Hey, it’s Tony from LearnAutoBodyAndPaint with another live stream. Today’s topic is the ‘89 Daihatsu HiJet Mini Truck Project and DIY Auto Body And Paint Q&A!
Sorry about the technical difficulties earlier. Check out my new ’89 Daihatsu HiJet Mini Truck. Check out the video as my daughter Mayah demonstrates how to turn the back from a basic pickup into a flat bed. The load on the back holds up to 1500 pounds. It’s pretty cool.
I paid $2500 for the truck, which I imported from Osaka, Japan. Then, paid $1500 for shipping to Galveston, Texas and another $200 for customs. They have to inspect it and issue a customs clearance. There was also an additional $100 for storage fees because I couldn’t get it immediately. Lastly, another $250 to bring it over to my place. So, I’m in it for about $4600.
When I did my research, they are selling this locally at $8000 to $1000 with higher mileage. This truck has only 90,000 kilometers on it, which is basically 6,000 miles so it has very low mileage.
For the $4600 that I paid for, I get a nice little truck. It’s classic and unique. I’m pretty sure that I’ll get this registered on the road since it’s 25 years old, so it doesn’t have to be DOT approved. It should be pretty easy.
I need to get it insured with Progressive then have it registered. This is not for highway-use. You can’t go 80 miles in a highway with it. If you get in a crash, it will be probably be deadly. The truck is only good for “around the corner” use.
We’ll make the truck awesome, do a build on it, probably put some bigger tires and have a cool two-tone or three-tone custom paint on it with graphics.
The whole length of the vehicle is about 10 feet and 4 inches, which is really small.
Question: If I buy a car with no paint chipping on it, will it be easy to sand it all down and prep it for professional DIY paint job?
Absolutely. Hit it with 400-grit, mask it up and paint it.
Question: What advice can you give for painting over single-stage?
Basically, sand it down and you can paint right over it. You can paint right over single state with base coat clear coat or another single stage paint without getting any reactions.
Question: Do you apply seam sealer after epoxy primer?
Seam sealer is supposed to be before all of that when you’re doing your body work. I’m talking about bonding seams together on body panels.
Question: I painted a fender with paint that is color matched at a paint store. It still appears darker especially in sunlight. Any tips or tricks to better match with blending to other panels?
You need to buff out the unpainted panels like in my BMW Project, where I did the fender but I didn’t do the door or the quarter panel.
There’s probably a little color match difference, so I’m going to buff all this out, your adjacent panels with a good buffer, good compound and good glaze. Buff it out and it will brighten your older panels to match the new.
That’s what you should do. It gets close enough to where other people will not notice it. You might notice it a little bit because you worked on the car, but other people won’t have a clue.
Question: What grit should I sand a peeling clear coat and what kind of primer do I use to do a base coat clear coat?
You can sand it out with a 320-grit. Depending on how bad it is, you can use from 280-grit to 360-grit. After that, you want to prime it and get everything flat and hit it with 400-grit. You can water sand or dry sand.
I like to end my prep with 400-grit wet sand, because I feel like I get a nicer, cleaner cut. I might do a 400-grit dry sand on a machine to cut it quick and then wash it with 400-grit wet sand with my hand. Then, paint with your base coat clear coat right on top of that.
Question: What Palm-held DA do you recommend?
I don’t know what brands are popular now, but I like the Advantage, AirVantage and I also have Harbor Freight. They’re all good. As long as you get a 6-inch orbital sander, you can get a regular pad and a Velcro pad.
You can use your Velcro when you’re doing wet sanding, because you don’t want a sticky paper, so the paper doesn’t come off or get all wet and messed up.
I have a Hutchins Hustler Straight Sander about 15 years ago and paid $260 for it and it still works like magic.
I’m on Instagram using my pen name @thetonyrichie. This is more lifestyle, not really auto body stuff, so if you’re on Instagram, please follow me.
Question: How do I make my booth?
I have videos within the LearnAutoBodyAndPaint VIP Course where I show you how to do home-made booths, so check out the program.
Question: My Yukon that we talked about last week with the bad clear, do I sand it all down and re-prime or just sand it with 400-grit?
I would prime what you feathered out and then 400-grit wet sand and you’re all good, because if you paint right over that, you’ll see a little line in your final product.
Question: Painting with black always makes me get runs. How can I stop that even if I use a low amount of paint?
You get runs because you don’t have your painting flow correct. You need to make sure you are at a certain distance from your car and you’re moving at a constant speed all the time, especially when you’re clear coating.
Otherwise, if you slowdown in one area, that’s where you’re going to get the run. You want to be four to six inches away from your panel.
If you’re a newbie, I would highly recommend taking off the mirrors when you’re painting because you’ll most likely get a run if you don’t know how to successfully tilt your gun and go around the area. It’s common. Even if you’re not a newbie, you can take off your mirrors if you want to get nice paint jobs.
You also want to make sure that you watch the light and it’s laying on glossy when you’re doing your clear coat.
For headlights, you usually need your hand to take off the grime. The truck’s headlights are glass, so I will be using Triple O or Quadruple O steel wool to take off the overspray and the grime.
Question: Do you still do classic car restorations?
Yes, I do plan on doing a classic, probably in the next project. I still have to finish my BMW and my truck within the next couple of months. It’s just getting the right car and doing it.
I did a ’61 Camaro when I was 16 years old. Check out the video as I show you a picture of it. It’s a complete frame-off restoration, Spectra Blue from the Lexus IS 300. It came out amazing.
Question: Is it not good to use the same tip on a spray gun for a base coat and clear coat? Is there a difference?
No. You can use the same exact tip. When you’re done with your base coat, rinse your gun with lacquer thinner, then mix up your clear coat and start painting. The ideal tip size is 1.3mm or 1.4mm for base coat clear coat, single-stage paint jobs and enamel paint jobs.
Question: Does 1/2 inch hose over 3/8 improve cfm to the gun?
Not really. You’re not going to get a big difference. A 3/8 hose has a quarter inch line inside. You only need a quarter inch fittings with a 3/8 hose.
For water trap, I’m using an Ingersoll Rand Regulator Filter. It’s a small little water trap and have it hooked up to my compressor. I never had any water problems.
It’s Tony from LearnAutoBodyAndPaint. I’m going to be working on my truck and start taking out parts. Some of the decals are no longer available, so I’ll take out some of the decals since it’s peeling off.
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Thank you for jumping on today. I hope you enjoyed the show and see you on next week. We’re doing this auto body show every Thursday at 9pm Eastern. Please Like, Share and Subscribe to my videos.
Talk soon! Cheers!
Tony
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Spray Gun Setup TIPS, Then Mixing and Spraying Basecoat Over Primer!
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