k well i decided I'm painting my truck flat black....i got american express gift cards for my bday so i'd like to order stuff online, but if i have to drive somewhere i will...but preferably online.anyways,

my neighbor is going to spray my truck down but i got to do all the prep work and have everything there besides the air brush or w.e. else he rigs up.

so what do i need to get to get down so i can get a consistent even coat?

i know i have to scuff and sand and primer but what do i use to scuff, what grit sand paper? I'm going to use auto primer spray cans

am i going to need two quarts for my single cab short bed? my buddy may get me paint, but if he doesn't where should i order from? as for clear coat, i'd like to do a flat one which i know is available, should i bother? i mean i can just spray it on its in a can as well so...

any tips for doing this job? i mean cover up shit i don't want paint on, masks, gloves, let the paint dry completely, not a windy day, keep away from other cars.....

Are you wanting a quality paint job or is this pretty much your trail rig? If you're going for quality i wouldn't use any pain out of a spray can.

dd and mudder..i'm 16 look doesn't bother me, but i want a new color...i was thinking just getting the clear coat off and then using primer right over the blue paint on it now.

Flat black is a good look and at 27 I still like it.

Hi,

I've painted two cars, including extensive dent repair; here's what I learned.

PREP:

Don't strip good paint. I know some people say to do this for the best job, but take my word for it, it's not worth the trouble. If it's an expensive show car, then maybe, but for a typical car or truck, there's no good reason to do this. Plus if there is Bondo underneath, stripping the paint will mean you will have to refinish the Bondo because it'll get marred by the scraping tool. Do remove paint where there's rust underneath the paint because you want to be sure to remove all the rust. Sand it smooth and use naval jelly if the metal is pitted by the rust. You should also remove the paint where you're going to Bondo, so the filler attaches directly to the metal.

If stripping is necessary, chemical paint remover works great if you do it right. Apply it thickly and let it work; don't start scraping too soon. I've observed that a circlular wire brush on a sander, grinder, or even drill works better than sandpaper and is cheaper too. But 80 grit will do the trick if you don't have power tools or have noise restrictions. One important note is that if you find Bondo underneath, don't use the wire disc, sand it carefully and try not to disturb the previous repair as much as possible.

If there are no dents to remove, just sand the entire surface with 220 grit sandpaper. This will allow the new paint to stick well.

Primer is only needed where there's bare metal such as when you're doing bodywork. Primer sticks to metal better than paint. Paint sticks to primer or paint well, but there's no need to prime paint unless you're using it smooth the surface. If so, roller on the primer and sand it smooth with 220 lightly or 400 grit sandpaper.

DENT REPAIR:

To repair a dent, first try to get the metal as close to the original shape as possible; perhaps 3/8" is the thickest the Bondo can be without cracking. If you can hammer out your dent from behind, that's best. They do sell metalworking hammers and surfaces but I haven't used them (but I will buy a set next time); previously, I was able to get away with suction cups and the Dent King. For bad dents, if you can take the metal off (e.g. it's a fender), perhaps it's easier just to buy a new panel. If necessary, you can drill a hole and use a dent puller.

The trick with Bondo is applying it layers. Don't try to slap on too much at a time. Apply it in as few strokes as possible with moderate pressure to remove bubbles. Let it dry fully before applying successive coats as necessary. Sand with course sandpaper (e.g. 80grit) to shape it, then switch to 150 grit to smooth it out. Use long strokes with even pressure through the full stroke. Don't worry about little pock-marks in the Bondo or if the edge isn't totally smooth; use spot putty last to take care of that. Spot putty is of a finer consistency than the filler. Sand the spot putty with 220 and feather it out.

Next, prime with one color, then apply a thin incomplete coat of another color of primer. Sand the top coat completely off using a sanding block and long even-pressured strokes. Where the top coat is not sanded off, it's too low and you need to add more filler. Where it is too high, you'll sand right through the bottom primer and you'll take off the extra Bondo as you remove the top primer layer. Then re-apply the bottom color primer, speckle again with the top color primer, and repeat until it's perfect. When you're done you can wet the surface with water and look at it from an angle to confirm everything's straight before going to paint. Paint never conceals but only magnifies imperfections.

PAINTING:

I suggest using a roller, at least for the first coats of paint. The roller method has the advantages of paint being cheaper by the gallon or quart, plus you get about 3-4x as much paint on per layer with a roller so less layers are necessary, and you don't have to tape everything off, which saves you a lot of time. Sure, you'll get roller lines, but they sand out easily.

There is a trick to minimize roller lines and I tried it last time: dilute your paint considerably using the appropriate solvent (around 1 part solvent to 4 parts paint). It is important to use whichever solvent the can says to use to clean your brushes. The solvent varies from paint to paint. The exact ratio of solvent : paint also varies; dilute with solvent until the mixture is as runny as water. Apparently if you dilute the paint sufficiently, the paint will level out as it has little surface tension. I would suggest putting on one or two coats without diluting it in order to put on a nice thick layer, let it cure for a week, then wet sand it with 400-800 grit sandpaper depending on how bad your roller lines are.

Apply the next coat diluted so that it levels nicely. After you've let it cure for a week, decide if you need another coat; if so, wet-sand with 1000-grit first. The water prevents the sandpaper from getting clogged up. I actually use a bucket of warm water and dishsoap.

Don't paint when it's too hot, particularly if you're truck's under the sun. If you have to paint outside (as was my case), start early or wait until 5pm so the sun is no longer beating upon you and your car has had a chance to cool down. You can put your first two coats on in the same day. Put the first coat on, break for bite or beer, and after the paint is dry to the touch, add the next coat. Many paints say add the second coat from 30min-4hrs after, or wait a week. Otherwise the layers don't bond to each other well.

After your final coat, buff the paint with finishing compound which is gritty and essentially acts like a fine sandpaper. It's better to buff out by hand; while tiring, you'll avoid any damage which would demand another coat.

Here's a link in which the dilution method is discussed:
http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=2331682&page=0&fpart=1&vc=1

COLOR CHOICE:

Glossy (especially black) paint is a bad choice for a trail truck because your body has to be perfectly straight because the shiny paint reveals the imperfections you can barely see at the primer stage. If you're doing your own Bondo work, this is difficult. Dent repair takes a lot of practice -- I've removed over a dozen dents and I'm just now getting it "perfect." However getting your Bondo "good" is not too difficult. If your blending isn't perfect, you probably wouldn't see the imperfections if you used a flat paint (especially white).

OTHER COMMENTS:

In my latest endeaver, I decided to go something slightly different than the method discussed. I wanted to use Rustoleum's "hammered" finish paint which dries to yield a texture. All Rustoleum metal paints (not just the "hammered") are a good choice for rust protection, they dry hard for chip resistance, and bond well to metal so do not require a primer. I chose the "hammered" paint because think it looks nice (its unique) and more importantly it hides minor imperfections, such as if you didn't blend your Bondo perfectly with the surrounding panel. Plus, there's no buffing required. It might not look good on a classic car but on a trail truck, I think it looks great. The dilution method didn't work well enough to avoid roller lines altogether, although if I used a regular (nontextured) paint, I see how easily it would have been to wet-sand it smooth. So I sanded it down until the roller lines were gone, but not enough to remove all the texture, and I will spray on the top coat (there's a Rustoleum "hammered" rattle-can in the same colour). I thought this hammered paint would be faster and easier when I repair future dents. Even though I did it, I wouldn't necessarily recommend the "hammered" paint because the regular paint is easier to work with and you can wet sand away all your imperfections.

Good luck!
Happy Camper

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:d

Thanks Man!

Geberhard's spray bomb 101: http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=249432

If you're repairing dents just make sure not to apply the 'bondo' very thick. about 1/8" is the thickest you want it. Otherwise the different expansion rates of the 'bondo' and the parent metal will cause the 'bondo' to start to ring out and crack