Need some advice/suggestions for painting M109A3 Deuce

[peashooter]

Hi All, I'm going to be repainting my m109 and wanted some advice. I'm first going to prep the roof of the van box and coat it with Herculiner truck bed coating to help prevent/fix any small leaks. I'll then fix the few surface rust spots.
I'd like to do a nice job for under $200 of materials and no more than a few days of prep work. I do realize the best way to do this involves a lot more time and money that I am capable of putting into it so I'm just looking for the advice on getting the best and longest lasting paint job for my money and time. I do have the respirator and spray equipment.

My questions are these:

-Is rapco my best bet for a green carc looking color 383? I've heard it takes 90 days to cure without an oven. Are their other good alternatives? If so what/where?

-Can I just prime the areas I repair using like a spray can rustoleum primer, or do I need to prime everything? Basically I'm wondering if the paint will stick well to the existing carc paint if I clean it well with XYLENE and not prime everything.

-Any idea how many gallons it might take for a m109a3 shop van deuce?

Thanks very much in advance for any help and advice you can offer!

 

[kennys@wi.rr.com]

I am in the process of painting my deuce with Rapco. I prepped it and primed it with Rusto rusty metal primer, the whole thing. The paint needs a good surface to bond to and what you will pay for a few rattle cans you can get a gallon and do a good portion of the whole truck. I painted mine when the temp was between 35 at night and 50 during the day, in a nonheated shop. Took about 3 days for the paint to cure so I couldn't get a finger nail print in it. I am very pleased with the look of the Rapco paint and it's close enough for me. I bought 4 gallons to do my deuce and 105 trailer, and I'm sure I will have plenty left over. To do the bed, tool box, mud flaps, battery box in 4 coats (because I tend to mix too much of it at a time) it took about 3/4 of a gallon.

 

[peashooter]

Thanks Kenny! You are probably right about the primer. For the cost of it I may as well. And the Rustoleum rusty metal primer is easy to find/inexpensive. What did you do for prep on your truck before shooting the primer?

 

[kennys@wi.rr.com]

I went a little crazy to be honest. I sand blasted most of the bed followed by a da sander. Mine has several different layeres and colors of paint and brush strokes galore. But on other parts just a wire wheel, a flap wheeand a da sander. I also use the cheap HVLP sprayer from HF. I have 2 of them, one for primer and one for color, they work awesome. If you have time look at the sprayers before buying them. Even though the box isthe same and the model is the same they are not all the same. I have one that the spray lever is screwed on and one that is c-clipped on. I recomend the c-clip version. Remember if it's worth doing, it's worth doing right. It doesn't have to be a perfect job, but we all want to have some kind of pride in our work and a 109 is a huge bilboard.

 

[Katahdin]

Just cracked my 3rd gallon of Gillespie 24087, I have the front bumper, radiator, grill, passenger fender, cab interior, frame, hood, cab window frames, mud guards, and axles left to go...and I'd also like to do another coat/touch up the van box. I'm reducing 2-1 with Xylene. Since I also coated the bed of a M101 with the same paint I'd say 3 gallons minimum. I bought 5.

No you don't need to prime everything but you'll want to sand it down. My experience with the rustolem primer spray cans is it will distort the Gillespie coating unless you give it a few days to cure, maybe due to the aerosols in the can? Reducing the primer from a gallon can with mineral spirits and spraying it from an air gun doesn't seem to have the same problem.

Using hardener will cut the cure time to just a few hours, I'm using Valspar restoration series hardener from Tractor Supply.

 

[peashooter]

Kenny, Thanks for the info. I have a harbor freight HVLP gun as well (in fact i was just at HF over lunch today getting a texture gun to use to spray bedliner on the bottom of the truck as a rustproofer eventually).

Is it wise to have seperate guns for primer and paint? Whats the reason?

 

[kennys@wi.rr.com]

I was priming some parts and painting others, so for me it was a good choice. Plus if one gun plugs up it's easy to switch guns and keep going. I would just hate to have a gun full of paint ready to shoot and then have it plug up and have to tare it all down and clean it. They are cheap guns, almost throw away. But get what life out of them that you can.

 

[peashooter]

Katahdin,
Thanks for the info also. Good to know about the spray cans distorting the coating as chances are I'll probably want to paint right after primer is ready.
So you use the valspar restoration hardener with the Gillespie paint? Just following the hardener directions I imagine? Should I stick with the Xylene for reducer?
Also I just checked out the 1 gal valspar restoration rusty metal primer today as well, it said not to thin but i that seems a little odd to me.

 

[zout]

Whatever you do - do not paint camo patterns in the shape of animals - you will never live it down around here.

 

[kennys@wi.rr.com]

Whatever you do - do not paint camo patterns in the shape of animals - you will never live it down around here.

Sounds like some one speaks from experiance.

 

[zout]

 

[Katahdin]

Katahdin,
Thanks for the info also. Good to know about the spray cans distorting the coating as chances are I'll probably want to paint right after primer is ready.
So you use the valspar restoration hardener with the Gillespie paint? Just following the hardener directions I imagine? Should I stick with the Xylene for reducer?
Also I just checked out the 1 gal valspar restoration rusty metal primer today as well, it said not to thin but i that seems a little odd to me.

Affirmative I use the Valspar restoration series hardener with Gillespie paint. Recent pics in this thread. It does dry to the touch pretty quickly.

Yep, I'm just following the mixing directions, 1 part hardener to 8 parts paint, and let it activate for 30 minutes before using. Xylene is what is recommended with Gillespie, but others claim to have decent results with other thinners.

 

[peashooter]

primer thinner

I am in the process of painting my deuce with Rapco. I prepped it and primed it with Rusto rusty metal primer, the whole thing. The paint needs a good surface to bond to and what you will pay for a few rattle cans you can get a gallon and do a good portion of the whole truck. I painted mine when the temp was between 35 at night and 50 during the day, in a nonheated shop. Took about 3 days for the paint to cure so I couldn't get a finger nail print in it. I am very pleased with the look of the Rapco paint and it's close enough for me. I bought 4 gallons to do my deuce and 105 trailer, and I'm sure I will have plenty left over. To do the bed, tool box, mud flaps, battery box in 4 coats (because I tend to mix too much of it at a time) it took about 3/4 of a gallon.

How did you thin the rustoleum rusty metal primer for spray through your spray gun? The can just says use acetone to thin if needed. Did you do a 1:1 mix or 2:1, something else? Thanks

 

[kennys@wi.rr.com]

I did the 4:1 with Xylene, the same as the Rapco paint. If I did it less it tends to plug up the gun after a few minutes of spraying. But let me warn you, painting one of these trucks can take a long time. Week number 5 for me, but I can see the end.