Hello

It's spring now and time to do what I set out to do with my Jeep when I bought it; repaint! The paint now is not in terrible shape, slightly faded but not peeling. I am wondering if I have to take it all the way down to bare metal in order to get a long lasting paint job. I don't want to spend a fortune and I plan on doing it myself. What I don't want is the paint I put on to peel off after a couple of years. What method should I take to approach the prep work?

Number one thing you need to be a good painter is patience.
If the paint is still there, not chipping or peeling, that means it's already stuck good. So. You can rough it up with scotch bright to make it nonglossy all the way through. Get a good automotive primer, I like rustoleum, and primer it. If you already have paint on there the primer isn't really necessary but will make a more uniform finish. With the scotch brite again, hit it, primer, scotch brite and repeat until it's as smooth as you want it, then paint. At least two coats. I'd also clear coat it a couple times. Test it out on something small to ensure its the color you want and to practice first.

Watch this http://www.powernationtv.com/episode...ect-paint-prep

Really long lasting paint on an XJ, are you sure? Just get it to the point where it looks fairly good from 30' at 30 mph, then paint it with something you can rattle can easy for touch it up. After all its a XJ and its for 4 wheeling an having fun with. Don't sweat the scratch's and dents they will just give it the all business look and lets people know what its used for.

haha, yea this is a business vehicle alright. I bought it for the business to haul around boxes of tee shirts. I don't think it will be doing much offroading but will be in the eyes of customers so making it look decent is important.

good video. Thanks for sharing that.

The more research I do the more I think I'm going to do the prep work and take the vehicle to maaco for them to actually paint it. I don't have any equipment to do it.

I wouldn't do that. Maaco uses crap materials. Your paint might shine for a year before it cracks off. Your dealer may vary though since they are independent. I would find a buddy or teach yourself or try to bargain with a shop that will use halfway decent brand of paint.

The most time consuming part is the prep. Make a deal with a good painter to shoot it after you do all the prep.

^ I agree about Maaco. The best bet would be a local place that has a paint booth. They would allow you to do prep and then bring it in, but expect them to do additional prep work to meet their own standards.

The longest lasting, toughest paint is the original factory finish.

If yours is only somewhat faded, I would go to an automotive specialty paint store. Get them to come out and look at your Jeep and get recommendations as to how to buff it out gently to bring the shine back, without cutting the clear coat too bad.

I have watched shows on Velocity, Discovery, etc. where they do just that. Take their time and use professional materials. You'd be surprised and pleased with what you can do in a weekend with the right stuff.

I always intended to change the color to a mopar orange. Otherwise I would look into restoration over repainting.

I use to work at maaco don't use them trust me.But before you do all the prep yourself talk to a few painters see if they will paint it,Some painters won't paint over prep they didn't do their self.

OK I understand a Mall Crawler a great paint job is important but the most part of all is the prep work and the hardest to do properly, not the paint. If I were going to have anything done by someone else it would be the body work paint can be re-sanded and shot again no big deal. The prep can only be really noticed after paint or if really good after primer.

Please forgive me if I seem harsh on your idea not saying I know any more than you do but have had a lot of paint jobs in my life and can tell you if you don't have excellent prep, you end up with a S*** paint job. I paint my XJ somewhat but only what I told you about major dents scratches and those are Half A**ed at best.

Take some pictures lets see how faded the paint is on it.Unless the clear is pealing off it can be buffed back out.Fred has a point if the prep isn't 100% right once its painted everything you missed shows up.Have you thought about maybe plasti diping it?A lot of people use it now they have a ton of colors.Its not permanent like paint but a lot easier to spray on at home then paint is.And if you don't like the color later on it comes right off.