Painting an M715

I'm picking up my first M715 this weekend its a 67 with a 350 CHevy conversion, 4k miles, and its red. I want to paint her the original OD green and from what I read on the forum I'm leaning toward the USMC gilespe green. My buddy who owns a body shop also said I could do a base clear with a semi- or full flat clear.
My questions are
can an first time painter do the gilespe paint fairly easy?
How many years can I expect to get from the paint before its starts to look totaly flat?
Will the base clear last longer?
If anyone had a 715 painted by a shop how much did it run....can't be much to tape off LOL.

If you use the gillispe paint you do not need to clear coat it. The paint comes ready to go. Just thin and spray. And yes you can paint it yourself. I would recommend getting a little extra paint so you can play with it on old car fender or something to get the feel for it and the adjustments to your sprayer etc.

As to how much time you'll get out of the finnish depends on how much you use your truck. If you drive it every day in all weather conditions with out cleaning it etc then about 2 years and it will be flat. If you garage it and only drive it to church on Sunday then the finnish will last a very long time.

If you going to go with a base coat clear coat then you will have to buy some other paint product like PPG or Sherwin Williams and expect to pay 4X more than the Gillispee.

I've shadetree painted several vehicles, motorcycles and items and i have to say that painting with the Gillespie paints was by far the easist to work with. You'll never find a $25 /gal. automotive paint that goes on as nice as the Gillespie did. Spray it in light coats and build it up that way instead of one heavy coat. Both my 715 and deuce are painted with 3 to 4 coats of Gillespie 24087 and have held up very well. I drive my trucks quite a bit in the summer, so they see a good amount of sun, and neither one shows any signs of fading. I would not waste the time with a semi clear over the top as the paint has a real nice semi-gloss that last a long time. When I painted mine, I used 6 gallons of paint, but that was for a full resto and included paint on every side and surface of each individual part on a 715.

Dave
1967 Kaiser Jeep M715 weapons carrier:http://www.davidallenracing.com/M715.htm
1967 Kaiser Jeep M35a2 2.5 ton cargo truck: http://www.davidallenracing.com/M35A2.htm
Delta Team Decals: http://www.i2k.com/~schwarzd/

I will second what Dave said. The Gillespie paint is amazing. I used the USMC 24052 semi-gloss. If you mail order it, you have to pay a haz mat fee. The fee is the same if you buy 1,2,3 or 4 gallons. You might as well go ahead and get 4. I did just about all of my truck inside and out along with another truck worth of extra parts with 3-1/2 gallons. A mini bike too.

OK silly question but whats the differance between the 24052 semi and the 24087? Also will it hold up to heat? the truck has a Chevy 350 in and an I wanted to paint the Engine also.
I should add that the truck will probly be a summer cruiser and maybe see off-road once in a while. Is there anything that can be used to maintain the semi-goss paint? I know wax is out.

Not gonna handle the heat bro. Its a VERY user friendly paint, read the voc.If you want a more durable paint get a matching base coat then clear or single stage urethane with HARDNER.Or wait a month after the Gillespie, a light reducer wash,wet sand, U.V. semi gloss clear.Your best move would probably be the 4 gallon deal idea above.

Could I add a clear semi over the Gillespie paint?

I just walked outside and took these pictures. I painted the heads, alternator, York and air cleaner in June when I had the engine apart last. I have put about 4,000 miles on it since then in the Texas heat doing a lot of heavy towing. The paint is holding up great. Remember that this is a lead based paint. Very hard to beat.

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/6894/pc290018qk4.jpg

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/1292/pc290019xs0.jpg

I painted my block and manifold with regular high temp black from Napa, and used Gillespie 24087 on the valve covers and some accessories and they have held up great after 2 years of driving.
http://www.davidallenracing.com/DSC03280.jpg

As far as differences in color, heres mine painted with Gillespie 24087;
http://www.davidallenracing.com/DSC03771.jpg
And Gunny's painted with Gillespie 24052;
http://www.i2k.com/~schwarzd/porkchop9.jpeg

Dave
1967 Kaiser Jeep M715 weapons carrier:http://www.davidallenracing.com/M715.htm
1967 Kaiser Jeep M35a2 2.5 ton cargo truck: http://www.davidallenracing.com/M35A2.htm
Delta Team Decals: http://www.i2k.com/~schwarzd/

Yep the difference between 24087 and 24052 is color. 24087 is leans more towards baby shat green and 24052 leans more towards irish green. 24087 is US Army green and 24052 is USMC green.