i bought my truck from a private party in early february for $3200 with just under 96k on it. i knew it needed a bit of body and interior work, but the engine and transmission seemed to be in good running condition. clear title, good carfax report. felt pretty confident about the purchase. since then i've been finding disturbing things here and there and have come to the conclusion that the truck was badly vandalized at one point, auctioned, half-assed repaired and resold.

i've been finding chunks of what look like windshield glass all over the interior (even in the center console).today while fixing a vacuum leak in the dash i noticed two missing bolts for the passenger front fender behind the door. popped the hood and noticed that the passenger fender and hood had been repainted (probably not original). there is a dent above the windshield where it looks like someone did some bad paint/body work, the paint is flaking off and the roof is starting to rust. also, and this is embarassing on my part, at some point the roof was keyed with an obscene message. it was never fixed, and i never even noticed until about a month after purchasing the truck. at any rate, this stuff needs to be fixed before the body rusts too badly. i plan to have the entire truck repainted when i work up the money, but until then i need to stop what's currently rusting.

basically i need a quick "paint it so it looks halfway decent and doesn't rust" tutorial. any takers? here's the worst of the damage (warning, bad language):
http://magtec.rvglug.org/misc/blazer/keyed.jpg

and for your enjoyment, here are a few recent pictures of the truck:
http://magtec.rvglug.org/misc/vehicles.jpg
http://magtec.rvglug.org/misc/blazer/front.jpg
http://magtec.rvglug.org/misc/blazer/rear.jpg
http://magtec.rvglug.org/misc/blazer/interior.jpg
http://magtec.rvglug.org/misc/blazer/interior2.jpg

and a few pictures taken shortly after after i bought it:
http://magtec.rvglug.org/misc/blazer/old/front.jpg
http://magtec.rvglug.org/misc/blazer/old/interior.jpg
http://magtec.rvglug.org/misc/blazer/old/rear.jpg

 

Man that sucks! You can get a paint pen (color matched). Many of the new touch up paint containers have a brush and a roller ball. I would use the color matched paint roller ball on the scratches in the roof, wet sand with 1200grit paper, and buff to a nice shine. It won't be a perfect repair like sanding it down and redoing the color coats and clear coats, but it definitely is a DIY repair that shouldn't cost all that much.

When you wet sand, make sure to not stay in one area for too long and use a sanding block so you take off the high spots made by the paint pen. Also, keep the roof and paper WET. This serves to fight the buildup of the sanded down paint.

If you wanted an even easier and cheaper route, you could get one of those color doctor (or whatever they are called) waxes that come with a color stick to fill in deep scratches. It'll cover up the scratches, but it isn't a permanent fix by any means.

Ofcourse, if you wanted to try the cheaper/easier route first and then decided to use a touch-up paint later, you will need to use a degreaser/dewaxer to clean out the scratches before the paint can be applied. You may want to do that anyway even if you don't use the color doctor stuff.

Good luck and let us know how things turn out!

 

i might just go the colored wax route. how often does that stuff need to be reapplied? it'll probably be a year at least before i can afford to have it repainted. right now i'm only working part-time and have to pay off the loan.

 

lol.....poor guy....I noticed as soon as I got my truck it was rusting and flaking on the roof.....but then i tend to see my roof a lot with loading boats and what not......I did the sand thing....and my dad managed to secure some "matching" paint from the chevy dealership he buys cars for....didn't cost me much at all....didn't take that much effort....but like your truck...mine was well used when I got it...and I haven't stopped to baby it yet.....but yeah those waxes work pretty good...the wax stays on for a long time....sometimes it covers it up great.....deeper stuff the wax dosen't work so well on...
and who the hell keys a roof??? who's going to see it?

 

I think I found who did it. look closely.

http://magtec.rvglug.org/misc/blazer/keyed.jpg

It was the cat that walked across the roof

 

poor guy? we're both blessed with the alternative body parts. never checked the roof. i'm about 5'6" and the only reason i even saw it was because i was walking on a raised area next to the driveway. and you're right - what the hell is the point of keying a roof? it looks pretty recent, but it must've happened before i bought the truck. i don't know of anyone who would have done it, and really, who calls a woman a dick? either the truck was badly vandalized and someone made it look good enough to sell, or it was in an accident and the keying happend later. either way, i feel like an idiot for never noticing it.

as for the footprints, there are about 20 suspects at the farm i work at, and they all love to sit on the truck. it must've been a group job.

 

damn cats.......I think it's more than a group thing....I think it's the regular cat mafia....I have heard tales of it's exsistance.....hmmmmm....might want to keep your guard up....first the roof.....next thing you know..there's **** in your shoes......ha ha ha haha...and don't feel like an idiot for not noticing it....hell I'm 5'3........I might have owned the vehicle forever with out knowing it....

 

hah! it's a dairy farm - there's already **** in my shoes.

 

one more thing: the trim above the windshield, is it easily removable and is it reusable? i'm going to have to remove it to repair the rust where the dent is.

 

edited because I thought you meant the side windows....don't know about the windshield trim...but I am 99% sure it can't be re used....