Who has painted their own truck?

[thunder550]

The paint on my 99 is in pretty bad shape, worn through and chipped in some places, scratched in others (some through the color, some in the clear coat)...there's not a single panel that has good paint still. I'm trying to decide what I want to do with it.

I got a quote from a local body shop to paint the whole thing, they want $6k. I'm sure I could find another quality shop for cheaper than that, but still, it's a big chunk of change.

Those who have painted their own vehicles, how much time and money did you have into it when all was said and done? Could I do individual panels rather than doing the whole truck at once? Did you build your own paint booth in your garage? Any issues with dust and such? What size compressor did you use with your spray gun?

 

[OregonDMAX]

most of that 6k is prep work to be painted, you can shave of thousands if you know how to do alot of the prep work...ie fixing dings/scratches, sanding, body work, cleanup

i worked for a body shop all my years in highschool and all the cars they painted spent 3/4 of there time in bodywork and then painted in under a couple hours including cure time and reassembly.

as far as doing it yourself you want a good compressor that wont be taxing itself constantly to keep the tank full (low pressure will ruin a paint job quick) and ofcorse a good pressure regulator will make a world of difference.

keeping dust down is hard to do, i would rather do the prep work and have someone else paint it. i got all the panels on my dads 57 truck in primer and my 2 stage 7hp 60gal compressor did so-so (good enough for primer but im not sure about paint)

 

[thunder550]

That's a thought, I don't mind doing the prep work at all. I have a 30 gallon compressor, sounds like that wouldn't be up to the task. I'll have to check around and see what a shop would charge me if I brought the truck to them completely prepped, and maybe primed.

 

[OregonDMAX]

if the shop is reputable the paint job will look as good as the prep work you did, all the old timer painters always told me its not the paint that makes the paintjob but everything underneath it.
i saved thousands doing all the prep on my 57 truck panels plus i saved even more by taking them in as pieces, less masking they have to do to aviod suspension, frame, glass, trim ect... obviously you wont tear yours apart just for that but the more you do for them the easier it is and the less shop time they charge to get it ready shoot paint.

 

[thunder550]

Hell it's easy enough to pull hood, fenders, doors, and bed and take them all in separately, that's totally doable. Sounds like I should decide on a shop first, then find out from them what I can do to make their job the easiest. Thanks for the ideas

 

[OregonDMAX]

thats exactly what i did, i found the shop i wanted to use and asked them how they would want the panels for whatever was easiest and the shop i used preferred the separate panels to avoid masking off a bunch of crap and they also had two paint booths( one being just for baking smaller parts) but some other shops are higher volume and prefer whole complete trucks.

 

[Cknight199]

Look into plasti dip if you want a cheap alternative for now if you want. Just an option.

 

[thunder550]

thats exactly what i did, i found the shop i wanted to use and asked them how they would want the panels for whatever was easiest and the shop i used preferred the separate panels to avoid masking off a bunch of crap and they also had two paint booths( one being just for baking smaller parts) but some other shops are higher volume and prefer whole complete trucks.

Sounds great, I'll start looking.

Look into plasti dip if you want a cheap alternative for now if you want. Just an option.

That's all I've been looking at for a week now, getting as much info as I can. I really think that I'm just not going to be happy without the glossy finish that actual paint provides.

 

[Cknight199]

Sounds great, I'll start looking.



That's all I've been looking at for a week now, getting as much info as I can. I really think that I'm just not going to be happy without the glossy finish that actual paint provides.

Yea I agree. If it was an old vehicle that I didn't want to put money into then plasti dip is sweet, but a duramax needs a good paint job there are some sweet Audi sports cars and Mercedes that have been plasti dipped but the color just doesn't fit in on a truck like it does a sportscar.

 

[thunder550]

I'm looking at metallic grays right now, I'm really liking Cyber Gray from the newer Vettes.

 

[Texas Chevy]

Look into plasti dip if you want a cheap alternative for now if you want. Just an option.

X2. I'm gonna get the DIY kit (for my c10)that come with everything you need and no compressor is needed for less than a $500 then ill have money for wheels

 

[Veikra]

I've painted my 94, my 05 crown and the matts cost under 750$ Hours? the truck took like 70hours. The crown i got it down to 30 because I got a decent sander. The bed of my duramax was a quicky at under 10 hours including repairs tapping etc.

Im not super good at laying down clear, so I just cut and buff. Anyways, I've painted them all black so it's always nicer

 

[Fahlin Racing]

Last complete vehicle I painted was my 1970 Nova, Summer green, back in high school about 10 years ago.

 

[dirtydmax]

Hey,dirty duallyhere,how did your truck turn out?the last I saw it was goin good.I am a automotive painter(full time)any questions,just ask,that is a nice color but high air pressure and a real good gun is ness for any high metallic/pearl base.