Color Opinions needed!

[dbrannon79]

Hey guys, I have been pondering the idea of painting the top of my truck white to help combat the south Texas heat and lower the interior temps while parked in the sun. I've done a little research and seen others that had almost a 30 degree difference with white vs a black top on a vehicle. my question is what's it gonna look like! The original color was an all gold-ish beige top to bottom, but someone before me had painted the hood, lower panels, tailgate, and roof black. probably because the factory paint was faded or pealing. Ive attached a photo of my truck as it is now and what I was thinking of painting it to look like. although I was planning to do this one panel at a time in my spare time I have, which might turn into a 6 month project like everything else does! But for starters I wanted to at least do the roof only. is this gonna look like crap or really nice?

on the photo of the older Chevy, ignore the low rider look, bed cover, and the rims, just looking at the color scheme

 

[dbrannon79]

Here is a better close up of the truck now. Even the headache rack, grill guard and side steps have the same gold color paint on them, I can see it everywhere the black is chipped and pealing! At one time this truck must have really looked nice with all the accessories painted to match. I'm not sure if I should leave them black or not. Not really looking to make the truck look immaculate, just a back yard paint job done one piece at a time. After all, It is just my everyday driver / work truck!

 

[Jaryd]

Make sure to use a air dryer if you use a paint gun and your air compressor to paint the truck.

 

[1994ch]

I personally really like the original light brown/gold color. That is the color my tahoe is...(maybe I am lazy but I like the fact that dirt does not really stand out on that color so I don't have to wash it as often. So if it was me I would repaint the hood and roof to the original color......................... But but that is just what floats my boat....not yours...

 

[Will L.]

The white top will help, but to get the full effect you really need it all to be white. The doors being dark will heat up and transfer the heat inside same as the roof because as the top heats, the majority of the heat rises away only the convection heat from the roof affects the cabin. The doors will radiate laterally and upwards into the cabin.

Next the hood and fenders heating up tranfer the heat into the cabin. The more metal in the sun, the hotter the cab will get. A two door will get hot quicker because less air space for you to feel, but the over all temperature of a four door truck will get hotter.

Using sound proofing material in the roof and doors that is also rated thermally helps way more than the color. Basically think if you have a house with 4” insulation pained white, or 12” insulation painted black.

On the hide dirt- Most fleets go white for the two reasons of better mpg because cooler rig means less a/c and therefore less fuel burned, and as the rig gets slightly dirty, the appearance goes from bright white to off white. Darker colors show the dirt more UNLESS the color of the vehicle matches the dirt color in your area. Go to an outside car show car show and notice the gloss black shows the dust easier than red, and the white ones barely show any dust. Normally dirt is tan, so yes that color scheme hides the dirt, even from splashed puddles well. That gold color matches dirt very well in his area- notice the splash on the lower stripe and the hood, but not the mid section- yup cleaner look when it can’t be washed all the time, provided you don’t have the dark stripe right where the tires kick everything up on it.
Personally I am sick of that color because I see so much of it- used to love it - especially on these trucks. But That is the only color we get in the desert! Ever notice car commercials show rainy, forested areas in my part of the country and folks in predominantly wooded areas see commercials in the desert- the idea is change from what you have promoting the new car idea.

Back to the heat problem- i see tinted window- the type of tint is far more important than how dark. Take a halogen work light and set it outside the window turned on a while. Feel for heat coming through. If you can feel that heat- getting the tint redone will make a bigger difference than paint color. High quality tint can stop 95% of heat from coming in. Many vehicles here get the almost perfectly clear tint and it stops 50%.
If you ever seen the difference, find an expensive- not lowest price- tint shop and usually they can demo it in their showroom. Many times in life you get what you pay for- tint is one of them.

Remember when plastic bed liners were all the rage? Black plastic... yeah. my 99 3500 srw came with one. I had it a month, the Saturday night i took it out, Sunday was cooler by a couple degrees in the truck - i had my a/c drained for repairs that week. i just didn't like everything sliding around. My wife and friend were with me both days getting in the truck at the same time each day- they commented same time before me so wasn’t just my thought. that was before tinting windows however.

The cracked windows with the solar powered fan really works btw.

Hope this helps.

Or
Remote start with a/c left on- yeah...

Remind me why i am thermally coating the a/c condenser core along with radiator? Oh yeah both coils being done should cool any rig 25% faster.

 

[dbrannon79]

Remind me why i am thermally coating the a/c condenser core along with radiator? Oh yeah both coils being done should cool any rig 25% faster.

Thermal coating for the condenser and radiator? how is this done and what type of material or paint is used?

I do plan on replacing the windshield soon and then having the windows tinted. the back glass and rear doors were already tinted but have not done the halogen light test on them, I hadn't thought of that!

I also plan to, at some point gut the interior and install some sound proofing and thermal insulation, I'v already been researching this and found that Amazon sells both with some decent reviews. I think the name was Norco or something like that which has some good ratings, there was another one with good reviews that was a little cheaper I need to do some more research on, also how well it will adhear to the inside of the roof and not peal off to weigh down the headliner!

 

[Will L.]

On thermal coating, best would be pony up nickels (about $125 for both last I did them) for new condenser and evaporator. Then send them to @Twisted Steel Performance for the coating. You could remove and send the ones you have, but having the new parts ready to go the same day you remove them is best for knowing you have no restriction and eliminating contamination. I would do a new dryer and orifice tube same time of course, they dont get coated.

If your radiator is in question, a new coated one from him at same time makes sense.
Call him and talk price, but the specs he doesn’t always mention is I know the average output efficiency is 33% on copper or aluminum found by most end users that actually measure before and after numbers.


Ceramic Coating can be done diy- he was showing how on here on a thread couple years back iirc. But this best coating can only be sold to pros, because of chemical danger killing polar tree bears or somethin- haha. Rather than buy all the stuff, most folks prefer to pay someone better at it like Chris.

 

[Twisted Steel Performance]

Thermal coating for the condenser and radiator? how is this done and what type of material or paint is used?

I do plan on replacing the windshield soon and then having the windows tinted. the back glass and rear doors were already tinted but have not done the halogen light test on them, I hadn't thought of that!

I also plan to, at some point gut the interior and install some sound proofing and thermal insulation, I'v already been researching this and found that Amazon sells both with some decent reviews. I think the name was Norco or something like that which has some good ratings, there was another one with good reviews that was a little cheaper I need to do some more research on, also how well it will adhear to the inside of the roof and not peal off to weigh down the headliner!

Find me on FB, their are lots of pics and info, the link is in my signature. I have coated radiators ready to ship and more comming next week.

 

[Twisted Steel Performance]

It's not paint, the coating is proven to dissipate 33% more heat than bare metal. Members here have posted before and after data that also proves it's not snake oil.

 

[MrMarty51]

If You want to see how much difference the white top would make in the heat, might try parking it where You normally park then lay a white blanket over the top.
Personally, Myself, I would not paint the top white, that is a very nice paint scheme that's on there now. You might could remove the grill guard and side steps, etc; and get them bead or sand blasted and repaint those. I really like that paint that is called Hammered, no primer required and it goes on real nice and stays too. I have painted several items with the stuff and have not even had a rock chip, one item was the front of the hitch on My camper, it has been pulled quite a few miles, some gravel roads too and still no rock chips.