Painting my 1st Gen

Bought my 1st gen back in 2018 and it had your typical faded roof and hood and have always wanted to get it painted. It as only been worse and worse as I live in some extreme heat in SWFL. As we know, having our truck painted can be extremely costly so over the past few months a Ive been researching doing it myself. Read a lot about wraps but Id prefer to put my money into something that Im not just going to trip of in 2-3 years. Ive been collecting all materials and got started today.

Ill be painting it the newer army green color (code 6v7) so Im prepping and painting the entire truck

Removed door handles, weather stripping, mirrors and began sanding this morning. Sanded for a good 5 hours straight. Been using 320 sand paper to strip the clearcoat as most of it could be literally just cratched off with my finger nail.

Just thought Id bring you guys in on the ride... taking sandpaper to my truck has literally been a terrifying experience. Stay tuned on how it works out...

Any advice is welcome!

 

Sub’d. I’ve been considering doing this to my 2nd gen that has tons of paint peeling. Haven’t decided on re-painting or doing vinyl or raptor liner.

 

Same....

Budget Build! $119 PAINT JOB For My Old Chevy Truck - YouTube

 

I vote that you go with a Rhino liner paint job. The biggest down side to that: You are married to it forever. No going back.

P.S. I wish to offer my condolences to you, because you have to live in SWFL (ex-South Tampa resident here).

 

Yeah that’s honestly my first choice of the three. It’s an off roading/camping truck for us, so it makes sense to me. And I honestly plan on keeping this thing forever. It’s already 12 years old.

 

I've done Raptor and regular paint now, and both require adequate prep (full sand past clear and 2-3 coats of primer) but Raptor is far more forgiving. Regular paint will also require a final 3 stage wet sand with blocks, and polish, unless on the top coat you get really lucky.

Raptor is extremely easy to maintain as well. I don't even have to scrub mine to clean - most of the time I just spray it down with a hose and it's good to go.

 

I have primer, base coat, clear coat system. Its a 2k clear that I will more than likely have to wet sand and polish. I just prefer the shiny look. Hoping for the best and honestly a roller would look better than what I had. Ill be doing more sanding and and masking tomorrow.

Anybody got advice on how to get the residue from my emblems off?

 

Sand paper lol

I'm hoping you acquired a DA sander somewhere along the way by now

 

Goo gone or a wonder wheel maybe?

 

Lacquer thinner will get the glue off with a rag.

 

Wire wheel or flap disc?

 

Ill give these things a try. The back TRD stickers are also a pain. Trying to get those off still.

Also, does anyone have any experience with windshield trim/weather stripping? Id prefer pulling it then masking around it, but dent want to not be able to get it back in. Any advice would be great.

 

Heat gun is your best friend for removing stickers.

 

Ok, don't listen to me, I've only done it twice thrice

 

Ever done white raptor liner? Wondering if it stays white or if it eventually gets a dirty look to it.

 

No, I wouldn't do it. Lightest I'd go is a light tan/sand

 

Do you have any pictures of what you did? Ive just already bought the paint and everything. Did you spray the liner?

 

Not saying you need to do liner, but I do have pics of my current truck (Raptor navy blue) and the 4Runner I just sold (Eastwood paint) if you want to see them. I had painted my truck with a mix of black and grey Rustoleum prior (college budget) and would not recommend that.

I was saying sand paper works fine for emblem goo and TRD sticker removal - much easier if you're using a DA sander.

 

Love that you're doing this- but man raptor lining is kind of lame. Gets really ugly real quick and diminishes resale tremendously more than fresh paint would. Your truck- do what you want. My .02 cents do something cool while you can- maybe one of the flagship Toyota colors like voodoo blue or quicksand. Or the original color is nice too.