I am planning on painting my truck this summer, and I really wanna go with an all matte finish, still debating whether I will do a gray and black camo type pattern or just go all solid black. Anyways, I am tossing around the idea of going all military black, using Humvee paint. They call it CARC, but I am not going to use the stuff that can withstand chemical warfare I don't think, it is two part and pretty nasty, so they make some stuff that has everything but the anti-chemical warfare admixtures in it. So basically I am going to do my body work and then paint everything, including sandblasting all of my chrome and painting it also. If I go camo, the pattern will carry through parts, like the grill and bumpers. I am also thinking about sandblasting the chrome wheels and painting those also. Anyone ever see a Dakota done in all black matte finish? Look decent? Any feedback is welcomed, I am open to suggestions.

 

Not black matte, but I have seen one done in a sand color matte finish and it looked good. My $0.02 is go for all black, not camo.

If you need help with body work, I wrote up a thread about it (just in case you've never done it before, I'm not trying to insult you)... https://dodgeforum.com/forum/1st-gen...rk-thread.html

Heres the sand color truck...
lside.jpg?t=1239718918

 

That truck looks real nice. I am debating now between black, sand, or gray. When I see a truck look nice like that it makes me rethink. Looks like he has a full body lift on it. No insult, this is actually my first bodywork job and I learned a lot from your write up, plan on using it as my guide. I have a few other vehicles that need more than what my truck has so I will probably be writing you to ask questions.

I am planning on sandblasting my chrome clean (or wire brushing it) and painting it all matte, including rims. I have to get the little bit of rust off of the bottom of my door and do some very minor body work, maybe one dent that needs to be filled, nothing too major but I know the first time I take a grinder and wire brush to the body of my truck I am going to wince a little.

 

ill be watching your progress, I have a Gen II Dakota and i plan on doing this to my truck. Im going with the WWII matte green color. Then i am going to have my fender flares and the rocker panels done with that rhino line, spray stuff. should look bad asz.

 

That truck was from a link in the FAQs section. The guy said on his site that it has the full 4 inch trailmaster suspension lift instead of a body lift. I designed a rear bumper that's based off of his. I need to build it one of these days but I have so many other projects going on with this truck that it might not happen soon. I do have the same fender flares :P

I haven't done a lot with sandblasting, so I can't help you there, but most people wince a little the first time they take a grinder to their own vehicle! Make sure you remove the mirrors, handles, windows, moldings, trim peices, etc... don't tape any of that stuff up, cause it will look terrible. I still say pick a single color to paint it instead of going with a camo look.

 

I know you have written it before, but where did you get your fender flares from? I have sandblasted before, need to be careful to not rip up the metal, which is why I might take a wire wheel brush to it instead, just more time consuming. I have been looking on some military vehicle forums, and it seems like a lot of people prefer to use the red rustoleum primer and then paint over that.

As far as the bumpers go, I might keep the rear one on for now and just paint it black, but I have really been wanting to redo both. Not exactly sure where to start with that one. I should mention that I have a TIG welder so I am sure the welding part won't be a problem.