repainting the exterior

Hello everyone, i have a 1991 chevy pickup truck, bahama blue (light blue) is the color of it. Well behind my wheels rocks have hit the metal and its worked off the paint and is starting to get noticable. Light surface rust has built up. well i can get those color matched spray paint cans from the auto shop by me and the primer and all, but i have not done any painting like this before, if anyone knows any good websites or could explain to me the steps on how to prep to the finish coat please let me know!, thanks in advance.

-Matt

ut-oh better get Maaco!

I'm not a paint expert but be careful of the bomb cans with factory match paint on older trucks as med-light shades of blue tend to fade out over time and wont match the fresh factory paint.A auto paint store can make a matching shade from your truck.If you do decide to paint your truck wells with a rattle can i would spray on rubberized rocker guard first and paint over it because its texturized and will help to hide all the drips and runs you will probably get.

how much do you like your truck??? start by getting rid of all the rust. sand the paint around the rust so you get a feathered edge. mask off the area around the feathered part. apply some filler(bondo) if needed in thin layers and sand with a block up to at least 400 grit. then spray on a few coats of primer. sand the primer to get a smooth transition between the primered surface and the feathered edge. then spray a couple coats of color matched paint, sand off any runs up to about 600 grit or higher. then spray a few coats of clear coat on. i recomend buying a book because there is a lot of technique involved in bodywork and it takes a lot of time and perfection to make it look good. if you take your paint codes to a shop you can get them to mix up some paint. stay away from maaco. talk to a few smaller shops they might work out a deal with you. i usually do my own body work and get a profesional to spray it. it only takes them a couple hours to paint a car but it can take weeks to sand everything down, repair the dents and get the filler perfect. have you ever done drywall finishing??? it's more or less the same process just a lot more perfection required.

Body work looks easy, but it is tough, just like amac209 posted, I recommend doing the prep work, sanding, bondo, sanding, and when you think you are done sand it again, and ask a small shop to spray it. DO NOT GO TO MAACO, you get what you pay for. They purchase cheap paint, by the barrel. You might end up like my friend. He had a camaro done by maaco and it ended up so sun faded in three months that it only look good when it rained or the day it was waxed.

Body work can be difficult but it is more time consuming than difficult. As far as paint goes, it is easy. Talk to some people at shops to learn some techniques. DO NOT use spray paint to finish you truck if you LIKE you truck, as you will get runs and spots. You do not need to apply Filler(bondo) unless the rocks created dents, and even then if the dents are small enough you can use a red putty type stuff (not sure of its name) instead of bondo, it is much faster and yeilds the same results (body shops use it for little dents and dings).

I have an 89 with the same light blue color. Roof was rusting, and hood was peeling. I got it painted at Maaco a year ago, and I am not happy with the results. Paint is peeling around the trim all around the truck, the whole bed peeled off within the first 6 months, roof is peeling, and the rust is coming back.