if youre not looking for a factory color, check out kirker paints.

i dont like the idea of a SS as i want to do some vynal two tone paint and some decals here andn there, i think ill just have an easier time with things if i do a two stage.

the project is a 99 2500 dodge ram cummins long bed/quad cab. its a work truck that has had hte bed caved in on teh right side by a backho, both wheel wells are dented in from loaders scooping out loads of cement/dirt/rubble, the top was banged in a bit from some trees that fell on it. both rear doors were caved in a bit from pivoting around trees while off road on tight trails, rockers were banged up from large boulders that the truck came down on. plus the rust, i could reach my arms through all four doors and both cab corners, the fenders were also missing 3/4 of their metal due to rusting all out.

at present i have swapped the cab, welded new cab corners on the new cab, ground off all the other small rust areas. the bed is still beat to hell but im looking for a new one at present.

the original plan was to just wrap it for 150 bucks in wrap but given it does nto have a proper paint job on it i guess the wrap wont stick. i may just primer and clear, then wrap over that but if i paint it i want to go all out on the graphics as i want to learn to do multi stage and pin striping.

end of the day the truck has 545K miles and im 600 miles into my break in after doing a full frame up rebuild. just the details now i guess.

so i use the truck for off roading, contracting, hauling, i use it as a truck, i dont think twice about droping 4K lbs off a loader into the bed to haul off some where. it also gets to the track ever now and then for some drag racing and sled pulls from time too time.

Did you ever consider just doing the whole truck in bedliner? It's done a lot with off road, crawlers, etc. You can get bedliners in a neutral white base that allows you to color it and you can also change the textures with different brushes, rollers. At least you could easily maintain the look as it gets tore up.....

yea people keep suggesting that but i think it looks sooo ghetto trash... i just... i used to work at an auto shop in the lower area of town and had to work on so many taho/burbans that were just falling apart but were sprayed with bed liner to cover things up and i just cant stand seeing bed lined vehicles.

it could be sprayed on a 2018 raptor and i would immediately think the owner was poor/didnt pay his child support/dealt drugs/and clubed baby seals in his spare time...

Okay, got it.... just seems like you need a lot of performance out of your paint package considering its' current condition and how you use it.......

yea, its kinda why i was thinking of wraping it. wrap is cheap and i could redo a single panel easy enough... i do want to learn how to paint tho so if i can get an 'ok' paint product for cheap ill test myself with it, if not then i think im just going to clear over some primer and wrap it.

You know, I'm just letting my mind kind of wander here, I think if you got a really high solids primer (lot of clay, etc, in it), let it cure longer than normal, and worked up a cut (machine sanding) up through about 1000 grit or so you MIGHT have a surface stable enough to work vinyl without having to clear. I mean polyurethane or even polyester surfacers need their base/topcoats for UV protection but....... The vinyl would perform that function.......hmmmmm........

iNCC74656i wrote:...the project is a 99 2500 dodge ram cummins long bed/quad cab. its a work truck that has had hte bed caved in on teh right side by a backho, both wheel wells are dented in from loaders scooping out loads of cement/dirt/rubble, the top was banged in a bit from some trees that fell on it. both rear doors were caved in a bit from pivoting around trees while off road on tight trails, rockers were banged up from large boulders that the truck came down on. plus the rust, i could reach my arms through all four doors and both cab corners, the fenders were also missing 3/4 of their metal due to rusting all out.

at present i have swapped the cab, welded new cab corners on the new cab, ground off all the other small rust areas. the bed is still beat to hell but im looking for a new one at present. ...end of the day the truck has 545K miles and im 600 miles into my break in after doing a full frame up rebuild...

so i use the truck for off roading, contracting, hauling, i use it as a truck, i dont think twice about droping 4K lbs off a loader into the bed to haul off some where. it also gets to the track ever now and then for some drag racing and sled pulls from time too time.

Wow! that is one hell of a project! - I cant even figure out how to get one of the front fenders off of my kid's old Toyota!

You really need to post some photos including the work that you have done and more as progress on this project.

Keep up the go get-em attitude!

stage one, before i knew what i was doing: https://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/98-5 ... build.html

past year and a half after the engine blew up:

https://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/98-5 ... t-2-a.html

i think ill be holding off on paint untill this next spring. gonna do the interior first this winter instead. will give me time to figure all this out, i think im going to try spraying a few small things and seeing how i do. it was suggested i may be able to use a primer and wrap that so im going to test this on an old toolbox i have.