Got a question for the body / Paint shop guys out there.

Got an 02 Ram 1500 which is in dire need of a paint job. The vehicle was pampered, which included washed and waxed on regular basis.

The vehicle is fading/chipping on the roof, and hood of the vehicle, and the mere appearance at this point is somewhat depressing. (I'll see if I can post some pics in the near future).

Anyway, I would like to know if anyone has tried painting a vehicle themselves as opposed to taking it to a body/paint shop

Thanks in advance.

 

I've painted multiple vehicles in the past trucks, cars, motorhomes, ect.Doing it yourself does save you alot of money but it also alot of work.And I mean alot of work.If you haven't done anything like this by yourself,I wouldn't attempt it unless you have some help by someone who has done this before

 

yea if you have no idea how to paint and cant get ahold of a person to do it with you, I would skip out.

The sanding, filling, blocking is work, but the actual spraying is all about technique, the right pressures, and knowing when to lay another coat at what thickness.

 

Would not attempt it myself and I have a 220v air compressor and all the painting stuff I'd need. Just too much prep work for me and there is a good deal of skill (which I do not possess) required to give a professional look.

I don't usually pay for work to be done on my vehicles. To date, my gears is the ONLY install I paid for, but I'd be paying a good shop to paint my truck if needed.

Also would be a job I'd not skimp on. I've seen vehicles which have gotten the Maaco economy job and after a year or so, they've looked as bad or worse than they did before...

 

If the truck has been babied like you said. It seems peculiar that all the paint is chipping and peeling and what not. Maybe previous owner neglected it. anyways depends on ure attention to detail. But if you plan on keeping the truck for some time the initial investment into a professional job would be worth the extra $$$ spent now. Who knows you could pay for all the materials to do it yourself & if you botch it, ure gonna be payin a pro to fix what you may "f" up and a new paint job.

 

Vehicle had one owner, which is myself. And vehicle as mentioned above was washed, and waxed on a regular basis.

 

See if a shop will let you do the prep work, sanding etc.
Might get you at least a little discount

Also, how hard would it be to do a little rust repair? Behind my rear fender there's two toonie sized spots of surface rust (a toonie's about twice the size of a quarter for you Americans). Or would that be harder than hiring it done?

 

The only low cost way that I know of to do this is to Camo it. I had an older Ford pickup that had a real ugly Blue paint job. I didn't want to invest in a paint job for the truck. So I did some sanding and painted it Camo. There is one real good thing about this if you off road. If it gets some pin striping on it just take out the appropriate can of paint and touch it up.

 

Camo? That is very interesting! Do you have some pics?

 

I dunno what the deal is with Ford blue, EVERY Ford I see more than two or three years old that is blue is a whited out, sun bleached mess here in the south...