How Much To Paint A Truck Topper

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03-15-2012, 06:39 PM

144 posts, read 530,943 times Reputation: 231

Anyone have an idea of what it would cost to pigment a topper? I talked to a neighbor who runs a pigment and trunk shop and he said $600+. I idea that was pretty loftier but what exercise i know. Anyone had it washed and what did it cost ya? Thanks!

03-16-2012, 06:21 AM

Big George 2,728 posts, read 5,086,190 times Reputation: 1785

Quote: Originally Posted by moose13 Anyone have an idea of what it would cost to paint a topper? I talked to a neighbour who runs a pigment and body shop and he said $600+. I thought that was pretty high but what do i know. Anyone had it washed and what did it cost ya? Cheers! To have a body shop paint information technology, $600 is not bad. In fact, that seems a bit low.

03-sixteen-2012, 06:28 AM

Wilson513 10,135 posts, read 26,027,561 times Reputation: 8355

You really want fberglass professionally painted unless its a hoopti. I tin spray merely well-nigh anything but I have had my problems with thin fiberglass. A thick piece with no flex is OK to paint, but a cap could be a real problem.

03-16-2012, 07:07 AM

144 posts, read 530,943 times Reputation: 231

Thanks guys! I will scrap the idea.

03-16-2012, 07:53 AM

Big George two,728 posts, read five,086,190 times Reputation: 1785

Quote: Originally Posted by Wilson513 You actually desire fberglass professionally painted unless its a hoopti. I tin spray just well-nigh anything simply I have had my problems with thin fiberglass. A thick piece with no flex is OK to pigment, but a cap could exist a existent trouble. I painted the topper I put on my 89 Chevy truck. Bought it used, painted red, and wanted it to friction match the bluish truck. Truth is, information technology'due south a pain in the cervix! You lot accept to de-gloss the original finish, utilise special primer, mask everything, and then paint at least 2 coats. I have no regrets that I did it, but I tin can certainly run into what $600 (today) is not out of line.

03-sixteen-2012, 09:10 AM

sunsprit xi,516 posts, read 50,201,540 times Reputation: 16088

I've painted several with Imron ... including fairly flexible fiberglass toppers ... when I changed trucks and moved a topper over to another colour truck. With a light scuff sanding to remove the gloss of the original gelcoat and requite the surface some "tooth", it was no big deal to practise this. The linear polyurethanes ... much used in the canoeing industry ... are platonic for this awarding. All of the major pigment suppliers have their system(south) for this blazon of application. I shot one of the toppers with (the catalyzing additive) Centari, and didn't even utilise a prime coat ... only cleaned up, scuff sanded, and masked the topper. Looked great! the stuff kept flowing and leveling out for hours after I'd shot the paint (two sparse layers, cross coated with almost no wait time between coats) ... and had a shine surface gloss to information technology that looked like I'd spent hours with a buffer to polish it out after the application, only I didn't smooth it at all. FWIW, I've used Centari on everything from fiberglass to thin-skinned (4 mm Okume) plywood boats which take a lot of flex and impact in use ... and never had an issue with delamination, smashing, or failure in any way. They've looked good; one boat has seen heavy apply for over 15 years and looks almost as good as the day it was painted. I've fifty-fifty used this production on my airplane, although there it requires the primer for the aluminum skin.

03-sixteen-2012, 03:xviii PM

HandsUpThumbsDown Location: NYC 7,311 posts, read 12,679,439 times Reputation: 3714

Krylon flat gray worked pretty good for me. Information technology'south an old truck. It looks pretty good though, you wouldn't know that information technology was once bright bluish.

03-xvi-2012, 08:10 PM

Location: East of Seattle since 1992, originally from SF Bay Area 39,366 posts, read 70,636,382 times Reputation: 47711

I did one that was ruby to match a black truck. Sanded lightly, wiped with denatured booze and sprayed it with a quart of Rustoleum oil based gloss with an HVLP gun. It only comes in black and white as far as I could discover. It came out beautifully and lasted several year until nosotros sold it, even in this moisture climate.

03-16-2012, 09:15 PM

Wilson513 10,135 posts, read 26,027,561 times Reputation: 8355

Although I reiterate that it should be professionally painted at $600 unless its a hooptie, if you do pigment it, it should be painted with a high pressure sprayer and clear coated with two part clear glaze similar Delclear.

03-16-2012, 09:36 PM

sunsprit 11,516 posts, read l,201,540 times Reputation: 16088

Quote: Originally Posted by Wilson513 Although I reiterate that it should be professionally painted at $600 unless its a hooptie, if you do paint information technology, it should exist painted with a high pressure sprayer and clear coated with two part clear glaze similar Delclear. BS. Y'all can readily paint these with a HVLP spray rig ... I've fifty-fifty bought a cheapie Harbor Freight special and painted cars with it and had no problems using a 3HP air compressor .... Non the platonic set-upward compared to my shop's large 3ph240v12HP compressor, only still the "make-practice" set up-up was acceptable for a few modest jobs on-site. Due to limited space requirements and overspray concerns for adjacent shop units or hangars, I've even had to use ane of the old-manner low pressure high volume fan-based spray rigs. We've painted boats in a hangar right side by side to airplanes and had no issues with the quality of the paint application nor problems with migrate. Never needed clear coats for final topcoats when using Imron or catalyzed Centari, either. And I'k in the Rocky Mountains where the everyman elevations are high concentration UV areas of 5,000' and upwards ... at home at present, nosotros're over 6,000' and my Alfa (equally well, my topper on my 1995 F-250) have shown no deterioration in the paint piece of work. One Catalina 22 I painted 15 years ago still looks fresh on the cabin topsides; white with a blue stripe. At that, I painted the leading edge and fences on my 182 when I had a STOL kit installed on information technology twenty years ago and it still looks very good ... and I become to wipe or scrub off a lot of bugs from that surface each yr; typically wax it only once a year at the almanac. The bird sat out on the ramp at 5,800' pinnacle for ten years after I did that pigment piece of work ... with a 1 ane/2hp air compressor and a low pressure touch-up spray gun painted outdoors away from other planes on the ramp using a portable generator that was only adequate to power up the air compressor. The cardinal to using any of the linear polyurethane systems is to use a complete manufacturer's arrangement. If you're at the S-W counter, use their system throughout from prime number through topcoat. If yous're at some other manufacturer's counter ... use theirs, Dupont makes some neat stuff ... as practice others. Don't apply whatsoever more mil thickness per coat than needed to accomplish manufacturer'due south specs per DFT; some painters seem to think more than is always improve ... and it isn't. The folk at most commercial automotive paint supply outlets know their stuff. Seek out the places in your area and go their options and pricing for your projection. I would expect to pay somewhere betwixt $100-200 for the materials to paint a topper exterior. RE: articulate topcoats. If you're trying to match the color and surface finish of an existing truck, I'd exist surprised if a carefully prepped and applied color arrangement with two topcoats would even come shut to the surface quality of a factory OE paint job. Equally in the topper would look a heck of a lot better than the factory task. I'd want it to lucifer the truck, not stick out like a sore thumb .... Last edited by sunsprit; 03-16-2012 at 09:45 PM..

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