HI when you say the cab is dull the paint mite be cracked .... and will need to be stripped to bare metal . polish the cab hood a foot square let it sit out side . or wet it look at it close to see the hair line cracks.. hard to tell with out seeing it sand it with 400 sand paper single stage paint wait 10 min between coats at 70 degrees same with base clear

you can sand and buff single stage if it is a solid colour

Todd, i know what your are looking for in terms of quality,  speed,  etc.  we are probably on the same wavelength there.   Not interested in hearing from the Barrett jackson restorers! LOL.

I would look into PPG omni LV for a single stage paint its cheap and easy to use.  and you are doing solid color so you can get away with it.  the longevity is not there with omni, but its better than NASON(stay away from it in my opinion).   Omni is certainly cost efective.\

Base clear omni is avail too, and it is excellent,  will cost you a bit more.  but you can use almost any clearcoat overtop with great results

As a novice,  clear can be tricky to control massive runs!!!

Crazytrain pretty much nailed the rest.   i would agree with his comments on sanding, priming.   just fix what you have to and leave the rest as a good base.  i am sure that truck has a decent basic paintjob that you can just sand the whole thing with 320 and then fix the bad areas and spot prime as needed.

if you really want, just before you paint,  ask the paint store for sealer.  If you have to buy primer,  look for one that is also a sealer.  alot will do both with a different activator or mixing ratio.   sealer is good to even everything out just before paint,   sealers usually just flash for 20 mins or so and then direct to paint

dry times vary with brands.

Todd ever consider a wrap? Lots cheaper than paint and body. My 2 cents.

Todd, I know you've posted about those Tremclad jobs. I'm itching to see somebody do one and you've done your homework on those. Do it!

Canadian Poncho wrote:

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Great info guys. Thanks! I've had two Chevy trucks that had been repainted red and both had gone flat. What's the cause? Poor quality paint? It appears they were single stage paint.
My current truck was originally black. It would look sharp back to original (with the red interior) but I don't think I have the skill to do the body work well enough to make it straight enough for black.

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  Red absorbs more UV light than any other colour... therefore, it fades quicker!  

Here is a massive thread on painting a car with Tremclad. Todd posted on here about it a LONG time ago and I've always been curious to see one that's been done this way.

https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/21490.html

No. The closest would be Eastern Auto Supply in Charlottetown. They seem to be the best paint supply store I know of on the Island. I use them to get my custom spray paint cans made up for all my little touch ups I've had to do.

 

https://www.easternautosupply.com/

nice thing about single stage is if you get a rock chip or scratch it is easy to touch up with a small paint brush, with base clear if you touch up with the base colour it will be flat, make sure you have the right tip in your gun for whatever paint you use

Back in the 80's I painted my 57 4dr two tone with Tremclad. White roof/pillars with black bottom. Had painted a few other smaller things before hand and they all went chalky. So I put a ton of Acrylic hardner in when I did the 57. Lasted years!!!! When I was painting gravel truck frames and logging processor undercarriages I would use Armor coat paint (CT) and add the harder also. The do it yourself painting part is tricky. Temp, gun setup, consistency of paint etc. Find an old fender and maybe spray 1/2 of it. Do your 2-3 coats waiting between each one. If you get a hanger/run in the second coat then too heavy applied or to wet still. If your not sure of yourself when painting the truck. Have a piece of metal that is primed the same and paint it as well. This will give you something to gauge with. Paint everything including the spare piece. On single stage the paint should be sticky like contact cement. This allows them to bite together bit not run, you can now touch your test piece for this. No pro by any means. Just what I've done to help myself get better paint jobs.