me and my uncle are going to paint are truck hunter orange with a spray can untill he has enough money for a better paint job.

he also like the duke's of hazard so that might have something to do with it lol

 

Here is the product that I was trying to reference in my post above (Ambien strikes again): Paint Shop

 

When doing any body work you need to seal the bare metal. Some people use a etching primer then epoxy primer over that. I just use just the epoxy primer. Epoxy primer is very durable and can be used as a final cover for quite some time. I sprayed it on a daily driver a while back but didn't have the money to have it painted and drove the truck through two Wisconsin winters without a sign of deterioration. The old type lacquer based filler primers will absorb moisture and the metal under it will start to rust. You need to spray the epoxy primer then the high build type primers.

For paint I wouldn't use Rustoleum. I've used it before and it takes forever to dry. I've used Valspar brand paint for a lot of stuff. They have they own hardener additive that I use in any type of oil base paint. It makes the paint dry faster, shinier and harder. I've used Valspar basic enamel for many of the projects for my customers and it holds up very nicely and costs less than $10 a quart around here. I get if from the local farm supply store. Valspar also has a higher grade Farm Tractor Restoration paint that cost about $100 for a gallon of paint, gallon of reducer and quart of hardener. I'm planning to use it for my F-4 whenever I have that ready to paint. I figure this paint isn't as good as a acrylic urethane automotive paint but it's got to be a lot better than the paint sprayed at the factory back in the '50s. The last time I bought a pint acrylic urethane, about 8 years ago, to do some touch up on my F-2 it cost $55, plus additives.

If you are spraying any of these two part activated coating, epoxy primer or top coat paint, make sure you have adequate respiratory protection. This stuff is like spraying super glue and can do some nasty things to your lungs.

 

Thanks for the info, you really know your stuff.

Hey, I never said the tattoos would be fake!

Nice catch though, I didn't see that I put it like that, good find

It's in stages now, the hood was stripped to metal and then primered, the front end is being stripped to metal (halfway there) and the cab hasn't been touched, but the plan was always to go to bare metal.

As far as cheap, I think fairly cheap. I already said that I don't want it glossy so a satin finish should be cheaper/easier to achieve and to do myself.

I see me stripping it all down to metal, spraying it with primer, "temporarily painting it" and then never getting around to painting it for real. I could be wrong, but I know me pretty well.

 

One more answer to one of your other questions. The front sheet metal is gasketed with a welting. The stuff used in the silver truck is not correct stock. The original welting didn't have the external beading. It was a flat cloth covered thin rubber strip or rubber impregnated cloth. All of the reproduction guys sell both.

 

when ya paint heavy equip you use a flash bonder. the paint etches in just make sure you only paint body. then paint the good paint over the top after light sanding. when your good and ready. ps use a respirator!

 

Paint it yourself !!! Our auto paint store sells mismatched paint cheap! If you don't mind driving in a primered truck then you won't mind driving in a novice painted truck! Nobody picked up a paint gun the first time and did excellent...Thats how ya learn and save money and later down the road you can wet sand and redo if ya are feelin it. I bought mismatched single stage enamel for 20.00/gal . You will be glad ya did it yourself, unless your gonna haul it around on the trailer all the time.
If ya screw up, redo it. start with a small area or part, or an old trunk lid from the salvage yard. Thats how I did it.

 

Yeah, I kind of like the look, not sure i'll do it, but I might.

This truck may never be on a trailer, i'd like it to be my daily driver during the summer (like 4-5 months up here ). But it's not a real winter option in Wyoming, no 4x4, no ABS, the windshield wipers are a joke etc. But it won't be a trailer queen, I can assure you of that.

And you're right, it's more important to me to have done it myself than to have a mint condition show car. How bad could it be right? This poor truck did come out of a farmer's field, I can't make it look worse than it already did, can I?

 

One very important factor to take into consideration if you're planning to repaint the truck in the future is the paint you use needs to be an activated paint, not a simply reduced paint like a Rustoleum or other hardware type oil based enamel. If the paint does not have a hardener added most likely any other paint applied on top of it will have stronger solvents have a goo chance of lifting the paint.

I painted a 8N Ford tractor a few years ago, I used Valspar basic enamel, not the tractor restoration series, just the plain enamel that was in the Ford colors. I painted the entire tractor with a gun with hardener mixed in. After I thought I had all of the tractor painted I realized I forgot the oil canister. I already had the gun cleaned out and didn't want to mess around with mixing more paint so I grabbed a matching spray bomb and painted the canister. Everything matched up and looked great. A couple of weeks later I got the tractor running and it had a drip from the fitting on the bottom of the gas tank and gas dripped down onto the engine. A short time later the paint peeled up on the canister but the parts I painted with the mixed hardener paint wasn't affected. I had to pull the canister and strip it and spray it with mixed paint.

 

I will guarantee you can't do a worse job than the factory. I've had a couple of parts trucks that I know were never repainted and they were lucky to have most of the metal painted. From what it looks like the factory painters only sprayed the areas they get to while standing. The cab I have on my F-2 is from a 3000 mile firetruck and the entire underside of the dash and inside cowl had no primer or paint, just bare metal. When I hit the outer sheet metal with a DA the paint flew off, there was barely any primer and the paint was maybe as think as a two coats, at most.

Ford wasn't big on quality back then, these trucks are slapped together very poorly with misaligned panels and hit and miss paint. Back then I doubt truck buyer really cared as long as the trucks could do the job for maybe ten years and then off to the field somewhere.

 

I had a buddy paint his truck in a yellow primer. Then he cleared it. It looked great. It was cheap and looked old-timey like a fifties color. Good luck, Jag

 

You would have to search around for the technique but I have seen several brand new paint jobs that look like a good well worn surviving 50+ year old paint job. Comes across as original paint. Some even have old worn looking company or farm names on the side. You don't need expensive paint and it draws more attention than shinny paint on an old truck. Another plus, it even looks good with road grime on it.

 

Doing a "Patina" paint job isn't all that hard, at least not from what I've seen on the web. You paint the first couple of coats a primer looking color then spray a couple of top coats of your choice of color. After everything is dry take a Scotch pad and wear away some of the top coat until you rich the "primer" layer. You have to take off just the right amount of paint to make it look real but if you have a few pictures of weathered vehicles it can't be that hard to figure out. Same with the lettering.

It's a lot of work and not something I'd do. If I'm going to paint a vehicle I'm going to try to make it look as good as possible. Anyone can drive around in a truck or car with a flat black paint or ratty paint job , I think it shows there a lot more work put into a vehicle that has a nice paint job.

 

Primers can ge gotten in different tints too. You don't just have to use the common rust red, gray or black primer. You could have a primer tinted in a color you like and shoot it with that. You will need to get that from an auto body paint store.

 

I'm in the middle of priming my truck. Here is what I learned. I agree a 2k epoxy or urethane is the best choice. I found a product called SprayMax which comes in a spray can and comes in epoxy primer as well as urethane primer. This is a true 2k primer in a spray can. It has a chamber with the hardener inside the can of paint. You use a small plastic plug which comes with the can and push it on the bottom of the can and the hardener is released. Shake and spray. Best of all it's not expensive. Less than $20 bucks a can. It's used by pro shops for small area repairs, but you could do the whole truck. The nozzle on the can is ajustable too so you can change the spray pattern. These catalyzed paints hold up to uv and water so you could spray more primer later when you are ready for your final paint. Red flag-- use a resperator with activated charcole and a pre filter. This stuff will harden in your lungs. Don't take any chances with it. These products are sold by Eastwood Restoration Suppy and others on line. Google SprayMax and there you will find complete describtions and videos of the process. One last note. Any single stage primer is not compatable with urethane paint. I found this out the hard way. Most shops including Maco use these types of paints and your single stage primer will have to be removed. Hope this helps.