Paint Guidance

[Hudy]

Hello All,

 

I'm looking for some guidance on paint. My MJ has major clear coat failure and I'd like to simply just paint it myself. I get the general ideas of prep work, sanding, painting, but I'm not sure how far I need to go with sanding. Must I remove all paint chemically to bare metal, or can I get by with a few hours of sanding, followed by primer and paint? Photos attached to show level of failure.

 

With some guidance I know I can do this on my own. 

[ghetdjc320]

You need to remove any and all oxidation so you’ll have to see how much sanding is required to remove that. You also don’t want to paint over any existing clear. The factory base coat is very thin and will likely sand right off after you get through the clear. Other than that it’s all about good surface prep. I’d recommend a good epoxy primer over any bare metal. Make sure to apply a good sealer over all your body work and any existin base coats you intend to paint over. The sealer gives you a nice uniform substrate and seals out any previous work. 

You also need a decent sprayer and compressor to get the right finish. Here is my personal preference and setup.

 

PPG Epoxy, Sealer, Base and Clear

Devilbiss sprayer with 1.8 tip for epoxy, 1.4 for sealer and base and 1.2 for clear. 
 

i always shoot 4 coats of base and 6 of clear so I can cut and polish off a couple of coats for a perfect finish.

[Parei_doll_ia]

I had a lot of those little cracks like you have on your roof. Each crack will let water in, so you'll have a spot of corrosion at the bottom of each one. The top coat is only as strong as the layers underneath that it's bonded to, so it takes some judgement to figure out how deep you need to go. I'm not that great at bodywork, and I did mine on a college budget during the middle of an internship, so I ended up using bedliner because it was easier and cheaper. 

[ghetdjc320]

Here is also another member who has good experience with body work as well as some diy info @89 MJ

 

 

[watchamakalit]

me personally i am a fan of the "patina look" on the truck I feel it gives character.  However leaving said patina won't end well long term. 

 

What color are you planning to go with? 

[89 MJ]

7 hours ago, ghetdjc320 said:

Here is also another member who has good experience with body work as well as some diy info @89 MJ

 

 

Thanks for the tag, you said pretty much what I would have. I’d recommend PPG products too. 

[Hudy]

I'm really impressed but the wealth of knowledge here, you guys are awesome.

 

Should I shoot both an epoxy primer and a (urethane?) sealer? 

 

I assume I'll sand it with a DA sander? What grit will I need?

 

I'm planning to stay as close as possible to the stock Dark Baltic Metallic. Is this something PPG or another manufacturer can match, or do I pick one of their colors that's "close enough"?

 

Thanks again! 

[89 MJ]

You will be able to give your paint jobber your color code and they will be able to mix it up for you. 
To get your truck as straight as possible, you should hand block it out. I like blocks that are 12+”. 

[ghetdjc320]

10 hours ago, Hudy said:

I'm really impressed but the wealth of knowledge here, you guys are awesome.

 

Should I shoot both an epoxy primer and a (urethane?) sealer? 

 

I assume I'll sand it with a DA sander? What grit will I need?

 

I'm planning to stay as close as possible to the stock Dark Baltic Metallic. Is this something PPG or another manufacturer can match, or do I pick one of their colors that's "close enough"?

 

Thanks again! 

DA sanders are great for general cleanup, rust removal, and polishing but as was mentioned, you’ll need to block sand to get things flat. You could also use a good pneumatic straight line sander.

 

Ive also used epoxy primer as a sealer by just diluting it with reducer about 25%. Just make sure to use the appropriate sized tip (1.4 for me). Works surprisingly well as a sealer in a pinch.

[ktmall07]

 

On 12/13/2021 at 5:29 AM, Hudy said:

I'm planning to stay as close as possible to the stock Dark Baltic Metallic. Is this something PPG or another manufacturer can match, or do I pick one of their colors that's "close enough"?

 

Thanks again!

If you're looking for the exact same color, I've used this place with good success. Their HE4 Colorado Red was spot on, and I imagine their other colors are just as good. You can order whatever amount you need for whatever method of application you decide on.

 

https://www.automotivetouchup.com/touch-up-paint/jeep/1992/comanche/

 

One thing I would recommend is don't skimp on Clearcoat options. It's real easy to buy a rattle can and touch up spots, but it's almost never worth it in the long run. Any of PPG's 2k clearcoats will provide quite a bit more protection and last a significant amount longer than any cheapo stuff. 

[Hudy]

Okay, this is all great information and advice. Now I need more input,

 

Basecoat / clear coat or single stage paint?

 

I'm fine with this being a 5-10 foot truck. I use it regularly as a work truck and it shows. And clearly, I've never painted before. What's my best bet? 

 

[89 MJ]

It's going to be more costly, but I would only ever do a base/clear paint job. It makes it easier to fix if you ever have to because you can blend the paint and reclear the panel instead of just having to repaint the entire panel.

[ghetdjc320]

Personally I’ve shot both many times. I would recommend single stage if it’s a trail vehicle as you won’t be scratching through the clear coat. Otherwise, base clear is what I’d use in a street rig. On a show rig I’d use a tricoat. 
 

[Pete M]

whatever you do, make sure you practice, practice, practice before even thinking about shooting your truck.   buy some junkyard fenders and do those first. 

[boxyjeep]

My truck was almost exactly like yours.  It's an '88 from southern California.  No rust, but the paint was totally shot and had patina/surface rust in a few areas.  I debated for a long time on whether or not to keep the patina, paint it myself, or get it painted.  In the end, I spent ~$4k to get it professionally done.  It's not a $10k "show-quality" paint job, but I'm pretty happy with it.  The bed was removed, door jambs, and underside of the hood all painted.  If I had to go back and do it again, I would definitely opt for a body shop to do the work.

 

Before...

 

 

After...

 

[js33rd]

On 12/11/2021 at 5:26 PM, ghetdjc320 said:

You need to remove any and all oxidation so you’ll have to see how much sanding is required to remove that. You also don’t want to paint over any existing clear. The factory base coat is very thin and will likely sand right off after you get through the clear. Other than that it’s all about good surface prep. I’d recommend a good epoxy primer over any bare metal. Make sure to apply a good sealer over all your body work and any existin base coats you intend to paint over. The sealer gives you a nice uniform substrate and seals out any previous work. 

You also need a decent sprayer and compressor to get the right finish. Here is my personal preference and setup.

 

PPG Epoxy, Sealer, Base and Clear

Devilbiss sprayer with 1.8 tip for epoxy, 1.4 for sealer and base and 1.2 for clear. 
 

i always shoot 4 coats of base and 6 of clear so I can cut and polish off a couple of coats for a perfect finish.

 

Someone painted my truck moss green and I am using a red donor XJ... some small sections are going to be bare metal. How do I go about painting the truck back to the original Dark Baltic Metallic Blue? I assume use an epoxy primer where needed and then a urethane for example: https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-4-1-urethane-primer-black-gal.html ??? Then basecoat and clear?

[ghetdjc320]

9 hours ago, js33rd said:

 

Someone painted my truck moss green and I am using a red donor XJ... some small sections are going to be bare metal. How do I go about painting the truck back to the original Dark Baltic Metallic Blue? I assume use an epoxy primer where needed and then a urethane for example: https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-4-1-urethane-primer-black-gal.html ??? Then basecoat and clear?

You can apply your base and clear right over the epoxy primer. Epoxy primer is a great all purpose sealer and surfacer. Works great on bare metal, or over well prepped existing finishes.  

[js33rd]

8 hours ago, ghetdjc320 said:

You can apply your base and clear right over the epoxy primer. Epoxy primer is a great all purpose sealer and surfacer. Works great on bare metal, or over well prepped existing finishes.  

Ok cool. I think my plan is to use Mastercoat silver primer on bare metal, use the Eastwood epoxy primer reduced with urethane reducer at 20% for a sealer, then base, and clear. Should be good to go after that.

[ghetdjc320]

12 hours ago, js33rd said:

Ok cool. I think my plan is to use Mastercoat silver primer on bare metal, use the Eastwood epoxy primer reduced with urethane reducer at 20% for a sealer, then base, and clear. Should be good to go after that.

Why the use of two different primers? Epoxy is all you need so long as you have clean metal.  

[js33rd]

5 hours ago, ghetdjc320 said:

Why the use of two different primers? Epoxy is all you need so long as you have clean metal.  

Mastercoat is like a super primer. It's mainly used as a primer for chassis undercoat. It is pretty much POR-15 but way better. But, yeah it should be clean metal. So, I'll probably end up using just the epoxy primer.