Painting over stock paint?

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1987_chevy_

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Just recently bought a new bed for my pickup truck. Th bed still has the original and paint and even the original bed coating. So my question is, am I able to paint over the original paint? Will the bed have to be stripped down to bare metal?
 

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Jarhead79

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It'll need to be sanded but not down to metal.
 

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If the clear or paint is lifting you will need to get all of that off , then do your body work , if any , sand the whole bed , then use a sealer and you are good to go. I always head to the paint store and b.s. with the guy's and they always hook me up with what I need. I am a rookie , but I have painted 3 square's , 2 cars and a loader and they have came out great with a little help from the dupont guys .
 

1987_chevy_

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If the clear or paint is lifting you will need to get all of that off , then do your body work , if any , sand the whole bed , then use a sealer and you are good to go. I always head to the paint store and b.s. with the guy's and they always hook me up with what I need. I am a rookie , but I have painted 3 square's , 2 cars and a loader and they have came out great with a little help from the dupont guys .
It doesn't seem to have any clear coat or color peeling. And thanks for the help
 

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It doesn't seem to have any clear coat or color peeling. And thanks for the help

I went to school for auto collision repair. but if your saying the existing paint and clear that is on there is good stuff, you will at least want to sand all the clear coat off. I would grab a dual action sander and a bunch of 800 grit pads and go to town. if you watch youll know when you make it through the clear, then wash it all up nice and double check your work (youll be glad you did). make sure the paint is scuffed with that 800 or 1000 grit and paint away. a new primer wouldn't hurt, especially if your changing the color (good base to start on), but youll be ok either way
 

Swims350

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if its old original paint it won't have clear most likely, wanna find out? get a rag that will let you see the color of the bed easily, put some laquer thinner on the rag, wipe an area if it rubs off the color on the rag it's single stage, if you see nothing then it's most likely clear.

I would not bother with 800 on a da, I'd use something like 320 or 400 to get it done quick. Honestly if nothing is flaking I'd just wet sand the thing by hand, with 320 or 400, even 600, then spray it. We have done pelnty of backyard, outside cheap paintjobs with real auto paint from the spray gun. You can go right over the old if it's not lifting anywhere, or you can go down as far as you want. I usually just hit all my stuff with a da and 220 then go back and wet sand with 400 and spray, could use more paint that way trying to cover the old color depending on on what color it is and what color it will be.

If you want it done like a body shop it'd be tons of work, youd strip to bare metal, hit it with a DTM or direct to metal primer like epoxy or self etch. You'd body work any spots you know right off, or you'd lay down a few coats of high build, then block with guide coat, fill low areas, sand them with a block, reprime, re guide coat re block, over and over until perfect, then use sealer, then wet on wet apply base color and clear or single stage over the sealer. That way is alot of work and alot of material.

If you do it the quick and easy way, if it were to start flaking or coming off you can just sand it off and go a lil deeper next time and reshoot.
 

1987_chevy_

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if its old original paint it won't have clear most likely, wanna find out? get a rag that will let you see the color of the bed easily, put some laquer thinner on the rag, wipe an area if it rubs off the color on the rag it's single stage, if you see nothing then it's most likely clear.

I would not bother with 800 on a da, I'd use something like 320 or 400 to get it done quick. Honestly if nothing is flaking I'd just wet sand the thing by hand, with 320 or 400, even 600, then spray it. We have done pelnty of backyard, outside cheap paintjobs with real auto paint from the spray gun. You can go right over the old if it's not lifting anywhere, or you can go down as far as you want. I usually just hit all my stuff with a da and 220 then go back and wet sand with 400 and spray, could use more paint that way trying to cover the old color depending on on what color it is and what color it will be.

If you want it done like a body shop it'd be tons of work, youd strip to bare metal, hit it with a DTM or direct to metal primer like epoxy or self etch. You'd body work any spots you know right off, or you'd lay down a few coats of high build, then block with guide coat, fill low areas, sand them with a block, reprime, re guide coat re block, over and over until perfect, then use sealer, then wet on wet apply base color and clear or single stage over the sealer. That way is alot of work and alot of material.

If you do it the quick and easy way, if it were to start flaking or coming off you can just sand it off and go a lil deeper next time and reshoot.

So I just had a guy weld some new panels in to remove rust holes, he was telling me that I need to sand blast the bed, because the old paint will make the new stuff chip
 

Swims350

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if the old paint aint chipped or chipping or trying to come off once it's sanded down it'll be good to go we do it all the time. If you want it done like on tv or high dollar pro builds then yes strip to bare metal, which costs more, then you have to epoxy or self etch prime to protect, which costs more, and then usually high build and block. All that adds up to more money, more labor more materials.

If you are scared of it and you want it like a high dollar build go for it. If it were mine I'd scuff and shoot.
 

1987_chevy_

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if the old paint aint chipped or chipping or trying to come off once it's sanded down it'll be good to go we do it all the time. If you want it done like on tv or high dollar pro builds then yes strip to bare metal, which costs more, then you have to epoxy or self etch prime to protect, which costs more, and then usually high build and block. All that adds up to more money, more labor more materials.

If you are scared of it and you want it like a high dollar build go for it. If it were mine I'd scuff and shoot.

I definatly scared of it flaking, espically if I spend a lot of money for someone to spray the color
 

Swims350

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I definatly scared of it flaking, espically if I spend a lot of money for someone to spray the color


honestly it should not, but if you wanna take the time and spend the money have it either blasted or just sanded/paint stripper etc. Of course it'll be more since the labor goes up and some added material but then at least if it flakes, it's their fault and you can take it back.

Might even wanna ask them if they'd sign something saying if they strip it and redo they garuntee it not to flake or peel, and keep it.
 

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If the original paint is holding up (not flaking, chipping, peeling, etc) then it's absolutely fine to sand with 320/400 and paint over it. The new paint will not just flake off unless the person doing the work screws up something in the prepwork.

But since metal has been welded in, there will be associated bodywork for that, along with any dents/dings that need taken care of. So it would be best to do the bodywork, sand the bedsides with 180 grit and then prime them. Then prep the primer for paint.

Again, if there's really nothing wrong the factory paint, you don't need to strip it off. If there's already a few layers of paint, then it would be best to strip it down.
 

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It doesn't seem to have any clear coat or color peeling. And thanks for the help

Your original paint is high solid enamel (single stage, no clear coat).

K
 

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