Hi guys,

I was out working on truck the other day, and I noticed what look like
tons of scratches in my paint. Is this the clear coat breaking up or is my paint shot? My truck unfortunately has to deal wit h the Florida sun beating on it all the time. The pics are of the hood, but I noticed the same thing on the roof of the cab.







Thanks

 

Hard to tell but looks like the clear coat is toast! If not through the paint you may be able to do a sand and reclear. You might want to take to a body shop and get the painters opinion . I have a 93 Mercedes S class the I got from a women who must have lived at the brush car washes ! The paint looked great but the finish looked like it has been hit with a wire brush. Local shop fine sanded it out and clear coated it and it looked like a new car!

Smokie

 

tony has it ever been painted before? clear is "checking" that's what we call it. it will have to be sanded down and repainted the sun has broke it down its either cheap clear (non uv) / or been buffed to thin / or just not waxed and the sun is getting to it after the years . look at the tops of fenders / bed sides ect. it wont really hurt it yet, save money because painting the truck right aint cheap! ps my clear we use cost me 300.00 plus a gallon you can get (cheap clear) for about 50.00 a gallon but you get what you pay for some shops will use this to cut corners.

 

Thanks for the opinions guys.

429,

Ive only had the truck for 3 years, I've kept it washed but I never waxed it unfortunately. I don't think that it was ever repainted. This "checking" is also happening on the roof of the cab and I've seem some cracking on the
bed flares.

So what are my options? Is the only way to fix it a complete repaint including color and clear? I apologize if this is a stupid question but I know nothing about the paint process.

What exactly would that run? I know cost can vary greatly but a ball park figure would be nice, for a good mid level paint job. This is a work truck for me. I want to maintain the paint in good shape, but it doesn't have to be perfect.

Thanks

Tony

 

I believe if you catch it now, you shouldn't have to repaint. Just a sanding down of the clear and reclear

 

429, = wes




So what are my options? Is the only way to fix it a complete repaint including color and clear? I apologize if this is a stupid question but I know nothing about the paint process.

yes to fix it correctly you will need to do a full paint with base color if you tried to sand and reclear it would be blotchy and color would not be consistent .


What exactly would that run? I know cost can vary greatly but a ball park figure would be nice, for a good mid level paint job. This is a work truck for me. I want to maintain the paint in good shape, but it doesn't have to be perfect.


id say 3-4 k for a quality paint job with you doing nothing .you need to remove all trim/ headlights / bumpers / bed / moldings / ect... if you do this work it should help a lot with the money . don't do a cheap 1500.00 scuff and shoot you will be redoing it in a couple years the taped edges will not hold up to the sun either . I tell people to save up and do it once . I do a lot of redos that someone did cheaply

 

Got an update,

Took the truck by local paint shop and they pretty much confirmed everything you guys have told me. The clear is starting to check.
They quoted me around 3500 for a full repaint and about 1000 to do just the hood and cab roof.

They recommended to me that I have it professionally detailed and a good coat of wax put on it for right now. It hasn't started to peel yet so for now keeping wax on it might get another year or 2 before it gets bad. I'm going to give the detailing a try and start saving for a paint job when it starts to peel.

Thanks for all the advice.

Tony