Painting a Xj

Ok I am building a Xj to be a great trail rig but also a daily driver. And since my cherokee cost me $450 its a given that it doesnt look so hot. I want to paint it a metallic burnt orange and I was wondering how hard would this be to do? What all is involved in painting a car and what can I do to make the paint more durable and last longer? Any tips you guys could share would be great.


(P.S. I already tried a search)

Petersons used to have a paperback book on basic body work and painting. Try your local book store. There is way too much envolved to cover it here.

old_man said:

Petersons used to have a paperback book on basic body work and painting. Try your local book store. There is way too much envolved to cover it here.

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x2.


the basic jist of it is you need to sand her down, apply your paint. you could paint over your existing paint but thats a bad idea. You putting on a clear coat?

yeah I am. I was just wondering how much labor was involved vause I have access to the equitment and I'm expierienced with spraying (I do house painting staing and laquer or varnish finnishes)

How is this advanced tech? Take it to "Modified Tech"

First off, painting over old paint isn't a bad idea as long as the paint is stuck and not peeling. Pro's almost never take it down to the metal. If you do, you have to stabilize the metal and start over.

One word....KRYLON!!! :laugh3:

I second the spray bomb idea.

1.) It's cheap
2.) Scratches don't have to hurt you
3.) You can fix your own paint damage
4.) It's cheap!

I had a YJ, with the light primer under a red base coat and clear over that. Between the peeling clear and the branch scratches through to the light Grey primer, it looked pretty bad.
I sanded through the clear coat, into the base coat and sometimes into the primer, tried not to go all the way through to the metal. Put on a coat of sealer primer. On a whim had the guy add color (red) to the sealer primer so it was close to the same color as my top coat. Then sprayed a thick coat of Red Acrylic. Actually three coats, but at half hour intervals.
Scratches can be fixed with a fine artist paint brush. When they do go through the top coat the primer is almost the same color and they don't stand out.
I periodically wax the whole works with a Red pigmented wax.
I found the paint by the waterfront, at a wholesaler. Pretty much the same Dupont they use on cars, but about half the price. I've also found cheaper paint by places that cater to truckers.
The clear looks good, but the light scratches really show up and the medium deep scratches really look bad. And if you want to fix a deep scratch, you have to fine brush on the base coat and then a clear coat.