Flat and polish will take place once the truck is all back together.

 

That's a lot of green. Looks good.

 

I must go change my pants now...

 

Pictorial update!

Today I fitted my 2" body lift kit. I had previously fitted the kit to the bed, so I dealt with the cabin this arvo. The copious doses of WD-40 I'd been spraying onto the threaded sections of the cabin bolts paid off - the nuts all came off without a struggle.

As some have found out, the mid and rear bolts were too long, with the threaded sections too far down the shanks. So those will be replaced. Of course, the radiator cowling had to go, and the steering shaft is just about okay. But I will be extending it, the pile of steering shafts sitting at work will come in pretty handy.

I shall deal with the new front and rear bumper orientation next week, and address any issues with the gear and transfer case selector levers. Can anyone who has installed a 2" body lift chip in here?

Slowly but surely getting there.

 

Some pictures. My apologies for much of the same, the way the truck was parked, there were limited places to take pictures from. It's higher than I thought it would be, I might have issues fitting it into my garage, once the wheels and suspension are done.

 

Sorry guys. Progress has been slow, as paint has been getting reactions in the booth - all cars too, not just my truck. I suggested there might be silicone in the air, but he reckons that isn't the case. He had to do a full repspray on a 2009 BMW 645i 3 times, and the paint isn't cheap.

Wednesday finally saw a breakthrough, and the nearside fender and hood accepted primer, without reacting. They were painted the following day, and are fine. Today, the lid and 4 smaller parts - fuel filler flap, the 3 trim pieces under the headlamps and grille are being painted.

I'll be leaving shortly to the shop to see things for myself. Both front doors were painted the same time as the cabin, but one has a tiny depression on the top, and the plan was to paint both again. The paint guy however is worried about possible reactions. I might have to strip them to bare metal, so he can start from scratch.

I will however inspect the doors myself, and see if the current painted condition is okay, or if the paint guy is being unduly fussy.

It's 18 weeks today my truck went into the shop. Considering I stripped her down myself, and supplied the paint and materials too, I would say 18 weeks is unacceptable.

I can't wait to get her back.

 

Well I spent my entire Saturday at the body shop, putting things back together.

I fitted the hood, nearside fender, and the doors. This highlighted some key issues.

Painting parts separately is not advisable with candy / pearl paint, as there can be shade variation. The driver's door is markedly darker than the fender and bed. The passenger door is also not as light as the rest of the truck, but the difference there is more subtle. Only noticeable from certain angles.

The verdict? Well. The entire truck has to be painted again, and this time, with all the panels in place. This won't be an immediate exercise though, as the paint will require up to 4 weeks to settle, before attempting a repaint. In the meantime, I will use the truck as she is.

The lid was being painted when I left, and 2 coats of gloss black were applied to the underside, after 2 coats of zinc primer were laid down. The outer side has been in primer prior to today, so all covered. The outer side will be painted in a Kawasaki Green a Pearl on Monday.

Once it's all flatted and polished, I'll see what needs to be done in terms of reprinting the entire rig.

 

Some non high-resolution pictures taken today:











Note the truck still needs to be flatted, and polished. Flatting has started on the bed.

 

Pictures of the bed lid:

 

After much thought, I have decided to have the truck painted again, by a reputable shop, who understands the intricacies of working with pearl and candy finishes.

Where the current shop erred, was to paint the doors and hood OFF the truck. I removed the doors and hood to allow the new color to reach the door shuts around the hinge areas, the inner doors as well as the under hood area. They should then have been refitted, then the whole truck painted as a whole.

This is what is going to be done next. But, the current shop doesn't get off easily. They are buying more paint for the lid, which is being painted tomorrow. The back end has also been polished, and looks heaps better. Just the rest of the cabin to be flatted and polished. This is how the bed now looks:

 

Man that sucks on the repaint, but it is still looking killer! And just so you know, any painter that knows what they are doing would know that candies, pearls and metalics should ALWAYS be painted as an assembled vehicle and not panel by panel so that your metalics lay up uniformly and the thickness of the candies and pearls are uniform as well. Don't let them get off on ignorance - paint is expensive!

 

Tomorrow I will be picking up my truck, exactly 19 weeks after I dropped it off to the shop, and spent the entire Saturday stripping her down. She has been flatted, and polished, and if not for the imperfections n terms of the front doors (mismatched paint) she would be stunning.

I will be temporarily installing my old headlamps, tails and old grille, so she's legal, before driving her to the shop that will be reprinting. Lead time in 1 week. We'll see how it all pans out.

 

After a bit of drama at the first "bodyshop" this arvo, I managed to prise my truck from their grip. It seemed all they wanted to do was frustrate myself and the recovery guy. The lid was meant to be bolted on BEFORE I got there, and of course, it wasn't.

More about that shambles of a shop later, so HPOC members in the area know where NOT to take their treasured rigs.

My rig is now in good hands, in a smaller shop that has come highly recommended. Their work speaks plenty, and the 3 paint finisher outfits in Hayes have only good things to say about them. I only wish I'd mentioned the first mob to local tradesmen, I would have been wiser, richer and would have saved myself a lot of aggravation and frustration.

Still, it's onwards and outwards. On a different note, I have made up my mind with regards to some sweet hoops and rubber. I'll keep you ladies and gents posted.

 

*subscribed*

 

I got a call from the shop this arvo, whilst still at work.

The truck is being painted tomorrow. Most of the paint the first shop laid down had to be removed, as the finish was so poor and rubbery. Loads of laquer on the front - nearside wing and bonnet were particularly bad, with the excess running to the lowest corners.

The offside sill also had too much paint, so was taken down to the original Toyota white.

I'll be paying the shop a visit tomorrow, so I'll see how she looks.

 

I've been a bit quiet on my Hilux project thread lately. Due in part to family joint projects (involving bricks and mortar) and just plain old work commitments. And also because with the first "bodyshop's" flop, I didn't want to tempt fate.

I got a call from the shop this morning, around 09:35 hrs, informing me they were going to paint today, and did I want to pop round? You bet I did! They were also gracious enough to allow me to view proceedings in the spray booth / oven.

This is the order in which things went:

Remove paint applied by first "shop".
Flat down original Toyota Hilux White.
Apply barrier coat to truck.
Prime truck.

These were done before Christmas, today things went this way:

Applied covering coat of aluminium silver.
Light flat down with 800 grade pads.
2 coats of Kawasaki Green Pearl Silver basecoat.
3 coats of Kawasaki Green Pearl topcoat.
2 coats of 2K clear lacquer.

Unlike the first shop, every part was painted at the same time. The fender flares were suspended from the mounting holes by wire, the front valence was suspended from the truck in the same way, and the 3 metal strips under the headlamps and grille were temporarily fitted.

I opted to have the original grille painted. This was just the grey section, painted in the same colour as the rest of the truck. The black sections had previously been refreshed in satin black.

The bed is just sitting on the chassis, moved backwards enough to paint between it and the cabin. The lid is being painted on Monday. This shop does NOT flat final paint coats, they simply give it a light double pass with a pad, then a good mop. I'm getting the windscreen guys out in the week, to fit a new front screen. The old one had a couple of chips in it.

I will be putting the truck back together next Saturday, and then driving her home. Next will be wheels.

Lots of pictures being uploaded. They are courtesy of my iPhone 6, so my apologies for the non high resolution quality.