Need direction for painting my 80 (1 Viewer)

[bysiklest]

Like the title states, I have a 1993 80 series and will be painting it soon. It was originally a dark grey color and one side had been repainted after some body work to a very similar color grey. I have started by sanding the whole truck down to remove the top layer of clear coat and paint. Much of the clear coat was gone already and what was left came off quickly with some 180 grit sand paper using my electric orbital sander. I had to do some body work on one of the doors so there is some bondo on it and there were several scratches that had to be sanded down to the bare metal. I need advice on how to proceed...

I am looking to repaint it and need to stay as least expensive as possible.

My first thought is do all the prep myself (I'm almost done with this I think) and take it to MAACO to get is sprayed with a single stage paint and possibly clear coat. If I do this, do I need to primer the bondo and bare metal areas before taking it there for the basic mask and shoot they do?

Or should I try to spray on the primer and paint myself. I have a very basic compressor and a siphon style spray gun that I used to paint an old fishing boat once. That finish was a marine topcoat that came out pretty glossy but did have some runs and whatnot in it. This would be my first time trying to paint a vehicle...

I have looked at bedliner as an option and while I don't want to do the entire truck in liner, I will be doing the flares and rocker panels in the basic spray on liner from a can. I would do the whole truck in bedliner, but to do that well seems to be fairly expensive and the resale value would suffer. I have no plans on selling, but have to leave it open as an option at some point in the future.

As it sits now...

 

[sonofshin]

Have you looked into the rustoleum roll on paint job? Im thinking about painting my 100 this way. Sounds pretty inexpensive but a bit of work.

 

[bysiklest]

I had thought of that, but the sanding work involved with rolling it on is more than I want to do. I have seen reports of good results from those though. I think I would still rather spray on the paint than roll it if it cuts down on work. I was sick of sanding after just doing what I have already done...

 

[sonofshin]

That's my main hang up with it too.

 

[MSGGrunt]

Have you looked into if you have a local vocational technical school near you? Depending on the school, they can do a surprisingly good job. The instructors are usually ASI certified. Paint cost isn't too bad if you use a mid grade like PPG's Omni line. Dupont has a similiar mid level line. I'd use a base coat clear coat system. You can get away with the mid line paints that have a lower solids count (just have to put on a few more layers) and cover it with a higher end (high solids) clear coat. It is the clear that protects the underlying paint.

I U-pol coated my entire 80 series tinted to match the body color and the cost was very reasonable. Would only take two Upol kits.

 

[winoism]

If you want costs cheap Maaco can do a good job. Single stage is just that, single stage. If you add clear you go into 2 stage which ups the price not only for the material but the labor. 90% of a good paint job is all about the body work and the prep. If it's a rush job, the panels aren't straight and so on no matter how good the paint job is, it will look like crap. I've painted plenty of cars single stage and they last for years. Just remember to go to Maaco knowing exactly what you want and want to pay. Rule of thumb is you get what you pay for. You might find a small local panel shop that can do the same job for the same price with better paint. Find out what paint brand Macco uses and a small Indy shop and a take the Macco quote with you. You might be surprised. Take your time and do good body work first and foremost


...via IH8MUD app

 

[benwah]

There are a lot of online sources showing how to get the most out of a Maaco paint job, and which paint to select. The main issue with Maaco is surface prep, they don't do any, so make sure all of that is completed before giving it to them. I would suggest a (poly)urethane over acrylic, urethane's are harder and hold up to UV better. Acrylic are cheaper, so there is your trade off.