Painting a cap............questions

[The patriot]

So, I've had this cap for a long time. It's green, truck is solid black.
I'd like to paint it.
There is a paint distributor near me, what is the best type of paint to use? It's "no name" brand paint. $60/gallon.
Last car I painted was using Ditzler catalyzed acrylic enamel (with the hardener). It's been a while (30+ yrs ago) but it didn't seem like rocket science.
Local guys want more than the cap is worth to do it.
I'd like to stay away from the basecoat/clearcoat thing.
It's more than likely being done in a tent, so I'd like to avoid prolonging the process if at all possible. It'll be a challenge enough to keep my dog from messing everything up.

I'm thinking like this:

*Degreaser/dewaxer.
*Sand/400 grit
*degrease/dewax
*wetsand/800=1000
*degrease/dewax
*fill in holes in roof. One of the previous owners had racks there at one point in it's life. I just siliconed them shut when I discovered this.
*Prime
*light sand
*Paint.

Am I forgetting anything?
Most important is, what type of pains should I use?


Mods....I hope I put this in the correct section.....Feel free to move wherever it's most appropriate.

 

[Wayne M.]

www.eastwood.com
One of the best sites out there. Please do your homework on the paint system you're going to use, and your protection. I'm no bodyman, but I do know that some basic paints and clears are real toxic nowadays.

 

[Larry Willard]

I did some painting in the 70'S, but when I wanted my old cap painted about 15 years ago I took it to the vo tec and paid them $50 and let the students do it.

 

[The patriot]

I'm pretty sure they stopped taking in cars from the outside in vo-techs due to litigious people around here.
I'll check out Eastwood, but I'm pretty sure it's out of my price range. I know they sell good stuff.....

Not looking for show quality, hell I haven't waxed my truck in probably a year or two. Just want it to be decent.
IMO the truck is above average in the paint/rust/dents dept (or lack of rust/dents) the cap is forrest green and VERY sun blistered.
It just brings the entire truck down....

 

[bigceltic]

I painted mine myself using rattle cans and it has been perfect for 5 or more years now. I did the work in my garage, setting the cap on sawhorses. I just removed all hardware (for roof rack), sanded it lightly, masked it off and primed it (spray can). Then I bought out the whole city of Colorado Springs of color match paint (each auto parts store only had 2 cans each) and sprayed it. Then I used a clear coat spray (Rustoleum, I think) to finish it. Looks like a perfect match to my truck and like I said, has lasted a long time and still looks great. The hardest part was the masking job. Other than that it was done in 1 weekend.

 

[The patriot]

Cant ask for better results than that....

 

[Wayne M.]

That rattle can job looks great! But don't overlook Maaco! They were running a "bumper special", and the '98 needed one real bad. So I bought one from Sherman and brought it over. Gotta admit it came out real nice and is holding up well. Great paint match and they were good to deal with.

 

[The patriot]

Went to maaco a few months back , they were in the 500++ range

 

[bigceltic]

That was my experience with Maaco. I have had Maaco do body/paint work on my truck - repaired and repainted the bed sides - and I was happy with the work (and will go back in the future), but they would have been around $500-$600 to paint my top- so I did it myself. BTW, I used Duplicolor perfect match (https://duplicolor.com/product/perfect-match-premium-automotive-paint). My top was gold when I bought it on Craigslist for $600 (and it included a yakima rack and accessories).