First time owner; Paint Questions; Anyone in Houston?

[WildernessJeep]

So I purchased a 1984 M936 (still waiting on EUC). It has some minor body damage, but the paint is badly faded (the black looks gray; the brown looks tan). The front right fender will need either hammering or replacement, and painting. I'm considering doing the whole truck, so it looks factory new. I'd like a "high quality" paint job; I don't like half-assing stuff. I have some first timer questions:

I downloaded the paint schematic manual, and the current paint job seems to mostly comply. I was planning to just follow the pattern now in place.

What are you guys using to paint it with? A professional sprayer? Rattle cans? Home depot electric sprayers?

How far does the truck need to be disassembled for a good paint job? I remember when the trucks all switched from green to tan (1st Gulf), they would occasionally even paint the tires, masking nothing more than the windscreen, instruments, and mirrors. I don't want that. But I realize for a military vehicle to have a super-nice paint job makes it less authentic. Painting over bolts is part of a military paint job. What's a good rule of thumb regarding disassembly?

Should I put a primer down on top of the factory paint? Strip it off? there's some rust that will need to be dealt with, and I'm planning to cut it out and weld in a new panel, so some primer is needed. Do I primer the whole truck?

Does the paint have any grip additive to it? Military paint always seems "gritty".

I have lots of other questions. Is anyone in the Houston area with a lot of painting experience that can give me a hand?

 

[NDT]

High quality = Sherwin Williams CARC military paint sprayed from a pressure pot.
Half assed = home depot house paint sprayed with a harbor freight airless

 

[WildernessJeep]

How many gallons of paint would it take?

 

[98G]

How many gallons of paint would it take?

I've done CARC and I've done house paint. Takes 4 gallons for a cargo truck.

House paint results are completely acceptable @ 1/10 the cost, and much easier to work with doing it yourself.

Rustoleum rattlecan over faded CARC looks just fine, but the colors aren't quite an exact match, and the rustoleum is fragile compared to CARC .... but the underlying faded CARC provides the protection and rustproofing and the rustoleum is just cosmetic.

Prep - wash and scrub with green scratch pads. Mask off what you dont want hit.

I'd advocate doing the whole truck in 383 green housepaint and then free handing the black and brown with rattlecans.

Edit - the solid green truck is freshly applied Sherwin William's CARC. The tan deuce is housepaint. The cut down cargo bed is rattlecan over faded CARC. Approximate costs are $3000, $200, and $30.

 

[WildernessJeep]

I've done CARC and I've done house paint. Takes 4 gallons for a cargo truck.

House paint results are completely acceptable @ 1/10 the cost, and much easier to work with doing it yourself.

Rustoleum rattlecan over faded CARC looks just fine, but the colors aren't quite an exact match, and the rustoleum is fragile compared to CARC .... but the underlying faded CARC provides the protection and rustproofing and the rustoleum is just cosmetic.

Prep - wash and scrub with green scratch pads. Mask off what you dont want hit.

I'd advocate doing the whole truck in 383 green housepaint and then free handing the black and brown with rattlecans.

All great information. I'm okay spending a few hundred dollars on paint and a sprayer. I like your idea about all green, then going back with black and brown. Are the wheels supposed to be green or black?

 

[98G]

All great information. I'm okay spending a few hundred dollars on paint and a sprayer. I like your idea about all green, then going back with black and brown. Are the wheels supposed to be green or black?

For wheels, I'd advocate green, just for some contrast with the black tires. But there's nothing wrong with black either.

I have a wrecker with faded paint like yours. I'm debating between housepaint or just rattlecan over the existing CARC.

The harbor freight airless gun applies housepaint just fine.

 

[WildernessJeep]

For wheels, I'd advocate green, just for some contrast with the black tires. But there's nothing wrong with black either.

I have a wrecker with faded paint like yours. I'm debating between housepaint or just rattlecan over the existing CARC.

The harbor freight airless gun applies housepaint just fine.

Where are you located?

 

[98G]

Where are you located?

Today I'm in KS. Next week I'll be in MO. First week of February I'll be in AZ. Sometime between now and then I have some welding to do in OK. So I'm all over.

The tan deuce pictured has been operated for the last two years in NM. Paint still looks good.

Rattlecan over CARC does well in the AZ desert. Rattlecan over bare steel does well in the AZ desert. Rattlecan over bare steel does not do well in KS - it rusts.

 

[WildernessJeep]

Today I'm in KS. Next week I'll be in MO. First week of February I'll be in AZ. Sometime between now and then I have some welding to do in OK. So I'm all over.

The tan deuce pictured has been operated for the last two years in NM. Paint still looks good.

Rattlecan over CARC does well in the AZ desert. Rattlecan over bare steel does well in the AZ desert. Rattlecan over bare steel does not do well in KS - it rusts.

Rust is my worry. I'm not right on the coast (salt water) but I'm less than 100 miles away, so we have tons of humidity. I used to live in the desert and I was shocked that nobody painted anything, but then realized it didn't have to be painted in the desert. Stop by next time you are on your way through Houston!

 

[charlesmann]

if everything goes good, ill be picking up 2 936 A2s in a few weeks on my return home from canada. the paint doesn't look the best from the pics and vid i saw. so i was thinking of repainting the non-running 1 first, then yarding out the components that will make it operational. i was thinking of staying military, but would also like to paint it something else, something like battleship gray.
i too would want to strip as much as i can, down to bare metal, but good gosh, that'll be a lot of work, and knowing the work it takes in painting a former military cargo helicopter, i'll have my work cut out for me. i do know where i can and can not use stripper, which will make work a lot easier. apply it, cover it with plastic and walk away for a couple hrs, to a day, uncover, spatula off the loosened material, rinse and repeat as required.
doing in small sections will help to not make more work than i can do in "X" allotted time between work schedules.


has anyone done a full down to frame (excluding yarding the cab off and engine out) and if so, how far down did you take the stripping, prepping and painting?

 

[98G]

if everything goes good, ill be picking up 2 936 A2s in a few weeks on my return home from canada. the paint doesn't look the best from the pics and vid i saw. so i was thinking of repainting the non-running 1 first, then yarding out the components that will make it operational. i was thinking of staying military, but would also like to paint it something else, something like battleship gray.
i too would want to strip as much as i can, down to bare metal, but good gosh, that'll be a lot of work, and knowing the work it takes in painting a former military cargo helicopter, i'll have my work cut out for me. i do know where i can and can not use stripper, which will make work a lot easier. apply it, cover it with plastic and walk away for a couple hrs, to a day, uncover, spatula off the loosened material, rinse and repeat as required.
doing in small sections will help to not make more work than i can do in "X" allotted time between work schedules.


has anyone done a full down to frame (excluding yarding the cab off and engine out) and if so, how far down did you take the stripping, prepping and painting?

The CARC that is faded but intact is probably a better rustproofing than anything you can do to it....

 

[charlesmann]

The CARC that is faded but intact is probably a better rustproofing than anything you can do to it....

even going back with CARC paint? not sure how i missed this reply, but some how i did.

as with wilderness, iv got some damage i need to fix, and a couple rust throughs on the hood and fenders, which i plan on grinding out what i have to, welding up a lil at a time with a wire welder, grind down eh heavy welds till i get to a point where i need to blend the weld to the parent metal and use a die grinder with a roll-lock 180-220 grit disk.

i still plan on robbing peter to pay paul from the donor truck (i.e. hood, fenders, metal roof, instrument cluster/dash, seat frames/bat box, doors, front windscreens, roll up windows, and depending, maybe even the cab), except the wrecker bed, which i need to start taking components off, preserving them and putting them in a conex for storage. do a lil at a time of stripping and going back with a marine grade paint/primer, then CARC.

 

[dannyd2450]

I've done CARC and I've done house paint. Takes 4 gallons for a cargo truck.

House paint results are completely acceptable @ 1/10 the cost, and much easier to work with doing it yourself.

Rustoleum rattlecan over faded CARC looks just fine, but the colors aren't quite an exact match, and the rustoleum is fragile compared to CARC .... but the underlying faded CARC provides the protection and rustproofing and the rustoleum is just cosmetic.

Prep - wash and scrub with green scratch pads. Mask off what you dont want hit.

I'd advocate doing the whole truck in 383 green housepaint and then free handing the black and brown with rattlecans.

Edit - the solid green truck is freshly applied Sherwin William's CARC. The tan deuce is housepaint. The cut down cargo bed is rattlecan over faded CARC. Approximate costs are $3000, $200, and $30.

Looks great! Do you have the Sherwin Williams color code for the green color? Im planning to do the same this weekend and would like to use SW products! Also, black is black right? Just standard flat black would work?

 

[Explorer0863]

Looks great! Do you have the Sherwin Williams color code for the green color? Im planning to do the same this weekend and would like to use SW products! Also, black is black right? Just standard flat black would work?

Did you ever get any info or PMs about the SW color codes? I don’t have a HD in my area, but I have SW.

 

[dannyd2450]

Did you ever get any info or PMs about the SW color codes? I don’t have a HD in my area, but I have SW.

i can do better. Call the store in ft lauderdale and talk to ellie; shes the military spec rep for the state. Not sure where you are, but if you talk to her, im sure they can send the specs to the local place.
sherwin williams in FT Lauderdale
954-525-1471
speak to ellie (shes the only one that can help)

good luck!

 

[Explorer0863]

i can do better. Call the store in ft lauderdale and talk to ellie; shes the military spec rep for the state. Not sure where you are, but if you talk to her, im sure they can send the specs to the local place.
sherwin williams in FT Lauderdale
954-525-1471
speak to ellie (shes the only one that can help)

good luck!

Thanks! Very much appreciated.