It's going to be a long 3 weeks but it gives me time to repaint the emblems, clean the trim and fry a turkey for Thanksgiving!

 

Nice, are you going with the original color scheme or something different?

 

Pull the rear bumper!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Looking good, X2 on the removing the rear bumper now and the tail lights after you drive it there right?

Mask off your side and tail light bulb elec connection to prevent over spray from getting in there.

Are they doing the interior too? I'd remove the seat belt shoulder reel covers, and or the complete seat belt assembly. Rocker panel alum strip, door/cab seals and sun visors.

Door panels, but reinstall the interior door latch handle so they can reach in and open the door.

 

Bag and zip tie the the tail light pigtails upon removal of the housings.

 

A conscientious body shop or painter will mask along the bottom of the entire lower panels from the backside of all panels around the entire vehicle. It will look like a "skirt" around the whole bottom of the rig getting sprayed. This will make a cleaner job and ensures every piece/part/panel gets completely painted.All tail light,side marker light openings, holes of any sort along the entire body are masked from the backside if possible.Paint blowing into open holes creates turbulence which constitutes poor coverage/flow at times in those ares and sucks dirt/contamination out of those openings. Prep work.... VERY time consuming for good results. Gary

 

I plan on going back with the original colors, Medium Gold Sand Metallic and White. I attempted to pull the rear bumper but the PO had welded it to the frame so we are taking the bed off for paint. this will allow the rear of the cab and front of the bed to get painted as well. I'm not painting the interior. it's in good shape and I wasn't ready to completely strip the dash and AC out of it.

I did pull the taillights and baggie all of the bulbs. HIO (at least I think if was HIO) had been kind enough to share all the "pre-paint" checklist, so I followed it as close as possible. I was dissapointed to find the welding on the rear bumper, but I pulled the Bed Bolts to assist the paint shop. I'm headed down there today to confirm the paint samples.

I had rust beginning on the pinch weld at the top drivers side of the Windshield when I pulled the glass. We are taking it out and replacing the metal.

Overall, I was pleased with what I found and anxious for the next 3 weeks to pass.

 

Carefully using a cutting torch or a thin cut off wheel on a 4" grinder should take care of that welded on bumper.

 

Yep, that was me.


While out for color, this would be a good time to clean up the parts ya took off AND to plan out its reassembly by having body seals, gaskets, emblems, etc. at the ready.....Be methodical and avoid being in a hurry!


I would not touch the paint (wax/wash/etc) for at least a month.


The anticipation builds........

 

HIO, funny you should say that. I was just compiling my orders for JBG, DC and LMC. I also have a list for two stores here in town. I have tomorrow and Saturday slotted to paint the emblems and clean the trim. 38 years of central CA dust can make a mess in the back of the race trac trim!

Do you know what size the door speakers should be? I thought I read 6.5" round. I've wired for them but haven't bought the speakers yet.

 

Some say the door speakers are 6.25 and others say 6.5 inches.


Sounds like you've got a good outline and on your way...

 

I just bought and installed these in my 79 supercab. It had never had speakers installed in the doors. These fit right in the hole, although I had to drill 2 screw holes, used the other 2 factory screw holes.
Polk Audio DB521 5.25-Inch Coaxial Speakers (Pair, Silver)

I also installed this dash speaker, replacing the old mono dash speaker. I was able to reuse the 2 factory holes in the dash, but it was a pain getting them started as the new speaker screw holes were further spaced than the original.
RetroSound D-572 5" x 7" Replacement Dash Speaker for Classic Vehicles

Good luck on the paint, I hope it turns out like you want!

 

Only three weeks for paint and body? Even if you tripled that time it would seem lightning fast compared to all of my experiences with paint. Good luck!

I used to have 5.25" cheapo speakers in my doors that fit great, just sounded terrible (you get what you pay for). I got greedy this last time around and put 6.5" Alpine Type R's in the doors. They "fit" but needed all 4 mounting holes drilled out. They didn't set all the way down on the mounting surface, but rather rest on the "raised radius" of the opening instead. Because of that, they weren't shallow enough to allow the door panel to seat all the way flush without resting on the speaker and causing some nice rattles.

Not sure if 6.25" would cure or not, just thought I'd share my experience.

 

I've got her back together and I'm rather pleased with how she looks. Unfortunately, its raining, so the pics are from the garage.

 

looking good