i want to do a paint job for my truck and im planning on getting rid of all the rust spots and using fiberglass and bondo to re pair it i know how to do the body work but am not sure what i need to do to paint it. all i want is a cheap decent paint job i dont need a high end job cause i kno it will get scratched and stuff as it is a daily driver. should i use auto body spray paint such as dupli color or would it be worth it to use a sprayer as i already have one. would primer in a can work? i want it to look like this when im done (not with the exhaust and rims though, thats after the paint job lol)
stageone.png
image thanks to Johhnysart

 

Don't use fiberglass to repair metal! You're just asking for trouble later on down the road when it starts to seperate. Use a body filler designed for metal, but before you fill anything, use a hammer to bang out any dings or dents. The less body filler you have to use, the better!

There is a writeup I did about body and paint work in the faq2 thread of the 1st gen section. I don't know if Crazy4x4RT put it in this sections new faq thread or not.

If you have a HVLP sprayer, automotive paint is the best thing to use. If there is an auto body supply shop in your area, go there to buy paint and primer. It will cost more, but its a lot less work in the long run and the finished product will be much better.

I painted my truck a couple summers ago with Du Ponts Nason line automotive paint in my garage and here is how it turned out when I was done...

DSCF1416.jpg?t=1264463322

 

well its rusted pretty badly how else am i supposed to fix it i could weld in some new panels but thats more work lol

 

Oh, I didn't realize you meant rust holes. Yeah, weld in new metal. Laying fiberglass over metal is just asking for trouble! It won't stick long-term. I've worked for over 3 years in an auto body shop... I'm not trying to lead you wrong here!

 

you could be lazy and rock out with rivets! I dunno how it lasts but I did it for a quick fix this winter on a freak warm saturday

 

yea its rusted out pretty bad as you can see by this picture
mytruck2.jpg
and no im not doing rivets i actually do want this truck to look like the pic i posted earlier the only thing i cant afford just yet is the rims lol

 

If your going to spend the time to work on it do it right that way in 3 years you dont have to redo your work. Where are you located at? I went to our local surplus city and picked up everything from primer,hardner,paint and clear coat for for under 300.00 its not professional paint but our 78 cj5 sure looks 10x better than what it did.

 

Painting at home is not too difficult but requires time and attention to detail. I painted mine last winter and it took about 2 weeks from start to finish including tear down and rebuild with a total cost of about $500, but I went with a flat paint. As far as supplies you will need a paint gun if you want it to look good a rattle can isn't going to look good no matter what. Also you need a place to build a paint booth in order to keep out contaminants. Ideally this extends about 3 feet beyond the truck in all directions. As far as fiberglass on metal, hell no cut it out and weld in new metal or you're just going to have to redo it. When prepping take your time and do it right the end result will show your effort.

 

Zanethan, do you have pics of your paint booth? When I did mine I made one out of my garage! My garage has a back door in the middle of the back wall, so what I did was lower the garage door down just high enough to line it with filters and sealed off the rest, lined the walls of the garage with plastic, and aimed a fan out the back door to keep air going through it. It worked great! Paint came out very clean and the overspray was not bad at all.

 

lmc truck sells the wheel well sections that you cut out the rust and weld these in

http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/dde/full.aspx?Page=16