On Wed, 01 Feb 2006 18:53:42 GMT, Ignoramus1729
wrote:

Regarding patching the paint, you are touching an interesting
question. What is the greyish stuff beneath the white paint, is it
primer?

Probably gray primer under white paint, but check the truck's body
tag for the original color - It might have been built as a silver
truck, then the state changed their mind and wanted the fleet all
white and they had it repainted.

GTE did that - they got some really fast and cheap white paint jobs
done. And it didn't help that some of the original silver paint jobs
were rather tentatively stuck to the bodies in the first place...
There were more than a few trucks that needed a full stripping down to
primer and a proper second paint job done.

Is there some cheap solution like applying some crap remover, and then
spray painting large areas?

If it is primer and it's clean (no rust) you can leave the existing
paint alone. You just need to hit the bad spots with fine sandpaper
(600 or finer Wet-Or-Dry paper used wet) to feather the edges of the
bare spot smooth and get some tooth for the new paint to grab, use the
proper paint thinner to strip any wax oil or grease, mask it off, and
paint it. Several light coats, build it up.

Any good auto parts store with an auto paint department can mix
matching paint a quart at a time, and they'll have the right
thinner/reducer and all the other supplies you need. Drive the truck
there so they can see it, and they can even adjust the color to match
any existing fading so you don't have to repaint the whole thing...

Too bad it's a Dodge. Rustoleum V2196838 (4TH68) Fleet White in the
**** can matches "GM Fleet White", and it's great for masking the
inevitable bed dings. It might be close enough to match on a Dodge.

And remember: It's A Truck - It's for Working, not for Looks. So
what if the paint looks like crap if you study it up close. If it
looks good when you back up 5 feet and it's sealed so it can't rust,
that's all that really matters. ;-P

-- Bruce --

--
Bruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop
Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700
5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545
Spamtrapped address: Remove the python and the invalid, and use a net.