XJ clean up.

[Prowler]

Here is a run down of what my xj looks like.
-All black
-glossy black and a lot of areas where it looks charcoled and faded. With some grayish white looking areas
-bad rusted door. (I have another to replace it)
-some small rust in some areas through out body.
-very bad bottom where the rock slidders go.

Can I fix the small rust areas and where the paint is bad with just a sander, and then prime it and repaint it? Will it look horrible? Can I just do the bad spots?

 

[rumrunner110]

It's really hard to color-match black paint and not have it noticable. If you want everything to match, you'd be better off painting the whole truck. The charcoal and fading is the clearcoat rubbing off. If it's not too far gone, you could try and wet sand the Jeep, then buff it back to its former glory. ALso, if your rockers are bad, you should check the floor pans. They are notorious for rotting out.

 

[NXJ]

Post up some pics as the project comes along. I'm doing the exact same thing to mine, it's currently spread all over the garage floor in small bits. You ought to do the same, a full strip down for inspection.

ALso, if your rockers are bad, you should check the floor pans. They are notorious for rotting out.

Not necessary, mine has mint floors and fubar'd rockers.

 

[RVwalkE]

if the clearcoat is going you cant really save it by sanding and buffing, there isnt enough material on a factory paint job to do that without burning through. your better off painting the whole panel.... about those bad spots... your better off patching them or replacing the panel. even if you sand all the rust off there are probably still pits with some rust that will bubble up any paint you put over them... your best bet would be sand blasting the spots... overall the metal is probably too thin and wouldnt be worth doing this to... you can blend black paint with spots but you will have to reclear the whole panel (you cant successfully blend clear too easily)

 

[Prowler]

I don't want to spend a crap load of money on it. I just want it fixed.

I will tear up the floor and take pictures and stuff but it will be torwards the summer. I am busy with graduation and paintball tourny right now.
I'm pretty sure the floor is fine though. It looks solid under neith.


What is my cheapest route that will work?

 

[Boghog1]

cheapest way is to do what I did. a gallon of XO Rust (true value brand of Rustoleum) cheap HVLP paint gun from the discount store. Sanded and fixed all the body damage. shot it with about 5-6 coats of paint thinned down to flow through the gun, after the second coat I wet sanded it with 600, after the third and fourth I hit it with 800, and after the final coat I hit it with 1000 followed by 1500, that was followed by a buffing with some 3m compound I forget the specific name but it was supposed to be equal to 1500 sandpaper. it has a shine but it really could use another buffing. my digital camera is dead so no pictures. for a trail beast I think this is the best way to go since I don't care if it gets sctratched. this is the second time I have done it this way.

 

[bfred]

I would try buffing it out first. You'll Get an idea of exactly how much of it needs to be painted. Black can be panel painted without to much trouble. If it's got the typical clear peeling problem, it's usually just on the tops. Maybe you can paint the tops and moldings down on the sides? post some pics....