So you're thinking about trying your hand at painting your own truck, but you've looked around at articles and videos and all the info is scattered and it's left you with more questions than answers. Well I started looking into this, for my classic car. After many hours of research and some trial and error, I figured out how to get decent results, without a paint booth, and with low cost paint kits from TCP Global.

All paint kits are Restoration shop Urathane basecoat
https://tcpglobal.com/pages/urethane-basecoat-paint

'68 T-bird = Vintage Burgundy Metallic
'93 F-Super Duty (F450) = Mahogany Brown Metallic
'93 F-250 (Dually convert) = Moonlight Drive Blue Metallic

If you think you'd like to try, here's a step by step guide so anyone can get started. It's basic, low budget and I'll keep it as simple as I can, but with enough pointers so you can do a good job but you wont feel more confused than when you started.

Before we start, I have to warn you, this is a lot of work. However much you're thinking, multiply it by at least 10. There's a reason why auto body shops charge thousands of dollars for this. It's not just because they have good facilities and paint booths. It's very labor intensive and the paint they use will be far higher end than paint kits designed for home consumers. I suppose like a lot of things in life, you'll probably either love it or hate it. I enjoy it, but it sure does make you sore after a day of body work, that's for sure, so it's best if you can put the truck up for a bit so you don't feel rushed. If you rush body work, it wont matter how good you lay the paint down, it's going to look like crap.

My first driveway paint job; My '68 T-bird, shot with a paint kit from TCP Global.


(that's shadows from a nearby, very large tree, not uneven paint by the way)



Here's my F450, I shot out in the driveway, also with a TCP paint kit.




They look great for a car and truck shot out in the driveway right? Just keep in mind, these roughly $450 do it yourself paint kits, shot outside in your driveway, with budget paint guns, isn't going to compare to pro's shooting with thousand dollar a gallon paint, in paint booths and using multi hundred dollar paint guns. So keep your expectations reasonable, if you attempt this at home, ok? You can't compete with that level using this basic do it yourself guide in your driveway.

OK, so let's get started. Where to begin? Not to confuse you, but this is going to depend on the state of your truck.
Most of you will not do this step:
For my t-bird, I took it down to bare metal. Why? Because it's a classic car I care a lot about and since I didn't know what was under there, and the fact I knew there were a lot of rusted out sections, I wanted to inspect it all.

I used an electric orbital sander with lots of paint stripper and 40 grit sand paper. In hindsight, I should have skipped all that and used stripping discs. So if you want/need to do this, that's the way to go. Also, don't buy an orbital sander. I did and in hindsight, that's just too slow. You want one that simply spins, not orbits. Though, I found it fine for light sanding, when painting my work trucks latter.


After you take a car/ truck down to bare metal like this, it's going to flash rust really quick and that's ok. The surface rust sands right back off easily. Once you get it all sanded down to bare metal, you can do as I did, mask off some spots you know are rusted out (or you can just sand the sealer down latter). Sand down any surface/flash rust that formed while you were stripping it. Then you'll wash it and allow it to fully dry. You'll go over it with wax and grease remover, using a spray bottle and several lint free blue shop towels.
KLEAN-STRIP Prep-All Wax and Grease Remover, Multi-Surface Paint Prep Cleaner, Effective for Auto Body, Garage, 1 Gallon
https://www.amazon.com/Kleanstrip-Pr...dp/B008QDSVPE?
Scott Shop Towels. Pack of 2
https://www.amazon.com/Scott-Shop-To...dp/B07SPDQ96Y?
Followed by a quick wipe over with a tack cloth
S&F STEAD & FAST Painters Tack Cloth for Woodworking, Painting, Sticky, Anti-Static Tack Rags for Automotive, Sanding, Cleaning, Dusting, Staining, Wax and Silicone Free, 18 x 36 Inches Dust Cloths
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PX9ZFYJ?
Then you'll shoot it in epoxy sealer (also called epoxy primer/sealer) as shown here:


I used, this from Amazon:
Speedokote Epoxy Fast Dry 2.1 low voc DTM Primer & Sealer Gray Gallon Kit, SMR-260G/261
https://www.amazon.com/Speedokote-Pr...dp/B016QP0X8Q?
You can use a cheap $20 Harbor Freight spray gun to lay it on, more details for the prep below, follow the steps as if starting to shoot primer; clean the bare metal w/ wax and grease remover, wipe with a tack cloth, but follow mixing instructions on the can for the sealer.

LISTEN!!!!! When ever you use a paint hardener, it's VERY toxic! NEVER even open paint hardener without a mask on! NEVER!
You NEED to be wearing a 3m respirator, whenever mixing paint. You can get them on amazon:
3M P100 / OV / AG Multi-Purpose Reusable Respirator 62023, Medium Size, NIOSH-APPROVED P100 / Organic Vapor / Acid Gas Rated Filters, Adjustable Head Straps, Comfortable & Lightweight (62023H1-DC)
https://www.amazon.com/3M-62023HA1-C...dp/B002NMICB2?
As well as replacement cartridges:
3M P100 Respirator Cartridge/Filter 60926, 1 Pair, NIOSH, Helps Protect Against Organic Vapors, Acid Gases, Ammonia Methylamine, Formaldehyde and Particulates
https://www.amazon.com/3M-Cartridge-...dp/B009POHLRC?

That is by far the most important tool you'll need before you start. Don't take this lightly. It's very important. I can't stress this enough. To say paint hardener is bad for your lungs is an extreme understatement. It's not just bad, it's so bad you could end up in the hospital with breathing problems. I'm not kidding! It's very harmful so don't skip this! ever!


This will not be UV resistant but you'll have months to work on your car/truck.
LISTEN! - Once you start applying body filler, you can't let it get wet. For a long project like my T-bird, I got some large plastic and kept the car covered while I wasn't working on it to keep it dry.
LISTEN! - You need to research your epoxy sealer, about when you can apply filler without scuffing it up first. If you'll be a while like I was, learning to weld in patch panels and taking my time to make things as good as I could, you'll probably pass the 7 day window or whatever it is (it's been a few years). so you'll need to light sand it (probably with 180 or 220 grit, again, it's been a few years now) after some point, to a mechanical bond for filler and then probably again all over just before you start shooting high build primer to begin blocking.
What's great about epoxy sealer is, your body filler all goes right on top of this. This "seals" the bare metal. If anything happens to your body work, your metal is protected by this solid foundation. The only reason to sand/grind anything away, is for welding in patch panels. Once you weld in your patch panels, you'll scuff up the surrounding sealer with some 180 or 220 grit sand paper and then shoot your patch. This keeps your car/truck sealed and protected against rusting as you work on it. This is the best foundation possible. It's a lot of extra work stripping a car/truck down like this, but if you're looking for the best, nothing compares to this.
Epoxy sealer is used on bare metal only. You only use this for all or not at all. If you don't strip your car down 100%, then you wont be using this. You'll use some etching primer over your patch panels instead, or if you just have a small patch, shine up the metal with some 180 grit, then skim it with body filler, to avoid the need for pricey self etch primer.

Now obviously, you're going to need a compressor, so you're going to have to research this. If you don't think this is something you'll need outside of your single driveway paint job, then simply renting one will be the wisest course of action.


What if your car/truck doesn't suffer from pealing primer and the base is good, as in most cases? Do you really need to strip it all down? No, not at all. Unless you suspect the primer is failing on your truck, there's no reason to strip it. In fact, you don't even need to remove the paint!

Here, I'm giving my F250 a paint job in the same manner I did to the F450. It has a factory white, then red coat under the new brown, and this F250 will now have the factory red, followed by the green and now blue. There's nothing wrong with leaving the paint under there, if you don't have a reason to suspect the foundation is peeling.

The clear is peeling from the hood, paint also for that matter above the grill. She was re-painted professionally back in 2012 but that's been a few years, so the time has come. I'm really a couple years late, but you know how life goes.
I know the peeling paint problem here, is because it's a chip truck and I had a bug deflector here, and over years it would fill with wood chips behind it, and this is why it ate away the paint and primer, but no fault of the paints base.


There's some paint cracking and peeling like this in a few places. Though you can't see it, once I started removing molding/trim and sanding, I saw a large chunk of this fender was rusted out too. I had to weld in a patch.


She was getting bad or so I thought right down low there in the back of the cab too, but once I started sanding..... I actually just started in with a grinding disc, preparing to have to weld in a section here, but it cleaned right up! It was pretty much only surface.
After grinding away the paint and surface rust, I used body filler w/fiberglass to smooth it out. This will aid greatly, in preventing this spot from rusting more over the next 10 years, before I freshen it up again and paint it a different color.


I had stainless trim on the lower section. Once I took it off, I exposed a rotted out cab corner. Both of them in fact. Still solid overall, so I cut out well into good solid sheet metal and patched them in.

When buying sheet metal, use cold rolled 16 gauge. Welding sheet metal is very easy. All you need is a low cost welder from Harbor Freight and the learning curve takes about 20 minutes! You simply spot weld your patches in. Anyone can do it. Super easy and pretty fun too. Time consuming, because you move around and let the metal cool down a bit, so it doesn't warp too hard on you but if you haven't tried, don't be scared, it's a skill you'll pick right up. It's not like structural welding at all where you really need to learn what you're doing. Check out a youtube video. You'll see.
For cutting my patch panels, I just use an angle grinder with cut off discs. It's all you need. For small patch panel bending, you only need a vice and or other hard surfaces. You don't need anything fancy. We're not trying to make money, where tools make the job go faster. We just need to make due and get it done. Again, for more, just check out some youtube videos if you need, but you start in, you'll see it's pretty straight forward. Don't try and get everything perfect either. Just get it flat or slightly lower than everything else. That's what body filler is for. Use the stuff with fiberglass over your patches to fill in any tiny pinholes. On my T-bird I used full weld, on my work trucks, nah, mostly weld and 20% body filler, to fill in pinholes doesn't bother me at all.


So, since there's no reason to suspect the base, all I needed to do was scuff the paint up, like most of you will do:



As you can see, you'll want to remove as much as possible. My west coast mirrors are gone, trim and emblems, etc.etc. Even had to remove my front under body tool boxes so I could get in behind the cab. If you don't have a dump bed, you might want to take a look in there, and or, remove your pickup bed so you can do a complete job.

I'm not scared of scratches at this point, so I want to get right too it. I use 40 grit on my orbital sander and get all major rough spots down and then go over the whole thing with the long board and 180 grit to scuff it all up. Use shorter blocks for smaller places. This slightly helps level things a bit too. This is when you can find your rusted out parts if you have any. If you see any dings, sand them down to bare metal. Body filler goes on bare metal only (or epoxy sealer). They do make body filler that's made to go over primer, but it's much more costly and this is a budget driveway paint job. So just use the stuff you find at your local hardware or auto store.

Once you have your truck scuffed up looking like this, and all your patches welded in, then it's time to start filling in everything with body filler and using a long board. You need to apply filler very targeted. Use your hand laid flat to feel dips and place filler only in the dips. Sanding with 180 grit on a roll like this:
Dura-Block AF4403 Black Full Size Sanding Block
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0082LKDSI?
LotFancy PSA Sandpaper Roll, 180 Grit 2-3/4" Wide by 21.9 Yard Long, Self Adhesive Longboard Sand Paper, Sticky Back Premium Aluminum Oxide Abrasive Sanding Roll, for Automotive and Woodworking
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZVLY185?

Sometimes right after my first coat on a patch panel, I'll put it on thick and use my orbital w/ 40 grit to take it right down level, real quick first, then my next coats of filler (usually takes 3-5 on patch panels, 2-3 on dings) I use 180 on the sanding blocks.
I like these for applying body filler:
Clean Sheets - CLN-CS100 Superior Mixing Pad (12x12) - 100 Disposable Sheets FOR Toughest Job, Clear
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AZA1XVK?

While sanding, you're not done until you can rub your hand over your filler and feel nothing different between surrounding metal. Not only should you see no hard lines, but you shouldn't even feel them. Watch a youtube video on how to apply filler if you need too. Get this right, or your wasting your time. Very important step.
Remember; don't allow filler to get wet. Once you sand your truck down to expose filler, and or apply filler, keep it covered with a tarp/plastic when you're not working on it. Your not safe until you have a coat of primer on it and you can't prime yet because filler needs to go on bare metal.

Once you're done applying your body filler, now it's time to "feel up" your truck haha. Rub your truck all over, the now fully sanded surface, slowly. Keep your hand flat. You're feeling for any small dips or any other blemishes you can't see. If you feel any, grab your sander w/ 40 grit and take the dip down to bare metal and then very targeted, fill the dip with filler. After you've filled in all the unseen dips, you're now ready to start blocking with your long board. For this, you need to mask off everything you don't want primer/paint on. You can use paper or plastic, both sold on amazon. Get a bunch of rolls. You'll need it. Get plenty of general masking tape too.

Now you need some high build primer. I love this stuff!
Speedokote SS-2790G/SS-2790A Super Fill High Build Primer Gray gallon kit.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MQVFYK6?

You don't even need to wet sand. The stuff builds super high and it sands dry, without loading your paper.
To shoot it, ideally you'll use a paint gun with a 1.8 tip or even 2.0, but if you use some reducer mixed in to thin it out a bit, the $20 gun at Harbor Freight (with a 1.4 tip) shoots it's great, but it won't be as "high" as it could be.
If your truck is a real basket case, you're going to want to make sure to get a gun with a large tip; 1.8 or even 2, so that the high build goes on as thick as you can make it (without the need of using reducer).
If it's wavy like the ocean and you need to level things up far faster than high build will, you can spray on, basically, what's a spray-able body filler, like Evercoat Feather Fill for example. This will add some expense to your project but if you're starting with a real mess, it may be well worth it, otherwise you might be through 2 gallons of high build, and only just starting to smooth things out.


The great thing about shooting primer is; if you get runs, it doesn't matter.... but, ideally, you'll try not too, for practice. You're going to be sanding it, so if you do get runs, no harm no foul. Wont hurt a thing.

I use a leaf blower to blow away the majority of the sanding dust and every time I use it, I blow the dirt driveway too. it helps keep the loose top dust at bay. If you want to get "fancy" haha you can shoot on the lawn, or lay down some plastic or a tarp (but don't slip and or let it blow up into the fresh paint!)
Then you apply wax and grease remover from a spray bottle and wipe down the whole truck. You can use a tack cloth now, but you'll want to do this again with your gun full of primer, because you're outside and you want to wipe it just before shooting, to avoid dust and bugs the best you can.

So you'll mix this particular primer 4:1 (be sure to follow the mix directions on what you buy)
4 parts Primer. 1 part hardener.
You'll need some mixing cups like these:
Custom Shop Paint Mixing Cups Plastic Measuring Cup Epoxy Resin, Disposable or Reusable, 32-Ounce Quart - Pack of 12 - Graduated, Mixing Ratios, Automotive Painting Acrylic Art Crafts Kitchen
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0023UPORY?

Notice on the mixing cup, there's all kind of ratios? Look for the 4:1:1 at the top. Grab a sharpie and circle/mark the 4:1:1 ratio (trust me, it makes it so much easier)
Now with your 3M mask on, pour in your high build primer up to the 5 in the first row. Now pour in your hardener to the 5 in the second row. (you're going all the way up to 5 because you need to make all you can of the 4:1 ratio using one cup).
If you don't have a large 1.8 or 2.0 tip (or it's not spraying out good in general) pour in a little reducer also like this:
Speedokote SMR-870 - Universal Medium 65-80°F Urethane Grade Reducer, One Gallon. If in California, Delaware, or Maryland, we will ship SMR-0075 0 voc reducer
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00M4L5NH8?

Don't go all the way up to 5 in the last row though. Just go up halfway between the hardener (2nd) row and the 5 of the last row (even less if you can. Just use enough to the point, to where it sprays well enough from your gun. The larger the tip, the less or no reducer used; the higher build your primer will be, see?)
You just want to help the primer flow from the cheap gun easier is all. Notice, reducer is temp rated? Order fast, medium or slow for the temp range you'll be shooting in. If something comes up, you might be shooting in higher/lower temps than expected and might have to run/order a different reducer. It happens. Body work will probably take you much longer than you planned for. In the primers case, you don't have to be too fussy. If it doesn't flow good enough, add some more of what you have, if it runs easy, oh well, you're sanding it anyway. Just know if it's runny/thin, it's not going to build high and if you need high build for lots of blocking, you'll be wasting it. Get a gun with a larger tip to avoid wasting primer! You want to be fussy with reducer you mix in your paint though. (so order the right paint kit from TCP Global, with the right reducer in it, if you're wrong and it's warmer/cooler out than you planned, you just need to buy some other reducer is all though). It's nice to have some extra reducer on hand, and not rely on just what comes in the kit.




Go wipe your surface down quickly with a tack cloth. You're outside, so if anything falls on it, you want it off. Keep it in your back pocket, in case you need it while spraying (if something falls in the wet primer, ignore it. It will be sanded out latter). Just wipe anything off on the dry surface.

Pour this in your $20 Harbor Freight gun (with an inline water separator of some sort. Do your research.) Or if you can afford it (and need to build higher) a gun w/ a large 1.8 or 2.0 tip
CENTRAL PNEUMATIC 20 oz. HVLP Gravity-Feed Air Spray Gun
SKU(s)62300, 47016, 67181
https://www.harborfreight.com/20-oz-...gun-62300.html
You'll also want some of these (but don't rely on these alone)
TCP Global (2-Pack Disposable Mini Air/Water Filters Only Standard 1/4" Threads, Fits Most Spray Guns and Air Tools
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0041E72B6
And I use one of these:
TCP Global Air Adjusting Valve Regulator (1/4" NPT) with Gauge - Air Pressure Regulator for Spray Guns and Pneumatic Tools
https://www.amazon.com/TCP-Global-Ad...dp/B001OZJNUS?

Just before mixing however, do a youtube search on how to setup a paint gun for pressure and spray pattern. If that one doesn't show you how to shoot too, then search for another one that shows you how far away to hold it, and how much overlap to use as you go back and forth. You need to research these basics so you start in practicing correctly with your primer. I recommend looking up youtube channel "Paint society" and binge watching all you can.

Now, grab a step ladder, and remember this; You "push/ pull" your primer/paint at all times ok? What does that mean? You push your wet edge away from you, then you walk around the truck and then you pull the wet edge towards you.
Example: You start on your roof, closest to a door and then you go back and forth, across the roof, from rear of the cab to front of the cab, overlap a bit as you learned in a video, and then from front of cab, to rear of cab, and you work your way towards the center of the cab until you reach midway.
Then you quickly walk around the truck to the other door with your step ladder and gun, and then you pick up your wet edge, which is in the middle of the roof and you now sweep front to back, but now moving towards you and the door, bringing the wet edge right along in one motion this way see?
This way, you don't end up pushing wet primer/paint into a dry edge in the middle. You'll shoot your hood the same way next.
However you go about shooting panels, keep this "push/ pull" of the wet edge mentality.

Another thing to keep in mind is to pretend your shooting one large panel. Don't shoot individual panels on the truck. What does this mean? It means, you may find yourself tempted to spray back and forth, stopping and starting at panel breaks, like doors for example. Don't do that because you'll build up higher in one spot. Instead, sweep past or before the door. Don't keep stopping and starting in one place. This doesn't mean much with the primer since you sand it, but it's all about practicing, preparing for laying paint. You'll have no other time to practice. Practice and fail on primer, since failure means nothing with it haha.

Now after shooting the whole truck, you'll see all the large sanding lines are gone, or at least most. Now you get to take a break or stop for the day. You have to wait for the primer to cure a bit before you can sand it. The instruction sheet for this particular primer says to wait for 50-90 mins before sanding. Before sanding, your truck is now safe for it's first time, from getting wet.

Clean your paint gun right now. Don't delay. Always clean it right after shooting, because it's easier and faster, unless you plan on re-shooting within 15 minutes. Search for a youtube video on how to properly clean it. You'll be doing it a lot.


When you're ready, you're now going to grab your long board and start blocking. Prepare to spend many, many, many hours on this step if your want a good looking paint job. A good paint job is 99% prep work and 1% spraying paint. Well, maybe it's not that extreme but you should be thinking it is.
You'll also want at least one short sanding block too, perhaps 2-3 different ones for different area's. Mostly, the 16" long block is what you'll be working with for a many hours, so get ready haha.
Now, using your 180 grit long board paper, search a video on how to block sand. Basically however, you'll be sanding in large X patterns wherever possible. For now, don't worry too much about body lines, but you'll quickly learn you'll need to be careful of them latter on, as you'll notice you'll burn right down to bare metal quick if not careful. You'll be applying more coats, so it's not the end of the world. Of course, keep in mind high build isn't etching primer. It's not made to go on bare metal, so don't expose any large sections or you'll need etching primer to cover them up first.
Whenever you burn a small body line down to bare metal, if just a small section, it could be a while until you shoot your next coat. Be sure to scuff off any flash rust before your next coat!
You can wet sand, dipping your paper into water if you wish, but with this primer, I found I never had too. You can sand a whole side of a cab on one sheet of paper without it loading and probably the hood or roof too. You'll only go through like 4-5 long board sheets worth for a cab just sanding dry but try both and see what you prefer. If you do wet sand, you'll of course need to allow plenty of time for the truck to fully dry before even thinking about spraying another coat!

This blocking will be flattening out your panels, readying the paint to lay down on a flat surface, without any waves. This takes a while, but it's well worth the effort. If you catch yourself burning down to bare metal on flat surfaces, STOP! That section needs more high build. You went too far. Too much sanding. You're burning down on the flat, because the lows are lower than the high metal still, see?
Block it all out and at this point, you don't need anything to tell you, you need more. You will haha. So mix up some more, the same way you did the first time (adjust the amount of reducer as needed to flow out of the gun best) and lay down another coat.
Block it out again and remember where those spots are that are easy to burn down too. Flatten it out without hitting bare metal is the objective. By your 3rd coat, you notice you're getting really close, if not there.
Now is the time, if you want the flattest panels you can get, is to spray some guide coat.
It comes most affordably in spray like this:
SEM 38203 Black Guide Coat - 12 oz.
https://www.amazon.com/SEM-38203-Bla...dp/B000PL06IU?
Pro's might want to use the more pricey powder, where time is money. The advantage is, you don't have to wait the few minutes for it to dry before you start sanding, see?
What this does, is it helps you see where the guide coat sands easily from (the high) and where it remains (in the lows). This way, it "guides" you on where to sand and how much.
The down side to using guide coat? Once your done blocking, you have to grab some paper using your hand and lightly remove it all before spraying another coat. You're not supposed to prime over it. I've gotten to the point, where I don't need to use it. I can tell when the panels are flat enough to where I know I wont see any waves in the body work after paint is laid down. I needed to use it for my t-bird to learn though. So if it's your first paint job, you'll probably find it very helpful.

I just painted the cab on my truck and I ran out of a gallon of high build primer and had to run to a local auto paint store for another quart. So it takes a lot if you want to hide all your body filler, sand scratches and flatten your panels. If you have a pickup bed to do too, you're going to want at least 2 gallons of the stuff and if you can afford it, having a 3rd on hand would probably be wise. High build and blocking is a major part of body work. This is where you get to hide and perfect everything. This is what "makes" a good paint job. Don't skimp here or you'll regret it. Remember; if you can still see it through primer, it's going to pop out at you if you shoot paint on it. If you can't see it but you can still feel it, you may or may not see it when you paint it. If it's black or dark paint, you better be extra fussy.

Tip: Having trouble getting rid of a pesky low spot even after 3 coats of high build? Then grab the orbital/rotary w/ 40 grit and sand that spot all down to bare metal. This section needs a coat of filler. Apply a nice coat of filler, sand it flat with the 40 grit after it cures and then after apply a thin coat, then long block it with the 180 (put another thin coat or two if needed to be smooth as metal) and then mix up a little high build (using the lowest numbers in a mixing cup) and shoot the area and then block it out to bring that section up to par with the rest of the truck. Then with your next coat, the pesky low section(s) will be gone.

Rule #1 is this;
When it comes to blocking; if you can see it or even feel it, the paint is going to highlight it. Never hope that paint will help hide anything......Paint will always expose and highlight bad body work. It will never hide it. You need filler, high build and blocking to conceal. High build primer and a long board are your best friends. You may get sick and tired of it after a while, but this makes or breaks a paint job. Put it this way; it's far better to block and spray outside than it would be to not block and spray in a paint booth, and by a very, very large margin too. Dust nibs and even a few bugs are nothing compared to sand scratches, wavy panels and body filler lines. Dust nibs and bugs are a 1 foot away paint job (and it still looks ok). Poor body work makes a 20 foot paint job (and it always looks bad any closer.)

You'll know when your done blocking, because the truck will look like it's brand new metal again. Remember a patched panel is just as solid as a new replacement panel. The reason body shops replace instead of repair, isn't because it's better. It's faster and when it comes to making money, time is money. At home, we can take our time. The end result can be just as good as far as this goes. Patching panels is not hack work. It's 100% proper body work too. Using fiberglass body filler to make panels (like someone did to my T-bird and a major reason I knew I couldn't trust anything haha) and using more than a 1/4" thick filler in spots is hack work. Welded in self made patch panels, is a great, proper foundation. As long as you cut far enough back to get into solid, full thick sheet, it's just as good as replacing the panel. The only difference is the time spent. A solid truck is a solid truck either way. There's a nice satisfying feeling you get after repairing a panel, that you're not going to get by just replacing one too.






Side note. Do you have aftermarket accessories like west coast mirrors and sun visors? Generally, those come with sheet metal screws. Don't you hate how those barely catch in the 16 gauge sheet metal and loosen up over time?
When I did this to my F450, and just now again on the F250 you see here (I converted it to dually years ago) I installed riv-nuts.
Basically, if you've never heard of them before, they are nuts that you can place in sheet metal anywhere, by crimping a nut tightly to the back of the sheet metal, without even having to gain access to the back of the sheet metal! Super nice and they hold forever.
These are awesome! Here's the tool I bought:
WETOLS Rivet Nut Tool Kit, 14-Inch Rivnut Tool with 7 Metric and SAE Mandrels, Professional Hand Riveter with 70Pcs Rivnuts Assortment Kit, Manual Rivet Nut Gun with Rugged BMC Case
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081GDRTXP?
It comes with a nice variety of nuts too. The 1/4-20 are the ones you want for west coast mirrors and sun visors.
It's super easy to use and you can also get the nuts in stainless. I opted to use these:
30PCs 1/4"-20 Stainless Steel Rivet Nuts Nutsert Threaded Rivet Insert Rivnuts 1/4-20UNC
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077GQLQZ8?

Then I went to the hardware store and bought all new 1/4-20 stainless bolts and I'll be doing the same with this truck. The visor has been vibrating driving me crazy for far too long in this truck. This is the end of that. I put a little drop of Loctite on the bolts too to keep them from backing out. I had to share this because it's such a nice upgrade for these things over sheet metal screws and it's really not a pricey upgrade at all.

 

So now, you have any patch panels replaced or repaired, you've applied several coats of body filler, sanded them down quickly and roughly with 40 grit, then blocked that down with 180 grit, then applied several coats of high build primer, blocked that out and now you have flat panels and everything is concealed. You can't see any blemishes and running your hand down over all the panels, you can't feel any either. Some of you may have given up before you reached total concealment. That's ok. Just know if you stopped before everything was hidden, it's going to be highlighted, not hidden more, once you start painting. If you can live with that, fine. If not, now's the time to keep going. Consider walking away from it for a while and coming back in a week or two to keep going. You'll be thankful you did. Maybe even taking a break to watch some how to youtube videos on filler work and blocking to see if you're wasting time or doing something wrong. Maybe you'll pick up some helpful speed tips.

So when you're ready, now you'll get ready to lay down a final coat of high build. This time, you're going to go 4/1/1 on your mix using your $20 paint gun. That's 4 parts primer, 1 part hardener and now 1 full part reducer. We're going to be spraying the high build as a poor mans primer sealer. They make devoted stuff for this, but this is a budget, driveway paint job, remember. By now, you're realizing there's a whole lot more expense to this than the $450 paint kit as is right? This works very well for it's purpose too. I skipped this step recently and as soon as I shot my black, I remembered my mistake. I had to scuff it up, run out for some more and go back and do this so don't skip this. It's very important.



Re-sand over your last coat of high build with;
LotFancy 220 Grit PSA Sandpaper Roll, 2-3/4" Wide by 21.9 Yard Long, Self Adhesive Longboard Sand Paper, Sticky Back, Premium Aluminum Oxide Abrasive Sanding Roll, for Automotive and Woodworking
Keeping in mind, you're no longer blocking to flatten, you're simply sanding away deeper sanding scratches from your 180 grit.
I don't do this often, that's why I forgot this while painting the f250. This guide will be helpful to me down the road when I forget again too.
Sand gently now, not like before. You're only sanding away scratches.
Now sand again this time with this:
ABN Adhesive Sticky Back 320-Grit Sandpaper Roll 2-3/4in x 20 Yards Aluminum Oxide Golden Yellow Longboard Dura PSA

As it says, you can go all the way up to 400 now too if you want, but this stuff fills great. You wont have too. Remember, some scratches is "bite" for next coats.
LotFancy PSA Sandpaper Roll, 400 Grit Self Adhesive Sticky Back Longboard Sand Paper, 2-3/4" Wide by 21.9 Yard Long, Premium Aluminum Oxide Abrasive Sanding Roll, for Automotive and Woodworking

Important! Don't skip paper grits or you wont remove the scratches properly. You must work your way from course to fine.

Now it's time to grab the leaf blower and blow off the sanding dust. Wax and grease remover with your blue shop towels, followed by a wipe down using your tack cloth, just before you shoot.
Mix your 4/1/1 (up to the 5 marks. You'll need it all and then some, especially if doing a pickup bed too) and lay down your final coat. This will really help hide things and smooth things right out real nice.

Allow this to cure. Wait a couple hours or the next day.
Then when your ready, you're going to lightly sand it with 400 grit if you're shooting a base color without metallic. If you chose a metallic paint, sand it with 600 grit.
LotFancy 600 Grit PSA Sandpaper Roll, Self Adhesive, Sticky Back Longboard Sand Paper, 2-3/4" Wide by 21.9 Yard Long, Premium Aluminum Oxide Abrasive Sanding Roll, for Automotive and Woodworking


Next, if your shooting a solid color, muster up your courage! Wear tight clothing so nothing can hang off you when your bending over the truck roof and hood while spraying. You don't want anything draping down on your paint. Before you start, look up a youtube channel called "paint socitey". He will show you how to paint and you'll learn a lot of helpful info. Watch several of his videos before laying down your base and clear.

Open the doors and mask off/ ready your door jams. This is a step a lot of do-it-yourself and budget paint jobs skip. I's only time, it's not more money. Clean and then scuff up the door jams with a maroon scuff pad. You're going to want to use these for hard to reach crevices and contours on the body too, like around the door handle dips and rear cab intends and such.
Dura-Gold Premium 6" x 9" Maroon General Purpose Scuff Pads, Box of 10 - Scuffing, Scouring, Sanding, Paint Primer Prep Adhesion Scratch - Surface Preparation Automotive Car Auto Body Woodworking Wood

Wax and grease remover wipe down. You'll want to peel the rubber weather stripping down to the seat at least to mask the interior off. When you go to spray, start inside here on both coats. This way the over spray goes on before you lay down paint on the body and not after.


Ready your paint gun. If you want to keep it on a budget, you can shoot using your same $20 gun if you want, but I can tell you, you're going to have to really work hard to lay the paint down even with it. It will get you by and here's tips on how to make due with it; Keep the pressure up high. Keep a decent pattern but overlap a bit extra (careful of runs though!) and if you see stripes (you will) then what you want to do is pan up/down over your left/right pans. Paint cross ways against your stripes until you see them go away. It works. I've done it. So you normally pan over your doors and fenders for example, side to side right? Well when you get stripes, on your next coat, you'll go up and down, see? This will remove them. Don't clear over them or they're there for good. Use as many coats as you need, allowing flash time between coats as noted on the can.


If you can afford it and want a much easier time of things, this is the gun you'll want to use to lay down your paint with and it's what I just used to lay down my metallic blue base.
CENTRAL PNEUMATIC 20 oz. HVLP Gravity-Feed Air Spray Gun
SKU(s)68843
https://www.harborfreight.com/air-to...gun-68843.html

This is still a "cheap" gun, but it's a major step up over that $20 gun that worked great thus far, for primer and primer/sealer.
With this one, you'll get a far superior spray pattern and the paint will just flow out much easier and smoother. You're far less likely to get striping, as long as you get decent overlaps.
With this gun, you should only need two good coats but if you have enough paint, shoot three. Go a bit lighter on the first one, and your second and third coats will have the sticky base to hang onto, and you'll be far less likely to get any runs.

This is when you want to have the correct reducer ready for your base. Remember, there's different ones for the temp you'll be shooting it?
Reading the paint can, it says to mix 2:1 That's two parts base and 1 part reducer.
So grab a paint mixing cup and mark the 2:1 ratio with your sharpie.
You'll fill the 2:1 ratio section up to the 5 with base in the first row, and up to the 5 in the second row with reducer.
(When your getting close to a full coat on the truck, just mix up what you need. So in the 2:1 ratio column still, you might go up to 4/4 instead or 3/3 2/2 or just 1/1 if you need to make less than a full cup's worth of 2:1 ratio mix, is all, see?)


After you're done painting the base, you'll prep your clear coat.
For this, you'll ideally want a gun with a 1.3 tip. I use this one:
Professional HVLP Gravity Feed Air Spray Gun - 1.3mm Nozzle,20 Oz
but it's no longer available on amazon it says. For reference, it was $25 back in 2020 and it works great for shooting clear.
You can probably get by using your $20 gun you used for primer, but the thing about a 1.3 tip is, it's a finer mist, see? This is why you probably want to spring for another devoted clear coat gun. I'm sure anything will get you by for one paint job.
This one for example probably works as well or better than the one I have:
1.3 mm HVLP Spray Gun with 600 ml Plastic Cup - Easy Painting Tools - Professional Grade Paint Sprayer for Indoor or Outdoor Applications - Consistent Finish - Innovative Paint Supplies

The clear (in my TCP Global kit) is 4:1
So in your mixing cup, mark the 4:1 ratio column with your sharpie. You'll pour in 4 parts clear and 1 part hardener.
So you'll fill the first row up to 5 with clear and the second row up to 5 with hardener.
(for mixing less at 4:1 ratio, once your near the end, mix as little as needed as explained for base above, but this time, keeping 4/4, 3/3 2/2 1/1 in your 4:1 column of course.)

Now, when you go to shoot your clear, you'll be happy to know, the hard part is behind you. If you laid down your base and everything looks good, you can relax. Like primer, you'll be sanding the clear coat (with much finer paper). So if it runs, it's not a big deal.
If you're not happy with how the paint looks, be it you realize you rushed the body work and you know you can't live with it, or you got runs and stripes all over the place that you can't live with either, or the color is not what you want, then stop. Don't cover it with clear. Scuff up the paint, shoot some more high build, keep blocking, order a different color, do what you have to do, and write off the paint cost as a learning experience, order more if needed and then re-shoot it. No point in wasting clear coat too.

If you are happy with your paint, then all there is to do, is start applying your clear after a couple hours or within 24 hrs. The trick here is easy; apply one fairly light coat first. This stuff is sticky. This will tack the truck right up so it will hold your second heavy coat up, without runs. Keep in mind, it's far better to have a runny clear coat, than a thin and spotty clear coat. Too thin and you're screwed. Too heavy and runny, you just have a lot of extra wet sanding to do but in the end, it will be just as good and clear as if it was shot perfectly. So what I'm saying is, don't be afraid of it. In fact, you should probably keep laying on your second coat until you get a run, this way you know where the tipping point is, see? You'll probably be surprised just how hard it is to make the clear run (on your second coat). More is safe. Too little and you're re-painting your truck! You're not a pro, where time is money, so you don't need to try for the perfect amount. Go heavy and just deal with some sanding latter.



For tu-tone, it's a bit more complicated but probably easier than you're thinking. It's so worth it too because trucks are no longer tu-tone, it's such a classy, classic look and you can let your imagination run wild and go with any two colors and pinstriping colors you want. Have fun.
First, your going to need this specialty masking tape;
3M Vinyl Tape 471+, 1/2 in x 36 yd, Indigo, 1 Roll, Fine Line Tape for Paint Masking Striping, Color Separation and Complex Designs, High-Temperature, Stretch , Blue

This allows you to get sharp lines without bleeding. Sure, you could argue that pinstriping is going to cover up some anyway, but general, off the shelf standard pinstriping isn't that thick and you don't want to risk it by using general masking tape. Not with all this hard work so far.
Then you know what to do. Look at photos of trucks to see where you want the pinstriping or put them wherever you want it. There are no rules. The only rule is, make it look good to you and then lay it on as straight as you can. I had a sagging, misaligned drivers side fender. This is the time to fix those issues. I always had a large gap in the door and fender from 2012 when I put replacement fenders on. I wanted to correct this too, so I loosened everything up, added some fender washers and adjusted things. Then, I laid out masking tape.
Once you have the masking tape on, you can just mask over the tape, using general masking tape right on top of it (just put it on top, like halfway). Mask off so you can paint the center section first.

Here you can see, I forgot to apply my final sealing coat. I realized the error of my ways when I shot black and saw sanding scratches. Easy fix. Glad I caught it soon by starting with the middle.

Unlike a full color, you get to have a little practice shooting a devoted section. Here, I shoot some black for my center color.
Speedokote Base Coat Black automotive base coat, One Quart SMR-3683-Q

That stuff uses an easy 1:1 ratio. 1 part paint, 1 part reducer. So in the 1:1 column of your mixing cup, first row to 5 with paint, and second row to 5 with reducer. Fill it, if you have a pickup bed too because like the main part of he truck, you'll be shooting at least two coats. Can't remember what I mixed up for just two coats on the cab. I kinda think I went to like 3/3 or something. You can always mix more.

Being a little section on the sides and the front piece going around the front bumper, I opted to keep my higher end gun clean, and just shot the center using the $20 gun. That's black no less, see? So it can be done. If you have issues, you can just wait for it to dry, scuff it up and try again. See above for steps for painting base.


Now obviously, we're shooting outside. We can't crank up the heat in a paint booth, so we're stuck waiting overnight. Don't clear it or anything, just walk away and let it be if it turned out good.

The next day, you'll remove the masking tape and paper and then apply the specialty tape and masking paper so you can paint the main body color. You'll want to cut out the door after and mask it on the sides with general masking tape, so that the doors can open and close, so you can paint and clear the door jams too.


Now don't freak out. Base color isn't going to look great without the clear coat on it. This is to be expected. Once you lay down your clear, you'll be all smiles.
Don't forget to prep and shoot your accessories, while your paint is all mixed up in bulk.




Now unmask everything so that you can clear coat the whole thing together.

If you like this blue, its TCP Global paint kit "Moonlight Drive Blue Metallic - Urethane Basecoat with Premium Clearcoat Auto Paint".





See that ding I left in the door above the door handle on the F450? Still bugs me that I left it haha. If I knew it was going to come out so nice, I wouldn't have. That's why I encourage you to take your time, see? Yeah, I saw it too. Oh well, next time.
If you like this color, it's Mahogany Brown Metallic at TCP Global. Same black from amazon that I just used on the F250, listed above.

That clear coat really makes things pop. Wet sanding and buffing is next. If you made it this far, now you can really relax. So long as you timed things so it didn't rain and get your clear wet while it was curing overnight, you're good. If dust, bugs etc land on top of it now while it's curing, no worries. Don't touch it. Just let it be until the next day and it's cured. You'll be sanding anything that fell on top right away.

Helpful tip: It's very hard to reach across the hood. You'll probably find you get over spray by not being able to reach properly. Both trucks hoods are not the best for this reason. If you want to do the best job you can, get a helper and just take your hood off and stand it up off to the side so you can paint it nice and even like a panel. I have plenty of paint and clear for each truck. I'll probably take the hoods off both trucks, scuff them up and re-shoot and clear them at the same time. I used a low end gun to shoot the F450 so I kinda thought that was most of it and to a degree it was, but even the $70 gun couldn't help me reach properly and I see over spray on it too. I recommend taking your hoods right off guys so you can shoot them better. Just keep in mind, you'll want to get around the edges of it good still.


The next day, while the clear is still a touch soft, makes for a good time to wet sand but you can do it any time. Wet sanding is to remove the orange peel look, remove any runs in the clear and other dust nibs and things that may have landed in the clear.
You'll need some fine sand paper.
Dura-Gold Premium 3-2/3" x 9" Wet or Dry Sandpaper, Grits 800, 1000, 1500, 2000, 3000 (5 Ea) - Automotive Car Color Sanding Polishing, Woodworking Wood Furniture Metal Finishing Hand Sand Block Sander

You can buy it locally at an auto or hardware store too. Start with the 1,000. If you're careful, you can start with 800 on any runs or extra thick sections. Keep the paper and the truck wet. Don't use a sanding block, just use your flat hand or a soft block, like a sponge. Don't skip grits. Work your way finer in stages. The clear will come off and make the water look very milky. When the clear looks clean, no runs and it feels nice and smooth move along the truck to make it all look and feel the same. When it dries it's going to look very, very hazing and horrible. This is normal. Buffing will remove all the sanding scratches and make it pop again, only this time, even nicer than before.

CAUTION! Watch your body lines! Go easy on the lines or you can break through down to the base and remove the clear coat! If you see color bleeding, you know you messed up!
Go easy wet sanding on body lines. If you put on a nice thick coat, enough to start running somewhere, then you should be safe to make a few easy passes. Just be careful.
Once you're done with 1,000 grit, just keep moving up. The higher you go, the easier and quicker buffing will be.

For buffing, grab yourself a buffer if you don't have one. There's lots of options on amazon. I always used my orbital sander w/ buffing disc, but it never worked great for buffing either because you need heat to buff good and the orbit prevents heat so I got one of these. I'll update here after I use it. - Update; it works fantastic!
Buffer Polisher Kit for Car - 1600w 6/7 Inch Rotary Polisher Buffer Waxer,7 Variable Speed 1000-3300rpm,Detachable Handle Buffing Machine for Car Boat Sanding Polishing Waxing

Rather than using those included buffing pads, as they cut paint quickly if not careful; Rough and cheap. Too low grade imo. Toss them out, or just keep them for polishing metals and such.
Use these instead. Use them in order, from roughest to finest and they'll shine the truck right up nice, with very little risk of paint damage.


Cutting compound is pricey but it's what you need after wet sanding. I picked mine up at an auto paint store a while back and I recall it was like $50 for a bottle. Anyway, search for a video if need be, but the main thing is, you need cutting compound and heat but too much heat in one spot can burn through the clear so don't go too far. Once it's nice and clear, keep moving. Don't get carried away.

Lastly, all there is left to do, is start putting your trim, door handles, emblems, mirrors, accessories etc. all back on and grab a razor blade to clean off the over spray on the windows that no doubt got in around the edges, step back enjoy and take lots of photos to show off your driveway paint job, then go for a drive and listen to all the compliments you'll be getting on how nice your classic truck looks! If you want to really blow their minds, tell them you painted it out in your driveway, but be prepared for the skeptic looks hahaha





Don't wax your truck for 3 months. The paint will be out-gassing. Wax traps it. Just be patient. After 3 months you can make it nice and shiny.

 

Thanks for posting this. I would have to go to bare metal, because I've already used krylon spray cans, and from what I've read, other primers and paints are not compatible.

 

How to make repairs. Well guys, I'm kinda glad I messed up, so I can show how to fix mistakes.

In this photo you can see them. I had originally thought, the spots (dark spot on upper fender, closest to cowl) and the light spots down under the door/lower fender were drying unevenly. I was wrong. In my defense, it was a bit overcast during shooting and I was under plastic which made it a bit harder to see.


So, there's a few ways to fix this. If you were shooting a solid color, simply mask off the whole panel you need to re-shoot and just shoot it all. Scuff it up w/ 400 grit regular paint/ w/ 600 grit for metallic. Shoot it with a couple coats, wait a couple hours for the paint to outgas like you did the whole thing, then clear it.

With tu-tone, scuff it all up, mask off to shoot the center, wait overnight and trade masking to shoot the main color, then wait a couple hours and clear it.

In my case, since I'm tu-tone and I had a great center all shot, I don't need to sacrifice that part. Instead, you can mask it off, sand it w/ 600 (metallic blue paint). Shoot it with a couple coats of color, wait a couple hours, then clear it. Now, if you're going to do it this way, here's the important step; wait for the clear to flash (like 15 mins, like you do between coats) and then lightly spray some clear blend over the two colors, where your masking was. This will chemically melt the old clear (on the black center for example) into the fresh (blue metallic) clear.
I used U-POL Blend #9 Fade Out Reducer UP0874. It's simple, as it comes in a spray can and works great. You just lightly skim over where the two sections butt, fairly light, it doesn't take much, into the new and the old clear and it blends them. Don't worry about how it looks at first. You'll wet sand and buff and shine it right back up.

Never mind the yellow dust on the cured sections. That's just tree pollen, of which I cleaned all off on my repair section before sanding.




I saw a little sliver of a spot I missed somehow in the door jam too, so while I had the paint mixed up for the larger spots, I figured I'd mask that off and get it too. I swear it was overcast while I was shooting. The sun came out nice and bright, right after shooting my clear. What ya gunnna do? It's a driveway paint job, it's not supposed to look this good anyway haha.




Side note; notice my masking line wasn't ideal either on this side? See it dropping towards the headlight. I was about to just redo the whole fender, but I decided to hold up my pinstriping to see if it would go on straight and sure enough, I lucked out. Once on, it hides the crooked line, while exposing only blue through the whole line. I'll be using 1/2" overall a 1/8 stripe, 1/8 gap and 1/4 stripe.
The 1/4 goes on the bottom, on the upper pinstripe row and it's just thick enough to run straight along the drooping line. If the stripe didn't bury it, I would have just scuffed up the whole fender, run a straighter line and re-shot the whole works.

Now she's all nice and even and ready for me to wet sand and buff. I've been too busy with work, that's why she's still sitting waiting for me and why I'm behind getting her back together. I'm going to try to sneak in a few hours on her this week though.

Keep in mind, this is still possible because the paint is fresh. Once the paint ages, over time the sun will fade it out and if you simply shoot a section of a panel, or a whole panel, then you'll have a new, brighter spot or panel and the rest of the truck will look more aged. That's when you have to color blend (I don't have any experience trying that) or re-shoot the whole truck. If it's been a while, you get to pick a new color scheme and get more practice in, so it's a win anyway.

Anyway, this is good to know if you missed a few spots, got a heavy spot, maybe you got a run you can't live with in the base (remember in the clear, you just wet sand that out), a bird flew over and took a crap, or you saw some bad body work in a section you want to fix. We're not pro's here. This is a driveway paint job, we're going to make mistakes and that's ok. This is how we deal with them.

 

Moonlight Drive Blue Metallic/ Black center / Silver metallic pinstripe.

Traditional common style pinstripe is called 8/16 it's 1/4” Stripe, 1/8" Gap, Then 1/8” Stripe
It's a very sharp and clean look. Compared to oem used on these trucks, it's a "less is more" if you will. It greatly aids in the "simple, clean, sharp look".
If you like the fat oem stuff great, but just because Ford used it 30 years ago, doesn't mean you should feel compelled to allow it to limit you today. Like the color. Don't paint it to be worth more to someone else. Paint it to be worth as much as it can to you. Paint it the color you like and want. Don't feel confined to some assembly line from several years ago. Be creative.
How I used it, was I copied how the body shop installed it on my first re-paint;
The gap is placed so the main (blue) body color is shown through (so the thick 1/4 line is the line used to cover the two colors), the large stripe faces "inwards" the center, so the thick line goes on the bottom, of the top pinstripe row. On the bottom row of pinstripe, the thick line goes on the top. Another easier way to remember it perhaps is that on the center color, the pinstripe's thicker lines of both rows, face each other........ But this is subjective. The only hard rule is there are no rules! Create what looks best to you. Just figure it out, before masking so you can figure out where your line needs to be.
After applying the pinstripe, you then remove the outer protective clear plastic. I found, cutting the pinstripe to length, peeling off the whole back to reveal the sticky side, then using both hands, outreach to each side and lay it all down at once, gives me a straight line. I dunno how I'd do a pickup bed side. Good luck with that!

If you ever need to remove it latter on, because you wanted to touch up a panel or replace a section that got broke, they make rubberized wheel erasures. You just need to use them slowly and easily.

To remove it initially, or latter if you're repairing and respraying a whole panel, you'll just sand it off with sand paper. These are of course used for when you need to remove it, and preserve the paint.

Another clean look you may have noticed was the fender emblems on both my trucks are also not 9th gen era. They are'05-07 Ford super duty era fender emblems. Remember, there are no rules. Rules are imagination and creativity killers.

If you like tu-tone, don't shoot her a solid color because you're afraid. It's such an upscale, classic truck look, that you just don't see any more on modern stuff. It's not as hard as you may think it is and the little extra effort is so worth it. You can do this!

It's just like Brian says on his youtube channel; Paint socitey, at the end of all his videos: "Don't over think it. It's just paint".





"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right." - Henry Ford.

 

great pictures