Haha if the guy from Minnesota is asking this...


You going to do anything extra, like dynamat or insulation on the bare cab? I had an old benz that had 1/2 berber carpet with some foam about 4in thick under it. Moldy, and then someone had spilled a good amount of oil in the rear footwell it seems. Took about 3 days with a carpet extractor, feet, 200lb weight and towels to get it dry.

My ashtray looks about like that, unfortunately it's ash. Fortunately, the truck has no air and the heater was busted. So still smells fresh haha.

 

Yeah Dave, the carpet in my truck had been damp for so long it was actually molded to the point of falling apart. Amazingly though the floor pan really wasn't rusted. Your Benz sounds like a nightmare, sometimes it's just better if you can throw out the old and replace it completely, but that's not always an option.

I do plan on at least adding some Peel & Seal which a lot of guys on this forum seem to speak positively of. Real brand-name Dynamat though is just too expensive for me, for the amount that would be required.

 

Forging on... I thought I'd show what I've done with the hardware. I do them in batches so as not to get too confused. First I label every screw as I pull it out and they go into their own Ziplock snack bags. Then before cleaning them I will photograph each screw next to its label for future reference.

Cleaning can be more or less involved depending on the condition of the piece... I always at least scrub each one with a wire brush and degreaser, then soak a day or two in vinegar, and finish with a final brush cleaning afterwards.

Next is paint, here again I use POR-15. In my prior experience even POR-15 will get knocked off a large bolt if you have to wrench on it too much, but even so it will still look better than completely rusty. If you can get away with only installing the bolt once it will probably still look pristine. However most of these bolts you won't even see, the point really is just to have them be protected.

One thing I have learned the hard way is not to paint the threads of machine bolts. You will have a very hard time or an impossible time getting them screwed in afterwards. To protect the threads from rust on those I will wipe them with anti-sieze before installation.

However I will always paint the threads of sheet-metal/self-tapping screws since they are usually quite exposed and the extra thickness of the paint won't matter in those applications.

Here is the process in pictures... which I have repeated many, many times on this project.


Label each piece of hardware:


Rusty bolts get the vinegar treatment:


Dry them quickly because a cleaned piece of metal will rust again fast:


Now paint. You can also see my painted seat tracks in the background:

 

Looks like your doing a great job. Very detail oriented.
What pill and stick insulation are you talking about? Going to be doing my interior and like to know a cheaper option than DuraMat.

 

Trim Panels - like everyone else in the world I am using SEM Colorcoat paints for my interior plastic pieces (and actually some metal pieces too).

Also like everyone else I have to say I am quite pleased with the SEM paints, the results really look fantastic and you couldn't tell that the piece isn't brand new.

I try to follow their process pretty closely except I don't use the special SEM soap, I figure soap is soap and I use my own (dish-soap usually). However I do make sure to use their "Plastic and Leather Prep" chemical before paint, this stuff will eat through plastic gloves so I figure it must really clean the plastic.

So far I've bought 12 cans of Colorcoat. I have two cans left but I still haven't done the door panels or the dash pad so I think that's about the right amount for an extended cab. I think I read somewhere once that a guy did a standard cab with about 8 cans.

There are a few trim pieces up on the ceiling above the front and rear window and again over the doors that are actually metal. I wanted them to match the rest of my interior but I didn't know if SEM could be used on metal. I called the company and asked and they were very helpful and willing to talk to me. The guy said that as long as the metal is "coated" (ie, painted) you just clean it as usual, make sure to use the "Plastic and Leather Prep" same as everything else, then paint with Colorcoat. Basically the only difference between metal and plastic is that you don't use any kind of adhesion promoter in between the cleaning and painting stages.

Some of my metal pieces had been scratched up and weren't really "coated" anymore so I took the liberty of cleaning them first, then painting them with self-etching primer. I figured the primer would serve as my "coating." Then I did the "Plastic and Leather Prep" and then painted with Colorcoat. They turned out fine, though they are not going to be as scratch resistant as the plastic pieces which feel as if they're dyed.


Here is what one of my interior pieces typically looked like before washing:


Here is a piece after washing but before paint. It looks bad but at least it is very clean - this is after the "Plastic and Leather Prep" cleaner which kind of turns the plastic white:


After paint:


Another after paint:

 

I think he's talking about the hardware store stuff. Something like duct wrap I believe. It's what I'm planning to use too.

I hear ya on the replace Luke. Unfortunately MBNA had exactly two carpet sets available. Both black, both in Cal. Both $1600. Car was 800 hahaha

 

Yeah Kedwin, I actually haven't bought the stuff yet myself, so I can't speak to it personally I've just read about others using it. I first heard of it in Em's thread, she called it Frost King duct insulation. Then actually Trent used something called Quick Roof which looks like the same thing. Both said they got their stuff from Home Depot. I've looked at our Home Depot and can't find anything like it that is adhesive.

But the other thing which I think is the same that a lot of people mention is Peel and Seal which apparently comes from Lowes. We don't have a Lowes in our town so I haven't gone to look yet but I will soon, there's one a few towns over.

On some other threads on the internet I have heard some people complain that Peel And Seal stinks like petroleum in hot weather, yet other people say it wasn't a problem for them. Maybe it cured. One guy said he taped the edges with aluminum tape and in his opinion the edges were the only part that could "gas out the stink" so to speak.

Anyway I think I'll take a chance on it, as everyone agrees it cuts down significantly on noise.

 

Ok well anyway that's all the photos I'll post for today. I'll let you guys admire my efforts for a little while before I barrage you with more pictures. If I'm doing picture overload just let me know... once I get the thread caught up to the present time it shouldn't be so bad.


Luke

 

Subscribed, I want to see the progress...

How do you do sandblasting?

 

Pics good. Keep em coming.

 

What's picture overload? Never seen to many pictures of projects or trucks.

Thanks Dave and Luke. I read Em's build but was under the impression she use the stuff with bubble wrap inside it. I'll check that stuff out.

 

Yeah, good question Nikmish. I only dream I could have a sandblaster in my apartment... I take my pieces to a place and pay them to do it. They charge $120 an hour with a minimum charge of 20 minutes ($40). However their sandblaster guy is really efficient. In 20 minutes he can blast a lot of stuff. I usually save up as much crap as I can and take it all over there at once and usually he can do the whole lot and I pay $40.

Well it's kind of expensive but cheaper than buying my own compressor and blast cabinet even if I had the place to put them. But it only makes sense if I have a lot of stuff to do at once, which is the bummer. That's why I often find myself pouring on the elbow grease at home with a wire brush and sandpaper, while dreaming of having my own blaster.


Luke

 

Wichita - What time period? Grew up in Ark City (Arkansas City to others) and lived in Wichita 6 years, but that was probably before you were born as it was in the late 60's/early 70's.

Root for the rock chalk chickenhawks? After being a Wildcat for several years? Yeah, I can actually understand that as I now live in OK and when the Jayhawks went to the Final 4 I did THINK about rooting for them. My son, who lives on the East Coast, suggested that being from KS I should, so I did THINK about it - for a few seconds and then dismissed it.

Anyway, I love the work you are doing. Good job! And, thanks for documenting it 'cause it helps others of us figure out how to do things.

 

This is great! Thanks for the photos and sharing your experience.

 

I actually grew up in Great Bend, so that means I made plenty of trips to Wichita to be able to do any kind of shopping. As for a college team it's definitely not K-State, KU is the only way to go. However I still do cheer for K-State as long as they aren't playing KU.

Keep up the good work!!