Painting my truck, got a few questions

[T-Bob Parker]

I have an 03 Chevy 2500 4x4 that is a month away from being paid off and I've finally got the extra money from my new position at work to do a little tinkering on it. The 4wd works great and the engine/ transmission are in good shape for a truck with over 200,000 on it.

I took the tailgate off and sanded it good with some 400 grit paper and gave it the first coat of olive green spray paint. This will be my test piece.

How many coats should I apply of regular flat spray paint?

Should I wash the original paint job with soap and water?

Do I need to apply mineral spirits or denatured alchohol?

Is there a cheap clear coat that will protect it from minor scratches?

I planned on painting it flat because when I scratch it, I can just grab my extra can and reapply more paint to the scratch before goin on a hot date, but the more I think on it, the more I think I may need a durable clear coat, what y'all think?

I don't like the look of roll on bed liner, but want to do the hood and bottom of the door panels/ bottom half of bed in rubber, so do y'all have any tricks to making roll on rubber look professional?

Thanks in advance yall

[SCHitemHard]

two to three layers, first real light, second keep it light, third layer make sure its all covered, wash the truck with a pressure washer to ensure your down to the clear coat, i use a orbit sander or a belt sander. use alcohol if you want, i didnt use any just went at it with the sander and then mineral rubbed the bare metal to make sure i got spots. if your goin with flat color dont use clear coat just keep flat paint handy. like i said above if you make it heavy it shouldnt matter if there is a scratch or not with flat paint. if you want to rubberize the truck its best to let a pro do it, i tried it and it bubbled up and ruined the truck due to rust gettin into the bubbles.

i have some pictures of my old mustang when i painted it ill look around for them. good luck and lets see some before and after with progress shots!

[dub]

Sand it. Fill any major spots. Soak the ground where you will paint it. Wipe it down with alcohol because it drys fast. The wet ground keeps the dust down. Then paint it. I would use a HVLP spray gun. I am planning to do the exact same thing next month. You have seen my other truck. I like flat paint for many reasons. It hides dents real good and it is easy to patch up. So if you find a spot later that does not look good you can just do a little sanding and touch it up. Just use a paint that you can get in a spray can too for those touch ups after a little oops. A good job is in the details. Be sure to remove emblems and either fill the holes or paint them seperate and put them back on. I would remove any of those bump strips or whatever they are called. They look bad pained or taped off. You need a heat gun to get thise off. Only tape what you can't take off. But with flat paint you can always go back to make it look better.

[Bino9905]

the time and money your going to spend, I would just take it to Maaco and get the $225 dollar paint job they advertise.
It will probably be better off in the long run.
later

[T-Bob Parker]

I don't think there's such a thing as the 225 dollar paint job. Thanks though

[Reuben]

I don't think there's such a thing as the 225 dollar paint job. Thanks though

I could do it for 225 but you probably wouldn't like it... 

[dub]

I plan to go by a shop and ask how much it would cost. They have the heat lamps to make the paint cure faster. If you know someone offer some food and drink to sit and watch. They can point out things you might over look. When I was drag racing I would go over and use someone's shop and bring a case of beer. They would sit around and give me a hard time but I learned so much from them. But I started painting cars in my mom's garage. Put tarps or plastic up and wet the cement good. Tape and paper everything to prevent overspray. Flat is very forgiving.

[mod93dirt]

Since I work at a bodyshop I figure I'll throw my two cents in.

If you are just using rattle can paint, then I wouldnt worry bout a clear coat. There are matte finish clears available, but if your painting over rattle can than I am guessing you are probably looking to do it as cheap as possible and the clear aint worth the effort. I would just buy a case or two of the same paint at one time to be able to touch up later. Believe it or not even mass produced rattle can colors can vary greatly of production times and different lot numbers and so on.

Wash the truck first with just soap and water, scuff it with the 400, then wipe down with Wax and Grease remover(should be able to find at any auto paint supply store). Wipe down with a tack rag and you are ready to paint. Like others said if painting in a garage or something, wetting the floor will help greatly with keeping the dust down.

As for the bedliner, I have done those too. A roll on will NEVER look as good or be as durable as a spray on. Any roll on I have ever seen is solvent based. Which means it just relies on the solvent evaporating to cure. Spray ons are a catalytic 2part product that are hard to the touch within a few seconds, and fully cured shortly after. No comparison between the two. And as with a paint job, the prep is the big part of a bedliner as well. But we use some serious abrasive to prep for bedliners.

Let me know if you have any other questions and I will try and help out. Shoot, offer me a good weekend of hunting and a yeller pup or two and I'll make the trip down from OK and paint it for you!!!

Like we tell people at the shop, you can have it 2 of 3 ways. Right, Fast, or Cheap...pick two cuz you can't gonna get all 3!!

[T-Bob Parker]

 . That's good advice right there! Thank you.

I did the tailgate and it came out great. I believe I will be doing two things different though, first, on the bedliner, I'm just going to pay to have it done by the pros.
Second, I'm changing colors from olive to the sandy tan.

I'm thinking of rhino lining the hood as well as the lower half of the body and just think it'll look wicked sweet to drive up to ranches with a truck that matches my dogs.

I'm gonna paint BMC on the tailgate. " Black Mouthed Chevy"

[dwhd93]

Not to sure how familiar you are with Alvin/pearland but there's a guy down cr 99 a little ways from my house that does reallllllll good work outa his garage as a side job and he's pretty fair on his prices you go down 99 and its 4 streets on the right passed the valero he also runs a kickboxing dojo he's got KICKBOXING painted real big on the side of his house but he don't understand much English. If you get to Moore and son movin company you've gone to far. Just gimme a shout if you need anymore directions and yes he will do the bed liner