Duplicolor paint system

[Jimbos76cj]

I decided a while ago I was going to paint this jeep my self. After talking to a guy at napa and getting prices for the primer, paint, clear, reducer, hardner etc, etc, I decided to use the duplicolor paint system. First thing I did was hit the tub with 400 and 600 grit to knock down the gloss and clean up some chips and rough areas. Since I was keeping it red I decided I didnt need to take it all the way down to the metal, besides Im using a YJ tub so its galvanized. Any areas that went all the way to the metal I cleaned and hit with duplicolor self etching high build primer. I gave those areas 3 coats of primer then sanded and feathered the edges smooth.



After I was happy with the prep work I washed the body with a heavy duty degreaser then wiped it all down with a prep spray to get the finger prints off. Every thing got masked off including any holes that went through the body to help keep the over spray out.

2 coats of primer


3 coats of red laid down


3 coats of clear

2 coats of primer, 3 coats of red and 3 coats of clear.


Heres the color in the sun.. Its actually red but looks orange in the pic

Went pretty good Total cost so far is $AMC 150 plus around $50 in materials. I still need to do the hood, fenders and grill so Im thinking Ill be in the hole between 300-400 when its all done.
I used 2 quarts of primer, 2 quarts of red and 3 quarts of clear.

 

[jb8376]

That looks awesome. I was thinking about doing that myself. I do not want to put a whole lot of money in paint since it will just get scratched up in the woods. Plus I want to learn to paint anyway. What kind of gun did you use? Please post some pics when you get it all done and back together.

 

[caveman]

I do not want to put a whole lot of money in paint since it will just get scratched up in the woods.

If you put extra hardener in the paint, It will help a lot. I used cheap tractor supply paint on mine and put twice as much hardener in it than it called for. It doesn't scratch much but i think i used a little to much hardener because it cracks. Probably only half again as much hardener would have been better.

 

[007]

Yeah I'm a painting novice and I too would like to know what equipment you used, etc.

I like a nice paint job, but I also like not panicking every time there's a close call or a something happens ya know?

 

[Jimbos76cj]

The gun is a harbor freight hvlp set at 30 psi. I also used a HF air water seperator. The duplicolor system comes pre mixed.. Shake the can, stir, put lid back on and shake again, strain and spray. Unfortunately here in Florida getting a calm wind day is pretty hard. If I had more time I would have liked to sand the primer with some 800, sprayed the red then wet sanded it with 1200 the. Apply 3-4 coats of clear. I plan on doing a lot of close trail and mud playing so I decided that all that extra work would have been a waste. It's got a decent amount of orange peel but again I'm not to worried about it.

If your serious about learning how to paint if recommend using this system. Since it's all mixed you don't have to mess with any thing. When I first started painting I went through a quart or two of paint just learning how to set up the gun. I used a old dented jeep hood to test and practice on before I went to town on the jeep.

The first jeep I painted I used tractor supply semi gloss black. I sprayed the whole jeep with 3 of 4 coats of duplicolor sandable primer then wet sand all of it. Reduced the paint with naphtha and added hardner and let it loose.. Jeep looked pretty good when it was done.

I'm hoping to roll it out tomorrow and take some better pics in the light.

 

[jb8376]

Sounds good. I have a harbor freight gun also. I wasn't sure how good it would work. I have heard bad things about it.

 

[Jimbos76cj]

Honestly it's worked great. I have a devilbliss at home but would rather use the HF gun. Practice on some thing, I use a peice of cardboard to adjust the spray pattern.