2003 Wrangler Sport, 4.5" RE Lift, 33" BFG KM2's and a never ending wish list by jeepinjeffrey

5 minute(s) of a 77 minute read

After getting the fenders all on I started going around to get some quotes to get it to match my factory blue paint. I went to a few local shops and to paint those with my Hood louver one shop wanted $800 and the other wanted $1000! Theres no way I can afford that so I decided to go by a few auto paint distributors in town to talk to them on what it would cost and how it would look to do it my self. It came down to either getting custom rattle cans mixed to spray it by hand after the etching primer and sealer or what they recommended and said would look lots better and would get me the most paint for teh money was to buy it by the quart and use a auto spray gun. The problem was that I dont have a auto spray gun or know of anyone who did off the top of my head. So I was trying to decide if it would be worth the money to buy one or not.  

Meanwhile I went over to a buddies to borrow his SWR meter for my CB antenna and he was giving me a hard time for them because I havnt painted them yet and they were gettigna little bit of surface rust on them. I told him the problem I was trying to decide between how I wanted to paint them and he said "wait one second Ive got a spray gun you can use" So he loaned me his and I went straight back to the paint shop to get everything I needed for the spray gun route. 

It ended up being just under $150 for all the etching primer, the exact color matched paint, that looks almost perfect to the rest of the body, and the clear coat with all the reducers, and additives I needed for all of them.

 The Guy was super helpful and I probably sent about 2 hours just having him explain how to mix it all and how to use the spraygun and his other tips and tricks It was super helpful!

Then I headed home to take them all off and sand down the little bit of surface rust I had just form the drive back home from college and to roughen them all up for the primer. 

I went with black primer because I was told that it would help bring out the darker blue better to match the rest of the body, and if I didnt have enough of the blue to go all around I thought that black under neath would look the best.

After a few coats of Primer and some wet sanding inbetween. It looked great! 

I let that dry for a few hours and then mixed up the Blue

Then a few coats of the blue all the way around. Im defiantly glad I did the spray gun route because I had more then enough to go all the way around and get about 4 layers on each!

Then last but not least I put a few layers of clear coat and wallah!

The Color is absolutely perfect! side by side you cant even tell that its been painted after the rest. The only thing I would have done better is to ad a lot more coats of clear coat. The factory clear coat is much thicker side by side then I thought. But oh well I can always add that later.

I let them all sit over night and went out bright and early the next morning to get them all installed and mounted up before I headed out for a new years trail run.

Im super happy with how they turned out and defiantly cant beat the $150 for them all said and done!