Paint Your 4WD - Part 1
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Words by Shaun Whale If your 4WD is anything like mine, it’s spent the majority of its life parked outside. As you could imagine, my once midnight blue Suzuki was now starting to resemble a faded patchwork quilt. The deteriorating paintjob plus the countless battle scars it had picked up off the beaten tracked, begged for one thing – a DIY paintjob. Re-spraying a vehicle is a massive job and can easily cost in the thousands of dollars if you get somebody else to do it. If you have a handful of weekends up your sleeve the good news is that you can save a bucket load of cash and do the job yourself. Plus there’s a certain degree of self satisfaction stripping your 4WD down to it’s bare essentials and giving it a facelift. Ask the expertsI’m by no means an expert at panel beating or spray painting so I had a yarn with Ben from Ajays Smash Repairs to pick his brains for some tips. As many professionals would say, a good paint job is 95% preparation and only 5% actual spraying. So, if you want a reasonable finish, you have to make sure you put in the hard yards to begin with. You will need to spend time sanding and filling and if your 4WD is anything like mine, a fair bit of work with a hammer straightening out panels. Don’t be under the impression that scratches and minor dints can be hidden by top coats. If you haven’t spent the time filling and sanding it will show up on the finished product like… well, you get the idea. To keep it simple I am planning to re-spray the old girl in the same colour. If you want to change the colour of your 4WD, it will be a much bigger job as you will need to consider the engine bay and interior.
Location, location, locationYou will need to pick an appropriate location and prepare the surrounding area before you do anything. Unfortunately we don’t all have big workshops at our disposal and most of us work on our 4WDs in our driveways or in the garage… if it fits! So, don’t worry if you don’t have a huge enclosed shed to work in, I did all of the prep work outside. Ideally you would want your working environment to be a dry, ventilated place where you can get access all the way around your 4WD. Before you do anything make sure your work area is clean and free of dust, as spraying disturbs the air. If you spray outside like I did, you will soon understand wet paint becomes a magnet for every beetle, spec of dust and bit of airborne debris in the neighbourhood. Make sure you have lots of ventilation where you are spraying and invest in a proper mask and safety goggles. Don’t use the cheap paper masks, spend the few extra dollars and get yourself something recommended for spraying. Be mindful of overspray, and cover everything that is likely to be in the fire zone.
Stripping downFor best results, remove as much as you can from the body of the car. Lucky for me, the Suzuki can be taken apart with a screw driver and a few sockets. Chances are, however, that many of the bolts will be difficult to get loose as they probably haven’t been touched since they were first put in. It’s a good idea to hit all your bolts, nuts and screws with a couple of soakings of WD-40 the few days before you strip your 4WD. If you can get your hands on an impact driver and socket set to run off your compressor it will save you time and frustration. It means you won’t need to keep referring back to the angle grinder to remove bolts and screws. Even with impact tools, some of the screws on the Suzuki were near impossible to remove, and gave me little choice but to drill the heads out. It’s best to be as organised as possible when stripping your 4WD down so putting it back together will be hassle-free. The best way to keep track of everything is to put all your bits and pieces into separate zip lock bags and write on them where they came from. Attach these to the appropriate parts with tape and you can’t go wrong.
Sanding downMake sure you pick up a sanding block and use it for all of the flat panels. If you don’t use a block on the flat panels your hand will go in and out of the uneven areas leaving the finished job anything but straight. You will need a bucket of water at your disposal, to sand the entire vehicle with 400 grit wet and dry sandpaper. For areas with scratches and dints I used 80 grit sandpaper and took the area back to bare metal. If you are taking a couple of weekends to prep your vehicle like I did, make sure you don’t leave bare metal exposed for too long as it will easily mark and rust. Get an etch primer on all bare metal surfaces as quick as possible. After you have filled all the dints and scratches and then sanded, you should have a fairly smooth and straight 4WD. This is the hard part, get this right and you will be super impressed on how good you can get the finish - even if you’re doing this job in your driveway! After each coat of primer allow at least an hour for drying, before you go over it with 800 grit wet and dry. Make sure you use plenty of water, and constantly use the hand you’re not sanding with to scan the area to make sure you have sanded everywhere. This will be your best guide. I have to drive my Suzuki around for a couple of weeks in a grey primed state before I spray her blue again. Stay tuned until next month where I can hopefully get her back to looking her best.
MaterialsAll the gear needed to re-spray your 4WD can be found at SuperCheap Auto, including the compressor and hand tools. This is what I used; obviously the larger the 4WD you have the more materials you’d need.
Excluding the tools needed I was able to pick everything up for under $500. ThanksThanks to Ben at Ajays Smash Repairs for his help with this story. He's an absolute gun on the end of a spray gun! Ajays Smash Repairs |
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