I hate restrictions on Photobucket. I don't have that many pictures uploaded but I am working on the problem. Moving sites lol.






Got everything taped up on the front. Removing the bumper tomorrow morning and taping off the front clip.....and then on to priming the front we go. The tailgate is taking extra extra work. I will have pics up soon of the progress.

 

Well its lookin good man, can't wait to see an update!

 

And I kinda like the primer color that I had to use instead of the filler/sandable primer. Its self etching which I can still sand but I have to wait longer. Getting closer to the wet sanding. Never done it before but like everything else I've done so far.

Hold my beer and watch this.





The tailgate is taking longer than expected and I can't have my tailgate on the sawhorses.....and fit my truck in there. My neighborhood frowns on "vehicle maintenance" so I simply push it back in the garage after the paint dries so it isn't unsightly and disturbing how much work goes into painting a vehicle.

 

Finally I got a dry day! I'm waiting for some stuff to dry so I thought I'd make an update to keep forward progress. I haven't done anything amazing for the front of the truck. Sanded, wiped down with mineral spirits, and then primered. Some of the paint chips from the previous paint job aren't quite even but I am not too concerned with it. The aim of this paint job is to protect the metal and stop the rust as much as I can.

 

Today's work came to an unexpected halt due to rain in the desert. Touched up a few areas before I had to get the truck inside though. I think the paint job will look pretty good once it's done. Maybe tomorrow I can wet sand and see if I can get into painting the top coat.

 

Ok finally the desert went back to being...well the desert. I got some great weather this morning although the wind started to kick up as I was spraying the last part of the second can.

Lessons learned for this part is if you can paint indoors or in a garage with a controlled dust environment do so. I didn't get much dust but I had two damn bugs get stuck in the paint because it looked wet. Even now there's a cloud of bugs around the curing paint because it's got a very nice gloss to it.

I now also understand how smooth you have to have the bodywork if you are looking for an awesome paint job. I still think I did an ok job and I'm satisfied with this but if I were restoring say something like a 76 Celica (Man those are sweet rides) I wouldn't even attempt this outdoors and I would take leave for a month to work on the body before spraying.

Overall I think the Rustoleum is a quality paint and it looks good on ol Ethel.







I did the wet sanding. Soaked the paper for about 5-10 min and then kept dipping and cleaning the paper off. Once I got done with the panel and was satisfied with the smoothness I would clean it off with a lint free cloth (my old green t-shirts lol). Believe it or not I did not have any cloth stuck to the body at all. Just a few spots of dust and two annoying bugs that died high as a kite.

 

And here's the rest of the truck. Now I've got the paint drying in my own personal kiln.
Not sure how to get the deep color uniformly but I tried my best to have a steady hand. I think it came out pretty well but with a light wet sanding tomorrow morning and another light coat I think it will come out very well.




Any criticism or tips are always welcome. I thought about it and did it the best way I knew but I am no pro with paint. In any case it will look a bit better once the bedliner is sprayed below the line and over the fenders....and of course in the bed. I haven't even touched it yet.

 

And the final product for the tan paint is here. I went ahead with the second coat after I wetsanded the whole truck down with some 600 grit. I didn't have any orange peel sections and very little dust so I made sure to note any light areas while I was sanding and I think the base coat came out well. The color deepened quite nicely (don't know why I'm talking about a rattle can job like this) and the tone is much more even.




Next up is going to be more body work on the tailgate, re-installing the lights (after I get cash from the wife to order them), re-finishing the bumpers, painting the rear "rubber" fenders in plastidip, the raptorliner for the bed and rocker panels, and I think that should just about do it.

 

looking good! I am no paint expert either, but if you wanted to spend even more time to have it look even better you could do another wetsand, about 3 coats of clear coats, a 1500 grit wet sand and a nice compound and glaze, I think that way it will look really deep and not at all like a rattlecan paint job, but it also means a lot more time and you are probably sick of sanding by now!

 

And the tape is off. There's a few very small spots I need to clean up but I think it came out well.



Beamed from my dumbphone

 

Yes I am definitely sick of sanding by hand. Especially wet sanding lol. I know what you mean though. Each coat is less and less paint as well. First coat was 6 cans. Second was 3. I imagine that any additional coats would be around 3 cans.

I would spend more time on it but if I were it should have been in the beginning by removing the fenders, hood, and taking the whole body down to bare metal. There are spots up by the windows and in some other areas where you can see that it layers from old paint.

If I had to do it again I would do it that way just to make a solid base paint job but she is likely to be a wheeler for the rest of her life. At least touch up is $3.74 a can lol

 

More progress but it is just putting stuff back on. I figured out how to restore the 4wd Toyota badges. I sprayed them with black and then used 250 grit to remove the paint and then 600 grit to bring the shine back. Its not perfect but it comes out looking like brushed aluminum.





Beamed from my dumbphone

 

and more progress!!
I got my lights in today and finished the rubber fenders in the back. Also started working on the shelf for the msd ignition. Seems like it is turning out ok. It will be finished when I can get the truck into the shop.

 

I have been following along when I get a chance, just been a little busy. Your truck looks a hundred times better. Great job!!!

 

I appreciate the props. This whole undertaking has been a first. I should come close to finishing the tailgate tomorrow. Theres only so much I can do to rescue it.

beamed from my dumbphone

 

Wow your truck is really coming along! Looks awesome man, badges look great too. Fender flares really add a lot to it, can't wait to see the black on the bottom!

 

Looking good. Mines on hold now...rain! I went with red and black. What type of rack is that in your bed? Like a soft topper canopy or something similar?

I'm also not sure what to do with the door jams, like how far in I should sand/prep.

 

Man I feel your pain!. I was held up for about a week for weather. Its no fun when you have everything but can't get it done.

The rack is 2" square tube in a basic yet indestructable ladder rack frame. I swear it would take the weight of the truck without caving lol. I am going to use it for a top rack sitting in the garage. I could probably fab it into something like a soft top but I think if I spend another dime you will see my head as a hood ornament.

As far as you want to go honestly with the sanding. If its a trail rig then I would use bed liner for the door jambs as they will get beat on pretty good. If its a street queen take your time and finish it pretty. I was really impressed how well the paint came out of a rattle can. Much better than a lot of other things I have seen painted lol.
beamed from my dumbphone

 

Ok time for a big update. A lot has been going on with taking on a new position at work, wife about to deliver a little munchkin, and just life in general honestly but good news. I am done with painting. The remaining things are the bedliner, welding in the shock hoops and hd front spring hanger, and moving the axle a few inches forward. Oh yeah and the pesky ignition. I haven't gotten around to that yet lol.

And on to the pics.




This thing took so much bodywork and sanding to just look like it was beat up and not demolished. To be honest it was beyond my talent (as you can see) but I managed to give it a bit of a facelift.

After shots with some primer on top.





I don't think it looks too bad. I had to fix the tailgate assembly as well.



Sorry to say but I think the tailgate and bed's days are numbered. There won't be any saving it next time imo.

And someone might chide me for this but I was able to trim my fenders and the rear bed pan with my jig saw. I was going to get the sawsall out but there's a lot more control with the jig and it is only sheet metal.



So now we are waiting for primer in the bed and some bed liner. Actually I'm waiting on payday but that might be splitting hairs a bit.

 

Another step is done. Didn't think to take a picture of the taping but I am prepping for the bedliner. This is where I had a LOT of scraping, scrubbing, and cussing to get all of the scale rust out of the bed. Even now it doesn't look awesome but with the help of the fast etch I know two things #1 it is protected, and #2 the rust is gone from what I could get gone.

So we began with a steel brush and putty knife popping all the rust bubbles and scrubbing all of the rust away. Not fun and if I might make a suggestion.....use a grinder with a wire wheel. Your life will be easier and while you might feel like a mess it will probably work better than my way as well.

After you get done grinding/scrubbing vacuum it all out and then get out your acid etcher or rust converter. It took all of my fast etch I had left to do the bed. I used a foam brush to apply the fast etch but for pete's sake don't put the fast etch in a metal container for you to dip your brush in. You will be in for quite a surprise. Here's what the bed should look like wet.



This Fast Etch I keep mentioning is phosphoric acid at some secret percentage. Not exactly what you want to get on your skin, eyes, or use as mouthwash. So be careful. Here's what roughly it will look like when it dries. Honestly in places it will look like battery acid (kind of). It takes about 1-2 hours for something as large as your bed to fully dry and be ready for paint.

Here's a pic of what 1 can of self Etching primer accomplished. When you're spraying the bed I recommend a filtering mask. That cloud is quite thick and it tends to hover especially if you have picked a good day to lay this stuff down lol.



And of course the finished primering. I can't wait to get this thing into the hobby shop and spray this liner out. Not sure how it will spray necessarily but hopefully it's like the undercoating. Any ideas on this would be appreciated as I want to do a good job. I think 1 to 1.5 cans of the raptor liner will do the inside of the bed leaving 1 can or 2 to do the outside of the truck. I suppose we will see.