Well, we're finally approaching the end of the body & paint process. Done a lot more than I set out to do, shaved the drip rails, closed the seams in the cab, shaved & filled the hood, some door skin repair, lots of bondo work on the top & back to repair the wavy sand blast damaged panels, shaved and filled the dash and painted inside and out (the engine, tranny, and under the fenders too)..

one more shoot to go... the front clip & hood as one assembly and the cab & doors as the other.. see my gallery for the latest pics..

The body man isn't fast, works by himself, but he sure is finicky, and not too expensive.
Doesn't charge for travel time, doesn't work 40 hrs a week at it. Keeps good records tho.

two more weeks and we should be able to put it back together at last.

Then to trailer it home and REALLY start the assembly.

Already freakin out about the first startup.. engine & tranny rebuilt, prime the oil pump, gotta run for 20mins to break in the cam & lifters..


Sam

 

Looks good. Is that Candy Green?

 

Sam. I love that color! It is going to be a beautiful truck.

great idea on your hood stiffeners. I had to do the same on mine, only different.














p.s. Be really careful on that engine break in, I ruined my cam and had to redo most of the engine again.

 

Yes, Organic Green candy, over Planet Green base. House of Color.

3 base, 4 candy, 3 clear.


Sam

 

Wow, that color really pops!! Looks sweet.

You'll never lose it in a busy parking lot!

 

Now thats eye candy!! LOOKS KILLER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Keep up the GREAT work!

 

Thanks, your hood stiffeners look really heavy duty!, but not obtrusive.. I really worried about how bad they would stand out.

Cam break in, I've done this a number of times before. The cam is the only thing left of my original build. The engine guy said it looked fine, just to pump up the oil and turn it over by hand a couple times before starting it.


Sam

 

Yeah Baby!

 

I'm not mormally a fan of green......but yours looks awesome.

 

Thats funny, cause I am not normally a fan of green either!..

Sam

 

I bet it will be 1st class by looking at the slow methodic process of painting. I think that color of green is great. Any HoC paint is great actually. Nice going.
Jon

 

Thanks.. Course I DID have to pick the hardest paint combo to put on. any overlap in the candy will show somethin fierce.. We've been fiddling with the hardner mix, so that we don't get too much run and still get it to come out of the gun (one little test was like jelly out of the gun!)..

Dave has done an amazing job on the body, I thought I had done a decent job, but it looks like crap next to his.. ( I didn't do any bondo work after I decided to let him work it,, then we both know its not something I didn't do that would be causing him problems..) He is also unwilling to let too much stuff go by.. after painting we've found a little ridge in the lower door sill, about midway, that just jumps out at you now.. He's upset that he didn't see it before.. but I didn't either..
*My neighbor has a 51 chevy 5 window that Dave worked (how I found him), in corvette yellow!!.. wow! the bodywork on that is amazing from the original pics with rust thru at the windshield and all)..

This painting under the fenders has been a pain, but I've seen so many of our trucks from an angle from the front, and the black (ugly, whatever) inside back of the front fender justs looks SO bad. And at this stage, might be the detail difference at a show if I try that.. (gotta get a decent interior first!)..

The biggest problem for the paint is that there are no seams left in the cab. Its one smoothe pallet from front to back. And this paint shows every extra layer and overspray, so its gotta be done all as one unit. I wanted to make sure the doors & cab and fenders & hood were done all in the exact same shoot, so we have the same temp and other conditions. and don't get any different edge treatment. You can tell from the pics that the candy gets everywhere, so it couldn't be shot on the chassis either.

but its 8-9 hours of painting.. 2-3 hours of just waiting between coats at least. (9*15min+/-)

paint supplies are over $1000 now, near 3 gal each of base, candy and clear, shop supplies about $700.
(good thing it ain't red.. red pigment paints have gone thru the roof lately!, $100/qt!.. sheesh)

Sam

 

The cab and clip are painted... boy the pictures really stink compared to in person. You can't see the metalflake at all..

all I could say the whole time was OMG!!!!..

and he hasn't even started color sand yet..

we did have a little disaster yesterday as I cleaned the garage for the babys return home. . the painted running boards were covered by a shipping blanket, against the wall, with a good angle to prevent them falling..
it was windy here yesterday.. and a gust of wind caught the blanket and slammed the boards, face down on the floor, where I had just swept some loose bolts, etc.. both boards will need some serious careful repair..
(I only had the small garage door open, and the side entrance door.. !)

Sam

 

What a bummer!

 

I've seen some of Sam's painted parts....uh...WOW ! Dave the Bodyman-Painter is a perfectionist for sure. The paint is really really bright. Sam will have a most amazing truck.