Well. im at the point of finishing my rust repair on my 55 f100.I have a couple of questions. Should i take the truck down to bare metal?It has 3 diffrent layers of paint on it now.I want to spray the truck myself, but i think my garage is too cold.Can i just get a couple of heaters and warm it up?I need to get the truck on road by April 1st,( a bet that i have going) can i just scuff the paint that i have now, spray some primer and then do the paint the right way next winter.I do have some bare metal patch panels on the truck.i would rather paint it now but the truck is in pieces. Should i spray it in pieces first, then fit it together and spray it again? Im not going for a fancy paint job, a flat color, probally beige or tan. Its alot of questions and i searched for a while but i couldnt find anything.
thanks

 

for a first class job go down to the bare metal...
--you can buy paint and materials in a "heat range" just need lowest most likley
---put truck togather(fit test) and get all the body work,sandin, etc done
then take apart and paint
sounds like you are in a hurry,,,just remember it is 90% work (i.e. sanding,body work)
and 10%paint ot have a first class job
take your time and do it right
buy the sa design book from summit racing on paint and body work
that should answer your questions with a ton of detail
hope this rambling helps

 

the way I'm doing mine, talked to a few guys before doing this, I sanded down to the next layer of paint, knocked the clear coat off and primered, working on getting some more money to have the paint done professionally, I'm doing all the prep myself, I can handle that, but I don't want to try and paint it back to the original dark blue, have a fear that i'll mess something up and it look bad, so i'll do as much of the prep work to save money, and get it done right.

 

taking it down to bare metal depends on the condition of the paint that's on there. I'm doing one now where the hood need to be stripped to bare metal but the rest didn't, just a few spots here and there.

If the paint is solid, hit the whole thing with about 180 grit paper and make it very smooth at all the edges where you have chipped paint.

Treat the metal with etching acid, prep n prime is $8 at home depot (phosporic acid) and let that fully dry for about 2 days, scuff with scotch bright purple pad or 100 ~ 150 paper. Cover truck each night to keep dew off metal

Clean with professional cleaner, not acetone, I use bug, tar and wax remove from a local professional car paint store. Wipe at least twice and allow to air dry at least 20+ min.

coat with epoxy primer or good sand-n-fill type primer, epoxy is better. PPG has epoxy primer for $80/2 gal kit from industrial suppliers (www.clarkscoatings.com # 94-128 two part epoxy primer) (thin about 10~15%)

heat the area about 2 hours prior to painting to get the metal very warm, about 60~90 deg, this allows for ample paint time and cure time. wait till fumes clear out, about 30 min, then heat again so as to not cause a fire depending on type of heater used.

I've used the PPG industrial paint on several trucks and it flows really nice, it costs me about $80/ gal complete less the thinner. I like to thin the later coats a bit more (15~17%) so that the later coats will flow out and give a better shine. They even have a clear that will go over the whole thing for the same price.

Having the truck very clean is the most important thing, do a double wipe, wet rag for one hand, dry rag for other hand, wipe on wet, wipe off dry... otherwise your just smearing the dirt around...

You can also do body work over the epoxy primer if needed, just put large cross hatch scratches into the primer with a sharp nail then reapply more primer before final paint.

Any other concerns, just ask - KarlJay.