Painting A 1989 Chevy S10 - Low-Buck Paint, High-Class Look

Before We Started...
Here is the truck before we did anything. Check out the inset photos and you can see a huge dent in the front edge of the hood and the waves in the doors.

To replace the bad sheetmetal, we picked up a hood, a tailgate, and a set of doors from LMC Truck. These parts set us back less than it would have cost to get them straight, saving us just under 100 bucks. Not only did we save a little coin, we won't have to worry about unearthing bad bodywork once the job starts.

Part One: A Little Body Work
1. Once we had the truck stripped down and new metal installed, the manager came out to make sure we did our part and mark all the dents that still needed fixing. He also pointed out that the jambs would be shot with the doors off, and the bed would be removed to spray the back of the cab. These services cost extra, but they were still well within our price range at 100 bucks a jamb and 75 for the back of the cab.

2. While he was out there, it gave us a chance to pick the right yellow from the company's numerous color chip books. The brightest one we could find was simply marked "Yellow."

3. After Ed was finished marking up our truck with a nice manly pink pen, it was pulled into one of the bodyshop bays.

4. One thing we had the body technician, Ricardo, do was shave the side emblems off the front fenders. Maaco can perform some modifications like this for a nominal fee, but if you want your taillights shaved you might want to do that yourself.

5. The body technician fired up the wire feed and welded the holes shut before grinding the area smooth just like any custom shop would do.

6. Any area that received welding treatment was initially covered in USC All Metal. This stuff sands a lot harder than normal filler because it's infused with aluminum, but it will provide better results over bare metal.

7. The larger dents were worked out with a hammer and dolly to bring them up to a level where they can be finished with plastic body filler