Recommendation on partial Re-paint of SR5 AC

actually, I know that you have

 

In all honesty, i’d highly recommend to let the body shop remove all of those connectors and harness retainers. That’s what they do for a living and they can do it with ease. You wouldn’t be saving any $$$ by “helping” them out by disconnecting the harness. If anything it will probably make it more of a hassle for them. The only thing i would do is remove the spare tire and pressure wash EVERYTHING underneath. Like spend a good 30~45 minutes getting wet while laying on your back in a pool of cold water.

 

@whodatschrome I'd agree normally, but as of late, the skilled labor market in SoCal [and probly other states too] is slim [and slimmer] and Im thinking of where and how I can be my own QC advocate beforehand. I dont mind doing this kind of 'lite-work' since I have access to a lift [and dont mind wearing my Hazmat overalls]. At minumum I like getting a good idea of "what was" when all is operating correctly, vs. "what is" returned to me as "all done". If somethings 'hanging by threads', I can see and advise shop before R&R, then have replacement hardware ready to go. Anything reasonable I can do on my end to keep them focused on quality and get in and out. In most locations, B&P shops make most $s on insurance work, so my interest is to keep my truck from being side-lined very long and let them know Im paying attention. Yeah I know, some might see as customer fr/hell or PITA, but if thats a problem for them, I'll find another shop.

BTW: The TSM illustrations show the filler neck bracket w/2 bolts to the box, so your memory is spot on.

 

Found another B&P that bid $3900, BUT wont remove bed, rear glass or frt bumper cover...non-starter. Did say 4 Clearcoats and using a Sherwin-Williams generic.
Looking better w/the $4200 shop removing all except windshield and spraying 3 Clearcoats PPG.
Big concern now is backglass- 18yr old truck: good chance glass frame may survive R&R, but the 4 install bolts might disintegrate.

Any chance those bolts survive on 18yr old [dry central vly] truck?

Im gonna try to source a JY back glass/frame ahead of time...lookd up via Toyota parts: w/slider $600, non-slider is $400 [dont mind giving up slider].

 

...continuing the topic, I delivered my FGT last weekend to the B&P shop. Went to see progress today and below is the dis-assembly to date.

 

BTW: Im thinking of speaker upgrade while door panels are off; shop owner says theyre 5"...i didnt measure, but they looked like std. toyota 6" to me. So, any advice or recommendation of brand, model, etc would be appreciated. Eventually, I'm aiming to install the Alpine ilx507 w/out amp or sub for starters, or maybe I'll be good with just that...?
Altho its really beside the point, the OEMs are in very good shape, which explains why they sound so solid, but not great by todays standards. Didnt think to check the tweets in the panels, but I'll replace all before it all gets reassembled.

Aside from all that, everything 'seemed' tore down without any breakage [or at least not any I saw]. Thinking to go back Mon and load my parts and bring home until its time for reassembly; this way I can reinstall new tweets, then showup with the other 4 new speaks when its time.
So, out of all so far, the only big question is the BackGlass; it hasnt been attempted yet. Bed will come off once all spot dings are done and whole truck is ready for prime, color and clears.

 

I repainted both of my RCLB's with single stage urethane in factory colors Natural White and Dark Green Mica. The green one had hail damage and the bed had 5 collisions so I replaced it with a $880 junkyard bed.
I didn't remove the windows or mirrors, just debadged (and left them debadged) removed antenna, lights, rear bumper and roof strips.
Non metallic paint like the White truck require the least skill. I painted roof, hood, tailgate and misc pieces one day, then remasked and did the rest another day.
On the plastic front bumper, if painting a light color you need to mask the lower grille, which is a pain. I didn't on the white one because I plan to install a chrome bumper someday. Masking the grille black on light colored trucks requires considerable manual dexterity. I skipped that on the green one and it's not noticeable.

 

I installed 6-1/2 coaxial in the rear, and I think it maybe was possible to go 6-3/4, or 7” with minor modifications. I really need to get a pair of the rear housings, I’d like to model up some 6x9 housings to 3D print.

 

@Dook55: nice work...like youre ready to open B&P shop. Yes, minimum disaasembly woulda been ok by me, but B&P shops not only want to do the work, but might be merit to idea of minimizing paint peel or flaking along weather exposed edges. Reality of 5 different shops, only one was willing to do job w/out bed removal [and he was only $100 less than my guy], but all were going to do the same dis-assembly otherwise.
BTW: Id have taken a Sgl Stg paint FGT, but you get whats available in used market. I think someone here mentioned the lack of a C-coat on Sgl Stg paints makes them a bit more vulnerable to effects of moisture, etc. IDK. OTOH, my CCoat was probly dried up in 1st 5 years of its life; dont really know. Even tho i use truck as a boat-puller/utility rig, im trying to keep as rust-free as possible since it lives in the dr/way about a mile fr/ocean...for sure I'll have at least a cheap polyester cover on it eventually.

@Shifty: maybe Ive mis-read in past here, but I thot these FGTs came stock w/6x9s in frt?
Also, with a coaxial, are you just getting wider sound spectrum from a sgl speaker, vs a non coaxial? IE: just b/c coaxial doesnt mean your HU or DSP allows discreet sound adjustment of the multiple elements of rear coaxials, right?

Appreciate the comments; learning something new everyday here.

 

No 6x9 for us with AC.

coaxial is simply two-speaker so you’re getting a mid with a tweeter, so better range. And it’s crossed-over directly on the speaker using capacitors.

in the rear doors where you can only install one speaker, if you want full range sound you need to go coaxial or triaxial. Up front, it’s better to go with components IMHO, for the AC/RC trucks at least.

 

6.5” In front and rear on my AC

 

thx @Shifty, @KNABORES ...
already looking before next round of prices arrives...

 

My green truck was base clear from the factory but the white one came single stage from the factory. I had peeling clearcoat on the green truck so I just deep sanded a couple inches into good clearcoat and then epoxy primed the whole truck. 3 years and no peeling.
I put enough coats on both trucks so that I can buff them out if they fade before I take my dirt nap.

 

thats some serious FGT love...
your last pic looks like a beige Sgl Stg [eventho I know its White]; probly the lighting. Because 'new' Clearcoats dont seem to last very long if not covered or garaged, I thot of going to a Sgl Stg close to my stock Desert Sand. I kinda still like a 'coffee w/lotta cream' beige. Reminds me of some of the newer toyota truck colors.

 

I know huh, now I’m plotting a respray, thanks op. Very helpful. Glad I have a white truck. Best on the paint. Way to go dook55, good work.

 

I was thinking if I had a desert sand tundra like yours I would repaint it with a single stage non metallic about the same color, maybe that Tacoma beige babyshit brown. The existing door jambs would match sorta and it would the quick and easy paint job. The thing about non metallic paints if you get a run it's no big deal, just cut and buff. That doesn't work on metallic paint.
Removing the bed is not needed unless there is a color change. Just adjust the gun to the round pattern and carefully and lightly paint that gap and let it dry 20 minutes before shooting the rest. Be sure to re-adjust gun afterwards.
The green truck was the first paint job I did in about 45 years and I got some runs and decided to live with them because the truck had 250K miles on it. The White truck I did last year and the activator and reducer were just right for the ambient temperature and the only run I got was covered up by the grille, which was painted separate. I did get a little bit of orange peel on both paint jobs but not bad enough to bother me. I'm just an amateur.

 

Yeah, Im up on the Metallics v Sgl Stg issues so not overly concerned w/runs but yeah Im aware of sloppy or inexperienced paint jobs. I think the truck getting new color/clearcoats will be worth tolerating a few 'runs' risk. Rather have a good rust insulator over absolute 'smooth & shiny' but both would be nice and shop owner [painter] knows I know good fr/average.
I had the same approach as you at 1st, about minimal disassembly and limit re-paint to roof, hood and body only to above door handle line , leaving original sides alone but taped off for a pin-line overlay later. Nobody's interested in that, eventho at 1st I had one guy willing for $2200, but then a month later he re-neg'd saying it wasnt worth his time. Truth around here is that shops want to do all they can if theyre gonna mix primer/color and clears; i get it, but thats why I tried to find a low-bid, and yeah, I dont expect factory new quality, but Im confident it wont be a 'Schieb or Maaco' quikie either [all due respect to anyone who got that and is happy]. So, we'll see what $4k gets me and given that 4 of 6 bids were $6-8k, I know its not gonna be 'concours'.

 

Oh, if you didnt already know- San Diego [actually, SW Cal] rocked today...5.2 magnitude.
I was cranking out another post about my door panels when it occured [never finished b/c i picked tablet up so fast it all deleted].
This house felt like it lightly moved upwards a couple times, then a slower slide N-S; all in less than 10 sec's. Afterwards I walked the length of house to check on wife who's been in bed recovering from ACL/Meniscus surgery. Thot I might have to hustle her out via wheel chair. Anyway, all the excitement has passed and we'll just hope the nextone isnt any bigger.

 

UPDATE:
20 days after drop off.

Almost there.










another 7-10 days to completion.
thats all for now...

 

What a beauty, I wish one of mine was that color.

 

Thx...its grown on me.
Wouldnt have been my 1st choice if bought new fr/toyota, but i'll try and take care of it for next owner...

 

That looks to be a proper paint job. I won't ask, but it must cost a pretty penny. Although the pain of paying for a good job goes away quickly, and the bitterness on a poor job remains.

 

Good luck on the repaint OP.

If our Tundra holds up for say a year, the wife and I are considering having it repainted.

 

No prob...$4k, as stated waay early in post, but Im feelin you there bro.
I went in knowing Im not carrying a $800/mo. pmt on a NEW truck, so all part of my program.
So far he's proven to be an excellent operator- Sprayer owns shop- no corporate or large workforce to have to deal w/the "assistant to the assistant regional manager, In-training" BS....
We'll have more positive results next week too.

BTW: I make it a point to not hover at his shop; just show up on Sat's to drop cash on him. Sort of like weekly installments; funny thing about it, we never even discussed how payment will be made. I just decided to do Saturday visits w/Benjamins. I think he likes to keep his 'govt paperwork' to a minumum, etc. Might have little effect on things, but he's an X-Marine...yeah, I know, no such thing...

 

Yes, its a fine line deciding when its worth the $ risk v. a major repair... biggest reason I chose to do was I live a mile fr/ocean on a slppe that catches ocean/salt air 7-24-365 and I dont want to garage it [or any vehicles] so its a dr/way queen til I need to go...i'll definitely get a sun/bird cover for it, but nothing so serious I cant wrestle it off in less than 5 mins.
Sun will do most damage to clearcoat, but clearcoat is only protection from salt air...

 

Thank you...

 

You're getting a lot of paint job for 4K. Most would charge that for slam bam thank you maam that would look awful 2 years later, if we could even find someone interested in doing it. Most of us don't have access to a good repaint at a reasonable price.....reasonable being one that you could recoup most of it if you sold 3 years later.

 

Agreed. On 1st look Im a bit giddy, then again its not yet complete.
If he makes minor corrections he and I discussed AND all parts reassemble w/out major issues, I'd say more than my $s worth.
Of course recouping job cost would be iceing on the cake, but probly keep this truck at least another 100k mi's. Thats likely 10 years or more, given nothing major occurs.

 

Update: 4 weeks later, not quite there yet...but a few more pics anyway

Some basics re-installed:








Worst of weather seal condition...decided to re-cycle it...