First time painting truck

[Whitaker717]

Hi guys title says it all. I just got a 70 gallon compressor and have been wanting to paint the truck. Anyone have any tips or any good instructional videos to follow so I don’t acres it up too bad. I’m also not opposed to the spray cans. I know it will be a long process but I have nothing but time. Maaco was cheapest at 3600. No one else will paint it for under 5k and I’m just not doing that. It doesn’t have to be show quality. I heard painting is all in the prep work. Any guidance would be appreciated. 

[89 MJ]

Take the truck apart. Hood off, fenders off, bed off, doors off, header panel off, etc.. Doing this will make masking easier and prevent tape lines and overspray. You can also do the different panels at different times and now have to worry about running out of air or overspray. And prep is key. 

[Pete M]

practice and get good on something that's NOT your truck... then go paint your truck.     fenders are cheap.  practice painting at weird angles too.  practice, practice, practice. 

[pizzaman09]

If you have any rust repair, make sure you use a good rust converter after sanding off the rust, else it will just come back in a few months.  Ask me how I know.  

Paint it a color that is close to your factory color, helps hide all the transitions to places you don't paint.

 

The better your paint lays, the less time you will have to spend polishing afterwards.

[ghetdjc320]

Show us some pics of what you are going to be working on. Any dents or rust that needs to be repaired? Has the truck been repainted at all? Is the clear coat still intact? As stated above, strip it all down. Bag and tag all the hardware and keep everything organized. You’ll need a good place to paint. If you paint outside (and we’ve all done that at some point) you’ll need a perfect day. Be prepared to redo your work as necessary. Just to put things into perspective, I have at least 80 hours so far in just bodywork on the bed itself. At some point, you may decide that your time is worth more than the 5k to have it done. If you do have someone else do it though thoroughly educate yourself on the process (3m videos on YouTube are very good) and hold them to a high standard. Getting a vehicle fresh out of paint looks awesome, but after a few days of closer inspection, you’ll notice where corners were cut. 
If you decide to DIY, there are plenty of MJ specific paint projects in the various areas on the forum and in member projects that will give you an excellent idea of what is involved and how far into it you’d like to go. 

just my $.02

[Eagle]

On 11/2/2022 at 7:24 PM, Whitaker717 said:

Hi guys title says it all. I just got a 70 gallon compressor and have been wanting to paint the truck. Anyone have any tips or any good instructional videos to follow so I don’t acres it up too bad. I’m also not opposed to the spray cans. I know it will be a long process but I have nothing but time. Maaco was cheapest at 3600. No one else will paint it for under 5k and I’m just not doing that. It doesn’t have to be show quality. I heard painting is all in the prep work. Any guidance would be appreciated. 

 

The web channel run by Robby Layton may be helpful. Robbie owns a body shop. The YouTube channel covers after-hours special projects, and aside from demonstrating that Robby is a wizard with a paint gun, you can pick up a lot of tips on body work and paint prep by watching.

 

https://www.youtube.com/c/RobbyLayton