Thanks! It just took a little elbow grease and some Mequiars PlastX headlight restoration compound (my little secret for polishing chrome). When bringing back chrome, it's important to remember that just because it has a little bit of corrosion doesn't mean its gone. Most of the time it is just surface oxidation that needs to be removed to uncover the good chrome underneath.

I may have lied a little bit on the elbow grease.... I also used a polishing wheel on my bench grinder to do most of the work, but I had to used my elbows to help move it on the wheel right??

 

Thanks! The sandblasting can be a real pain in the ass and I have to work around weather and daylight, but I sure hate sanding! Especially since I'm going to have some sanding work on the body filler and some color wet sanding and polishing on the single stage paint eventually.

 

Not much going on lately since I haven't had much time to finish up the little bit of sandblasting that I have left to do. I've been cleaning up little things (like my vent windows) in my spare time at night after my wife and son hit the bed. The little things are killer! People don't realize how quickly they add up until you need to install them so I'm trying to get around to a few here and there. Most of it is just disassemble, clean up, paint/powder coat and reassemble. Also been collecting some odd and ends parts and materials for later. Again, nothing is worse that trying to put a truck back together and coming to a complete halt when you discover that you need to order a part.

Went to my local jobber today to pick up some Evercoat Rage Ultra bodyfiller. Supposedly this stuff is legit as ˟˟˟˟˟ and $55/gallon ain't bad! Everybody is saying that it blows the Evercoat Rage Gold out of the water and I know that Rage Gold is a damn good product to begin with from my past experiences. Apparently the Ultra feathers really well, spreads easily, kicks ridiculously well and doesn't require glazing putty or high build primers over it to get straight lines. I'm going to do my filler direct to metal instead over epoxy so I don't have to worry as much about the 7 day chemical bond window with epoxy to get the bodyfiller done. I'm still going to shoot the epoxy sealer over the filler and then the 2K urethane primer. At least that way I should be able to shoot the epoxy and urethane primers on the same day or back to back days to make sure I get a good chemical bond between the epoxy and urethane. Then it can sit in primer for a year for all I care (hopefully it won't!!) since the metal will be protected.

I decided the other night that I would splurge a little bit and buy a new paint gun set up. I had a nice gun before that I used to use on my motorcycles, but used it to shoot my friend's boat with gel coat last summer and didn't clean it out right away so I'm pretty sure that I have some debris in it that's causing it to shoot an uneven pattern. I ended up going with Devilbiss this time around with 1.3mm, 1.5mm and 1.8mm nozzles/needles. Not exactly cheap, but with guns you get what you pay for. If you have painted before, having the different nozzles ready is SUPER convenient especially when you need that larger 1.8mm nozzle for epoxy so you don't have to thin it.

I've also been shopping for paint too. I haven't nailed down a color just yet, but I think I have a pretty good idea. Thanks to a couple of the truck pictures I have seen from members on this forum, I may be going a route that I never thought that I would go. Hopefully it turns out well, if not I suppose I can do this all over again! LOL I need to get up with Corey first to get an idea of the vinyl graphics colors I want to make sure everything meshes. Hopefully I can get a couple samples from him.

I'm jammed up this weekend so I likely won't get very far on whatever I do to my truck. This sandblasting is killing me knowing that I so damn close to never seeing bare metal (and hopefully rust) again on this truck!

 

I made the mistake of leaving a 58 beetle in primer back in Cali the ocean air had it in complete surface rust in a month

 

A couple quick questions for everybody... I think I am going to go with Raptor Liner. I plan on shooting the following

• Inside of the bed (obviously - gotta protect that beautiful product Corey has created me!)

• Inside of the cab (I'm planning on doing the floors, the whole firewall, the kick panels and the back wall from the bottom of the bead underneath the rear window down - the ceiling, pillars, cab walls from the bottom of the windows up and the little bit between the dash and windshield will be painted to match the body)

• Door sills above the rocker panels (won't be seen from the outside)

• Underside of the cab

• Back side of the cab (the section between the cab and bed - basically to prevent any issues with paint that I can easily reach to detail regularly)

• Front side of the bed (see previous ^)

• Underside of the bed

• Wheel wells

• Engine bay

I know it seems like a lot, but I don't want to use carpet because well, I simply don't - It gets dirty, you have to vacuum it, I can't go kill a deer and get back in with my boots covered in blood and mud, etc, etc, etc... Not to mention that I would have to pay somebody to do a custom job and I take great pride in completing a project from start to finished by myself with my own skills (The only things I haven't personally done on this truck is the machine work and the bed - the things I simply don't have the resources to do). I just want to simply rinse out the cab and let it drain out of the holes that I haven't drilled out yet for plugs whenever it gets dirty. But I still want it to look good obviously. So, in wanting to keep it simple, I will have absolutely no sound deadener in my truck thus the application of Raptor Liner underneath the cab, in the engine bay and on rear cab walls as my source of sound deadener (as well as protection) so I can actually hear my radio over road and engine noise.

Here are my questions
1-Has anybody Lined any of the things mentioned above? Any complications outside of application? (Like fitment, wear, pealing, etc)

2-In Raptor Lining the engine bay (I'm not 100% set on doing this yet), does anybody know if it will cause issues with grounding?

3-I've always sprayed Raptor Liner over a scuffed truck bed paint. Does anybody know if spraying over a scuffed urethane surface would cause any bonding issues? The reason I ask is because I want to do the bodyfiller, epoxy and urethane primer all over the cab, then flip the cab on it's rear to spray the Raptor Liner underneath the cab. I don't want to paint the whole cab with topcoat color and then have to flip it back to do the Liner and risk chipping or scratching the paint on the back of the cab. (This is only for the bottom I will be Raptor Lining the interior AFTER color)

Any thoughts or opinions would be great, but I'm really looking for personal experiences you all have had.

 

. . .

 

Thanks! It just took a little elbow grease and some Mequiars PlastX headlight restoration compound (my little secret for polishing chrome). When bringing back chrome, it's important to remember that just because it has a little bit of corrosion doesn't mean its gone. Most of the time it is just surface oxidation that needs to be removed to uncover the good chrome underneath.

I may have lied a little bit on the elbow grease.... I also used a polishing wheel on my bench grinder to do most of the work, but I had to used my elbows to help move it on the wheel right??[/QUOTE]

Haha, exactly. Well thanks again!

 

It definitely won't be hiding any rust and if I seal it with epoxy first then I shouldn't ever have rust underneath it. Not to mention that carpet can cause serious rust issues as well. I want it to look good obviously, but function well for my self. I can always put carpet over it if I want - that's much easier than doing carpet now and deciding the do liner later. And vinyl is 100% out of consideration. I can't stand the way vinyl floors look

 

. . .

 

I used dura liner on my bronco it chipped a little here and there from dents had some cracks

It's sound deadening was good took some vibration from the big block out
I would still use deadening pads under seats behind seats and in the foot wells under dash oh and in the doors
Any place you can't see

 

I did eight coats of bedliner por15 and miracle paint on my build, check it out

 

I have been reading thru your build and really enjoy it.I have a few questions I would like to ask.I understand why you don"t want to shoot epoxy sealer before filler as you only have 7 days to complete filler before the sealer needs to be scuffed and resealed.You want your filler to go directly to bare metal then epoxy sealed and then 2k prime ?rWhy wouldn't you go over your filler with 2k primer then use your sealer as your last protective coat before you shoot your color?Sealer should give you a uniform undercoat for your color and should have better protection for your color than primer.???? Your metal work looks great why cover it up with this raptor lining?I understand you want some insulating value from the raptor lining but if it is anything like rhino or herculiner painting it will be disappointing at best, cleaning it will be worse, as the texture never really cleans well.If this raptor lining is like SEM or Upol rocker guard spray on texture, the clear version covers pretty well.What about spraying all surfaces with the single stage you want and on your last coat mix it 50-50 with rts clearcoat?It seems a shame to Hide all your nice work.I know you want to use and wheel this truck but after all this work you have put into this truck it probably wont be wheeled as much as you think when it is all done.Ask me how I know ha ha ha !!!

 

the floor gets constantly dirty i've already worn thru 2 layers of paint in high friction areas and dont even have to scuff it because of the rough finish so all that had to be done before doing another coat again was washing the floor off with a hose letting it dry and then painting over it. the caulking insulated the welds that was kind of a newb decision i should have painted it first and then just kept painting it until the gaps were filled in by the bedliner cuz it is so durable that it makes the caulking seem like a mistake

 

TotallyToyota, you put the epoxy under the urethane primer for a few reason. One, it seals the metal from any water intrusion. Two, it's technology creates more of a chemical body than a mechanical bond (thus the typical 1 week window to coat it or you have to sand it back to 80 grit. Three, epoxy doesn't sand well within that one week window so it would defeat the chemical bond purpose that it is partially designed for. Not to mention is doesn't flow out as good as a surfacer primer so your color coat would look like crap. The vast majority of painters shoot in the epoxy, urethane primer, color order if they are using epoxy. Also, I'm not clear coating anything, I like the single stage look on these trucks, plus I plan on laying out 5-6 coats so that I have room to sand and buff out future scratches.

As for the Raptor Liner, it is also made by Upol and it's the best on the retail market. I have used it before with great results. Typically most people mess up because they aren't using the proper pressure to get the finish that they want. The higher the pressure, the smoother the finish. I plan on having a semi smooth finish so that dirt doesn't collect as easily.

This truck is definitely NOT getting wheeled - It's going to be my daily driver that I'll have a little fun in every once in a while. By fun I mean going on the beach, surfing, hunting, fishing, etc. I take care of my vehicles, but I like to make it practical so that when I do get it dirty it won't look like crap and it can easily be cleaned up. If I wanted something to wheel then I would have left it like it was or bought a new truck that is fully insured - there is way to much time and a ridiculous amount of money in this truck to run it into a tree or roll it down rocks.

 

Wheel that rig after all that work? Facepalm here.


We need some pics man.

 

Ok... Here are the vent windows that I finished up after I got my mower running right tonight. Is that enough porn for you?

 

I cannot comment on all the specifics f painting as that's out of my realm of current capabilities, I can however comment on the raptor liner.

As you stated above, it is simply the best you can get on the retail market next to AL's liner. I have used the raptor liner quite a few times now and have always sprayed it at a high pressure to achieve a smooth/semi rough texture.

By doing this, it allows for some texture but smooth enough to wash any type of dirt/mud or grime off with ease, and still look like it do when new.

With proper prep, which you have done, it will hold up and last for a very long time.

 

I used Raptor liner on the inside of my cab, LOVE IT. There's some pictures in my build thread. Heck I have even entertained the thought of doing the Jeep..

 

i put 20,000 into my build and my truck is insured for $15,000 full comprehensive $100 deductible 500,000/500,000 glass coverage and its only $75 a month, thanks to my lawyer. I can wheel the ˟˟˟˟ out of it and its still pretty plus i got a fiberglass fenderflare california custom stepside bed im restoring and putting it on and it'll look like your build :-D

 

So if I do all this work to my truck and come down that way to hit some old wagon trails your telling me your not going