Hi everyone and thank you for checking my post!

I have a very nice 1982 F150 Flareside that I want to paint. The truck is a beauty and I want to do good job, but on tight budget. The truck has no rust, California sun did more damage to the paint then water. It has lots of small dents and dip scratches, nothing major.

So far I've got 27g compressor, HF spray gun kit (main and touchup with extra 1.8 tip), HF hose, HF air filter and connectors form the same place.

From reading around the web and this forum too I came to the conclusion that in order to do a good job I have to do fallowing steps:
1. sand out all loose paint with grid 80
2. sand to the metal in place where dent or body filler needs to be applied
3 clean the surface with wax and grease remover
4. spray epoxy primer two coats
5. apply bondo (light body filler) in bigger gaps
6. apply filler glaze in smaller gaps or scratches
7. sand the body work with grid 120 to make it as even as possible
8. clean the surface with wax and grease remover
9. spay 2k primer two coats
10. spray guide coat
11. block sand the guide coat with grid 320
12. fill low spots with glaze and sand to level with grid 320
13. clean the surface with wax and grease remover
14. spay epoxy primer two coats
15. wet sand the primer with grid 400 and 600
16. clean the surface with wax and grease remover
17. spray color paint two or three coats
18. spay clear two or three coats
19. Sand any imperfections with grid 1000 then buff it.

Please let me know if I got it right or I missed something.

Thank you!

 

Well let's see since I am painting a car right now.

1. Washed car thoroughly with Dawn
2. Sanded paint with 180 in preparation for high build.
3. Used 3" 80 girt pad on drill to remove paint from a dozen dings and three dents.
4. Repaired dents and used Evercoat Easy Sand and then blocked with 80 and 180 with guide.
5. Filled roof seams with Evercoat short fiberglass hair waterproof filler and leveled with Evercoat Rage before vinyl roof applied later.
6. Little surface nicks hit with Picklex 20 and quick 1 coat Kirker Enduro Epoxy.
7. 3 coats of HOK 2k high build epoxy primer hybrid ( 1.5 tip) with extra 2 coats over repair areas. Guide coat and block with 320 then 400.
8. Wash off car and mask.
9. Wax and grease, tack off and spray 2 coats PPG DCC Concept (1.3 tip).

If you ask me there are too many coats of epoxy primer. Use it for when you burn through to bare metal like I did. You can also use it reduced as a sealer ( 1 coat) before color if you wish but that is why I use a 2k high build like HOK so I don't need a sealer. It is catalyzed as is the color coat. You spray base till covered and then 2 coats of clear, or 3 if you are going to cut and buff.

To cut 1000 is on the aggressive side depending on the amount of orange peel. Remember stuff from the 80's still had less than perfect paint jobs. Given the equipment you are using you might need to do some so I might start with 1500 on a hard pad Then move up to a 2500. Trying to buff out scratches is easier if the scratches are finer. I use 3M Clear Coat 1500 discs on a Makita 9227C rotary then follow up with Trizact 3000. After that buffing is a breeze with the Mystic compound I use. Swirls are removed with a Makita 6040 and orange pad.

In 2 hours I'll be painting the roof of the car after stripping all paint to expose rust pits, treat with Picklex 20, 2 coats of PPG DPLF last night and color tonight. After that roof masked and body sprayed with the HOK. Color is next Thursday.

 

Thank you for the reply!

Could you share your dent repair technique? you don't use bondo only Evercoat Easy Sand?

Would you recommend to stick with one system, or mix is ok?

I was hopping to get whole system from SummitRaicing: Epoxy Primer, 2k primer, paint and clear.

 

Here is an excellent read; Perfect Paint Job

Good luck to the both of you, and please post some pictures of your work. I am also in the process of doing my truck. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...build-log.html

 

Where would one buy PPG DCC Concept paint? I want to check pricing...

 

You could do what I did and ask some local body shops where they get their materials from. That's how I found my local collision supply house.

 

Thank you, I'll try that.

 

Concept DCC is not sold in many states because of VOC rules preventing shops from using the stuff. Hobbyists can however, assuming they can find it. You need to look at base coats which is DBC from PPG. Again not sold in many states due to VOCs.

Look here:TCP Global - Quality & Service Since 1974

Click on Auto Color Library. Enter make: Ford Truck and year: 1982. Then click on color chips below to the left to enlarge. On thet page you pick your color and enter the paint code, mfg. code and paint name. Four bullets above to check paint type desired and you want urethane basecoat. Hit update and take a look. Their paint, I bet is the same as Summit is half the price of top of the line PPG. Like $229/gal. vs. $586/gal. Actually the biggest deal is the clear coat since that is where your protection resides. PPG has a new clear out called DC4010 that is said to last forever and runs $300/gal at TCP.

I'll get to dings a little later as I need to run to the main post to beat a midnight deadline.

 

Thank you for the link!

Yes, that's what I've learned - not much choice of Epoxy Primer for California.

I found this kit and I wonder if it will be any good:
Item Detail

Not so easy to navigate that site, do you have a direct link to the paint you mentioned?

 

If the door ding is shallow then I use two passes of Easy Sand and I'm fine. If a little deeper I weld a stud and pull it out before hitting with a little 80 grit and the filler. If a dent I definitely use welded studs to pull the dent out as much as possible while tapping down the outer perimeter.

As far as system paint it is usually a good idea to stay with a line unless you know well the characteristics of the different paints in case you have a problem. I know any good epoxy primer can be used under most companies top coats if single stage or traditional bc/cc. The guys I bought my PPG Deltron stuff from recommended the HOK to me. I'll be using some of it later this week and can then get an idea how well it sprays and sands. It is definitely high solids as the gallon weighs a ton.

I can tell you in the epoxies I have sprayed the PPG DPLF is a little temperamental but hard as a rock after cure. Kirker Enduro epoxy and the Eastwood epoxy sprayed easily. You can get Kirker delivered to you while Eastwood just won't ship to California their paints anymore. Wouldn't be surprised if Eastwood, Summit and TCP paints were all the same and from Kirker.

When it comes to top coats I stick with Deltron SS Concept urethane. It covers well, has a nice shine, sprays well if you have a good gun and reduced it correctly and I love the very smooth rich feel of it as I run my hand over it. A gallon for the Dodge was $286 while a gallon of seafoam green for other cars is $489 per gallon. Have no clue why a soft green is so much more than a white.

Dents below

 

Dent pulled out

 

Link to color library: Auto Color Library - The World's Largest Online Color-Chip Library

I happen to have only 1 car that needs a repaint in bc/cc as the other five are all before the bc/cc era. I will use the Restoration Shop base but the PPG 2021 clear may be used. The PPG 4010 clear supposedly cures very hard and tough to cut and buff if you wait. Then there was the HOK UC35 which almost costs as much as PPG since it is mixed 2:1:1 (clear+hardener+reducer) and PPG at 4:1. Being a small car 5 sprayable quarts would be enough as compared to 8 quarts for me.

 

This is the company that I am using for my primer and clear. They are about to come out with a black color that I will probably be using for my truck, as it's the original color. They also have a red.

Here is a link to their home page;
Home

And a link to their forum;
SPI User Forums

They have excellent customer service, and free shipping. If you have any questions, you can call the owner of the company (Barry), and he will answer your questions personally. How many of the other paint manufacturers will do that?

 

Thank you Dave!

I did looked at their product and the forum - great staff! and they do ship to California because their product 2.1 VOC.

It's a bit pricy for me though, I was hopping to find something good but not that expansive.

I emailed to Summit Racing about the Epoxy Primer and just received reply from them that they do have other products and I should call them for assistance.

There are choices and they are confusing me I do want a good paint job but I can't justify the cost.

I would appreciate it very much if someone just tells me - "Get this and you'll fine".

 

Just in case someone wondering if I ever started the project:
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