M1009 Repainting Tips

Tried to find a thread talking about what I'm planning and came up short. All the threads are about making a new camo pattern where there wasnt one before or what kind of paint to use. Neither of those are questions I have.

So my truck has been looking kinda faded since I got it. I have the tri color camo, and I have 3 gallons of good CARC substitute paint on its way, one for for each color. I'd rather not make templates and spray if I can avoid it. Unsure if I could even get access to a spray booth if I wanted to.

Has anyone had success refreshing an existing camo pattern by hand? My theory is that I can go real slow with a roller and/or sponge brushes to keep the edges of each color crisp without too much extra screwing around.

I spray them in a barn and outside on a sunny day. I use a picture as a pattern to place the camouflage on the truck. No brushes. May I recommend painting the entire truck with epoxy sealer. Then paint the entire truck green. Add the brown camo spots. Finish with the black. My results have been black is the nicest color to finish with. The picture above is Easter Find M1008 alkyd enamel lusterless paint. I did a few like that. I remove all the trim, bumpers, and do the factory original pattern as close as I can. It gives a very nice look and attention to detail without the bumpers and trim incorporated into the camo finish. The factory look. Good Luck. You can take 3 weeks or 8 hours. Depends on how fussy you want to be. I painted a few in 8 hours. They were a bit rough to begin with and the new paint made a world of difference.

If you go the Behr route, you can rent an airless sprayer. Or buy a $100 Wagner airless. Water cleanup, no noxious fumes.

The fumes I experience with the alkyd enamel are about the same as painting oil based paints in a house. I did many CARC paint jobs. I prefer CARC and get a nice look but every scratch and mark show up in the paint. Spray cans of Krylon get the job done also but the finish does not last when exposed to the sunlight and weather. Many CUCV's have rust under the original poly paint and need a good sanding an acid prep and a coat of epoxy sealer. The top coat of a paint job is only about 5% of the over all paint job. Preparation and surface cleaning are the other 95%. So it don't matter in the end what you paint it with. It is only as good as the preparation that was done. I also have 2 part water based CARC. Used it on several CUCV's. The green is so green it looks the best. Water base is a little better and more forgiving then the chemical base. You do need good air flow to get a nice even dry/smooth surface. Good Luck what ever you decide. My current build I am using alkyd enamel again.

Years back we had to paint all the tracks and wheeled vehichles in the moter pool, we did it in a round robin. Station one was the wash rack, two they got a grease put on all lenses, three got OD green, ectra. In some cases the drivers never got out! All was done in no time and with good results.
FYI!! If you use any kind of enamel do NOT use an activator, that will make even flat paint shine! If you feel that you must contact the paint rep and and ask there recommendations. (I'd bet about 8-1 or maybe 12-1) and even that will give it a bit of gloss.

Back in the day I did a frame off on this M1028. I seen many of the military paint jobs. They painted everything. Everything. Seats, door rubbers, engines, tires and all. I was fortunate this truck had 1900 miles on it and was just faded and sun beat. That was 1995 I sold it in 2013. It lives a horrible life now all lifted and rusted out with loud exhaust.

cucvrus said:

It lives a horrible life now all lifted and rusted out with loud exhaust.

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That poor truck.

A guy out here did come thing similar.

Bought a really nice M1009.

Pulled out the diesel and put in a 350.

Then swapped out the axles

Giant lift kit.

Painted it flat black wit lime green trim.

I think the abomination finally died when he rolled it in a parking lot showing off.

Summer 2017 Terminus M1009 in 1 day from that on left to this on right. And a week later. The paint endured the real test. Yankee Lake Ohio. Truck Gone Wild. All the sanding , prep work and painting was done outside under the shade of trees. All in an 8 hour period. My Sons and friends helped. The Mud was great the truck was flawless.