This is awesome! I'm going to follow this thread.

 

Just a quick update. Got the bed done and painted, also got the other door trimmed in and cleared on the inside.

Door primed and ready to be scuffed



Finishing putty on the bed. There were a few spots like this. I kept a magic marker in my pocket to mark spots like this whenever I spotted them. Makes it easier to find them when you go to put this finishing putty on.



Passenger side with some finishing putty waiting to be sanded and primed





The primer wasn't as smooth as I would have liked, so I dressed it real quick with a DA sander with 120grit and then laid a fresh coat of primer down



Fresh primer down and wet sanded



Wiped down with prep-solv to remove any grease, sanding residue etc before spraying



Inside of bed covered with plastic. Last step will be to wipe it down with a Tack Cloth to remove any dust, etc before spraying the paint. Later on I will be coating the inside of the bed with Raptor Bed Liner tinted the same color gray.



Bed trimmed in around the fuel fillers and the front



Rear fuel filler and taillight trimmed in



Door trimmed in, 2 coats base, 1 light coat, let tack, then 1 medium coat



Bed, 2 coats base, 1 light, let tack, 1 medium



Drivers side bed, 2 coats clear, this will set overnite and will have a couple more coats clear added tomorrow






Passenger side of bed
Before



After



Before



After



Door, cleared and done

 

What made you choose plain grey?

 

I am impressed with the work that you have done. And I am not ashamed to say, I am jealous. You have the time and the workspace. Two things of which I am somewhat lacking. But you have inspired me, and when I finally get to 'restore' my truck to the best of my ability, I hope to be able to to do the same quality of work that you do, and maybe post my own thread on it.

 

TY! Only advice I can offer on restoring something is to be as patient as possible, as things will never move as fast as you wish they would. The dent that was on the side of the bed from the forklift is a perfect example. Between work constantly interfering at times when I was wanting to get out in the garage and do something, and the time involved in layering and shaping the filler one thin layer at a time, it took several weeks longer to do the bed then I wanted. Being patient is what allowed me to complete the bedside the way it needed to be done. I worked on it when I could and when I WANTED to. There were several evenings and afternoons I could have got out there and worked on it, but if I wasn't in the mood, I didn't. Forcing yourself to do it when you aren't in the mood will not get you good results. Something I learned years ago.


I had originally planned to go with Black Imron, even had the paint in the closet for it from when I first started on the truck back in 03. Work and moving stopped it from getting done back then. When I retired from driving long haul this year I finally had the time, and found a bunch of good parts at the PAP and decided it was time to get the old girl looking good again, as there are times I am in it and not the Expedition when I meet clients. I thought again about going with black, since I still had the Imron, but decided against it, as the black is both a pain to keep clean, and also shows any imperfection under the paint. I also noticed that while you would see alot of the various colors from the factory on those models (black, two tone gray/sliver, red/white, blue/white, etc) I very rarely saw one that was solid dark gray metallic. Also a friend of mine bought a new Road Glide Harley a couple years back that was the dark gray metallic that really was a sharp color. The more I thought about it, the more I realized it was not that different from the dark gray that was factory on my truck originally (gray/silver 2 tone) so I decided to go with the dark gray that was original on my truck, but this time do it all that color instead of the 2 tone gray/silver.

 

L. Ward-Has anyone ever told you how effin awesome you are? Just wish you lived near East Ky.....Truck looks awesome as hell....

 

Yeah man that truck looks awesome. Can hardly wait to see it done. So, uh, when are you moving to Texas I need some bodywork done?

 

Sorry, no road trips planned right now, LOL

and with apologies to Apocalypse Now, I LOVE the smell of paint in the afternoon!

Drivers door, painted and cleared



Bed, 3 more coats of clear



You can see the reflection of the Harley in the paint now



Now to let it cure for a while, then wet sand with 1200grit and polish it out to remove a couple sags in the clear and some dust specks that showed up.

Also, you know you are a Ford person when you look in the yard and with the exception of the Peterbilt in the background everything you see is powered by Ford:

A 2002 Expedition



A 1990 F250,



and a 20 ft Speed boat, with a 302 (Comp Cam, Dual Plane Intake, Holley 600cfm Marine Carb, and Custom through the transom exhaust with stainless tips)

 

Pretty sweet project. Looks great.

 

I like the color and wish I was there during the spraying time. I love the smell of paint and that instant where you take this piece of metal you've been sanding over for what feels like ever, instantly turns a different color. Super rush!!

 

looks good, are you sure you're not ready for a road trip? I'll buy the beer, and the paint.

 

Shew damn.....I'm not usually a jealous guy....But you are defiantly making me into one.....

 

Excellent Job! Love the Color! makes me want to stray from my factory gray and go with the darker gray.

I think I already asked but what sthe paint material your using, is it single stage, or base/clear? And did you say your using PPG? And what fluid tip size are you using and PSI..

Anyway, motivates me to keep stripping mine!! Oh and did I already say Excellent JOB!

 

He says in his captions he's using a base/clear

 

That paint is looking great!