I've owned this truck for over 20 years. My dad bought it new in '95 and when he passed in '98, it fell to me. Best darn truck I've ever owned! However, about 5 years ago the paint started peeling off in sheets. Cheap Mopar paint that the factory used in the mid '90s. I've seen lots of other Dodge trucks from that era with the same problem. I rebuilt the 3.9 at the 150k mark so mechanically, it's sound. I decided it was time to spruce it up a bit.

Quite a bit of rust had formed on the roof and most of the paint had peeled off the hood. Paint was peeling on the tops of the fenders and tailgate also.







First I removed everything that could be unbolted and started peeling off the stripe.



I thought I'd try Evaporust on the rusty roof. Followed their instructions to the letter. I soaked some super absorbent paper towels with Evaporust, layed them on the rusted panels, covered with a tarp and waited 24 hours. Came out the next day and not one particle of rust had been removed! So much for that garbage!



I wound up attacking the rust with some 36 grit and that took care of that. I then stripped all the paint above the mouldings with 80 grit followed by 150. I left the paint below the mouldings alone 'cause it was in good shape. I used 320 on that so the new paint would stick.



The white paint would not feather edge so it all had to come off.



I removed the hood, cowl panel and tailgate and sand blasted them in the backyard. It was just easier that way.



Let me digress and tell the paint story now:

California has far too many rules and regulations! You can't buy regular paint here, you can only get low VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) paint. In addition, you can't order it online 'cause no one will ship to Califronia. So, down to the local paint store I go for a price quote on the low VOC crap. 1 gallon each of primer, single stage color, clear and accompanying activator. $850! After picking myself up off the floor, I went home and called Summit Racing and asked for a price quote on the same stuff except NON low VOC. $218 out the door! Reno is 4 hours away. The next morning I packed up the wife and we headed off on a road trip. Made a weekend out of it. Beautiful drive through the Sierras, picnic lunch on the Truckee river, overnight stay at a casino, grabbed my paint supplies at Summit and headed back the next day. Even after paying for gas/food/lodging, I was still $400 on the plus side and with better quality paint too!

Layed on a few coats of 2k primer.





I sanded the primer with 150 and masked the truck. Home Depot sells 200 sq ft of 1mm thick plastic sheeting for $3. $15 later I had my paint booth.





I shot 3 coats of color followed by 3 coats of clear. I used SEM Trim Black on the fender flares, air dam and mirrors. The original blue stripe is a decal and it's made of unobtainium. Not available anywhere. So, I got a few ounces of blue and silver toner and painted the stripe on then cleared over it. I'm a rookie at this so there's a couple runs in the clear. Ideally, I should cut and buff the whole truck but, it's a truck. I use it for hauling and going to the dumps. I just wanted to get some color on it so it looks half way decent. In addition, there's a couple of small dings that I didn't fix. But once again, it's a truck! I'm good with it. The wife thinks it looks like a new truck. I kinda have to agree.

 

Dang.

Makes me wish I had a garage!

RwP

 

That actually turned out rather nice. Good Job.

 

I paint my cars and trucks out in the driveway. The last paint job cost me $40 and I had a half gallon of Rust-O-leum flat black enamels left when I got done. I'll admit the last paint job I used the wrong type of roller so I painted some brown blobs on it. The camo effect was good enough the truck would disappear at night if I wasn't careful.

 

freakin hell man nice job. I rolled mine with Rustoleum just to get it a single color, because it was a mishmash of colors, but once I replace the rusty fender and build a flatbed I would like to actually do a proper job like yours. Really nice.

 

Not as bad as using the wrong type of paint. I used Rustoleum metallic and didn't realize until after that metallic can't be sanded. So it's just matte silver. Oh well.

 

I didn't bother sanding. Just a new coat every couple of years. I suspect before I finally sold it, the layers of paint were the only things holding it together.

To anybody else wanting to paint their truck or car (or dog) with a roller. Here's how you do it. First prep the vehicle. Remove anything you can, like mirrors, that you don't want to paint. Wash the vehicle with a scuffer sponge and water with Dawn dish detergent (I guess other brands will work, Dawn is what we use at work to remove the kerosene smell after we use solvent to get asphalt out of our clothes). This will remove dirt, grease and wax from the paint. Once it's dry, tape off anything left that you don't want to paint. Door handles, windshield and so on. Get a really fluffy roller or two and some brushes. Mix the paint well and lay newspaper around on any concrete . Start painting from the top down. Stay away from trees unless you want a 3D effect. (Bugs, leaves, twigs and such.) If you're painting it black and want to make a camoflage paint job, wait a week then tape off some abstract shapes and use some brown spray paint. Be aware it will disappear at night if you do this. This paint job will last two or three Indiana summers.

 

I've never used a detergent that out-does Dawn. Stuff is unbelievable. And yeah your procedure is basically what I do, and in fact the only place on the truck that I can still see a hint of roller marks is on the hood, everywhere else you can't even tell! (but you can tell that it's a bad paint job lol)

 

Ugly trucks with bad paint jobs don't get cut off in traffic.Years ago, ERA powdered laundry detergent had enzymes that made it good to remove dried egg from a paint finish. I don't know if that is even available anymore. I also used Dawn once to get rid of a flea infestation when I bought my house. Water with it in it and a heat lamp aimed at it. They would jump into the water and drown. Between that, and once I knocked it down a bit, a bug bomb, no more fleas. I've also wiped a small amount on the inside of water hoses so they slide on easier. I've since gone with dielectric grease for that so there isn't any foaming in the coolant.

 

40 years ago, I took an auto body class at a local high school. But everything has pretty much changed since that.....
If you dont mind me asking a few questions about the specifics of your paint job....
1. What brand paint did you end up using?
2. Was it a factory color match?
3. Assuming you put the clear over the white, why a single stage paint vs 2 stage?

Your truck does look nice!!