, could be wrong, never looked into it.

This is a silver I had them add the matt tint to

 

Any durability issues witht the matt/flat paint? Seems like it wouldn't hold up as well (my concern) as gloss (wear off, fade, etc). I do plan to do some prep work on my truck but at the end of the day it is an old truck and though I plan to keep it up I don't plan to restore it to showroom condition. I both like the look of the flat/matt paint and figure it will be easier to apply and cover up some of the minor dings. I want to paint my truck a matt/flatt desert tan kind of color and then go and have the bottom 1/3 Line-X'ed in black. I think it would look pretty sharp.

 

Hand painted (RAL 6003) using brushes and paint rollers:






Scratches pretty easily in dense woodland:





But still fine after 2+ years of abuse:

 

That's a nice lookin machine!!!

 

Boldog Ujevec, Trasher! Welcome to Yotatech! (PS> NO, I don't speak Hungarian.... but I cook for one, and he's spouting off on how Budapest is the "GREATEST PLACE IN THE WORLD!".... but he doesn't miss the winters, lol.

NICE RIG, TOO! SFA 4DOOR....AND A DIESEL! Wow, if you weren't in EU, you'd probably have 30 private messages already, begging you to sell! lol. Seriously... LIKE the truck!