Me being the kinda guy that can't sit still for very long I have decided to jump into painting the 99 known as body swap. After putting it together and driving it for a few weeks I decided to go for it.
Here is the starting point.

Not bad looking but upon closer inspection she has her share of dings and scratches.

I always start out with a clean vehicle so you can look it over real well and mark all the little dings and waves. I use soap stone but it doesn't stick real well to shiny paint.


Next I take a grinder to any spots requiring filler.


Thats as far as I got today but in the coming days I will load more progress pictures and continue the thread until she a shiny truck again. I might even have a few tricks up my sleave to share.
John

 

Sounds cool! I will definitely be checking in on this thread as I am interested to one day paint a vehicle.

 

I want to see how this turns out. There's a few spots on mine that need attention pretty bad, but I have no idea how to do it.

 

Day 2
I guess I should start with the tools. Here are some basic tools to get good results. Air grinder, DA sander, air file, electric orbital sander and an assortment of sandpaper & bondo file . There is also some lightweight filler(for basic body work), some icing(for scratch and finnish work, sands real smooth), bondo board & spreader, primer & thinner, blow gun and paint sticks.

Here's the truck with a light coat of bondo on the bad spots.

After sanding


This is a coat of icing or spot putty, this is good stuff. It looks like there is alot on there but you put this stuff on real thin.


Some more tools of the trade... a bucket of water and some 320 paper. Notice the sanding block and paint stick. The rag is to clean the truck with. Some prefer to use a hose when wet sanding, I like to just use a bucket and a rag.

Here is what the truck looks like after wet sanding...lol By this time it was getting dark and my camera is junk so I'll get some better pics tommorrow.


I took some pics of this one spot to show the bodywork progression The first picture shows what is easy to sand with an orbital sander. The second demonstrates the value of a air file to get into the grooves of the body line. The third shows the coat of icing before sanding. Notice how when I put it on I covered all the scrathed up area and in some areas its so thin you can see thru it.




Thats it for day 2. Next will be some spot priming and wet sanding.
John

 

Cool!! Keep posting the progress!! Looks beter already!!

 

Lookin' good, bro. Let me know when I can bring mine over!!! Haha. What color are you going to paint it?

 

looks good. my only concern will be dirt and bugs. how will you deal with that?

 

I believe he has his own shop... otherwise, ballz.

 

Dust is pretty easy to control by hanging plastic and wetting the floor down before you paint. Bugs are a little trickier. You can try to control bugs by not painting when they are active but nothing is foolproof. for instance at night with the lights on in a shop the bugs will try to get in so thats not a good time. when its warm out in the evening they are quite active also. I like to paint when its raining but can't always wait for rain.
John

 

I like where its headed I hope it turns out real nice!

 

What paint are you gonna use? My next paint job is gonna be that new duplicolor product. Old schoold lacquer! If a bug gets in it you can wetsand it out and keep going, plus it dries quick. It's almost made for driveway painting.

 

most likely urethane I would think, since thats what it originally had, and its soooo much better than lacquer and enamel. It is also so much more durable than lacquer and enamel....urethane is the only thing I use, although it is more expensive.

wvcat, have you seen the product called "clean sheets"? you put bondo on it, and when your done, you just tear that sheet off and you have a brand new sheet of paper to use. works great.

 

I'll be using base coat clear coat but not sure how many colors at this point (probably 3) but it will be something other than plain black. Yes the clear will be urethane. I did used to use laquer back in the days when it was available. I have never seen clean sheets but I will see if my paint store has it, sounds cool. BTW that bondo board in the picture above was a piece of cardboard when I started using it...lol, its about 3/8's thick now and I sand it smooth all the time.
John

 

Heres a few pictures from last night and tonight. The first 2 are last night. Just an overall progress pic and a picture of the example spot after a coat of primer. Notice the 2 high spots on the sample. I slightly taped them with a body hammer and filled and sanded them and reprimed(second pic) and finnally a overall with the spots primered.






John

 

Very nice progress man, good job!

Brenton

 

Weird primer. But it looks good, bro.

Brent. Ever gonna get a front bumper? Like the ride, never the less.

 

Yah Brent, ever gonna get a front bumper? Ya bastard..



And looks sweet on the paint job! I promised my friend I'd paint her Jeep Wrangler pink(shes a stupid blonde) next year, so maybe I'll learn some more here. I already did some pretty sweet body work and paint repair to her jeep, so I don't think it'll be too hard.

 

It's coming along nicely. Can't wait to see the finished product! Personally I'd have left the paint like this, it looks good!:

 

Yeah the primer looks weird because its spots sprayed over existing primer.
Oh yeah Brent you ever going to get a bumper...lol
The new trend the wet sand look...just clear it and I bet it would hold up....maybe
John

 

I think hes trying to sell his truck....

What kind of primer is that? And is the other side scratched up too? b/c i've only seen you workin on the drivers side so I didn't know.

 

forget to shave the mudflap holes in the bed after the wheel well and the ones in the front as well.

 

I have my other truck on ebay but this ones not for sale, you never know maybe sometime. I actually have the ps of the truck further along than the ds but didn't think about posting the project at first. The reason I primed everything already is because its going to have to be a driver while I'm working on it because the auction for the other truck ends tommorrow night. The primer is Nason Fulfil primer, see pic above(red & white can). I have flares for the truck but they have the cutout for the flaps so I am planing on reinstalling them with the flares.
John

 

You'll be better off with those flaps on there, plus those look alot nicer than the ones on edges with flares... Good job, looks real good, I did my bumper and the second coat of clear somehow magically FUBARed overnight... then I put some bug and tar remover on it the other day to remove some "lovebugs" and now the clear is chemically cooked haha... looks like ****. lol.

 

Yeah The flaps don't bother me, I don't go off road. You will probably have to get paint stripper to fix the bumper.
John

 

I'll just be purchasing a new bumper and valance and foglights and another fender flare and have it all painted at once-- professionally.