Repainting a camper shell?

Has anyone here repainted a truck topper/camper shell? I'm considering doing it myself and I would love to hear about your experiences with it. I'm no professional painter but I've spray painted things before and realize the sanding and prep work is the largest part of the job.

If I do this, my plan is the following.
1. Build a stand with casters on it to hold it while I work on it.
2. Mask off the things I might hit with a sander.
3. Sand the current paint to scuff up the surface.
4. Remove masking, clean everything and mask everything this time.
5. Prime it.
6. light sanding, clean again, tack rags.
7. Color coat.
8. Several coat of clear.

What did I miss?

Despite all this thought I'm going to see what some local body shops could do as well and if the cost isn't too much, I'll probably let them do it.

 

Bondo on any scratches, dings. I'd pull the windows and hardware instead of masking, you probably should replace weather stripping anyway. Wipe down with solvent before primer. If you do the prep work your favorite body shop might give you a break on the paint cost if you are flexible about when you need it back. They can hit it between big jobs.

 

Thanks for your reply. Yeah, I think pulling the windows would make it much easier to paint. If I can only get them out without breaking them. I'm thinking it's looking likely that I'll be doing this, since most of the body shops I've talked to so far are saying it will be 2 - 3 months before they could work on it. Must be a good time to be a paint and body guy.

 

I painted mine with harbor freight bedliner. Looks great from 23’ away

 

It does look good in the pictures. The bed liner/ matt black paint is my back up plan if my attempt to color match the truck doesn't work out. I'm not going to be too picky on how it looks since the cap is mostly windows anyway, it won't show small flaws like a body panel would. I guess the top might look bad, but you really can't see that when it's on the truck.

 

Subbed, could be good down the road

 

I'll post pictures of the successes and the failures for your entertainment

 

ahhh you're too kind! Cheers!

 

I did mine in bedliner too using a kit from Custom Coat (same people that make Raptor Liner). I'd offer mostly the same input as what's been said; hardware/windows really aren't that much trouble to take off for painting, at least the rear seal should be replaced, and most of the work is in sanding and repairing any chips, cracks, or holes. I did also mask off a small border around the window openings so the windows would still seal properly and also where the logos and brake light attach but if you're not using a textured paint that wouldn't be necessary.

 

that's badass

 

Awesome job! Thinking about doing the same with my canopy. Shop quoted me $3100 for a camper in excellent condition.

 

Allright, work begins on the paint job. But first, a little background. We had originally planned to buy a 4runner when it came time for a new vehicle and keep the Taco as a backup for camping/travelling. Well, we went and test drove a 4Runner and after that drive my wife decided that she liked the Tacoma's better. Who am I to argue? So we decided to get a TRD offroad Taco instead. Since we don't really need 2 tacos we are going to move everything over from the old one to the new one.


Anyway, this is the shell I'm going to paint as it sits on our 2016 Sport.




And the reason for the paint job.



Hopefully it won't end up looking like this.

 

First step. Remove patches.




And build a stand to hold it while I sand it and paint it. I put casters on it so I can move it around as needed. I plan to strap the cap onto it to keep it in place. I had to buy five 2x4s for this but the plywood I had laying around.

 

Based on advice from you guys, I decided to pull all the windows. Not too bad of a job. It took about an hour because I was going slowly and bagging and tagging all the hardware so I can put it back together when I'm finished. The windows came out by removing the inner trim ring (that's held on by about 20 screws) and then gently prying them outwards until the sealant releases.

 

Awesome. Looking forward to the updates!

 

You don’t happen to still have the shell off the truck do you? If you do I’d really appreciate if you could take a couple measurements for me.

 

It's actually still on the truck. I'm going to make our Thanksgiving guests help me take it off. Work before food.

What measurements do you need? I'll try to get them for you over the next few days.

 

Good call. Haha.

Hope I’m not too late. Here’s what I need if you can. The shell sits on the bedcaps so it’s going to have a recess where the bedcaps fit into. I’d describe as a flattened upside down U. I’ve tried to find pics but I can’t.

I have to build a custom rail for mine to sit on but I have no idea how deep or wide that channel thing is. I also can’t get any manufacturers to tell me either.

If that doesn’t make sense I’ll try to draw a pic.

 

Dove in on the deep end today. Pulled the rear seal and brake light. Then we started sanding, so I'm fully committed now. It actually took almost as much time to get the old sealant off from around all the openings as it did to sand the whole thing. Also, the rear seal was riveted on in 4 places, so that added to the removal time quite a bit. Thanks Leer

Sanding is fun



Pretty much sanded



After a wash and moving it back into the garage, I can see a few shiny spots that I need to hit again.

 

Here is todays update. I sanded some more to get the shiny spots scuffed up. Then I started masking things off and made the first mistake of this project. Well maybe not the first mistake but the biggest so far. I had these black plastic sheets laying around, so I wanted to use them to protect the inside of the shell from overspray. Well guess what doesn't stick to the plastic? Masking tape. No problem I thought, I'll use the masking tape to define the edges and then I'll use duct tape to hold the plastic to the masking tape. Remember the duct tape, it will come back to haunt the project in a minute.

So anyway, I got everything masked off, and the surface cleaned and ready to paint. Then I sprayed the primer.


Well remember the duct tape? Well guess what doesn't stick to duct tape? Paint. After it dried I noticed the paint was flaking off of the tape everywhere. I was really afraid if I didn't get it all off flakes would end up in the color coat.


I tried brushing it and gently blowing it with air but I'd still find more flakes.


I the end I decided the best thing to do was to leave the plastic in place to protect the inside and mask over it cover all the duct tape. This time I used paper instead. This isn't the end of the world, but it did add about an hour and a half of work to the project.


Over all, I'm pretty happy with the finish of the primer and it seems to be adhering well. The project is on hold for a few days because rain has settled in.