Repairing damage on brown truck

[greenglances]

Bumper paint is actually dark metallic brown, I found can behind seat for that Wish he'd have left more clues to body paint.

 

[Grit dog]

My apologies on the insurance thing. No fault state is a different story.
That paint from what I can read on the can is base coat. IE should be clear over it.
Is it just the bumper paint or is the bumper same color as the truck?

Couple things you can do easily to sleuth out the paint situation.
1. Open that can and paint up the scratches and see if it matches. Then you know the paint code if it does.
2. Find an inconspicuous spot or frankly anywhere around the damage that needs repaired. Sand it a little bit with some fine sandpaper. 1000 or finer. If the dust is white it’s clear coated. If it’s brown it’s single stage.
3. If it’s brown, hand polish the same spot with compound or polish. If it shines up quickly, it’s likely original lacquer or old acrylic. (Soft paint by today’s standards) If it doesn’t , it’s newer paint.
Good luck.

Subjectively, IMO you need a little one man body shop kinda guy, not a production collision shop. Someone who will take a few min to be creative and match something up that works.

 

[Grit dog]

On looking at your picture of the paint can zoomed in now, it looks like bumper color and not truck color.
What about the high wear areas? Hood and roof. Does the paint look older, is it wearing thin? Good clues it could be original.
If it looks the same and same shine as the sides (assuming it hasn’t been babied and polished etc) good clue it has been repainted.

 

[greenglances]

Actually, I'm starting to really wonder! Bumper is dark brown, but spots that I assumed was spray can/ bedliner overspray on the body do have the same look??? Minus a clear coat? Maybe guy just got 1 can and went to town? It does have flecks of same color as paint. Really hard to capture, especially on bright day. If that turned out to be true it'd *really* make my day. Then wouldn't matter what shop, just need to order sample and hand to them.

 

[greenglances]

Bumper also has flecks, awful similar if not exact.

 

[greenglances]

Can see through to the line looking straight on, not on angle though. had the tiniest thinnest amount in very bottom of can. I wetted a q tip and applied. I was looking at scuff, dent and parts not through to metal do have white powdering. So must be clear coat!

 

[Booted]

A decent paint supplier should be able to scan your truck and match the paint

 

[Fat 454]

Whichever way you go, be absolutely CLEAR about what you want done / not done. Secondly - spend the time getting references from customers of the shop you decide to use.
I had a new bed side put on an old GMT400 extra cab back in the day, after getting T boned. Truck was very clean and original. I even bought new black side trim from the dealer to re-apply after the bed side was repaired.
Imagine my horror when going in to collect the truck and the shop had decided to "blend-in" the paint by spraying the rear half of the cab to match !!. They even applied the side trim before the final clear coat, so it had masking lines all around it. I was so upset, but nothing could be done to fix it properly. Sold the truck soon after ( and have done my own paint ever since )...

 

[Grit dog]

From your pics, yes it looks like clear coat/2stage paint.
80s trucks were single stage Paint. So yes it’s been repainted as you found. And it sure looks like the right color.
You may have solved the mystery.
And if that bedside is base/clear, it’s a much more straightforward repair to blend.
One word of caution, you don’t know how thick the existing clear is.
Judging by the quality of the paint job I’d hedge on the side of caution. However it’s a piece of cake to scuff the whole bed side, do the repair, feather out the base coat around the repair and then just clear the whole panel.
Only downside is it may be a lot more shiny than the rest of the truck.
But you can lightly wet sand the truck and cut and polish to get a more consistent appearance.
JMO from the pics you’ve provided and my assumptions.

 

[greenglances]

Shop #1 spooked insurance with crazy prices They are insisting on sending an adjuster in person, cash settlement. So probably peanuts.

 

[Grit dog]

I’d be prepared with the value of your truck and the “other” shop quote.
Never dealt with a no fault state, but I can say EVERY ins adjuster is out there to make money for the insurance company.
Even if you have to postpone the deal and get more quotes etc.
But bottom line, it’s a little dent and a scratch. It is NOT that hard to fix.
Best of luck going forward!

 

[greenglances]

I did try, but they are not allowing a second quote. The 3rd & 4th everything was closed, days I worked was 6-6pm. Monday it goes into the shop for a week to get the tranny worked on; they pushed for monday. I'm hoping I even *have* it at that point. It didn't sound like I was given an option for turning down settlement because when I said no I'd rather go to another shop to see that was shut down quick. That 1st shop screwed me over pretty bad. The stuff I inquired about seperately should not have even been included in the dent discussion. I'm still waffling between wondering if it was greed? Or did they really think I was trying to pull one on insurance? I said I was checking other shops. They could have waited to see if I was gonna use them before contacting insurance. Regardless, insurance wants see truck *now*, at my house. Rejected me driving to assesor location to speed process. I guess I get to show where lady is backing into my lawn If they doubt her poor driving.