1993 Dodge Dakota LE, 5.2L, A518 (46RH) auto trans, RWD, 191,000 miles, original owner

The clear coat on my hood and roof was pretty much worn through. Then I had a small engine compartment fire this past summer that cooked a nice burn spot on my hood. It was about 4-5" in diameter. That was enough to motivate me to finally repaint the hood and roof. I wont get into the whole story because it would take forever. But the combination of me forgetting how to prep and paint, inability to see due to age, some lousy paint equipment, and some contamination it took me way longer at greater expense to finally get it right. Nonetheless, it is done and I place it at a notch below professional. With the archaic conditions I have there is simply no way to get a professional result. But, it still looks great anyway. Color: PVB Dark Copper Metallic. It isn't a 100% match to the original. The original paint is slightly bluer (less yellow). But it is still real damn close. No one will notice or care. I used to do color matching so I notice but then I knew going in it wouldn't be 100%. 33 year old paint vs new original formula...impossible to incorporate the patina.

 

Great job! I would be proud to have that ride parked in my driveway!

 

Nice work! I did mine long ago and redid the clear coat in spots that have decayed and come off. I built a paint booth with tarps. All those spots are not looking like they did. The hood seems good but the doors, roof, spots on the fenders are awful. That auto shop paint matched well but the rattle can clear coat doesn't last. Maybe I did not sand them enough?

 

Yeah, with the amount of babying I've done to that stupid truck I can't help but feel a bit of pride in it. I'd be lying if I said otherwise. It's at a point now where I'd say one out of every three trips I make someone stops to tell me they admire the truck. And many of them are not as old as my truck.

 

Yeah, that rattle can clearcoat is likely garbage. I used a two-part clearcoat I shot out of a spray gun. They make rattle can clearcoat these days that are two part. You puncture something in the bottom of the can that mixes the two parts together. I'm guessing it's a pretty good clearcoat.

I initially started by making a plastic tent in my garage to keep the dust down. Turns out it was more of a PITA than it was worth. I sprayed my hood with the truck parked in ***-first and the garage door open. Dust was really not a problem TBH. Certainly no worse than with the tent. I couldn't do that in the Spring cuz where i live the pollen is always flying. Summer is always humid beyond belief so I have to paint in the Fall and on warmer winter days. Not sure when you ask aboput not sanding enough if you're referring to the basecoat or the clearcoat??

 

Looks Great!

 

The clear coat. It looks pretty much like it did before I painted. I was thinking maybe I did not remove enough of the old oxidised stuff. But yea it sounds like the rattle can stuff is probably the issue. Some spots are OK, like the whole hood. just the spots that were oxidised and peeled back have gone bad again. That difference is why I was wondering about having not sanded enough. I painted the whole hood and put a lot of coats of that rattle can clear coat on it and it seems fine if not as shiny as regular clear coat.
Here is a picture. the problem areas were all like this and I wet sanded them until they did not look like that dry them hit them with the rattle can clear coat.