3/4 Ton Long to Short & Static Drop Square One

[kitsbeach]

Here are a few pics of the left rear bedside cuts and welds.







A lot of patient tacking



Some pretty wide gaps here that took some time to fill in. I sometimes clamped some copper behind these while I welded them.

[kitsbeach]

More pics left rear bedside.

Some big gaps but it eventually worked out.

[kitsbeach]

Left tailgate hinge was also rusty and gone so I patched it up similar to the other side.

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Oops these are a little out of order but here are in-progress pics of the front left bedside weld.





Wedges in here to try and keep a gap.

[kitsbeach]

It was a little hard to believe at this point that the pieces would come together but they eventually did. Just kept working down one inch at a time.

[kitsbeach]

Here is that wonky corner all fixed up. You can also see the cut I made on the wrong side of my tape.

I did not finish grinding these welds completely because I wanted to show my "scars" (yes I'm one of those patina lovers plus I wanted to show all my work..!!).

Later on I'll post some pics of the finished product.

[kitsbeach]

Here's that same corner with some "fauxtina".

[kitsbeach]

Here's the type of "natural" patina the truck came to me with. It was a work truck of some kind. Well maintained mechanically but never washed. Hood has been repainted and is peeling or somehow got a bit stressed.

[kitsbeach]

I wanted to get on with painting the bed to match the front of the truck but had rust behind each wheel well to take care of.

I should have welded in a repair but I was too impatient to wait for parts so I patched it with bondo for now. I wanted to get the thing running..!! I'll fix it properly if and when it rusts through again.

[kitsbeach]

This is how I started doing the faux patina so that the bed would match the front.

There was primer underneath, then I started with some black, then aded some brown and gunmetal. I didn't get too fussy about it, I just randomly sprayed it on.



Unfinished scars left showing.





More scars.

[kitsbeach]

Then I taped my scars and just kind of roughed up the edges of the tape.

I wanted paint on my scars so they wouldn't rust but I wanted it to look like rust lol. I know this is kind of a funny idea and a lot of people don't like it but the truck had such cool well-earned patina on it. Its actually what attracted me to the truck in the first place.

Anyway chicks dig scars.

So that is what I did....

[kitsbeach]

For the other areas I wanted patina/fauxtina to show through I mixed together some toothpaste and coffee grounds and brushed/spread/threw it on.

I don't think I used the mustard.





Just kind of blotched it on here along an actual scar.



Thee was some red primer showing behind my driver's door so I sprayed some red primer on the bedside in that same area.



Down low where the original bedside had some wear and tear.

[kitsbeach]

More toothpaste and coffee grounds.

[kitsbeach]

Then I started painting over top. Two coats.

This is the first time I have painted anything. I was very pleased how the metallic matched the colour of the rest of the truck. I bought the paint at NAPA using the paint code from my SPID.



You can see how I splotched on the paste here and there. I really tried not to overdo it but there is one spot where I did too much. I'll show it later.

[kitsbeach]

One cool thing about doing a patina paint job is I could do it in my back yard without worrying about any leaves that might fall into my work.

I didn't bother with any of the faux patina for the inside of the bed, just out of laziness/impatience. Later on I didn't like it and went back and added a little faux to the inside.

[kitsbeach]

Here are a few shots of the paint after I scrubbed the toothpaste/coffee goop off.

I let the paint harden for a few days after this and eventually when the bed was on the truck I polished some of it to get it looking more worn and less bumpy. Actually I scrubbed with a scotchbrite pad then polished with a DA to get rid of the scratches. I might have to go take some more pictures to show that.

[kitsbeach]

I needed to get a new tailgate and found this one with bullet holes in it and figured what the heck it fits the vibe.



The latch wouldn't work at all but I just needed to take it apart and oil it up and it works great now.



I did a totally different faux patina method on the tailgate. I sanded and scrubbed and used solvent to get as much of the black primer off it as I could.

I primed the centre section again because it was just too ugly. Then I left the rest without primer and put the toothpaste/coffee mix over any existing real patina that I wanted to keep.

Then I sprayed it with the blue and scrubbed and polished it after it was dry. This picture is probably after the scrubbing but before the polishing.



And here she is. I like it and it matches the rest of the truck even though my method was a lot different.



I got this tailgate and a lot of other parts at Dusty Roads by the way. He's an awesome guy and has a great collection of everything squarebody. Anyone up this way has probably seen him on instagram and marketplace and I encourage you to check him out.

[kitsbeach]

Initially my tailgate gaps were way off. I don't really know why.





I loosened the bolts and tried a come-a-long but eventually had to get back under and elongate a couple of the bedside holes in the bottom corners.

I also adjusted the hinges a bit and even elongated the holes in them to give me more adjustment.



Better now.

[kitsbeach]

This was the very first look with paint on it.

Already using it as a truck to make a dump run.



Also notice my gas doors only received one coat of paint. I totally forgot to give them their second coat and sprayed the paint here and there touching up other parts of the bed. Once I was completely out of paint I turned around and saw my gas doors hanging there.!