N00b with a 72 c20

[JointTech]

ive been using one of these for most of the work. Not sure it could come off any faster but Ill try your drill trick.


I also like the brown and green roloc pads in a angle die grinder.
I have a bunch of different wire wheels that help in the corners and lips.

[JointTech]

well I've actually been doing stuff on it.
Finished removing all the paint on the hood. Had a bunch of failures with harbor fright soda and pressure blasters. finally just went back to a wire wheel on the angle grinder.

I welded up the holes on the hood. Had a few blowouts but for a beginner I think it came out pretty good.






Then I flipped it over and did the holes on the top of the hood.



crappy weld had to poke it out and redo.



Then I noticed this: It looks like the hood was beaten on where the orniment was. Im pretty sure it was wavy before I welded and grinded but now I really see it.


not sure if Ill just leave it or what.

hopefully some epoxy this week.

[Steve-W]

Originally Posted by JointTech

...then I noticed this: It looks like the hood was beaten on where the orniment was. Im pretty sure it was wavy before I welded and grinded but now I really see it.
not sure if Ill just leave it or what.

Bondo4life!

[JointTech]

Originally Posted by Steve-W

Bondo4life!

ugh I was hoping not to.

Got out my new hammers and dollys to try to tap it up a little. When I flipped the hood over all the latch and bracing is right over the waves... No access with hammer.

So now I need a new tool right? Stud puller with a slide hammer right. yea i think I definitely need one.

I went ahead and wiped down the the whole hood with mineral oil until I could wipe a paper towel on it and come up white. Went home and was doing some more paint prep research and came across 9000 threads saying to not use anything except W & G remover.

So today I redid the whole thing with W&G remover..

Sure is shiny. now im thinking I should just clearcoat it

[JointTech]

Finally got some paint on the cowl and hood. Just the undersides. Im glad. I have some changes to make.
1. a sagging 10x10 tent barely gives enough room to move around the hood.
2. need more light
3. regulator and mini water separator attached to the gun makes it really long and hard to get into crevices.
4. Wash the pot first. Im pretty sure I ruined this one. Its got crud that no amount of scrubbing and thinner will take off the inside ;(.
I did make sure to clean the gun really well.

So it went ok.
heres the hood. ill explain the mess in a minute.






Not horrible for the first time painting.

But just as I thought I was doing pretty good the crappy unstable lamp tipped over on the hood. Knocked sand blasting crap and dirt from the lamp (which I blew off and wiped for hours). My genious idea was to just wipe it off and paint over it.


bad idea. Now I have to sand it down and repaint.

heres where the body of the lamp stand hit and I resprayed. ALso will need sanding and repainting.


I got something strange on my cowl. I'm positive I cleaned and recleaned it well so I'm not sure what this is. Some kind of spots show through the DTM epoxy. Hopefully primer covers it.



Going to make some changes to my setup and do the top sides soon.

[JointTech]

finally got epoxy on the tops of hood and cowl. First big surface Ive done and I got some striping.

Kind of excited about starting the sanding/filler/primer.

[JointTech]

Laid down some high build primer today. 3 obvious dings in it Ill have to skim. But here comes the sanding I guess

[JointTech]

Put on some filler. to try to raise that wave from the hood ornament and a couple dings I noticed.





hopefully i used the right amount of hardener.


and yes I way overdid it on the amount of mud I needed. That stuff got hard quick too. Note to self. make sure to sand and clean the spots BEFORE mixing the mud.

[JointTech]

whoo hoo
finally some color

not bad for my first go. Paint is a little shinier than I thought it would be.



color is just about perfect. I think I would have prefered a couple shaeds darker but this will do.

looks much darker in this pic.


Got a few spots that Im not sure what happened. Looks like splatter.



I didnt get a picture but after all the sanding and priming and filling and blocking after I put down the color I see 3 obvious dents in the hood. Grumble. Cant believe I missed them.

[Low Elco]

Looking great! Have you investigated Durablocks? They're Grrreat!

Don't sweat the mistakes,happens to all of us. Even the super cool pro guys. Yellow attracts hella bugs, especially between your second and third coat of clear.

[JointTech]

i have a bunch of durablocks. I need to get some longer ones though.

The crap and the dents pissed me off so I glazed them, epoxyed and repainted the hood. I used some more reducer this time and I got less peel. I think I have a keeper.


I took the passenger fender off. Time to bang and sand and paint.





Had time to blast the hood hinge.

[Steve-W]

coming along great! isn't it just dust in the paint? perhaps you'll be able to polish it out when the paint is hardened..

[JointTech]

nope. flat paint you cant buff or polish it is what it is when it drys. lol. Im still pretty happy with it. Im not going for a show truck.

[JointTech]

got the grill and drivers fender off.




Cleaned up the shop a little to get ready for the next storm of dust. Probably should have put down a tarp when painting. Got a blueish floor lol.

[JointTech]

Well it looks like this is going to be a most-of-the-frame-off restomod. After seeing the rust in the fenders I just want to take the whole thing apart. degrease and derust... and put it back together clean. Im not in a rush but it would really piss me off to see it rot in 5 years. do it right the first time or something like that...

Got the core support out. more fluids and grime in my shop...






some rust under the battery tray


other side not so bad.


Yanked the engine


and transmission and headers all at once...


running out of room to stack stuff


ah now I can see all the grease on the frame.


A friend of mine was cleaning out the garage on a resto he did years ago. Had a left over box of odds and ends.


tranny condom. haha


maybe the torque convertor wont fall out


Im not good at geometry but do you see a problem here. harbor freight... Had to put the engine on the ground and entend the bar out to the 1/2 ton setting to be able to reach the engine stand.


heater/ac box out. most wires labeled.


on the stand. not sure what Im going to do with it. Im thinking of going 4bt/6bt but that means the stuff Ive already bought like driveshaft, exhaust, carb, etc will all be useless after 50 miles...

[JointTech]

Cab came off today.


yeehaw


Built a stand


And a stand for the frame (next weekend??)


The easy part was getting it up.




Due to size of the cherry picker...


Lots of cursing and one dropped cab later:


Now to take my brand new stuff back off to have the frame blasted.


Or maybe I just cut the frame off here, turn it into a trailer and be done with it whew!

[JointTech]

Got the bed off today. was kind of a beast for 2 people to get it upright on the cart. Dang that thing is tall.






down to the frame


going to remove a few more things and then take it to the blaster.

Tooks the gas tank out. If you remember a few pages ago I replaced the saddle tank bolts with some zinc ones from fastenal. Stainless were something like $50 a bolt.

well its only been a year or less and the trucks only gone 15 miles and is kept inside.

[Mustard72]

Looks like you, just like I did, bought the big engine stand from Harbor Freight. I've been wrestling with mine for years because of the dual front wheel thing. What a PITA. But, it's dang stable with the engine on it, and it's paid for, so whatever. It sure would be nice to be able to just wheel the engine on the hoist up to the stand and bolt it up, wouldn't it?

And, just like my C20 project, yours is getting out of hand, too Looks like fun, though.

[JointTech]

got my stuff back from the blaster today.


frame, core support, rear end, inner fenders and the spare tire holder.
Plus Ive blasted a bunch of other chassis parts that would fit in my blast cabinet.

Took the steering column apart for paint and new bearings.
Lots of little parts. danger will robinson.


left the frame on my cherry picker so I can clean and paint it.

[JointTech]

sprayed the frame and the back of the core support before running out of paint.
POR-15 satin black. I dont love the way it lays down. has spots that are shiny and spots that arent. but its the frame so ill just remember to stick with the normal por15 from now on.

[JointTech]

more stuff painted.

[Mustard72]

Looking good. Are you using POR-15 on all of the parts or just the core support and frame?

What are the two triangular brackets attached to the crossmember by the axle hump in the frame? I don't think my leaf spring frame has them. They seem a bit elaborate to just be for exhaust hangers... (edit- come to think of it, I don't even have that cross member, as I replaced it with a chunk of heavy angle iron due to the original being rotten...)

[JointTech]

I assumed those brackets were exhaust hangers for dual exhaust? The trucks exhaust was not hanging there when I got it though. It was a 5th wheel towing truck for some time in its life so maybe its something to do with that. They have some pretty sturdy rubber piece on them with a slit.

I'm doing everything with POR15 semigloss. stuff that sees sun Im top coating with POR chassis coat. bumper, core support, steering column parts, wipers etc.

Its probably a waste but the stuff I did on my front suspension is the first paint I've ever done at home that you cant scratch with a fingernail. Granted Ive pretty much only used rattle cans... but it seems like strong stuff to me and I hate rust.

[JointTech]

got the frame off the hoist and then slipped a disc in my back. been on the couch for 4 days. hurts!!!

[JointTech]

new parts came today.
ebrake cables, brake lines, clips and lowering shackles to level the ass-end of the truck. now if I could just stand for more than 5 minutes I could get to the shop and work on it.