I am trying to decide what kind of paint to paint my Truck? I drive my truck truck a lot. Would a lacquer or enamel hold up better then metallic? My truck was painted a metallic green when I bought it and it is peaking off

 

I doubt that you can get either anymore with the exeption of industrial-machinery paint enamel . Most single stage is a urethane and base coats ( that must be cleared ) can be solvent or waterbourne . Metallic is simply a flake of varying size and color added to any type of paint . Are you painting it yourself , how much experience , what type of use is the truck , how much are you willing to spend . The more info you can give the more likely we can help you make a choice that works for you .

 

No I will have someone paint it for me. Like I said I drive my truck almost daily so I want a paint that will look good but be durable. I don't drive it right now do to all the rust around the cab mounts. So I am still looking for a cab and doors to replace mine. I am still trying to decide what color to go with. Right now my choices are glacier blue, a dark blue, maybe a dark brown or even a green color

 

My car has the original lacquer on it. As Doc and I can both tell you if you have gas overflow on it and do not get it washed off immediately the paint will peel off. lacquer will not hold up to todays chemiclas unless you keep it well waxed and clean. As stated above I don't think any professional paint house will use either anymore. good luck, have fun.

 

Pappys53,
Can you post some pictures of the rusted areas of your truck? You can buy pretty much everything for the bottom of a 53-56 F series. (i.e. Floorboards, front and rear cab corners & mounts etc) If you replace your bad stuff then you know what's there, sort of cuts out second guessing just how good the old metal was.

Good cabs with doors are going anywhere up from around $450 up. You can probably count on spending $750 for a decent cab & door combo. I see them in central Missouri for under $1,000 pretty regularly. Unlike my 56 the 53-55 slant cabs offer new reproduction doors from several vendors.

Hope you get the ole gal up and running for Flatlanders Truckfest next April. It'd be great to finally meet up with you. There will be several of us going to Springfield MO to the Ozark Swap meet 18-20 Aug. 50th Annual Swap Meet | Ozarks Antique Auto Club . Might have a cab or two there.

 

I started buying the repair parts, only have the r&l rocker panels. I took it to a friend who works at a body shop and he told me due to what would cost just to fix all the rust areas would be very expensive. Told me it would be better to find a cab in better shape. I don't know how to weld or do much in way of body work. The drivers side mounting bracket is totally gone. The firewall is rusted out where the brights switch is

 

Looks like a drivers rocker panel and front floor pan for sure but not enough there to tell about cab corners. Floor pan won't go high enough to fix a firewall problem though. Are your doors rotted out too? There's a guy about 30 mins away that had a good cab and doors but he was very proud of them $1,500. I passed!

 

take a look at the pics in my album...my truck was much worse than that and I was able to repair it. I had next to no welding experience before I started, but found out it can be done.


Here is an example of what I started with.

 

I think that there are quite a few of us on this forum that have done extensive metal repair on our trucks, sometimes we forget that not everyone has the skills that we have developed over the years. I believe that if I were in your position I would find someone who can weld, around here they have very good welding programs in the high schools and I have seen quite a few youngsters who can really lay a bead. I would remove the cab and strip it down and cut out the failed metal. You will see right away what needs to be replaced, the rockers are a good start but there will be more panels needed. Your friend is right in saying that this work in a body shop will be expensive, even doing it yourself will not be cheap, but when you are done you will have a rock-solid cab and the knowledge that you did it. Good luck...

 

I know there is a lot more needing repaired. I wouldn't know where to begin. I know you just can't start cutting the rusted metal out. The cab will need to be squared up and cross braces welded inside. How do you square it without a rottisery?

 

That rust is just what you can see. There will be other surprises. CharlieLed is right. That cab needs to be removed and stripped down. It looks repairable but you will know more afterward.


This is the surprise that I found after I got my front fenders removed.

 

Indy beer how do I find your album to look at what had to work with

 

These cabs are VERY rigid and even if you do cut a considerable amount of the floor away all you need to do is square the cab up again as you weld in the new panels. I measure the diagonals of the door openings and the diagonals of the cab to ensure that the cab and doors are square. It has been my experience that many of these cabs were NOT square from the factory...let's face it, these were work vehicles not show trucks. Here is just one photo of a 56 that I restored...notice that there are no cross-braces here. As I said before, the place to start is to remove the cab and have it sand/media blasted to remove all the paint and bondo. Once that is complete you will know how far down the porcelain fixture you have slid. Good luck...remember the Nike saying, "Just do it!"

 

check out TCP global for your paint needs. san diego ca. they have single stage in 3 types and BC/CC. I really like their epoxy primer. good luck with the body work or lining up a new cab.

 

left click on my name then select View Public Profile. Once you get to my profile look for my albums. I currently have 3 of them. You can see my progress.