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I wanna paint my 3rd gen

Discussion in '3rd Gen 4Runners (1996-2002)' started by No_frills_jake, Mar 20, 2023.

  1. Mar 20, 2023 at 5:22 PM
    #1
    No_frills_jake

    No_frills_jake [OP] New Member

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    Hey everyone my rig needs paint soon! The paint is flaking off on the roof, hood, and on both back quarter panels where I am finding bondo (unfortunately she must have been in an accident in the late 90s early 2000s that was not disclosed to me) anyway not a big deal since the truck was given to me by my aunt after giving her some issues so I only have probably a thousand or so into her. This it currently my daily driver and I would like if she was a little more presentable BUT I really don’t wanna spend a lot on her since it’s still a 26 year old truck. I was thinking of sanding the old paint down redoing the bondo and starting with self etching rust oleum auto primer and then maybe a gloss black or gloss cement gray rust oleum as base color and then then clear coat. But if y’all think there’s a better option then rattle can for cheap I’m all ears, also I have the cheap harbor freight pneumatic sprayer if that would be a better then rattle can. Also I’ve heard of people who have their car painted by students at schools for the price of paint, is that a thing?
    Let me know what y’all think!
     
  2. Mar 20, 2023 at 5:27 PM
    #2
    No_frills_jake

    No_frills_jake [OP] New Member

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  3. Mar 20, 2023 at 5:31 PM
    #3
    SR5 Limited

    SR5 Limited New Member

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    Ya prep, spray, you can do it outdoors, then the real tough part is wet sanding annd buffing afterwards.
     
  4. Mar 21, 2023 at 12:42 PM
    #4
    SlvrSlug

    SlvrSlug Slightly bent.

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    I researched this paint thing for my 02 Runner a few years ago before i sold it. My humble opinion is take it to Maaco, it’s not going to be perfect but will look a lot better for maybe $1000.00.
     
  5. Mar 21, 2023 at 4:51 PM
    #5
    No_frills_jake

    No_frills_jake [OP] New Member

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    That’s actually a pretty good idea, never thought of that, but now I live in north Idaho, 3.5 hour drive from Canada to put it in prospective. lol
     
  6. Mar 21, 2023 at 5:43 PM
    #6
    SlvrSlug

    SlvrSlug Slightly bent.

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    The thing with a Maaco paint job is if it starts to look bad after 5 or so years you do it again. Well worth the money in my opinion.
     
  7. Mar 21, 2023 at 10:33 PM
    #7
    AcMech529

    AcMech529 New Member

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    I’m in the process of painting our 3rd gen myself…
    Ill let you know how it turns out

    7BE3E8D5-91E3-4E24-8738-50D3BB0F2B2B.jpg
    CAEFEAA0-50CA-4ED9-9F67-520152A228E6.jpg
    6307AF55-ABC6-43F0-A85F-E176732CCDD9.jpg
    E21ECF12-9AF5-46E1-ACEC-BD043627B357.jpg
     
    SlvrSlug likes this.
  8. Mar 22, 2023 at 12:36 PM
    #8
    Hank69

    Hank69 New Member

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    Actually, if you do the prep work yourself really well Mako actually throws on a decent coat of paint. The paint job doesn't cost much.
    It's when they have to get into any kind of body work that the price goes up.
     

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