The Bigger Red Pig

[Metcalf]

Alcans are on my list....but not at the top yet Sorry.

Mine is in 'Smoke Grey' Rustolem Professional. I like it ( ok, not all of it yet, doors and cowl to go! ). It does rather look like a trashcan that has been out in the sun too long that got in a fight with a hail storm. Its a LOT of one color though. I need to get some monochrome decals or something for below the body line.

I would do the same color, Red. It makes all the little nooks and crannies the same color. That clear coat is a PITA though!

 

[goodtimes]

RE: paint

Is the clear coat completely gone (IE: down to the base coat), or is it just the final coat that is going away? It may be possible to wet sand & polish that out (I've seen it done to worse . . .).

Even if the clear is too thin after sanding -- as long as the base coat isn't disturbed you can just shoot it with an fresh coat of clear (which isn't that expensive). If you like the flat look -- just use flat clear (same protection, none of the shine), or mix gloss and flat to get your desired result (the 25% gloss I put on my F650GS looked pretty damn good . . . ).

 

[lstzephyr]

It will probably stay mostly red. I like the red, and I actually prefer the black below the first body line. Maybe black wheels, polishing off the corrosion is a pita! Yeah my photoshop skills aren't the best. I'm better with actual pictures.

Clear coat is totally MIA on the drivers side and hood, some of the paint is gone on the roof, and back of the cab, and the clear coat is 75% gone on the passenger side. I hadn't thought about putting clear on it again but I think the door is too far gone, as it had flaked through the clear and into the primer. That yellow on the door is over the basecoat however so I may be able to sand it out, I've found a couple dents so it was probably repainted and that yellow is filler.

If I can get it all to be red, and without going into the primer I may shoot some clear on it(I do have a hvlp gun hanging around) but honestly I doubt my sanding skills are that good. I did bust through a bit on the door already. The kick in the butt to start messing with paint is that rust is popping up in a few places, and considering this truck is primarily rust free that needs to stop. I'm cool with dents, and crap paint, just not rust.

 

[lstzephyr]

Alcans are on my list....but not at the top yet Sorry.

Mine is in 'Smoke Grey' Rustolem Professional. I like it ( ok, not all of it yet, doors and cowl to go! ). It does rather look like a trashcan that has been out in the sun too long that got in a fight with a hail storm. Its a LOT of one color though. I need to get some monochrome decals or something for below the body line.

I would do the same color, Red. It makes all the little nooks and crannies the same color. That clear coat is a PITA though!

Trashcan that has been out in the sun to long and got in a fight in a hail storm huh? That cracks me up. But dude! where are the pics?

My truck was a trashcan, I cleaned it out, and strapped the tires down, its much quieter now. Go figure.

 

[Metcalf]

No pics till she is all one color and cleaned up I need to replace the grill shell, repaint the front bumper, etc.

 

[dwh]

My D100 was painted entirely in red primer when I got it. Didn't look too bad when it was clean, it was easy to touch up and I didn't give a hoot if it got beat up.

So I just left it like that.

 

[goodtimes]

Clear coat is totally MIA on the drivers side and hood, some of the paint is gone on the roof, and back of the cab, and the clear coat is 75% gone on the passenger side. I hadn't thought about putting clear on it again but I think the door is too far gone, as it had flaked through the clear and into the primer. That yellow on the door is over the basecoat however so I may be able to sand it out, I've found a couple dents so it was probably repainted and that yellow is filler.

If it's that far gone, it's time to sand/paint the whole thing. Sanding isn't about skill, it's about patience -- which is why I only paint small projects (motorcycles, camper shells, etc).

 

[Terrainist]

You have a '91 Dodge that is clear coated? Sure it isn't just faded paint? I'd be real surprised if that is clear coated. I have a '93 w250 dodge...

I'd be flabbergasted if these old trucks are base coat, clear coat. Um, as in they aren't (willing to be corrected). Maybe they started doing that in '94 with the new body style, but not the first gens.

 

[lstzephyr]

Its clear coated. I'm certain of it. It may have been cleared over stock paint which is why its peeling. The door has been repaired at some point (although, poorly) so I wouldn't be surprised.

I actually took a auto body class once, I just didn't really pay attention to the paint bit, I was more concerned with cutting up metal and putting it back together again.

I'll take a macro shot of it for you guys to be amazed at my trucks(not so) hi-tech clear paint.:sombrero:

 

[Terrainist]

Wow.. either someone took the time to do that - sort of weird. Or it comes like that from the factory. You took auto body so you know where the paint code is.

Grab a brush and a can of red rustoleum. I did (white), and the truck looks great. Right at home on the farm. Just hit it with a brush every 6 years and she's good to go. Sort of ruins an old truck to base/clear it. It's a bit fancy for an antique.

 

[74Pickup]

Clear coat

I'm sorry but clear coat was started in 1989. I had a 90 W350 fleet truck that was cleared. It began to peel after just two years.

 

[Terrainist]

Learn something new everyday... but I still don't think my truck is clear coated. It doesn't look like any clear coat I've ever seen. I should get the paint code and call the body supply shop, see what's up. And to clarify, I didn't paint my whole truck with a brush, just the bad spots. So there is still some "old" paint for someone to look at. I would have no qualms about painting the whole thing with a brush the way it's gone so far.

 

[lstzephyr]

You know that makes a ton of sense just painting the bad bits with a brush/roller and calling it good. I just want it to look decent from 10 feet or so. Realisticly I will still be leaning the bike on it, running it into things sometimes, and driving it in the woods sometimes so why not?

I'm going to paint the cap sometime anyway, so i will just get the closest paint I can and have at it. The door is almost sanded enough. Just need to do the bed.

This kind of stuff is why I ramble on here about this thing. You guys end up telling me helpful useful stuff I hadn't considered.

 

[Metcalf]

Mine was clear coated too.....at some time, but a lot of it was coming off. Just give it a good sanding and spray it in Rustoleum. I think they have a red that is pretty close to what you have. A gallon is like $30-40. Make sure you thin it about 50% though. Mine orange pealed, but not that bad. I should have enough paint on it to cut and buff, but I will probably just throw a coat of wax on it and call it good. Look for a color that you can get in spray cans for touch up or misc stuff. That has come in really handy for me already

 

[Terrainist]

I highly recommend just using a roller to get the paint on and then using a brush to smooth it out. Anything to cut down on the time spent (read wasted) on a freakin stupid vehicle. I mean, we're all gonna die someday. Don't be up there lamenting all that time you spent working on that stupid truck! Gawd. You will be super happy with yourself - cut's way down on masking, time, space, sanding and materials. Way less involved than spraying, you can do it at your leisure. No comparison. And the thing will look great for the time and headaches you had into it - none to little. And you don't even have to sand it really. Weathered old paint will take paint just fine put on with a brush. I don't sand it. If it needs it, scuff it up a little if it makes you feel better.

A 1999 dodge diesel is one thing. Resale value may be a concern. But a well used 1991 dodge diesel is another. You have a work truck. It's work is to take you where you want to go. Not to try to keep it's resale value. That will only go up.

So there are three guys standing around in the wilderness admiring their trucks. First guy says, "I paid 3 grand to have this painted. 5 coats of base, 5 coats of clear". Second guy says, "Sprayed mine myself in the garage. Hung up some plastic, spent a few days sanding and dong the body work and sprayed". Third guy says, "I grabbed a can and a brush and did it in the driveway while listening to the game on Sunday with a cold beer." Moment of silence... then they take off to hit the trails to beat the crap out of and scratch up the things they just spent time painting.

With spraying you end up with a barrier of air between the new paint being sprayed on and the surface. That's one of the reasons surface prep is so important before spraying, got to get that paint to stick. With a brush or a roller you are smashing that paint on there, huge difference. A sprayed house will need paint within 5 years. A house that was done with a roller can last 15 or more. My fathers house hasn't needed paint for 20 years because he took the time to coat it with a roller. Paint sprayed from a gun needs to be thinned typically as well. And spraying paint is akin to projectile vomiting the stuff on there.

For uniform coverage, finish and in certain instances, spraying paint can cut way down on the time it takes to paint something - like a building - spraying is better. There are reasons paint is sprayed obviously, depends on what you want.

Pick some little parts to start with first to get a hang of how it is going to go. Like your rocker panels maybe, or the front valance below the grill that gets rock chipped pretty bad. That will give you an idea of how things are going go so you can tell how confident you will be in appearances, etc.

I have painted a bit of my truck using a brush. For the big parts laid it on with a roller to get it on there fast and wet and then smoothed it out with a brush. Truck looks fine. I get comments all the time. Thumbs up at intersections, people saying things while I get fuel. "Truck looks real clean!! Nice!!" I always have to say.. don't let it fool you, it's just an old truck with 300,000 miles on it. "Really?". Never fails.

Anyways, rambling all over the place. People just spend way too much time on these stupid things.