Two Tone Paint Method (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Joined
Apr 2, 2003
Threads
126
Messages
1,618
Location
Wyoming
Question for those who have painted their rigs out there. I'm going back to the blue and white stock color. Using single stage paint. Do I:

A- paint the white, then mask it off and paint the blue. If I do that, do i prime over the white over spray after masking, then paint the blue?

B- Mask and paint each section individually? Seems like it would difficult getting a clean line this way but a local restoration hobbyist recommended this way.

C- paint the whole truck blue, then mask and cut in the white. My thinking behind this is that if the whole truck is blue, when i paint the white there won't be any difference in base (blue vs primer). Also it looks to me (from sanding) that Toyota painted the whole truck blue, then white overtop.

D- none of the above.

Also, i was planning on painting my doors and tailgate off the truck. It seems that the location of the transition on the 55 is such that it should look right when I reassemble. Am I correct or will I need to paint with the doors on the truck so the line down the body is more exact?
 
Last edited:
I would paint white first and let the over spray extend several inches past the intended tape line on the body. Once the white cures enough to tape, just mask and paint the blue color, if you’re concerned with adhesion you can scuff the white beyond your tape line before applying your blue.

Best to check the application guide for the paint you plan to use and look at recoat time and rely on that info before you take my word for anything.



Good luck, post lots of pictures.
 
Having just completed painting, I agree with JMack. I sprayed what would be white first. The stock paint looked like they painted white first including door jams. Then tape off white to paint the darker color. Taping in the door jams can be a pain, but you can get things covered for a great look. You're doing doors off so that will be easier.

I applied primer to the whole body. Light color first, then dark. I painted mine with doors on because I was worried about getting things aligned with new paint. I did however paint my tailgate off the vehicle because I dented it when I pulled it in the garage and it fell open and snapped the bailing wire I had it secured with. I also painted front fenders and hood off the vehicle. I did the fenders this way because I needed to paint the insides after sandblasting and priming.
 
The darker color will come up through the white. Rule of thumb usually is to apply darker colors over lighter.

That's what i was thinking, but couldn't figure out why there was blue beneath all of the white area from factory. Sorry to disappoint you on painting over the green and gold @RUSH55. Back in 1991 my brother (16 yrs old) had a really nice Mustard '76 fj40 that he had painted. He chose a metallic green they were painting new jeeps at the time. Soon after he painted it I turned 16 and bought it from him because he bought an FJ45. We both thought the green was really cool at the time, but ever since wished he would have kept it mustard. He now has a 1976 Mustard 40 he is restoring.

I bought the 55 a few years back because it was one of the cleanest. rust free I had ever seen for sale - but it was that same metallic green, ha ha. Also, the body shop had filled the gutter with bondo and done some other dumb things. So while I'm fixing those issues, I decided to take it back to original. Blue and white honestly isn't my first choice, but it was the original and that's what mrs likes. So, since she puts up with my cruiser addiction i figured I'd run with it.

@NikP how did you do your jambs? PO painted kind of half effort and didn't mask in the jams so it was just an overspray blur where they decided to quit one color and start the next.
 
@NikP how did you do your jambs? PO painted kind of half effort and didn't mask in the jams so it was just an overspray blur where they decided to quit one color and start the next.

It's just a meticulous job of taping things off. By the time you're done and ready to spray you'll have taped off most of the interior of the door and part of the exterior. I also taped off the jams when I went to paint the darker color because I wanted clear and clean lines and not a bunch of over-spray. I still had some just because I got in a hurry to spray and didn't think about it.... and now I have do go back and touch things up.

D5273E73-2FB2-40B6-93D9-7401A03054A6.jpeg


689CD76E-961D-4715-895B-951AD281880B.jpeg


89ADB330-AFD8-46E0-825B-E44B191660D7.jpeg
 
It's just a meticulous job of taping things off. By the time you're done and ready to spray you'll have taped off most of the interior of the door and part of the exterior. I also taped off the jams when I went to paint the darker color because I wanted clear and clean lines and not a bunch of over-spray. I still had some just because I got in a hurry to spray and didn't think about it.... and now I have do go back and touch things up.

yes, lots of taping! takes a long time to mask everything off.

@RUSH55 glad you got those. I'll take the same pics with the new paint when it's done then you'll have the two to reference, ha ha. Also, looks like @NikP painted his the colors mine used to be - just not metallic. looks great!
 
Having just completed painting, I agree with JMack. I sprayed what would be white first. The stock paint looked like they painted white first including door jams. Then tape off white to paint the darker color. Taping in the door jams can be a pain, but you can get things covered for a great look. You're doing doors off so that will be easier.

I've been looking at my pig as well as online photos of what are advertised as "original" paint pigs. They all show the white jambs between the doors and the body color with the doors closed. Of course you only see it straight on and it's a very thin, vertical line but it makes me wonder why they didn't split the paint on the jambs from the factory like the body. Interesting.
 
I've been looking at my pig as well as online photos of what are advertised as "original" paint pigs. They all show the white jambs between the doors and the body color with the doors closed. Of course you only see it straight on and it's a very thin, vertical line but it makes me wonder why they didn't split the paint on the jambs from the factory like the body. Interesting.

I mentally wrestled with that same issue. I don't like seeing a white jamb in the middle of my dark body panel. I thought about paint the jamb two-toned as well. As I was taping, it was just easier to do what the factor did and live with the "see through" area.
 
I was thinking I'd two tone it. Since I have the doors off, will be easy to do. @NikP do you have photos of how your jambs turned out? Since the original owner painted mine before he sold it to me, the jambs were already painted so I'm not sure how they looked factory.
 
I was thinking I'd two tone it. Since I have the doors off, will be easy to do. @NikP do you have photos of how your jambs turned out? Since the original owner painted mine before he sold it to me, the jambs were already painted so I'm not sure how they looked factory.

I think they looked like this:

1977_toyota_land_cruiser_fj55_1540681579ef66e7dff9f98764da6-2.jpg


1977_toyota_land_cruiser_fj55_15406816538764daDSC1207.jpg
 
Where are people sourcing single stage paints?
 
Here's what I did to avoid seeing the white (or lighter color) from the side view. I followed inner Panel line.
5904EF70-6F76-4F9D-BD8E-9CF1BE222F90.jpeg
 

Similar threads

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom