Decent Paint Job

i sprayed only to cover a previous paint brush job in truth.
Yeah...brush strokes.

Touch-ups were awesome though!

LoL

Painting is easy. Prep is hard. The harder you work on prep, the easier painting will be. Homework is the key.

I think this is what you’re looking for. Vice grip garage at its finest.

My first paint job was roller and epoxy primer. Other than looking more grey than black it lasted without issues.Was all that I could really do in apartment complex that would actually work as a sealer.

I’m pretty sure I have shared this before, but the ‘57 Willys in this picture is my Dad’s. He sprayed it with Rustoleum (not rattle cans, but bought it in quarts or gallons and used an actual paint gun) in 1980 that he bought at the local hardware store. He didn’t have room in his garage to store it, so the Jeep sat outside from then until about 2010. The paint has faded some, but all things considered, it has held up very well. He used it for his hunting/odd job work pickup all those years. Hauled gravel in the back, branches, etc. The paint never peeled and actually has proven to be quite durable.

Here is another picture of it from this past fall. Dad still uses it to do work.

Grit dog said:

^True, I looked at all the $ he has in that truck. Plus it’s a daily and apparently in the winter salt belt too.
Spray bombing a truck of that value would be like building a custom home and putting linoleum on the floors. Sure it works but it actually detracts from the value more than it helped the cost.

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bucket said:

But it's not just a beater truck, he wants to improve the looks.

If something is patched together and several colors, I'm all for spray painting it to make it look better. I've done that myself a couple or several times. Imho, there's nothing wrong with that at all. But no matter what, there's no hiding the fact that it was spray painted and it will look like it too, especially if the goal is glossy.

Besides that, decent spray paint is expensive these days. Buying a cheapo paint gun and then getting cheap paint (like from Tractor Supply) will hardly cost anymore than spray paint and it will look nicer.

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I went purely from what he has written, hunting truck, daily ect. And made an assumption. I do not recall what it currently looks like nor did I realize the $ he has in the truck. I assumed and was wrong that it was more in the "beater truck", "patch together" condition when I suggested that rattle canning it would be ok.

I've done three paint jobs under a $100 each way back in HS. Prices haven't gone up much on the Rustoleum gallons so should be comparable.

In high school, I painted my Jeep CJ7 with 2 gallons of Rustoleum with a cheap house painting airless Wagner gun. It actually turned out ok and lasted for 5 years until I sold it. It was my first time and the prep work was learned from the little one page card in a Haynes manual. Could barely make out your reflection but it was a Jeep.

I then color changed a camper shell from red to white with a gallon of Rustoleum. I put a orange peel texture in it. It was glossy and looked really good on the fiberglass/ plastic shell.

Painted a Toyota truck with graphics the same way my senior year. Way back before he was famous and just another kid at school, Mike Shinoda was an expert artist and he designed the graphics and 3 of us laid them out in my parents garage.

I see some jobs that some shops put out and can say what we did for a $100 was nicer than what you'd pay $1200 at a shop. Any decent paint job is going to run up to $5k min very fast.

I see guys with Eastwood paint and Harbor Freight guns turning out some nice stuff.

This thing actually works better than it should.

https://www.harborfreight.com/20-oz-professional-hte-compliant-gravity-feed-air-spray-gun-64824.html

I personally think that spraying paint from a gun is easier than from a rattle can.

Looks like I'll prime the doors and fenders before installing. Then I'll practice on the parts I take off and go from there. I do have a spray gun thats never been used.

Wumbo said:

This thing actually works better than it should.

https://www.harborfreight.com/20-oz-professional-hte-compliant-gravity-feed-air-spray-gun-64824.html

I personally think that spraying paint from a gun is easier than from a rattle can.

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Yes they do work quite well . I’ve got the gun just below that one , it’s sprays as good as a high dollar gun I used to have .

Go to maaco or one of the car paint chains. Pay extra for catalyzed polyurethane. For less than a grand you got a decent paint job


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You guys in other states are lucky. Here in Ca, most small body shops do not have a legal spray booth, they have to take the car to one and rent it, or have them spray it. The paint that is legal here is also different, since it must dry quickly without off gasses.

So a paint job here is going to cast you more money and won't be as good, its sure a good thing that we don't have rust problems here.

I got mine done at the local Maaco. It had 4.7 out of 5 stars and I went in and talked with everyone who would work on my truck. They all took a liking to it so I was comfortable.

They took longer than expected but the job turned out great. I did not get any dents of dings repaired as I hate the look of a wavy truck body and I think the dings gave my truck character. If I was going to go any further on the prep I would have done it myself, not had them do it.

All in $2300 for full body paint with clear and a nice bed liner. I'll link the before and after for giggles but I think it was money well spent. - build thread - https://www.gmsquarebody.com/threads/picked-up-a-1987-r10.30187/

I think it was going to be $1500 before I added in some sanding and basic cleanup. $300 for the bedliner was a deal if I got the sanding so I went with it. Could have gotten out the door under $1k though if I didn't do the clear.

Camar068 said:

Looks like I'll prime the doors and fenders before installing. Then I'll practice on the parts I take off and go from there. I do have a spray gun thats never been used.

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Thats the spirit!
Honestly, unless you don’t have the time (but that’s really no different than rattle can job) but you have air and a paint gun and you are obviously doing some major improvement work (new doors and fenders), the last step is shooting it with paint. Plus, there’s plenty of places to “practice” and dial in your technique.
I can’t speak for the paint quality yet as I’ve only used their primer, but for quality, low priced paint, look up Tamco paint online.

Also remember, virtually anything you do with a pint gun can be corrected or perfected with wet sanding and polishing!