alright well the trucks finaly came and the 51' f1 is already turned into scrap which leave the attack of the F2. so i though i'd let everyone in on my process of a "rattle can" paint job for it.



well there it is, not a bad deal for $620, full funtional plus it came with the 51 f1. only minor surface rust, bondo falling out, and 2 fair sized dents. now why do a "rattle can" paint job? well mostly to help control the rust and due to the future body work planned there is no real reason on spending the extra money of having some one else do it. plus its a great way to know every part of your truck, not to mention it will look alot better. The first task was getting some 60 grit sandpaper and a sander and get to work, mostly going after all the surface rust, and getting it down to bare metal as much as possible. even though this paint job is only going to cost me around 60 bucks, id still like to have a smooth surface to paint it on. now when i did it i sanded and then primered a secton (ie: left fender, then middle, then right fender and so on) usually working on the opposite side i painted to prevent dust getting into the wet primer. and here where i stood at the end of the day...


now i went a head and painted the grill white, and will be taping it off after i wet sand and before i spray the flat black. Im pretty impressed with how it has turned out so far, and it already looks so much better then before. and like i said before i wont feel too bad about putting a scratch in it because its still in the building process and thats the whole point of doing the rattle can paint job. keep a look out for part II!

 

I did the same thing to my 51 F1, I live in the Seattle area with the moisture this time of year I wanted to get some paint on the exposed metal. I bought the John Deere Blitz Black paint so it would keep the moisture from rusting the metal underneath again. They sell it in both spray gun mixture and rattle can its a semi gloss finish. My plan is just to get it to where I can drive it and do the rest of the body work over time. Only probblem with this paint is its a poor underlayment for an expensive (urethane) topcoat. So I will most likely stay with this type topcoat and just enjoy the truck as I plan to use it as a truck anyhow. Besure to loosen the bolts on the rear of the front fenders and get some paint in between where the fender mates to the body. They love to develop rust in that area. Good luck on your project.

 

I went a similiar route but since have changed my thinking. I know buy Epoxy primer from Toolmart 2 part and cost about $60 and is the best base for paint or Mr. Bondo. http://www.autobodytoolmart.com/ does look good though. Ed ke6bnl

 

I agree with the epoxy route for the protection it gives. Requires a little extra surface prep when it come time to do body work or paint.

 

yea im planning on putting on a real sealer before the primmer when it gets repainted... but im only keeping it like this for about 6 months, so im not to worried about rust comming back.

 

Looks good! I'm also doing the same thing with my '51 F3. Where did your bumper mounts go?

Tom

 

cut them off... im mounting a solid steel tubing behind the front.. i like the shaved smooth look... plus if that truck was to hit any of the newer cars out there im sure i would drive away without problems