Infamous $50 paint job!!

[roundhouse]

If you use the isocyinate hardener use a fresh air supply hood
It WILL cause PERMANENT lung damage if you breath it

This is one of the dissuaders for me to spray a quality paint myself.  The older I get, the more chemical sensitivities I am acquiring, and I ain't spraying that stuff in a residential area with kids around neither.  Just my choice in this matter.

maybe we should stop driving non-emission controlled cars too....those have dangerous emissions that can cause PERMANENT damage to humans and the environment.  Add gasoline to that list too....oh, and not to mention the gasoline refining process altogether.  Maybe we can all lobby our local congressmen to put very strict rules on all paint shops....so that eventually all auto paint will be outlawed too.  Oh...and not too be too off-the-wall, make sure never to barbecue...charcoal and propane are pretty dangerous to the lungs too....not to mention fire.  All....very good points.

Or...get a 3m mask with 07046 organic vapor cartridges and don't invite the neighborhood rascals to hang out with you when you're spraying.

uggggg

Just use a fresh air hood

It's not gonna hurt the neighbors
But in a closed room for hours while it's being atomized
Is a really bad idea

It's causes severe permanent non reversible lung damage

It kills whatever lung cells it gets to
And they wont ever grow back


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[fxrsrider]

I do agree with the guys above, that the fumes are dangerous.  And yes, fresh air intake and adequate exhaust are paramount for indoor auto paint spraying.

I spray outside (not in the garage) and use a 3m mask and safety eyewear......(same precautions (save the gloves and tyvek suit) that I use when mixing and applying polyester resin, which is far more dangerous than the auto paint, into rubber molds to make sculptures.  To be fair, I use a full face mask when working with polyester resin since the fumes are very dangerous to the eyes).

I'm not sharing all this info out of my rear end....I learned polyurethane, polystyrene, and polyester resin mixing and applications from Polytech Inc. in PA and from working in a contemporary sculpture fabrication shop in Brooklyn, NY where we fabricated sculptures for some of the world's most successful artists (artworks that sold for $100s of thousands).

I learned my auto body and paint skills from my uncle who ran one of the biggest auto body chains out here in Los Angeles, CA and has built an award winning 55 Chevy Sedan Delivery himself.....from the ground up--frame, body, suspension, drivetrain, interior-- full off frame restore and hot rodding, alone in his own garage and driveway, here in LA too.

[MannyDantyla]

Small update for ya.

I've been driving around with 7 different colors, lol. That will soon change.



It stopped raining just long enough to do some body work and get two coats of paint on the fenders.



First I filled the gaps in my amature welds with fiberglass body filler.



Then regular body filler.



Then block sanded the whole fenders.



Then high build primer and some glazzing putty.



Followed by more block sanding.



The next morning I rolled on some white rustoleum (I roll on the paint in the morning when it's cool and the bugs are down). I'm sticking to my game plan of painting the whole truck with two coats of white, one panel at a time. This seals up the primer and allows me to continue using the truck as my daily driver.



I've been using the tailgate as my work bench (its the perfect standing height) so the tailgate will be the last thing to get painted.



In order to install the bumpers before I'm finished painting, I rolled the green rustoleum I'll be using. I got lazy and the next morning I just used the spray can version of the same color.



This is just one very ugly coat. Can't wait to start painting the whole truck for real.

[fxrsrider]

First I filled the gaps in my amature welds with fiberglass body filler.

For jumping in head first like you've done....the metal work looks good. Don't underestimate yourself....from the sounds of this post, you've been doing your homework.....well done. Looking forward to seeing your final results.

[87_Rado]

Looking forward to seeing the results man I'm gonna be painting my truck soon as well good luck!

[87V20Kansan]

In one of your pics I think I spy the University of Kansas. I'm over in Olathe. I will keep my eye out for your truck when I make it to Larry town. Keep it up!

I have, without body work costs, what is equivalent to an $8k paint job on my '87 K20. I didn't pay nearly that because I have friends in the industry. However, what that $8k job did for me is force me to buy another truck to work out of because the thought of scratching it with granite tools or granite scraps makes me want to vomit. It also makes parking my '87 in a parking lot an affair that includes lots of walking, nervousness, and constant worry, about idiots hurting it. Oh, and let's not forget the added pressure of avoiding ALL driving situations that could lead to a panic stop. 37's and no weight in the bed make for very easy rear brake lock up and loooooooong stopping distances. All of that about a truck that is painted in one of the easiest to blend, easiest to fix colors in the world, GM SUMMIT WHITE! I can't imagine how messed up I'd be if it were Synergy green, or GM white diamond.

My '89 big block dually work truck will never see the business end of a spray gun unless I am shooting entry level single stage urethane. It is much more likely to be treated to your method. I can't wait to see the end result!

[Flyinhillbilly]

Any updates? Harbor freight sells a pretty good hvlp gravity feed spray gun for about $20. I've switched to them completely since if I forget something catalyzed in it it's not a big deal. I've painted many cars with them and it is the best deal going on a spray gun IMO.

[MannyDantyla]

Thank you guys for the kind words! Sorry about the lack up updates, I have been working a lot on this truck but the weather (very rainy this summer here in Kansas) has slowed me down a lot. But I'm got a lot of work done and I'm ready to share it with you fine folks :)

In one of your pics I think I spy the University of Kansas. I'm over in Olathe. I will keep my eye out for your truck when I make it to Larry town. Keep it up!

I have, without body work costs, what is equivalent to an $8k paint job on my '87 K20. I didn't pay nearly that because I have friends in the industry. However, what that $8k job did for me is force me to buy another truck to work out of because the thought of scratching it with granite tools or granite scraps makes me want to vomit. It also makes parking my '87 in a parking lot an affair that includes lots of walking, nervousness, and constant worry, about idiots hurting it. Oh, and let's not forget the added pressure of avoiding ALL driving situations that could lead to a panic stop. 37's and no weight in the bed make for very easy rear brake lock up and loooooooong stopping distances. All of that about a truck that is painted in one of the easiest to blend, easiest to fix colors in the world, GM SUMMIT WHITE! I can't imagine how messed up I'd be if it were Synergy green, or GM white diamond.

My '89 big block dually work truck will never see the business end of a spray gun unless I am shooting entry level single stage urethane. It is much more likely to be treated to your method. I can't wait to see the end result!

Good eye! Yes, that's KU in the background, I live just off campus. The students walk buy every day to get to class and the more observant ones are watching the progress of the truck week by week and giving me complements. BTW, are you a part of the KC Square Body association? Are you going to the Midwest All Truck Nationals that is, as I type this, in two days? That show as supposed to be my deadline for this truck project, but I'm going to miss the deadline. :/

[MannyDantyla]

The last thing to prep for paint: the tailgate




Wait.. no.. the roof, thats that last thing that needs body work (I hope)...

There were holes in the roof, I think they were from a visor. The PO just ripped the visor off and left the open holes there, maybe he thought it would be a nice way to collect rain water or something...



A few months ago I plugged the holes with silicon and sheet metal screws, but now it's time to do something for real about it.

I filled the holes with fiberglass body filler, then sanded it smooth. When I did that, I found rust under the paint!



OH GAWD WHY ME?!?!?!



I used a grinder with one of the black abrasive sponge things on it, it worked really well.



Then I layed on some white Rustoleum primer. I haven't tryied the primer yet on anything, I sprayed sandable primer on the other areas of the truck but this time I didn't care so much about little scratches - it's just the hood where no one can see it...



Ok NOW I can start painting...

[MannyDantyla]

I gave an extra 3 or 4 more coats of white rustoleum where it needed it in the two-tone paint scheme. I think there's a total of 6-8 coats, lol, hard to say. I did a good job of laying it on really smooth and I will only need a little bit of sanding to knock down the orange peel. And yes, it now as 33" tires and no lift instead of 35" tires and a 4" lift. I told you I was working hard on this truck!



Now, I'm FINALLY!!! ready for the green paint. oh my God I can't tell you how ready I am to pain this thing green. First I masked it off.



I've added one one additive to the mixture: enamel hardener by valspar. It says it helps with UV protection, hardness and dry time and is ideal for adding to tractor implement paint. A little pricey at $20 but you only need a tiny amount and I think it really helps. I recommend it.



So the mixture I'm using is:

• 8 ounces of rustoleum enamel
• 6 or 7 ounces of paint thinner (you'll need to adjust this to your temp/humidyt, more on that in a bit...)
• 1 ounce of penetrol
• 0.5 ounces of enamel hardener

You'll need a little more if you're painting the whole truck, not just the color section of the two-tone scheme.

After one coat:



Look at that! Would ya just look at it! I mean, just look at it! lol

One guy walking up the street saw that and said, "oh, so you're going for the splotchy look?" Get out of here! (actually, I think it looks really neat, with a little practice it could be a really cool paint job with just one coat of color paint over a solid white).

Then, I thought I'd try something stupid. I had enough time before the sun was high enough in the sky for one more coat of paint, but the first was no where near dry. I mixed up a new batch and started rolling it on. Bad idea! Along with the terrible orange peel (not sure if that was caused by the change in temperature or what) but it kinda fudged up the first still-wet layer underneath it. I stopped after doing half the fender.

[MannyDantyla]

I reckon that now would be a good time to talk about how to do this outside in the driveway or where ever. You see, you can't do this in the sun. The sun will cause the paint to "dry" (for a lack of better word) before it has had enough time to flow out nice and flat. You'll get massive orange peel.

There's two times of the day to paint without the sun while also still being able to see: the morning and the evening. But there's a problem with painting in the evening: bugs! I tried painting in the evening once and so many tiny little flies and mosquitoes and even one big moth got stuck in the paint.

So really, there's only one small window of time in the day to paint outside and that is in the wee morning hours. I'm fortunate that a big tree is blocking the sun until precisely 9:35. But also, painting in the morning means the paint will bake in the sun all day long and that's awesome. We want that.

But there's a problem with painting in the morning: condensation!

Never before have I payed so much attention to the dew point, which is the point that the air cannot hold any more water and it condensates out. When the temperate drops and reaches the dew point, the relative humidity reaches 100% and dew condensates on the most vulnerable things outside: vehicles. Basically this means that the dew point must be low enough that there isn't condensation all over the truck in the morning. A shammee helps with a little condensation but it's not going to get the gallon of water that builds up when humidity is at 100% for several hours overnight.

And you obviously can't paint in the rain or snow, and you can't paint when leaves are falling. So, in addition to the small window of time of day that is appropriate for painting outisde and the small window of weather conditions that is appropriate for painting outside, there's only a small window of the time of year that is appropriate for aping outside too!

Sheesh! Hopefully now you understand why it's taken me all summer to get only this far.

Anyways...

I managed to get three coats on before it rained and ruined my masking job.



Remove the masking tape was not fun. This style of painting might not be the best choice for two-tone paint jobs, because the paint sags into the crease in the tape. I also just suck a prep work I guess because the paint peeled off with the tape is several spots.



And here's the worst offende. Ouch!



makes me cringe just looking at that photo

[fitz]

Looks good so far, just a few areas to touch up and everything will be fine.
Did you stay close to the $50 budget?  Around here Maaco paint jobs for trucks start at $750, so you have a great start to a budget build.
If people are reasonable with what to expect with a $50 paint job, I'm sure they will be happy. It sure beats the multi primered colored trucks that are running around.

What year is the blue Honda?  That's a cool looking bike.

[MannyDantyla]

No, no way close to $50. If you only include the paint and what goes into it: 2 quarts of white rustoleum and 2 quarts of green rustoleum, like $20 each, plus the penetrol for $10 and the enamel hardener for $20.. thats over $100.

Then there's the paint thinner, foam rollers ($20 for a 10 pack and you need a new one for every coat), touch up brushes, paint trays, mixing cups... it adds up to well over $200 before you know it. After that you need the sand paper in various grits, polishing compound, wax... and I bought a $70 DA sander/buffer from HF. And, in my case, I needed a lot of plastic body filler, fiberglass body filler, grinding disks, welding wire, applicators for this and that, metal patch panels from  competitor, and a $30 bottle of rust converter. Lets not forget the acetone, primers, adhesion promotor, wax and grease remover, terry cloths, tacky wipe pads, rubber sanding blocks in various sizes, latex gloves, libations, sacrifices to the automotive gods, and a transistor radio to listen to the local baseball team.

If I did a good job of keeping track of every time I went to the hardware store and/or auto parts store to buy all this, it could have added up to around $500. Not $50.

[fitz]

You still turned it into a presentable truck for $500.
It's gonna turn heads going down the road.
$500 including buying the patch panels is a pretty good deal in my book.

[roundhouse]

You just keep taunting us with slices of the Honda
When I was 16 I owned one that looked very much like that
A early 70s. SL-175

Paint looks great BTW
Not all of us have $7K for a paint job on a $5K truck


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