Reasonable paint job.

[Andre LeMoine]

I was wondering if anyone in my area ( Round Rock, Tx. ) could recommend a place to get a decent paint job. I do not want to mortgage my house or go see my loan officer. Thank you, Andre.

 

[81laredo]

I was wanting to start a thread about this as well. I want a decent paint but don't need or want show paint. The Body Shop close by told me about $1,500 but then if I go on the trail and scratch it I won't be too happy.
I am leaning towards a Flat Black (or Swede as some call it) Epoxy Primer with some Vinyl Stripes to give it a little evidence of completed. I would rather finish the restoration before spending too much on paint.
I suggest that you start getting quotes and you may be surprised. You may also try asking at your local Automotive Paint Shop, they may know someone who works on his own.
Good luck

 

[Andre LeMoine]

Some of the places around me don't have very favorable reviews but I keep looking and asking. Andre.

 

[Jimbos76cj]

I was wondering if anyone in my area ( Round Rock, Tx. ) could recommend a place to get a decent paint job. I do not want to mortgage my house or go see my loan officer. Thank you, Andre.

Got any macco's around you. If you want a good quality job for a reasonable price you will have to put a little elbow grease into it. I would go to macco and see about the lowest price 2 stage paint job you can get. I know they do a budget job for 299 but its single stage and they dont really do any surface prep outside of taking a sander to it.

I would talk with em, find out how much it would cost to throw on a base and clear coat and what type of primer should be used under it. Then do your own body work, pick up a cheap spray gun, water seperator and a few quarts of the primer and prep and primer it your self. take it to them with all the trim removed and any thing you dont want painted taped up.

I know your response will be I dont know how to paint (if you dont).. and that s ok because your not painting.. your applying a primer coat. If oyu get a run you can wet sand it and never know it was there.. take your time and do a good job and your paint will look great.

If the maaco wont do it that way try at a mom and pop paint shop.

I painted mine my self wit htractor supply semi gloss black and it looks good.. considering i only spent 125 for the gun, sander, sperator, primer, reducer and paint it looks great.

Google how to paint and try it out. its the jeep way

Oh.. I had my WJ painted at a repitable shop with alot of work done to the trunk lid, and both bumpers and it only came to 1800 so 1500 is quite a bit pricey.

 

[Andre LeMoine]

The Maaco near me has mixed reviews. I have painted cars before and am leaning in that direction. One of the great things about the Jeeps is being able to take the body apart fairly easily and quickly compared to other vehicles. I will need to cover all the stuff in my garage but other than that and waiting for the weather here to cool off a little I have time this weekend to start disassembly. Thanks for the replies. I will keep this updated with photos. Andre.

 

[Air Force]

I feel your pain on this. I have never done body/paint work either and am trying to restore a 78 CJ7 . I am not looking for a show quality paint job. Just something that looks OK and it is about impossible. I had one guy tell me he would not even start on it until he got $3K in his hand. I'm all for paying a guy for a good paint job, but what if I do not want a showroom paint job? I cannot find anyone willing to even talk about it.

 

[Jimbos76cj]

If you plan on taking your jeep offroad I would just do it your self. All the materials for the job would set you back no more then 500.. A small compressor is all you really need. Scrounge the local junk yard for some panels you can grab cheap and some tractor supply paint 20-40 a gallon and practice spraying them to get the motion and gun set up right. I use a HF gun and water separator. I have 2 other friends that with out past experience did very good quality garage paint jobs.. Just google it and do some reading. I have a local napa store that mixes paig and they are very helpful. I went in their and told them I had no experience and wanted to paint a jeep my self and he gave me a ton of info and showed me every thing I needed.

 

[Jimbos76cj]

Or.... If you use the duplicator paint system you can get the paint and primer by the quart and it comes ready to spray. I would definately stay away from metallics.. They are hard to get rightthe first time.. Trust me!

 

[rr41mag]

Andre painting is not as hard as you think it is. Most of painting is the prep work before you actually do the painting. I use a compressor i bought at harbor frieght. You can get a decent gun there too. You can practice with primer before you actually put down paint.

 

[oldguy]

Andre, Like mag and some of the others say, painting isn't that hard. Especially if your going to use and not just show your Jeep. I like 2 stage paint, the base or color coat goes on like primer and is hard to screw up. The top, urathane or clear, is tougher but put several coats on and you can wetsand out any oops! and buff it if you want. Done several from sorta show cars to restored tractors (their fun) and really its not to difficult.

 

[Andre LeMoine]

Since it was originally silver I would like to go back with a silver metallic base/clear but am aware of the challenge of making the metallic blend well. I have a good compressor, need a new paint gun and water seperator. I have thought about the Valspar tractor paint at Tractor Supply. I've also been looking at the Trinity 1945 paint sold on ebay advertised as a single stage acrylic enamel. Andre.

 

[Jimbos76cj]

I used the valspars semi black for the CJ in this thread

http://www.jeep-cj.com/forums/f98/jimbos-1-2-build-thread-9967/

I used the spray primer in the can, put down 3 coats and wet sanded it.

The good and bad thing about the TSC paint is that it has a vary low flash time so you could take your time with it. Bad thing is you have to let it dry for 24hrs between coats.

IF I could do it again I would use a gloss color. I would put down 3 coats.. wet sand and then put down 1 final coat. I have a friend that sprayed his F-AMC 150 with it and didnt wet sand the primer and it looks a little egg shelly, compared to the peeling clear and rust from before it looks good. I got my black on sale for $2.99 quart.. and it only took 3 quarts and I threw alot away.

 

[Andre LeMoine]

I found a hardly used hardtop hoist for $50.00 so the top is now up and out of the way. Plan on starting prep work this weekend. Still trying to decide whether to go back with silver or go to a solid color. Andre.

 

[Jimbos76cj]

If your not in a rush and plan on using the TSC valspar silver I would pick up a quart and spray it on some practice peices.. Most people will use a 3/4 over lap with metallics

 

[Nomad127]

Andre,

I had some work done to my Avalanche by a guy in Leander who did a good job considering the price. I wouldn't take a custom car to him but he's perfect for a jeep and good to work with. I'll get his name when I get back to the house this afternoon.

Also, I recently painted my CJ5 in my garage which I will never do again. I went with a quality Valspar paint and a good gun but the cost/time/quality vs. taking it to a reasonable priced pro would have been worth it.

I'm close to completion and have yet have anyone else work on it other than buddies but looking back, never again will I do that.

I'll find his name and get it to you. If I forget, PM me to jar my memory.
-Jeff

 

[Nomad127]

Good Paint & Body guy in the Austin area:

Chris Loftin @ Loftin Body & Paint, Inc.
201 Industrial Blvd.
Cedar Park, TX
512-259-3457

 

[lloydwithAf]

if you make it up around Lubbock check out economy paint and body. Im getting a full job for 800

 

[Andre LeMoine]

Thanks for all the info. I may end up painting it myself, in fact I'm strongly leaning that way. I began taking it apart Saturday. Much easier than I thought. I was trying to figure out whether to paint little stuff like the hinges seperately and noticed once I removed them that they were painted attached to the body. Learning more about my CJ7 . Andre.

 

[Andre LeMoine]

I'm in the process of prepping for paint. I purchased the Devilbiss Starting Line paint kit. I just ordered a Kirker base/clear kit and am welding/cutting/scraping/sanding away. Only one small rust spot to deal with. I need to repair the door cracks and where the door check straps mount. I've already welded the parking brake bracket back onto the tub. I will post some photos hopefully this weekend of my progress so far. Andre.

 

[Andre LeMoine]

Finished, back together and now my daily driver. Not perfect but happy with the results. Also, a photo from the day I drove it home. Have the hardtop on it now, mixed up some Rustoleum until I got the shade of tan that I wanted. Andre.