I recently had to sand the roof of my '99 XJ due to surface rust forming because of the original paint going bad. I have a bit more prep work to do before I start primer. I am on an extreme budget. I am trying to decide between rattle can and roll on paint.

Since this will be a learn as I go job I am not worried about it coming out "perfect". I am more worried about overall protection. I am considering going with a dark blue/black 2 tone job. The XJ is originally black. About 70% of the paint is bad or going bad, so will be doing the whole jeep.

I have read most of the paint threads here that I could find, but was wondering if anyone had any advice for a first timer that may not have been covered already. I am open to color ideas as well.

Thanks as always everybody!
Dro

 

Anyone?

Does flat look better than gloss with either the rattle can or roll on method?

 

damn that's kind of a bummer that those are your only two options and it's a 1999.
you're going to REALLY hurt the resale value by spray painting it. it will take a lot time to remove the spray paint in the future and paint it properly
so I hope that this is being turned into a trail beater I would find some high UV resistant bedliner, like lizard skin, and roll it on there. or even do all the prep work yourself then take it to AAMCO or somewhere and have them spray some real paint and clear for you.

if you have to spray paint it, light even coats. sand the original paint very smooth with a very fine grit. since you're using black, I would not use primer as it won't make much of a difference IMHO. just spray consistent lines left to right vice versa. do not hold the can in one spot for more than a second or it will run or pool. light coats. thick paint will dry slow or even crack. let it completely dry before each coat.

my favorite form of black is satin black. it's inbetween flat and gloss. I think it looks bangin

 

If its down to bare metal use primer. Take your time. Hurried paint jobs look like pewp. Don't roll it either. It will also look like pewp

 

Thanks for the replies! I would love to be able to take it somewhere to have it done, but not an option for me financially. The roof is the worst. So far it is only surface rust, but I don't want it to get worse. The front clip isn't far behind. I'm not all that worried about color choice, just wanted something that would work with my extremely limited budget that would hold it til I could afford to do it right.

 

Is the bedliner stuff easier to remove than the spray paint would be? And unfortunately no, it isn't a trail beater. It's my only vehicle atm so just regular driving around town.

 

There was several recalls on Chrysler paint jobs. Do some research. Maybe you can get it done for free. My '91 was repainted for free, about 10 years ago. If you decide to paint it a different color other than the original. What about the door jams and such. If you should decide to sell it in a few years. What about resell value. If I was looking to buy a car, and opened the hood or doors. If I saw different colored jams, hatch jams, under the hood. I would be offering a lot less money. With that said, Do what you want, it's your car.

 

if you want to work at it --
http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums...paint-job-quot

 

I did mine 2 years ago.Used plasta coat ,1 gallon.I added 1 qt. of rustolium gloss black to thin it out a little and give it some shine.I just scuffed the paint good and rolled it on.I did the whole thing in about 3 hours, prep, tapeing and painting .Still has shine and is holding up great.The secret to keeping it clean presure wash it before the mud sets on it to long.I use a brush and car wash soap when it not to bad.It cost me about 150.00 to do glad i did best $ i spent ot it so far.

 

oh that's right. if you sanded down all the way to bare metal, use primer. that slipped my mind

you will never get bedliner off haha. it's fairly permanent stuff. I would really try to get some decent paint on there. 1999 is a favorite year of many of us enthusiasts and we'd love to buy it off you for half of what it's worth. if there's spray paint on there you're going to have a heck of a time selling it to someone who knows what they're looking at. it almost would have been better to leave to roof slightly rusty

have you started sanding the rest of the body yet? can you get a quote on what it would cost for someone to colormatch and spray just the roof?

I mean do what you like I've just never seen spray paint go on a jeep that wasn't already completely ****ed. yours is still nice!

 

That thing turned out awesome looking. Thanks for posting this.

 

I haven't done any sanding on anything other than the roof and hood since they were the worst. Right now I'm just trying to see what my options are since my budget will be just what I can get on my next trip to the recycle yard. Figured it would be cheaper to do my own sanding and prep so went ahead and started since it will be getting cold soon and didn't want that rust to have the whole winter to get worse. Judging by my last few trips to the recycler I should be looking at a budget of about 70-75 bucks.

 

I bedlined mine with rustoleum as well.. but I put it in a spray gun. I love how it turned out..

 

Op you can buy color matched spray paint at automotivetouchup. Matches perfectly unless the old paint is faded.

 

It'll be faded. If the paint was taken care of it wouldn't be in that shape to begin with.