Amber Fire Pearlcoat Paint

After putting paint on the back burner, the projects have been backing up: I wanted to remove an inch from the body lift but couldn't until I installed cutout fender flares, I couldn't install the fender flares until I moved my custom-mounted gas tank filler, and I didn't want to move the gas tank filler until I was fully ready for the necessary body work and paint. In addition, I had some damage to the hood, after if flipped up and hit the windshied while driving down the road, that I wanted to repair. For what it's worth, I installed a hood lock to help hold the hood down should it want to come loose in the future.

I finally made the decision to do a complete paint job after finding an ACME hardtop for my CJ-5. They are quite rare and usually need a bit of work when you find one. Mine was no exception. It had some sever UV damage as well as broken door locks. Since the top was going to need fresh paint, I decided to commit to painting the rest of the Jeep along with it.

At this point, let me remind everyone that the following information applies to ANY auto prep and paint process; however, I specifically included information as it applies directly to painting my Jeep CJ-5.

To get the needed supplies, I went to my local professional automotive paint supply store and started flipping through their paint chip books. I narrowed it down to a few choices then took them outside for a second look in sunlight. I finally decided on a color called Amber Fire Pearlcoat made by PPG. It is code number 5583 and was apparently used by Jeep for their 2001 and 2002 lineup. I had them mix the color into PPG's Deltron2000 DBC base coat.

While I was at the store, I picked up the rest of the supplies that I would need to paint and do the necessary body work. This included PPG DPLF Expoy Primer, PPG 2042 Low VOC Spped Clear Clearcoat, PPG DX330 Acryl-Clean wax and grease remover, USC Duraglas, Evercoat Everglass body filler, Evercoat Easy Sand, and Evercoat fiberglass resin. I also picked up the necessary PPG reducers and hardeners as well as blue and red cream hardeners for the body filler. I found that it's much easier to do the final sanding on the body fillers if I used 2 different colors. This allowed me to easily determine if I sanded too far through one of the filler layers.

I started the process by going over the entire body looking for tiny cracks in the gelcoat. As I found them, I used a Dremel tool to enlarge the crack to accept body filler. If you skip this step, the cracks will continue and soon show up in the finished paint. For the most part, I used Everglass to fill everything in. It is nice to work with and is fairly easy to sand. In areas were strength was a concern, I opted for Duraglas. It is almost as easy to work; however, it dries VERY hard. Consequently, it is much more difficult to sand down. In other areas where strength was not a concern, like filling in a low area, I used Glass-lite. Once everything was properly filled, I covered the repaired areas with EasySand. It has a more creamy texture and self-levels when it sets allowing a very smooth final surface and, as the name implies, it is very easy to sand.

After the body work had been completed, it was time to build myself a paint booth. A lot of people have asked me how to make a paint booth, there's really isn't much to it. Professional paint shops have nice downdraft booths that filter the air and exhaust vapors. I did not have that luxury so I improvised. I devised a way to make a paint booth using 2x4s and plastic sheeting. By screwing together 4 2x4s into a rectangle, I could raise it into the air on 2x3s and drape clear plastic over it to make the ceiling and walls. Since I wanted to paint the hardtop separately from the rest of the Jeep, I built a smaller, 8'x10' booth for it. Later, when the top was done, I built a much larger 10'x16' booth to house the Jeep. The beauty of the 4by booth is the extremely low cost: $1.50 per 2x4, $20 for a roll of 12' wide plastic sheeting, and $15 for a mammoth roll of 3' wide rosin impregnated paper. The 10'x16' booth was the perfect size for my CJ-5 allowing me to hang the fenders and windshield frame from the 2x4 frame.

Most importantly, I covered the floor with rosin impregnated paper. It comes in a LARGE roll that will seemingly last forever; I've made three booths and I still have half a roll left over. The paper will help protect your floor from overspray and makes clean-up a breeze. As you can tell from the before and after pictures, cleanup would have been a big problem without the temporary paint booth. I then placed an old house fan on the floor in a corner of the booth near the garage door and placed cheap 20"x30" furnace filters in front and behind it. By slightly opening the opposite corner, I could be prevent the fan drawing a vacuumn and sucking in towards the painted Jeep. This proved to be quite an effecient method of drawing the fumes out of the booth. In fact, it was SO good, I had to use new filters for the primer, basecoat and clearcoat to keep the filters from completely clogging. You can see in the picture how much clearcoat is actually stuck to it.

Now that the temporary booth had been assembled, I placed everything inside of it and masked everything off. Here's an important painting tip that I learned the hard way: Do NOT use plastic for masking off the vehicle, use paper instead. While plastic WILL protect from overspray, it is too flexible and the paint will not adhere to it. After a paint film builds up on the plastic, it will flake off and ultimately land on a freshly painted surface permanently sticking to it.

I hung the fenders and windshield from then 2x4 booth structure allowing me to get complete paint coverage to all the nooks and crannies. To prevent the plastic sheet from touching them, I used pieces of tape on the outside of the booth to pull the plastic back and away. Since I used 12' wide plastic, I had more than enough slack to allow this. Finally, I left the hood on the front end; however, I pulled it about 8 inches forward and pulled the dash away from the body about 3 inches. Again, this was to allow room for the spray gun to reach everything. NOTE: I left the dash white for now and I'm anxious to get the Jeep back on the road. I will be pulling all of the gauges and painting it later this Fall or Winter.

Before doing anything else, I filled a 5 gallon bucket with water and poured it over the entire floor in the paint booth. This is an important step that I suggest you not skip. The water helps keep dust down to a minimum. The last thing you want is for the high volume spray to hit the ground and kick up dust and debris. Once everything was soaked, I used a tack rag to remove any dust left behind and liberally wiped everything down with PPG DX330 Acryl-Clean degreaser and wax remover.

Next, let's talk about filters. You need to make sure that the air hose you're using has NEVER had oil in it. If your existing line was used with any tools that require oiling, do NOT use it ... buy a new one. Also, you need to make sure the in-line filter is installed at least 10ft from the compressor. This will allow the air to cool before hitting the filter (water separator) and will give you much better results. You may have to buy a second hose to accomplish that though. If you use a shorter connection and the air doesn't cool, much of the moisture will not have a chance to condense in the in-line filter/separator.

Finally, you SHOULD install a screw-on type filter on the end of your HVLP spray gun. I suggest getting a Whirlwind (DeVilbiss) filter over a Motorguard one. The Whirlwinds are black and the Motorgaurds are orange. The Whirlwind filter are more durable. Even so, you probably don't want to use one more than 2 weeks. At that point, you really should replace it. You may also have a paint filter actually installed IN your spray gun depending on your model. If not, that is okay but, at least use a strainer funnel to fill the cup. Don't pour your paint straight into it.

I was finally ready for paint ...

Once the degreaser dried, I sprayed on 2 coats of PPG DPLF Epoxy Primer to get things started. I wanted to lightly wet sand the primer after it was sprayed so, the first coat I applied was actually a green-gray color and the second was black. Doing so allowed me to know if I sanded too far into the first coat. If the black started looking thin and green started showing, I would know immediately. After everything had dried for 90 minutes, I wet sanded everything, re-tacked, and re-degreased. Following that, I sprayed on 3 coats of PPG Deltron2000 DBC basecoat in the Amber Fire Pearlcoat color. I waited another 15 minutes and then sprayed on 3 coats of PPG Concept DCU2042 Speed Clear clearcoat.

Everything was really starting to take shape. I started the day by tacking everything at 8:00am and finished the final clear coat around 3:30pm but, I was really only half way through. I still had to let the clearcoat harden before I could wet sand and buff everything out.

The purpose of sanding down the final clearcoat is to level everything out. The actual painting process can leave the finish looking like a smooth orange peel. In addition, tiny dust particles can settle on the wet paint and leave tiny bumps as a result. By sanding everything down and buffing it out, it will look like glass. In fact, it will be smoother than a factory paint job.

I let the paint cure over night before wet sanding everything down. I filled a small bucket with a couple gallons of water with some liquid dish soap in it. I wet everything down with the water/soap mix and proceeded to lightly sand with some high quality 1500 grit paper wrapped around a Meguiar's sponge block. You can see from the pictures that the 1500 really cuts through the clearcoat and leaves a dull finish. I followed the 1500 grit up with some 2500 grit.

After wet sanding everything, I was ready for the power buffing. I used some Meguiars Medium Cut Cleaner applied to a 9" buffing wheel on a Dewalt variable speed polisher and set it for 1400RPM. Do NOT use an angle grinder for this task as it will burn right through the finish ... use the correct tool for the job. Being carful not to overheat any one area, I went over everything to take out the scratches from the 2500 grit paper. When I was satisfied with that, I wiped off the Medium Cut residue and switched buffing pads and applied some Meguiar's Swirl Remover 2.0 with the Dewalt polisher set to 2200RPM. The final result looked very nice and had a great mirror finish.

I'll eventually wax everything; however, I can't do it until the finish has had sufficient time to properly cure. If you wax something too soon after being painted, the wax will seal the paint solvents under the finish clouding everything up ultimately ruining a great paint job. Be patient! Allow at least a few months before applying any kind of wax/sealer product.

Here are my Top 5 Tips for those that want to spray your own paint:

• Do not use plastic to mask off areas that will be in direct contact from overspray; use PAPER ONLY!
• Cover your floor with rosin impregnated paper and flood it with water immediately before spraying paint. The water will practically eliminate dust on the floor from entering the air.
• If spraying during the warmer months when insects are regularly in the air, start spraying early in the morning. Do NOT spray at night when bugs are attracted to lights unless you like the look of insects permanently stuck in your paint and clearcoat.
• Use air hoses with an inside diameter of at least 3/8". 1/4" will restrict too much airflow.
• Install an inline air filer at least 10 to 15 feet from the compressor. The warm, freshly compressed air needs time to cool allowing moisture to consense. If you install a filter right at the compressor, much of the moisture will get through the filter to the spray gun.

Reinstalling all of the body pieces has been great since I can really see the new paint job come together. The color is absolutely incredible ... I'm sure this is only Amber Fire Pearlcoat Jeep CJ-5 in area! If you see me driving around, give a honk and drop me an email. If you're interested in trying your hand at laying down your own paint, send me an email and I'll see what advice I have to offer. Good luck!