Repainting 1st Gen Tacoma

It’s 2 stage and it still needs to be buffed
This was the day after it was painted in my Tahoe back seat area

 

White is reflective and lasts the longest of all colors because of that

 

Both truck sides shown here are original paint with almost 600,000 miles to boot.

White wears the best of all colors.

I had a black 240z years ago, was the worst color ever for maintenance

 

600,000 miles. I’d be happy if I could make it to 300,000. Doesnt look bad for that many miles

 

is that LineX the premium (darker/more sparkle) one?

what's the liner look like with the back gate down?
must make sure mine is done right! (before they do it)

 

No. Was the next step down

 

Was like 600 dollars

 

I decided on this type drop, there are different styles to pick from when u have it done

 

Personally I'd never drop real money on painting a truck. I use them. I off road them. I throw dead animals in the back. A $10k paint job is going to look just as bad as a $1000 paint job on my trucks. Unless I was trying to make a show truck, I'm going cheap and probably original.

 

Strictly amateur here.

I painted one of mine, and am prepping the second for a partial (hood, 1 fender, roof, and bed cover) due to it being wrecked and faded on top/bedcover.

On the 1st truck, same color repaint, entire truck after replacing a lot of metal. I did a fair job of prep and got a fair paint job in return. I never buffed it so shine is only moderate. May buff it this Summer as time allows, but I am okay with it as is. I am not too picky on these older trucks. It's over two years old now and still looks the same. BTW, more shine = more visibility to the prep flaws.

Block sand any body filler, then wet sand with several grits (ex 400, 600, 800). Make sure to use degreaser as a last step and do not touch after that. Mixing the materials is well spelled out on the containers. Just get a glass or plastic measuring cup or two and the paper funnels/strainers at the paint shop.

I have 60 gallon compressor. Worked it pretty hard.

I did make a plastic booth in my garage for the truck, then later another outside for the shell. Cheap 1x2 boards and very cheap plastic sheeting. I left the top open and used a HF exhaust fan to setup negative air pressure inside and exhausted it under my garage door. Mandatory or you'll see nothing once the spraying starts, plus the inside of your garage will change color. Just use a furnace filter to keep the paint out of your exh fan or it will be ruined very quickly.

Materials were about $400 for Nason brand base coat/clear coat. Purchasing 1 gallon, I barely had enough paint with shell to get two base coats. I did primer the entire truck. The base coat is fairly forgiving with regard to runs, but be careful on that clear coat. Too close and it runs, too far and it drys, especially in hot weather.

Again, just novice advice. Take it FWIW.

Windshield was cracked and being replaced later.


Exhaust system


Eventually closed in 3 sides, no breeze/dust that morning.

 

any with the tailgate down?
are they supposed to go to the edge of the bed, a little bit from the edge or down & over the edge to the bottom?

 

Tomorrow when there’s light

 

thanks, this is a big (permanent) investment lol
gotta make sure its done right and I won't need some bare metal spots that are near the edge (under current plastic liner) repainted before they oxidize.

i know what you mean, I have been fighting it for over 2 decades now
the other 'detroit' trucks I see in my town that are near the age of mine (or older) are totally rotted to krap all over if they were let to do so

 

I went to Maaco, had their base coat/clear coat job done the first part of March. It is my DD so I wasn’t looking for a multi thousand $ paint job, but wanted something to freshen up the original paint. That was nearly 3 months ago, and so far I’m very happy with it, no unpleasant surprises at all. Unless specifically noted to fix prior to, which costs more $, they paint over what is there, but I knew that going in. I had a couple of places that took some extra work. I’m giving it plenty of cure time, so haven’t polished and waxed it yet, that will be soon since the days are much warmer now. The paint job has a 5 year guarantee, we’ll see how it goes. I tend to keep up with paint care, maybe I can stretch that out a bit.

As an aside, since the paint job, I’ve had 2 unsolicited cash offers to buy it, in the 7 years I had it before, I had 0. Might have nothing to do with it, the original paint was still in good shape, an unusual coincidence though.

A pic from a few days ago after washing it. The wheels were put on just a couple of days before. (The offers were before the wheels.)

 

I think a lot of people are unnecessarily harsh on Maaco, especially when it comes to a 20-somethung year old truck. Looks great

A HS buddy had his Toyota pickup done with their cheapest package and after 5 years it still looked great

 

what does Maaco do about the side and tailgate striping (if you have those on your truck?)

 

does water drain out the back (gate closed) pretty easy with the liner over the edge?

does not look like i need to worry about the bare metal showing!

 

Never really noticed, it doesn’t rain here very much, after car wash it all disappears tho pretty fast

 

I didn’t have striping. I’m sure they would charge extra for any work beyond their paint job.