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One-Stop Paint Shop DIY Paint and Body - 4-Wheel & Off-Road Magazine

Kevin McNulty Former Editor, Mud Life

Giving a rig a decent paint job is a lot of work, but Summit Racing Equipment makes the work a little easier with its one-stop paint shop. Everything you could ever need to paint a vehicle can be ordered online or through the Summit catalog. We had been looking to take care of the finish on our 4x4, so we gave Summit a call.

jeep Grand Cherokee Summit Racing Paint painted Finish Photo 29149654

The old Grand was ready for some new color. In daylight the factory paint was...

We were extremely tired of driving our '97 Grand Cherokee and its eggplant-purple factory paint with red and white pinstripes. We had had it with all the "Purple Grand" jokes! So, after all our paint supplies came from Summit, we spent the better part of a week stripping the Jeep, sanding, and painting.

jeep Grand Cherokee Summit Racing Paint old Paint Photo 27731414

... bright purple, and we took quite a bit of ribbing for that. But now it's royal blue, a much more acceptable color.

It's really great satisfaction knowing your paintjob was done by yourself and done right. Just make sure you have another ride, because a good paintjob takes a number of days.

PhotosView Slideshow Summit offers everything anyone could ever need, at affordable prices. We picked up acrylic urethane paint for the Jeep and everything else needed for the job. Summit also offers low-VOC paints for states like California, where almost every chemical known to man is banned.

Summit offers everything anyone could ever need, at affordable prices. We picked up acrylic urethane paint for the Jeep and everything else needed for the job. Summit also offers low-VOC paints for states like California, where almost every chemical known to man is banned.

There's a lot of tedious work in painting a vehicle, not the least of which is sanding off the old paint. We were going to do this job ourselves but quickly realized it would take forever. We recruited the guys at Overkill Engineering and knocked out the sanding part of this work in about an hour and a half.

If there are dents that need fixing, the paint must be stripped to the vehicle's sheetmetal. This can be done by hand or with electric grinders or sanders. Care must be taken not to overheat the metal or sand it too thin.

PhotosView Slideshow Body filler must be mixed with catalyst just right, otherwise it hardens before you are able to work with it, or it will take forever to dry. Test it before you start to work with to get its dry times just right.

Body filler must be mixed with catalyst just right, otherwise it hardens before you are able to work with it, or it will take forever to dry. Test it before you start to work with to get its dry times just right.

Spread body filler evenly and make sure it's not too thick, otherwise it will take a long time to sand down and may crack. The best is to get the damaged body panel (sheetmetal) as close as possible to its original shape, then skim-coat it with body filler.

A paintjob is only as good as the effort you put into it. It's the details that count. If you don't completely strip the vehicle, take great care in taping the parts you don't want painted.

PhotosView Slideshow Painting a vehicle must take place in a clean, dry, dust-free environment. A garage or shop must be cleaned and sectioned off-we used this plastic to section off a portion of a shop. It made a great impromptu paint booth.

Painting a vehicle must take place in a clean, dry, dust-free environment. A garage or shop must be cleaned and sectioned off-we used this plastic to section off a portion of a shop. It made a great impromptu paint booth.

Summit Racing single-stage acrylic urethane paint is affordable at just over $100 a gallon. The paint is also easy to mix with a 4:1 ratio. It's important to follow all mixing directions to the letter.

We used a high-end HVLP spray gun from Mac Tools, which worked flawlessly. Laying paint isn't easy. Always practice first, and move from one side to the other always in the same direction.

One-Stop Paint Shop DIY Paint and Body - 4-Wheel & Off-Road Magazine

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