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Stock XJ Cherokee Tech. All XJ Non-modified/stock questions go hereXJ (84-01)
All OEM related XJ specific tech. Examples, no start, general maintenance or anything that's stock.
Way too much work to brush or roll. Harbor Freight has halfway decent 1-2 HP compressors for $140 (loud, but they work fine), and the cheap HVLP gun set for $40, plus an inline dryer. Otherwise, jut buy a bunch of rattle cans. Doesn't duplicolor bed liner come in red? Thinning that a bit with paint thinner and rolling it might come out relatively smooth..
I have a compressor and spray spray guns already. Just don’t feel like spraying outside and I’m trying to use as little time and as little money as possible. So a makeshift booth is out of the question and bedliner is fairly expensive. I only paid $200 for the truck and the body is solid. It has been rolled before and that and the factory paint under it are peeling off on the hood and roof. The object is to tone down the current bright red, give it kind of a hot rod look and not have it look like a junker or like a 2 year old painted it. I’ve also been painting houses and other structures since the mid 90’s and I actually feel like rolling it is easier.
$40 of rattle can, weeks of prep (with school and other things), lots of late nights, but yes prep is key. Also as you can see I had drop clothes on the walls and the ceiling above the jeep and had water on the floors, which helped tremendously with getting dirt and dust in wet paint. And two fans, one blowing in and one blowing out, both with air filters on them. I only primed the hood because I had to take a lot of paint off of it and I did a final wetsand I think in 400 grit maybe 600. I wouldn't do rattle can because no matter how good it looks or how good a job you do its not gonna last very long. That being said painting mine was an impulse decision and I plan on respraying it with a gun.
Here is a link to Monstaliner thread spanning 6 years and 95 pages of examples. This is on my wish list to do, as in I wish I had time for the project. I see it as very affordable for the durability I could get out of using a liner versus a 2 part real auto paint..
I partially painted a 98 Gunmetal Blue. I got the thing in fairly decent (exterior) condition but the roof and liftgate clearcoat was flaking and there were some rusted through areas to repair. I got the paint from a company I found on the internet. It was a close match so I did not attempt to paint the entire exterior. I just focused on the repaired areas. The paint was from here -
I bought quart sizes of everything and ended up needing a bit more. I used an orbital sander to rough-off the clear coat and then wet sanded the surfaces smooth. Then I laid on a few coats of primer (from the same place above) lightly sanding in between coats with 400 grit. Then came a couple coats of the topcoat, also lightly sanded, followed by a couple coats of clear. Initially, the left and right rear corners of the roof were rusted through so I had to repair it. The rain channels on either side also had rust-through to the interior of the truck. The right rear fender immediately aft of the wheelhouse had a sizeable hole. I repaired all damage (including the front left & right floor pans) with composite techniques (fiberglass, flock, resin) but steered clear of any kind of body filler. Body filler is agroscopic and will eventually rust the surface it's bonded to so no bueno. I could have taken 1500 grit to the clearcoat and then buffed it out but we're talking a 98 XJ Classic repaired to give to my son for a college ride.
Yep, a paint job is 99% preparation. Do that right. Then, practice shooting the paint on some sizeable pieces of cardboard. I learned how to paint many years ago so the process is 2nd nature to me. I will say a proper paint booth is the best place but the garage is the next best. I got some 1" X 2" X 10' lumber and some clear plastic dropcloth. I stapled the plastic to the lumber and then screwed it to the ceiling of my garage to create a paint booth. Then I used a couple of cheap box fans with furnace filters as ventilators/dust collectors. I cut square holes in the plastic and duct taped them around the fans. The plastic was also duct taped to the floor. I opened up a couple holes in the plastic at ceiling level to draw fresh air in and move the overspray in a down draft through the filters of the fans. For personal gear I used a full face paint mask and dressed accordingly. If you assemble a paint booth inside you garage make sure to leave at least three feet all around the vehicle. I had my XJ angled in the garage and that seemed the best way to give the most room.
Good luck.
You gave me some great ideas. I was considering making a paint booth and you definitely helped me avoid a lot of trial and error. Thank you!
Here is a link to Monstaliner thread spanning 6 years and 95 pages of examples. This is on my wish list to do, as in I wish I had time for the project. I see it as very affordable for the durability I could get out of using a liner versus a 2 part real auto paint..
05-12-2019, 05:14 PM
