Clear-coat peeling (barely) ... can this be fixed ??

[Laredo]

It's on the back half the roof of my 1997 Ram 1500.
Also, does anyone here know how the "dry ice trick" for hail damage works?

[apratt]

I have never heard of that. Be interesting what ever it is.

[apratt]

Now on the clear coat pealing, that was a big problem with some of the car companys. It was usally a problem with clear coat not bonding with the base coat and also they put too thin of a layer of clear coat that it would fail. The only way to fix that is to sand the clear off and repaint. If you where to spray over the original clear, the new paint will not stick any better because the original clear will still peel sooner or later.

[Miriam C.]

It's on the back half the roof of my 1997 Ram 1500.
Also, does anyone here know how the "dry ice trick" for hail damage works?

Laredo, the way I heard it an ordinary ice cube on a real hot day will pop some hail dings out.

Don't know about the clear coat.

[Laredo]

thanks, y'all.

I think the birds contributed to the clear coat damage ...

The truck runs like a top and from 10 feet away looks really good, too.
I want to bring it back to "looks really good" close up (like it did when I bought it in 2003).
I have less than 120K on the odometer, and I really want this truck to last.

Should I

(gulp)

go to the dealer's body shop and ask for estimates?

What would be a reasonable price for a repaint, going back to original color?

[doug hodder]

At 10 years old, it might have enough fade on it that a touch-up paint job won't work, depending on color. If you do go pricing a paint job, just remember that there are big differences in them, quality of paint, whether or not they strip the car or just tape up the handles etc..., or whether they shoot the door jambs. A bargain 199$ paint job isn't what you are going to want if you want to keep the vehicle...just my opinion..doug

[sledge]

AND......... unless you want to spend a lot of money at a Dealer Paint Shop... check around and look for some guy who is tryin to make a living and build a name for himself, not only will it be a lot less money , it will a much better job.... I do my own body work and painting , but if I couldn't , thats what I would do for sure. .... thats my thoughts anyway.

[Laredo]

Hi Doug,

Absolutely awesome paint on the Rocketear -- what is that body (main) color called? In your photos it looks very similar to the main color on my truck -- "light driftwood metallic."

On to the subject of my truck: We did the $400 Maaco thing in August 2005 on a vehicle for my younger son (it was my dad's 1992 Dakota, and they painted only the upper 2/3 of the exterior; we went back to factory 'patriot blue metallic', and honestly I don't think they clear-coated, although we paid for it. The paint is already dull and chalky). I was not happy and won't go back to that shop (issues not just with the quality of the work but with pricing -- what they charged vs. what the written estimate was -- and the length of time they kept the vehicle, plus it was in Amarillo, 120 miles away, and I didn't have a chance to inspect it before having to pay the extra $1,200! ).

I'm scared to go to the Dodge dealership in town, though; I don't have $7 K, which is what they recently quoted a friend for his truck (2500 series diesel in roughly the same shape as mine, except it's a quad-cab LWB and he was getting hail damage repaired). There's a Ford dealer in town with the best body shop around, but they're even pricier.

I also want a new rear bumper ( that'll be about $50 at a salvage yard) and I need to figure out if there's a way of renewing the black color in the rubber-looking bumper aprons, or tops, or whatever they're called, as well as the door handles. The "DODGE" lettering, a similar black-metallic look, on my tailgate is a decal, and it's faded unevenly. Is it practicable to replace decals like that with real paint, in a repaint situation?

And since you're a fabric guy -- although my seats and armrests are intact, I'd like to find replacement OEM-style fabric before it stops being available; where should I look?
The truck is 11 years old (an August 1996 build sold as a 1997), and while I'm careful with it, I'm also not completely unrealistic. There will be sun fade, wear, etc., and I'd like to have the wherewithal to repair that when the time comes. If OEM-style in the right color isn't available, what can I use that won't look horrendous? (this is the gray velour with the rainbow-fleck)

On the plus side I have a spray-in color-matched Rhino liner, so I won't have to paint the interior of the bed. It's an extended cab 2x4 SWB, though, so I'm going to need a lot of paint...it's in the SLT-trim level, but the 'chrome' (plastic trim) is in rough shape...

[doug hodder]

Laredo...the silver on the Rocketear is called "light silver effect" I picked it out of a Dupont fleet color chart.

You can order the decals/ lettering for the tailgate, check with a local auto paint supplier. It'll be less expensive than masking and shooting it in paint. For the upholstery you are going to have to go to an interior shop, or buy the material on line.

I'd bet they shot your other pickup with single stage paint.

Hope you get it taken care of the way you want. Doug

[anonymous2]

Laredo,

That's inherent of Dodge trucks assembled by some plants. A company I used to work for had a fleet of Dodge Pickups ranging from 94-03's. Some had what you speak about,some didn't. A friend of mine has a 2000 Dakota with the same thing,including the hood. If you had it to Macco all they did was rough up the paint,and respray. The dead paint underneath will not hold fresh paint for very long. Best advice was given by an earlier poster. Find a small shop with good word of mouth about their work. Some old timers are far more knowlegable about the proper application of paint,then speed paint shops like Macco. I all my years around cars, I have never seen a Macco job worth a $#!%. Sorry about your luck with your truck.

pateardropper

[apratt]

Laredo, sky is the limit. if you go to cheap you will not be happy, yea Maco $199 ain't worh a hoot. I had my share of problem working on cars that has been through them Who ever you take your car to find out as much as you can, what kind of paint they use, what prep work will they do and do they take any parts off the car before painting or do they just mask and paint. When I was doing full paint jobs I charged $3000 that was 5 years ago and I would remove a lot of the parts that didn't get painted as I do not like the tape lines when a person just tape. Also I painted the jambs, Hated seeing the old overspray (looks terible). So try to look at some of their work if you could, that would tell most of the story. Also see if they garantee their work.

[Nitetimes]

First off, if you've never handled dry ice, be careful. It burns!! I learned about it in New Mexico. All you do is lay it on a thin cloth near the dent and slowly slide it across the dent. It "should" suck it up and you'll hear it pop. It won't work on all dents but usually works on hail dents.
The insurance companies found out that that was what the body shops were doing down there, they got a teeny bit upset because they were paying big bucks for full paint jobs and the body shops were spending an hour with a piece of dry ice and splitting the $ with the owners.