Armor color match question

erokj

erokj

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Pasadena, MD
Can you spray water based paint over powder coated primed aluminum armor?

I'm currently getting quotes to have my Savvy armor color matched and one of the painters asked. He said they had experience paint F150 aluminum parts, but I'd really prefer getting them powder coat primed..

Thanks!
 
erokj said:
Can you spray water based paint over powder coated primed aluminum armor?

I'm currently getting quotes to have my Savvy armor color matched and one of the painters asked. He said they had experience paint F150 aluminum parts, but I'd really prefer getting them powder coat primed..

Thanks!
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mrblaine has the aluminum powder coat primed for clients that want automotive paint matched armor.
 
L J said:
mrblaine has the aluminum powder coat primed for clients that want automotive paint matched armor.
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Yup, that’s where I stole the idea from. I wasn’t sure if the paint had to be a specific type.
 
erokj said:
Yup, that’s where I stole the idea from. I wasn’t sure if the paint had to be a specific type.
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California only permits very low VOC paint so I believe only water based automotive paint is available.
 
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erokj said:
Can you spray water based paint over powder coated primed aluminum armor?

I'm currently getting quotes to have my Savvy armor color matched and one of the painters asked. He said they had experience paint F150 aluminum parts, but I'd really prefer getting them powder coat primed..

Thanks!
Click to expand...
It isn't water based, it is water borne if that matters. But yes, Mike's is done in water borne automotive over powder coat primer.

I would avoid that painter because the substrate is of no consequence once it is primed, that's why you prime stuff.
 
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mrblaine said:
It isn't water based, it is water borne if that matters. But yes, Mike's is done in water borne automotive over powder coat primer.

I would avoid that painter because the substrate is of no consequence once it is primed, that's why you prime stuff.
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Thank you!

It has been the biggest hassle finding a painter. I've been turned down by 5-7 shops and the ones that will actually talk to me are quoting me $3-4K just for paint.
 
erokj said:
Thank you!

It has been the biggest hassle finding a painter. I've been turned down by 5-7 shops and the ones that will actually talk to me are quoting me $3-4K just for paint.
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I was sad that we paid nearly that for the complete repaint of the orange one we did. But, for some reason, that shit seems to add up quick.

To do a full powder and paint on bumpers, rock rails, corners, and trim bits, I'd expect to see around 2 grand. But that is full custom sand blasted, powder primer, and custom color match on the painted bits.
 
erokj said:
... the ones that will actually talk to me are quoting me $3-4K just for paint.
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For that kind of money I'd buy some equipment and materials, practice and DIY. You'll have money left over for more mods.
 
mrblaine said:
I was sad that we paid nearly that for the complete repaint of the orange one we did. But, for some reason, that shit seems to add up quick.

To do a full powder and paint on bumpers, rock rails, corners, and trim bits, I'd expect to see around 2 grand. But that is full custom sand blasted, powder primer, and custom color match on the painted bits.
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For shits and giggles I asked how much to repaint the whole Jeep, I got $15k, $10k, $8k. Oh and they were all 4-8 months out.

I was able to find a good powder coater. Their prices are reasonable and they do good work. They recently did my Savvy bumpers for $300. They were also willing to color match my Savvy armor, they sent color samples to the lab and everything (of course the color came back off, lol).
 
erokj said:
For shits and giggles I asked how much to repaint the whole Jeep, I got $15k, $10k, $8k. Oh and they were all 4-8 months out.

I was able to find a good powder coater. Their prices are reasonable and they do good work. They recently did my Savvy bumpers for $300. They were also willing to color match my Savvy armor, they sent color samples to the lab and everything (of course the color came back off, lol).
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If I dropped off the rig and specified how I wanted it done to my particular ways of doing stuff, I'd expect about 7-9 grand due to all the removal of stuff, doors taken apart, dash pulled back, etc. The labor to do that adds up quick at a paint shop and no matter how good you think they are at mechanical, it will never be put back together correctly. Also why I'd never let them do it or worse, pay them to do it.

We get to see rigs fairly often that have been through extensive paint at body shops. It is very easy to tell because the fasteners are incorrect.
 
mrblaine said:
If I dropped off the rig and specified how I wanted it done to my particular ways of doing stuff, I'd expect about 7-9 grand due to all the removal of stuff, doors taken apart, dash pulled back, etc. The labor to do that adds up quick at a paint shop and no matter how good you think they are at mechanical, it will never be put back together correctly. Also why I'd never let them do it or worse, pay them to do it.

We get to see rigs fairly often that have been through extensive paint at body shops. It is very easy to tell because the fasteners are incorrect.
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I'm the exact same way and they all said "It didn't matter, price is the same".


Is it really this difficult to find a good painter?
 
erokj said:
I'm the exact same way and they all said "It didn't matter, price is the same".
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Any shop that says that is giving you the fuck you price. If they told me the price was the same, I'd let them do it and I'd be down there every single day inspecting their work and making them fully regret giving me that price. I'd also work up a page or several of notes that have to be followed regarding where it gets painted, where the breaks are, what parts can be panel painted and which have to be done on the vehicle right on down the line so there is no confusion over my expectations and what I won't accept. Several copies of that get handed to the shop along with one set taped across the windshield so they can't say they never saw it.
erokj said:
Is it really this difficult to find a good painter?
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Yes it is. The problem is repaints are the hardest least profitable work they do. If a shop doesn't specialize in repaints or is not a restoration type shop then they focus on insurance work. The book tells them exactly what to do, how much that is worth down to the penny and they crank it out. They will do 10-20 insurance jobs in the time it takes to do one repaint and they can just assembly line them through.

A repaint takes some thought and care as to how to make it go through and none of that is efficient so they are a disruption to a normal shop's flow of work.
 
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mrblaine said:
Any shop that says that is giving you the fuck you price. If they told me the price was the same, I'd let them do it and I'd be down there every single day inspecting their work and making them fully regret giving me that price. I'd also work up a page or several of notes that have to be followed regarding where it gets painted, where the breaks are, what parts can be panel painted and which have to be done on the vehicle right on down the line so there is no confusion over my expectations and what I won't accept. Several copies of that get handed to the shop along with one set taped across the windshield so they can't say they never saw it.

Yes it is. The problem is repaints are the hardest least profitable work they do. If a shop doesn't specialize in repaints or is not a restoration type shop then they focus on insurance work. The book tells them exactly what to do, how much that is worth down to the penny and they crank it out. They will do 10-20 insurance jobs in the time it takes to do one repaint and they can just assembly line them through.

A repaint takes some thought and care as to how to make it go through and none of that is efficient so they are a disruption to a normal shop's flow of work.
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Every bit of this is true. The last Jeep I built had over 800 hours of work I did to it. More than 60% of that time was the result of me doing a repaint. To be fair, that wasn't as much time as I would have spent if I would have done a color change!
 
I was quoted $2,000 to do a full vinyl wrap on my Jeep, Full paint job from a shop that does excellent work was $5,000. I'm glad I don't live in Cali with those crazy prices.
 
Irun said:
Every bit of this is true. The last Jeep I built had over 800 hours of work I did to it. More than 60% of that time was the result of me doing a repaint. To be fair, that wasn't as much time as I would have spent if I would have done a color change!
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We can have a rig disassembled to the point where it is ready to go to a body shop for a repaint in 3 days with 2 of us. It will take us 3-6 times that long to put it back together and maybe more depending on the doors and tail gate.
The only gotcha in there is the grill. Now I just get them blasted and powder primed. Before I stripped them by hand and I'm not doing that again.
 
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