I'm not really sure yet - I'll have to see how long the hose reaches, and pick a spot as far from heat and vibration as possible. I may make a custom bracket if necessary.

Ya hopefully it comes out good I have an app for the phone called 'Oh Snap' - been dying to try it out. The cab coming off will be a great opportunity.

 

Finally repainted the grill. I bought it on eBay, and the seller apparently just painted black over a nice chrome finish, without sanding or prepping or primer or anything... Lasted about a month and it all started coming off in giant chunks - ruined the entire truck IMO.

So I used about 15 sanding discs - got it ALL off, down the the chrome. It must have been a nice chrome job - because in a few spots i even got down to copper - over a plastic grill. Interesting. I know that's the process for metal - but for plastic? Cool.

Anyways, sanded it all dowm, a couple coats of primer, like 8 light coats of base, and an entire rattle can of clear - it came out incredible. I'm still waiting for it to fully cure before i wetsand it and polish - but even with it the way it is, it's pretty amazing. My finest spray bomb thus far - no orange peel - just like glass. Wade was the only one who saw it before - it was so hideous I didn't even want to waste a picture.







Now I just have to bang that dent in the bumper out, smooth it down, and wrap the bumper in vinyl. I'm super tempted to get a spray gun and squirt it instead... That'll be my failover plan if the vinyl comes out like crap or if it doesn't match, etc.

Also got my matching 4300k HIDs installed in the fog lights. No surprise, the "plug and pray" kit didn't work - it was drawing too much current and they wouldn't come on properly, then blew a fuse (#43 is anyone is interested in the fog light fuse number). Tapped into the fused battery line I wired in for the headlights, installed a new relay, and voila - they work. No factory harness modification actually.

I'll take a night picture someday...

 

Craig, that came out pissa dooooood!!!! You may officially add " rattle can aficionado" to your resume That is one of the best rspray can jobs I have ever seen!! True statement. 300% better than when I saw it before. Guess this is the kind of work we can expect to see on the rest of the truck. Keep up the good work bud

 

Thanks man - you ought to see it up close! I've been rattle canning for a long time and I've come to learn a few tricks to a good finish. I'm tempted to get a spray gun to do the bumpers. If the vinyl looks like crap, that's the plan. It's been a while since I've used one, I'm sure I'll pick it right back up.

I asked the old man to pick up some primer, base, and clear from the depot while he was there. I had the grill off and didn't want to drive. He got Rustoleum, and I was concerned at first that it would be crap paint. I was very pleasantly surprised with how it covered!!

Took a few close-ups out in the parking lot: (white specks are dust...)

 

Black front bumper:

Vinyl wrapping was a miserable failure. It went nothing like I had planned, looked like ***, and I wanted to paint it anyways. I was taking the easy way out because i underestimated my painting skills - but the grill gave me some confidence.

On to plan B. 200 grit, 400 grit, etching primer, lots of base, lots of clear, 1000 wetsand, polish. I still need to finish polishing and give it some wax. Looks like glass!!!

The lower plastic is Krylon Fusion plastic paint. Washed the thing THOROUGHLY with soap and water, dried, prepped with minieral spirits/acetone mix stuff, and spraybombed. It didn't come out as I had expected - and a buddy told me you really have to lay it on thick like past the pint normal paint would start dripping... The pics were yesterday and you can see spray lines, but today it seems to have worked out a bit - maybe dryed more? Not sure, either way I'll be hitting it with something a little flatter anyways. I got satin, but it's still a bit too glossy for my taste. NBD, I can just mask it and squirt it with it on the truck.

 

Craig looks fantastic man!!! I like that WAY better than the vynal wrap. You are correct about your rattle can skills. Un -real!!!!!

 

Thanks! (Been wetsanded, polished, and waxed since then too!!)

Next will be the rear bumper, cab corners, and bed wheel arches.

 

You have a gift Craig. I've seen regular paint jobs that didnt come out as nice as your rattle can work! Keep the updates coming. Cant wait to see more!!

 

Craig, nice job, man!

 

Lookin real good!! Keep us posted

 

Thanks guys. It had been a while since I spraybombed, and the grill and bumper brought back my confidence, so I'm going to continue with the cab corners and the wheel arches sometime this summer. The bed makes me nervous because Ideally I'd like to scrape it all down, and be left with enough metal there to just bondo it. The right way of course would be to tack in new replacement panels, or at least a portion where there's rust, but that's obviously a pain in the ars.

Of course, I try to always keep to "do it right, or do it over". Eventually I'll be adding flares when I get 35's, and at that point I'm sure I'll end up cutting the whole thing open, removing that entire foam seal, and rolling the bed side into the under support. But to be honest I haven't even taken a good look at it yet. All I know right now is it was bondo'd once before I bought it (and they did a pretty horrible sanding job), so I'll have to fix that in addition to whatever I do.

A replacement bed is looking more tempting every time I see the rust lol.

 

Just had a chance to check this out Craig. Truck looks awesome and keep up the great work.

 

Great build thread Craig, love it

 

Thanks fellas.

 

Cab corners:

No progress. It's getting worse, and I'll be buying the sheet metal from eBay soon. Seems like a relatively simple cut and weld project. And, it's nice and low, so MINOR imperfections from blended paint won't show. Bed wheel arches will either be done professionally, or by me if the cab corners are successful.

New Tailgate:

Picked up a 2010+ Step/camera tailgate last night on craigslist. Apparently the guy's bed started to spread, from toolboxes or improperly loaded cargo, I don't know. He said he had a fifth wheel, and went with a tommy gate. He also said the camera never worked for him. The harness looked like it was just yanked out, not even cut cleanly. I got a wiring diagram for it online, spliced in, and fired it up using my TV. Works pissa.

Next step will be to do some minor repair work, I need a new plastic trim for it, and then just some fresh paint. I REALLY need to get some of the matching Ford black - my father got OEM colors in a spraybomb from an auto body supply place once - that would be ideal since I'm still not setup with a gun and booth (on my wish list). The real trick to spraybombing is in the sanding and polishing, and I'm not worried about the quality of my painting and finishing

Pics soon...