Painting Claddding

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Clay Campbell

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I have been thinking about color matching my cladding for some time now. I was wondering what would be considered a good price for such a thing. I talked to a member a while back who told me that a local guy in our town painted his. But I was thinking he said he did it all for around $1000. IMO that is way more than its worth. Opinions? Prices? Experience? If I do get them painted I was thinking I would buy snooze's bushwacker fender flares and get those painted to match as well. IMO they look to big and out of place unless they are color matched or have huge wheels and tires
 
It all depends on color/paint/prep/painted on or off truck. That's way too much for that though. Should be around $300-500 most. Depends if you wanted them sanded smooth to match the Ardrenalin bumpers or not too.
 
If I were to color match them then yes I would want them sanded smooth like the ones that would come on an adrenaline. As far as on the truck off the truck. I could take the sides and the rear off but I'd probably have to get the front painted on the truck.
 


Not an ounce of primer was used.... :D



I used 3m plastic parts cleaner, 3m adhesion promoter and 5-7 coats of PPG high gloss black single stage...



Todd Z
 
So todd what did you do to get them smooth? Without sanding them. Did that many layers of paint just smooth out the roughness of the plastic?



I have access to a professional booth and equipment and my cousin is a very talented painter. (This is all at the shop I used to work for). So I you outlined your steps for me well enough I probably to get this job done for a bit less money.
 
Who said I was talking about you, huh?..... ;) Someone says "Todd" and you just ASSUME its you? Well, you know what they say... assuming makes an ass out of me!



Anyway, same basic idea, no sanding, just lots of paint.:cool:
 
YUP !!!...... LOL



Yeah, 3 coats, then wet sanded, then the top 2-4 coats..... and slight buff.... Waited about a week then hand sanded 1600 wet and 3m polishing compounded to a shine !!



Todd Z
 
So no clear? I guess thats what single stage means. I'm sure my cousin will be able to help me with this but i don't know that he has done many plastic parts. I just wanna make sure I can get this right because once I start spraying I don't really see how I can go back without buying new cladding. I guess i'll just do one of the sides first as a test to see how it goes.



Also todd. I am assuming you did the sides and rear off the car. But what about the front? did you just mask it off and spray it?
 
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I've asked all around town and I can't get no one to do it, even the dealerships. They say since they can't guarantee it to last, they won't touch it. Something about the cladding being textured. My brother says the same thing. He's been painting high end customs for over 20 years. He said my best bet would be to buy the cladding that comes ready to paint.



All of that was over a year ago. I just learned to live with it since it seems it's going to be big bucks to get it done correctly.



 
Painted mine in 04.....



Truck sits outside in NY weather and road salt........



Still perfect to this day......



Todd Z
 
Clay,



I'm glad you are considering this project. It is definitely on my top 3 things to do, I just can't seem to find the time to take care of it. I'm going with the "bumpy" look, because of my truck's tendency to kick up rocks. I figure it will just un-do all of my hard work ;) Also, it will keep the off-road, aggressive look I'm going for.



The smooth cladding style is more "street" IMO, but I still love the look of it.



Anyway I think your truck would look great with the cladding and Bushwacker flares painted to match. Go for it man. Just wish I could take up that job @ your dad's, bring my truck down and paint the cladding with ya.
 
Clay,



Since it is soo easy to take the parts off, I did it all off the truck.....



Once painted I installed and then buffed on the truck.....



Paul H and I did his side cladding on the truck and took off the front and rear...



he did 1 piece at a time in his shed, let cure then installed and moved on... IT was around 30 degrees out and 85 in the shed with the heat...



He used a Pre mixed paint from advanced auto......





Todd Z
 
Shaun,

I agree that smooth painted cladding is more street. But for now thats really where my truck stays all the time. I was thinking the color match would make the truck look better overall and the fender flares would even out whatever rugged look I lose by painting the bumpers. Right now my cladding just stays all different shades of faded gray and just looks bad.



Todd, I didn't think the front was too easy to take off but if so then I will definitely do them all off the truck and paint them in the booth all at once. I have a limited time to get this done really and will need to drive the truck short distances even while its not assembled. I'll be getting the supplies from a local auto paint supplier and shooting in them in a professional booth with pro guns, with lots of professional help, haha. I plan to do it pretty much how you have outlined since yours is still holding strong. So my last question(for now) is, How much of each product do I need to buy?



 
That all depends on the equipment and the coverage of the paint.....



Depends on the paint and stuff you use...



you can read the project in the projects section on using cans..



Todd Z
 

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