PAINT - CHEAP PAINT
 

Gentlemen
we have a few slow weeks coming up and I was contemplating painting 2 service trucks
I say service trucks - 94 chevy dually 250,000 plus miles
( i just need a few more years out of her)
and the 1992 bucket truck

nothing fancy - i just plan to knock down some of the rust and make it look good from20' or so.

never painted before , have compressor and access to Harbor Frieght :D

Every time I talk to somebody about painting the bucket truck they want $2000:eek:
any suggestions /advice/ideas?

I had a truck like the 2nd picture. It had the same problem with the peeling. If you don't strip it, it'll peel again after you paint it.

I used DuPont Centauri. It was pretty cheap but the paint place probably sells even cheaper stuff than that. As I remember, it was about $40 a gallon plus you have to gete reducer and hardener too if you really want it to last.

bucket o' rustoleum and a roller brush with some touch up brushes

If you have the ambition, time, paint, and compressor, do it yourself.

Why are you surprised that a pro would ask $2k to paint your truck? That price sounds very reasonable to me for cheap paint job on a bucket truck that needs minor rust attention and paint.

http://www.rickwrench.com/images-sou.../rustoleum.jpg

Spray it on. Thats what I paint old equipment with.

I recomend using semi gloss or flat, the more glossy the more imperfections will show.

Your GM truck suffers from the horrible environmental primers GM, Ford and Chrysler used in that period of time. Exposure to sunlight over the years filtered through the white paint and killed the bond between the paint and the primer. You need to get all that white paint off before you paint, or your efforts will be pointless when it continues to peel. I had that same issue on an 88 F-150 and a '91 Dodge Spirit. Do some research on that particular primer issue- there may be an easy way to get all that white paint off while keeping the primer (which is good) intact. Then you will need to sand or reprime and paint.

For fleet paints, this place http://www.smartshoppersinc.com/
has good deals on Kirker paints which are fine ( I have some on my wife's 300D), or you can even go to Tractor Supply if you have one around and get some decent paint cheap ( in tractor colors) .

what color you gonna paint em???implement paint will pretty much stick to anything grease included.go to the local john deere or case/ih dealer.case used a lot of different colors.snow white,vanilla white, red,black,grey,orange etc.

x2, and, with proper thinning and a high density foam roller, you dont even need a spray gun. get the hardener to add for UV protection. The white truck needs to have the peeling paint removed, though.

Tractor Supply has this type of paint, as do other stores of a similar ilk. Valspar is a good brand, as is Rustoleum.

Tractor paint with a hardener added. Cheap (disposable) airless sprayer.
Try not to lay it on too thick or you'll be wet sanding the runs.

I painted a diesel storage tank at the ranch using this method a few years ago. It looked so good we ended up sanding, masking the farm truck and sprayed it as well... 10 years later it still looked good.

Another post in favor of smartshoppersinc.

The Kirker Urethanes SS are very good. The only problem I've head is with their BC/CC--which I will not shoot again.

BTW, don't breath this $hit Joe. The hardners are some nasty stuff.

And white is a pretty forgiving color.

Don't spray unless you have a spray paint cabin, those fumes are very dangerous!!

The real work is in the preparation, sanding (a lot of it). That's where you can save money if you do it yourself.

Airless spraying is something you can do yourself, but the result is not nearly as good as a normal paint job.

Rob

I agree with the others if it ain't right paint it white.
Tractor supply has gallons for 30.00 polyurethane based.

On the bucket truck make sure you don't paint the fiberglass sections they require a special paint. You can usually compound them out.

Painting them destroys the Di - electric strength of the fiberglass. Making your insulated boom into an aluminum ladder. Not good around power lines.
Imron makes a special paint but its expensive. 2000 is not bad for that size truck.

Your bucket is on an indestructible chassis especially if there's a DT466 under the hood. Much better than the crap they offer nowadays . The unit looks a little long in the tooth though. Aerial lift of Connecticut or some other brand ??

Nice little truck.

rustoleum example
 

This was on a saturn forum I follow for my daughter's car. He gives thinning instructions to use with a wagner power painter. Follow all the way to the end for the pictures, it ended up looking pretty good. I wonder how long it will last /stay shiny.


http://www.saturnfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=154427