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paint job cost

lacoda56

Member
775
7
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Location
Rochester, Washington
Way too many variables there. Are you doing the prep work? Disassemble, straighten, repair, scrape, sand, tape, untape and reassemble? If you're just talking about pulling the trigger on the gun [you supply the paint], maybe $600 to$1000. That'd be for one coat of primer and two coats of paint which is how I do it. I'm sure there's a bunch of other opinions out there, just my two cents worth. By the way, it took me three solid weeks to tear down, sandblast, repair and paint my 5 ton last summer. Boy was the boss p.o'd. about that one! You can do as much or as little prep as you want, that's the expensive part.
 

Monster Man

New member
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there's a zillion options- and it depends on the end use of the truck. Are you looking for show or go? If you plan to drive this thing at all, ESPECIALLY off road, there's no way I'd sepnd more than a few hundred dollars to have somebody else do it. I spent $2800 to paint my truck Lemon Glow yellow, it's the worst investment I've ever made, that includes the money I lost in the stock market. Sure, the truck looked damn good and I got compliments, but I couldn't use. I didn't dare drive it hard, I spent every weekend detailing it, etc. I slowly watched my expensive paint job get eaten by the ozone and chipped by rocks, and then I rolled it.
Then I flat-greened it and never looked back. You can get good results with spraycans with the right prep, I did both my trucks for about 18 cans each.
I had to scuff the yellow truck for the paint to stick, but didn't prime. After it had set for a week the paint is pretty tough. For the deuce I didn't even prime, just washed the truck and sprayed. Went on smooth, except for the spots that had been brush painted before.

It's better thoguh to get it by the gallon and spray it with an airgun, it's something you could do with little work, the flat paint especially is very forgiving. Touch up is easy as pie also

Or, I'd suggest taking the paint down to some place like Macco after you done the prep and degreased the prior paintjob and just have them spray it. For a truck that size with you supplying paint I'd guestimate a couple hundred. Remember, it won't be perfect but you have to decide what you'll live with.
 

rdixiemiller

Active member
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Location
Olive Branch Mississipi
We used to scrub old dump trucks down with comet and a scrubbie pad. Let it dry in the sun and shoot a coat of paint. For a driver deuce, that would probably be quite acceptable. The flat and semi-gloss paints handle that prep extremely well. Take a soft wire brush on a drill or grinder and remove any rust. hit the bare metal with a little metal prep, or Ospho, prime with rustoleum in a stink bomb. Unless you are building a show truck, you should get good results. Northern tools sells a nice 2 qt pressure pot and gun assembly for around $60. This is a lot easier than a cup gun, much less fatiguing. You can also spray inverted and not have the drips. This especially useful when spraying the frame and underbody. That little extra bit of effort will really improve the looks of a truck. We used to thin the old alkyd enamels with unleaded gas. Cheaper than paint thinner and worked just fine. No more flemmable anyway.
 

Recovry4x4

LLM/Member 785
Super Moderator
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I painted my last M35A2 myself and it was a first for me. The tan CARC was pretty well stuck to the truck so I just gave it a thorough pressure cleaning and started masking. Shot it with Gillespie and thinned it with mineral spirits. Used a couple of gallons on it and sprayed it with a Binks #7 copy gun that I got on ebay for $14. Came out real nice and the texture of the CARC really held the Gillespie. I concur with Robert on the pot gun. My cup gun was a pain in the butt when shooting the undercarriage. Here's a before/after.
 

Recovry4x4

LLM/Member 785
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Yes to both Robert. I drug this one to OH and my friends drove the wheels off of it. When I got back I sold it to pay off my gas card bills. LOL. I figured that I didn't need 2 deuces. I figured right too. Now that I have the tractor and the pipeline truck, I'm going to have to get a water purification truck sans the water equipment. I just love that van body with the one folding side! Wonder if I can stop at 3?
 

rdixiemiller

Active member
1,760
3
38
Location
Olive Branch Mississipi
I think you need the M-36 that is for sale on E-Bay right now. As a matter of fact, anyone that buys that truck and needs it stored, I can keep it here until you can pick it up. I'll even keep it limbered up by driving it 2 days a week for you!!!
I found the TM for the old hoist unit they made for the deuce. It looks just like the WW2 model on the CCKW's. I may have to find or make one of them. Looks really handy for loading and unloading big heavy things. The TM is now on the deuce CD, which is on its way to you Kenny, just for fun.
 
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