Sport Conversion help
 

Hey guys im new here, and i need help with finding a good body shop in or around norman or sombody to just do my front and rear bumpers as well as the outline on my grille. it needs to be mineral grey

Have you spoken to any shop about it?

i went to norman body works and they told me to go to a place off of 36th and tecumseh, i forgot the name, and i went out there a long time ago and talked to them about my door handles and stuff, but im just afraid theyre gonna run me over 600. cause they said 150 for color matched door handles and tailgate handle

First off, welcome to ORC. Imo, screw body shops, they're stupid expensive. For the door handles amd stuff, its really easy to do yourself as long as you get the right paint. Just sand them down, spray with primer, then paint

There is a LOT more to it than that Colton...

what?? nah........hells no. LOL

Well I'm just saying the basics. Any way you look at it, its not gonna cost no damn $150 to paint door handles. I'm about to do it to mine, along with the mirrors, tailgate handle and wiper cowl. I've done it before with Mike and its not that bad. All it takes is alot of patience.

remember, patience = time = money

150 for a body shop to do 5 handles is VERY CHEAP considering they have to remove all 4 door panels remove the door handles and key lock(s), sand them smooth without scratching and most shoot with high quality materials not just a rattle can job ... no materials don't cost 150 bucks but thats by far not a ripoff with the amount of work to do them correctly

just for reference most audio shops charge 100-180 bucks to put in 4 speakers which is like 1/10 of the work and no material costs minus maybe 25 cents in a couple connectors

Yea $150 sounds reasonable to me to I'm with Matt on this one..

Guess I'm just really cheap... lol

I'd pay $150-$300 for my two door handles and mirrors...LOL

Im not as much worried about the door handles as the bumpers. the handles are already black, they can wait, i hate chrome, so i want it all gone. and as soon as i get matched bumpers i can then get rid of my chrome rims and get black!

welcome to the site! I hate to break bad news to you, but they usually will NOT paint a chrome bumper their probably going to tell you to buy some paintable bumpers paint wont bond well with chrome.

x2... I was an auto adjuster for 5 years so I can tell you ALOT of stuff about body shops! The #1 cost of painting something like those handles is getting it to match. They have to spray and mix the paint in test panels before they even shoot the handles to ensure they match or closely match the paint. Also, since the handles are plastic, they will end up having a slightly different color than the surrounding metal door. I'm sure you have seen how bumpers don't match the truck many times.

I've seen body shops want to paint an entire door in order to paint the handles, because they want to ensure the paint matches. They aren't trying to screw you, they just want to make sure you can't come back to complain that they don't match and have to do it all over again....for free.

Last time I checked, paint was $40/hr for labor + $30/hr for materials, so $70/hr. I'd take that $150 in a heartbeat!

As for the chrome bumper, LowRam is right, you'll need to at minimum remove the chrome via sand blasting or other method.

I'm gonna be painting my bumper... just gonna sand it all the way down

damn, thanks for busting my plans guys. so id have better luck just finding someone who wants to sell a mineral grey bumper and buy it off him.. but ya i think ill take the 125 handles then. the body shops name is "AutoCraft" i just remembered

Just keep in mind that if you have the time and are willing to put in the effort, you can definitely paint those plastic parts yourself, with them being completely smooth, and matching perfectly...case in point: On the 4th gens the antenna base and the tailgate handle are the typical black plastic. I sanded them smooth and painted them. All in my garage and all with rattle cans and store bought stuff:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/j...5-20145314.jpg
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/j...5-20145323.jpg
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/j...5-20145333.jpg
(yes, the inside of the handle is not perfectly smooth but that was done purposely)

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/j...5-01175238.jpg
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/j...5-01175315.jpg

There are shops that will do it for you.. But a lot will tun you down because it's just to much of a PITA to do them plus if it's not done perfect chances are your going to have chipping and cracking paint.. and if I was a shop I would not want people driving around with my work looking like junk because it's a cracked and stuff.

I went through all of this with my 08 Ram... Which is why I told myself when I bought this new truck.....Painted bumpers!

But you can prolly find someone to do it for you man.

that looks good! i have nothing to do saturday so ill proly do that. how much did the paint cost and where did you get them?

Yes and Dave's paint to match looks awesome that he did for his truck. You could do it yourself if you want to put in the time.

I wish you guys were close......but this is a OK forum.....lol

I'm doing a set of bushwacker flares this week for a customer - OEM paint matched - $225. He was quoted $400 at the dealer.

You couldnt sand blast the chrome off and then sand it and paint could you?

It needs to be preped correctly and sanded enough to where the paint will hold. and that's why body shops tend to turn it down is because it takes a lot of time to prep chrome and if you don't do it right the paint will not hold on the chrome

whatever happend to the painted to match antenna that we talked about JJ? Me and Dave talked about him helping me color match my handles and stuff on the truck and it would involve some fender flares going to him for the help

I'm still waiting for a set of handles and an antenna base to make it to me...I would throw some paint on them (done like my tailgate handle) and then put some cash on it for those damn flares.

then nvm, ill just stick to the handles this weekend hopefully

I would do the antenna base first. It's a good way to find out what it takes and IF you screw up, it's not an expensive piece to replace. Trust me dude, it's a lot of work.

BTW, for perfectly color matched paint you have to go to the stealership and order a rattle can of it.

I actually talked to the dealer a few days ago and he told me he could get the color match handles for my truck already painted for like $130 but idk we will see.. I keep seeing a bunch of these guys up here from TX and OK with big ass bushwacker flares on their trucks and it is tempting me like a mofo!!

Soon as I get my lift and new 5100's installed and order some wider tires and wheels I will get bigger flares and these will go to you dave.

Dave, think you could come out sometime and give me some pointers on painting the handles and everything?

How big are you goin with the lift?

whoops?

LOL

I'll go order a few and have the painter do it when he paints my hood. :sunot:

Sounds good buddy lol

on my ram i color matched the black trim around my taillights, my old stock side view mirrors and some interior peices, with some perfect color match paint in a rattle can from O' Riellys, and this stuff looks exactly like the stock blue cant even tell the difference so you might want to check out you local O'Riellys or autozone for that stuff if you really want to do it yourself, its like $6 a can with tax and stuff then i also used a clear adhesion promotor basically its a clear primer in a rattle can

2" level with 5100 shocks all the way around. Nothing to crazy

Hey Kyle (SMR 101) I have a pair of KORE progressive rate front coil springs for a Cummins 3rd gen, think they are 2-3", but not sure. If you want to test fit them one day you can. Even have a few 3" wide leafs for zero-rates to level out the rear to match afterwards.


FYI, you can buy matched paint from any bodyshop. Every car has a color code on the door label, each of those colors has anywhere from 3 to 7 variations depending on number of factories, time of year, etc etc... The shop will pull out their color chart and pick the best variation of that color to match to your truck and then, if necessary and a good painter, they can tint slightly for match. I've ever seen a number of guys use it in the DIY aerosol can sprayers. The hardest color to match is silver....

My painter works at an auto paint store. When we did the flares on the truck we took their computer and did a read on the paint - mixed it from that. Looks great! Hope the hood does too, but I think we'll be blending into the fenders for that.

They do an aerosol deal too. They mix it and put it in the can. Good stuff, I shot these with a mixed can in an aerosol can:

http://retroshop.us/4th%20Gen%20Quad...s/IMG_1152.jpg

I wonder if i painted my billet grille black, under the chrome outline of the grille, would look bad?

give it a shot use plasti dip tho, its in a spray can, its bacicly liquid plastic, it will hold up better than spray paint on a grille since bugs and other things will hit it, and if you decide you dont like it its not hard to remove it