Just thought I would share an inexpensive way to DIY paint your truck. I don't for a moment suggest this is the only or best method for everyone. Here was my dilemna.

1. Red paint can be VERY expensive. (well over $500 in some product lines). It's a waste of money if I can't put it on correctly.
2. Though I have painted many cars, my skills with the gun are marginal. There will be a few runs, orange peel, dry spots. I need the ability to repair.
3. It's hard to re-assemble a F1/F100 without a chip or two.
4. I don't have much safety equipment for the modern urethanes
5. My guns are new, but inexpensive. I don't own a high-end gun for proper atomization of the high-end clearcoats.
6. I can't afford to hire out the paint work. My body work is not too bad, but doesn't justify a $3-5000 paint job either. Plus I'll be right back there paying again when I scratch a panel working on this truck.

If any of the above applies to you, then it might be for you to.

Anyway, I used a PPG paint. Their Omni line. I used an acrylic enamel product but it works a little different than others I have used. Rather than standard gloss hardner it requires use of an activator. I'm no chemist, but I have this suspicion it is chemically similar to their basecoat/clearcoat system. Here is what I liked about it.

1. Applies pretty nice, but I did tweak the thinner % recommendations.
2. Can be color sanded and buffed to show appearance. But you have to hit a time window or it becomes much more difficult.
3. You can fix mistakes, WITHOUT REPAINTING THE ENTIRE PANEL AGAIN. I have never used an inexpensive enamel that had this capability. It acts like a base/clear or a lacquer product line.
4. The vapors don't kill the neighbors cat like some products I have used. (And shouldn't have with my safety equipment)
5. It covered well. Not as good as a highend paint,but it only took an extra coat or two.

If anybody cares, I can post some specific product numbers, as well as tips I discovered through trial and error regarding colorsanding paper grits, thinner ratios etc. My red paint was about 60 bucks for a gallon. It's been over 20 years since I have paid these prices for paint. It seems very chip resistant. Durability and UV resistance of $500 paint? Probably not, but it will meet my needs and get this truck back on the road. I have talked to pro painters that said it has acceptable durability.

 

I had not bought any paint for quite awhile until recently and was down right floored by how much paint had gone up. Had seen the omni line just did think to ask about, it I used factory mixed Black PPG Acrylic Laquer on mine to save money. Thanks for the tip.

 

Fenders, I will save this post. My next project(this one will actually be driven) I'm going to attempt to paint it. The price I can afford(as opposed to the $65 per quart that dad pays for the base color on the 1960 right now) and I have plenty of time. Would like more info on how to and when and where to color sand, type of sealer, filler and primer used etc. If you don't mind. -4speed

 

Nice to see I'm not the only one who can't (or won't) go for the "full monty"!! Just shucked out $1900 to have my son's Mustang fixed up in base coat/clear coat, and I am loath to do it for a truck I won't be entering in shows and will be used regularly as a truck. Your situation is exactly like mine, in terms of bodywork, usage, and concern for re-assembly damage. (How did they ever assemble these on a line?!) I've meant to research breathing air systems, so I can SAFELY spray catalyzed (hardened) paints; any tips? Is the OMNI safe to spray without one?

I bought Nason primer/builder and Nason enamel paint. I've not sprayed it yet, but I'm hearing from the pro's it is thin. Wish I'd seen your post before I bought! I will be saving your post, too.

-- Ross

 

I'm in the painting mode on my 51. I wanted an acrylic enamel metallic so I found some on EBAY. So far, I've painted the bed, fenders, hood, grille, inner panels, and running boards with various colors.

The colors that I have chosen are gorgeous. My two smallest granddaughters have purple as their favorite color. I looked at some purples and liked the purple used on the Ford trucks and Escorts in the late 90's. I went to the local paint store and they wanted $225 per gallon for their Ditzler paint.

I likewise have painted many cars over the last 30 years, but not frequent enough to really get good at it particularly with metallics. This paint I bought on EBAY is really great. The fella in New Jersey that sells it says that it is fleet paint and has only about 2-3 dozen colors to choose from. The colors that he carries are beautiful at $35 per gallon and $12 per pint of hardner. I used Ditzler acrylic medium speed reducer and got a spectacular gloss from it.

I have worked all winter on this project doing the body work, cutting out the cancer, welding new metal back in and using bondo to blend and cover the steps and ripples. I don't plan to make a show truck out of it and if the paint job looks good from 15 feet, then I will be happy.

The good part about using $35 per gallon (but quality paint from what I can see) is that I can make a lot of mistakes and I don't have to mortgage the house to pay for the paint. I paint both sides of everything and I'm now on my 4th gallon of paint.

I have the body work done on the cab and hope to have it painted in a couple of weeks. Then I'll start setting stuff back on the frame and doing the finish work. I plan to add a yellow stripe with graphics along the side of the truck.

I now have the frame on sawhorses and will paint it black in the next day or so.

This project is a 1951 F8 cab and fenders, F3 8' bed mounted on a 1983 F-350 dually chassis shortened 30" and with a 460 & C6. I've widened the bed and will have to add fender flares to cover the duallies.

I am making this truck to pull my 24' gooseneck trailer loaded with my antique CASE crawler to the tractor shows. I wanted to this year, but I didn't make it. I just thought it would be cool to use an old looking truck to pull an old tractor or dozer on the trailer to a few shows. Or my 64 390 Galaxie to Ford Expo in Columbus, OH.

I may put a PowerStroke in it later.

Ken McWilliams

 

Hey Fatfenders - You are singin my song! I'm cash strapped too. Not building a show truck/Trailer Queen and have been considering painting it myself.
Please do give us more specifics and tips. The acrylic enamel sounds great. I have never painted a car before.
What is the mixing ratio you used? Where do we get this stuff? What is the time window to color sand? How many coats? Time between coats? Etc, etc, etc.
Thanks for the heads up!

 

Glad there is interest. I am going to keep repeating my warning. There are some areas I feel confident to offer authoritative advice. AND THIS AIN'T ONE OF THEM. I get good results, but I make plenty of mistakes and there are some panel do overs for me usually. We probably have some experienced painters here. Feel free to contribute to the thread. But resist the temptation to tell us about your new $400 Devilbiss spray gun. Or how much longer $500 a gallon paint lasts. This is a low to moderate buck DIY thread. I will list some PPG P/Ns specifically. If you have other low buck paint brand suggestions, then fire away.

I have used several low buck paints in the past. It's hard to judge how long they will last until you find out the hard way. My truck is a garage queen so it will last longer than normal any way. If I lived in AZ and parked outside UV would become FAR more important. It's pretty shady in my garage.

I won't write a step by step painting manual in great detail here because I'm not qualified. I'll hit the highlights and hope the more experienced chime in.

First the prep stage. I usually sandblast to bare metal. That's not strictly necessary if your paint is sound. When I don't blast, I degrease/dewax first. Prep solvent works. So does a bucket of warm ammonia water too at this point. We aren't priming anytime soon. Best not to grind the wax and oil into the old paint. I follow up by running a DA over the whole truck. I use about 150 grit paper where the old paint was decent. Don't hit your entire truck with 36 grit on a 7" grinder yougot for Christmas, or you'll be sanding until you need elbow surgery later on to get the deep sand scratches out. We can discuss rust holes and big dents later. We'lluse the big grinder then. This is hopefully enough to prompt some commentary on the initial steps.

Tools needed so far are a half decent air compessor ($300-400 and a DA sander $40. Don;lt worry, we'll keepthe costs down. The compressor is the only expensive tool. Can you substitute a hand drill and a sand pad adapter instead? Yes, but it is much slower and doesn't do near the job. Sanding completely by hand really isn't an option on a 50 year old vehicle. You need to knock the old paint down pretty good. Not to mention your truck might have three or four coats of paint on it. You really need a compressor for a full body restore. It will seem like a good investment if you go price a paint job. You will save enough money to pay for all your tools and still be way ahead if you do bodywork and paint only one vehicle. It's rare to pay off a tool that fast.

By the way I just painted my new tailgate. A moth just landed in the PPG paint. I tellya he stuck just as good as in the expensive stuff. Time to master my color sanding skills some more. I'm gettin to be a regular ace at fixing screw ups.

Questions and comments welcomed on the initial prep stages. We'll do the initial priming next.

 

Something in wet paint is attractive to insects!

 

Thanks for the info Fatfenders!
I already did my own paint job[FirstTime], made some mistakes but i'm happy to be on the road after 8 years of construction!


ANy more sanding tips [I have a base clear set up with some runs to get rid of]?

Thanks

GW

 

GW

I thought we might approach this subject in a logical painting sequence. But that's a fantasy so here's what I do for run repairs. You usually can't just start wetsanding because the paint around the run is thin (as it should be). You'll end up getting the run half way out and then you'll blow through to the primer next to the run site.

I usually use a nib file and get the run close to the same thickness as surrounding paint. Then I gently work the run down some more with wet sanding. Progressively finer grit of course. Typically something like 800 to start off. 800 is risky but it takes painfully long with anything finer. Then on to 1000 grit, and finish up with 1500. I rarely use 2000 grit because my initial buffing compound will remove 1500 grit scratches, so 2000 seems a waste of time. That make any sense? This procedure works a lot better when the run is not fully hardened yet. I usually try to tackle runs about 12 hours after I paint. Easier to shave most of it off with the NIB file. One more thought. I use a 3M sponge pad specifically designed for use behind wetsand paper. Keeps you from digging withyour finger tips and blowing through the paint.

You are at an advantage with base/clear. As long as you don't blow through the color, you can reshoot a panel with clear. That is one of the big advantages to a 2 stage paint job like you have.

 

good sound advice, i have also used the ppg omni line and have been very happy with the results .

 

Fatfenders, what kind of primer did you use? Ive started doing some of my body work on my 56 F-100. Stripped and rebuilt the doors, new glass, rubber etc. and started out using PPG DPLF epoxy primer, which is PPG's Deltron line. Bruce

 

I use epoxy primer for the first coat. As you know it has excellent sealing characterists. I have used many brands. And to tell you the truth I have not found a bad one. Adhesion is excellent, even with the econo lines offered by PPG, Akzo, Dupont etc.

I follow up with a urethane primer surfacer over top to fill sand scrathes. I have cheated now and then and put paint right over this without re-sealing with epoxy. Many manufacturers recommend against this and I have got bit once or twice doing it. I've put the PPG Omni paint over epoxy, urrethane and even spots I did a last minute touch up with rattle can lacquer type primers. Top coating the urethane is the most risky in my limited experience.

One final primer comment. Lacquer primer surfacers are old technology. They have no sealing ability and do not stick anywhere close to as good as the more modern. They also shrink with age. They can bleed through if your topcoat is aggressive. Not at all worth the little money you save IMO. I only use them for a guide coat in contrasting colors to find lows spots in my body work when I block sand.

 

Is the epoxy primer (first coat) an etching type?

I'm not sure I'm clear on the difference between "epoxy" primers and "hardened urethane" primers. There seems to be a lot of interchanging of terms among the painters I've talked to, not sure there is a difference (maybe a brand-related term?)
-- Ross

 

Ross

No, etch primer is an entirely different project than epoxy. I don't use etch primers any more since epoxies got so good. I did, but my vendor told me it wasn't necessary. I was glad because the etch primers are thin and a hassle to work with. I've never once had an adhesion problem. If I blast a panel I etch the entire panel and rinse it as my last pre-prime step. Cleans out the pores in the metal.

I can't comment on whether all the brands might do. The MSDS is a good place to go if you want to see the chemical differences. With the product lines I have used, epoxy and urethane labels read different. The product features are very different. As you would expect for a sealer vs a surfacer filler. Some of the primers seem to be the most dangerous products I use. Not that any of it is good for you. I use good ventilation when I prime, fresh filters in the mask etc. I prime as close to outside mygarage as possible.

On a side note. Always ask the vendors what safety equipment is needed and make product purchase decisions accordingly. You won't get any OSHA/NIOSH recommendations from me. I'm just not qualified.