One Piece at a Time - A True Friend

[Chief5940]

A couple of weeks ago, I got to go up to help for the day. Ron lives in the DFW area and I live south of Austin, in New Braunfels. Our goal for the day was to get everything wiped down with the degreaser/oil remover, get it sprayed with a coat of sealer, two coats of white, two coats of red, and two coats of clear. We also had to tape-off all the top and middle of the doors and middle of the fenders once the white was down. It was a long day, but I had a great time and was glad I was able to put in a few hours.

[Chief5940]

One small side project to the C10 build has been Ron working on restoring a pedal car for his grandson, Reid. He has done everything to the pedal car he has done to my truck and the results speak for themselves!! It turned out fantastic!!

[Chief5940]

After the sealer, the next step was two coats of PPG Linen White on the doors and fenders.

[Chief5940]

Next up, time for some PPG Pull Me Over Red (at least that is the color we started with).

[Chief5940]

I love this forum, but it is infuriating for almost all of the pictures to load sideways....UGH!!!

Anyway, once we had the white on it was time to back-mask for the red. We had to work quick and it was August in Texas, so 100 degrees plus is a given.

It all turned out great, except for one minor detail. If you'll look closely at the passenger's side door,the last picture in this series, the white gets a little narrower as it runs from left to right. My bad!!! I was in charge of measuring out the white stripes and I was off by over an inch on this one - pretty major screw-up on my part. Ron took it in stride and you'll see the correction in one of the upcoming posts. This might be why I don't get invited up to help very often...LOL

[Chief5940]

Other than my major gaff on the measurement for the white on the passenger's door, the fenders and doors really turned out great!!

[Chief5940]

The passenger's door got a major overhaul - after I wasn't there to "help" anymore...lol

A quick fix just wasn't in the cards, so Ron stripped it all the way back down and started over. I hate that I created more work for him, but I think we will end up with a much better finished product because he took the time to go back and make it right!

[Chief5940]

Before he starts putting everything together for the final time, there were a few small issues that Ron wanted to address. One of the welds on the passenger's side rocker panel wasn't as smooth as we would have liked. There were a couple of minor imperfections on the firewall that he wanted to address, and also a spot under the paint-divider on the passenger's side, back of the cab. He went back and re-worked each of them, so we will be as close to perfect as possible when we are done.

[Chief5940]

The repairs on the rocker, firewall, and paint divider all look great!

[Chief5940]

This isn't the final assembly, but Ron wanted to test-fit a couple of the fenders and doors. We are waiting on a bolt kit to come in so he can start putting the front-end together for the final time.

[Chief5940]

One last update for today - Ron installed the core support and the A/C condenser. So far, he is very happy with how the Old Air System is working out. Their shop is in Ft. Worth so he was able to go by and have them custom make each of the four hoses. We plan to hide them inside the passenger's side fender. He has also started running the duct work under the dash for the A/C system.

The SPID is on my to-do list. I've been e-mailing with a guy from this forum to work up a new one. He looks to do great work and will create a SPID that reflects all the new things we have added to the truck.

[Chief5940]

One of the things we wanted to do from the start was to clean-up the firewall and hide the A/C hoses. Ron ran them behind the fender and through the side of the cab, near the door hinges, through the vent hole. It worked like a champ and you can't hardly see them under the hood at all. It really turned out great!

[Chief5940]

Ron fabricated a small bracket to hold the fuse block up under the dash. It worked out great and makes the fuses very easy to access.

[Chief5940]

Since we are going with all new wiring harnesses and all LED lights, Ron was able to wire up the cargo light as a third brake light and a cargo light.

Also, we had originally purchased the paint divider trim from a local shop and were never really happy with the fit. It just didn't lay down flush against the cab. So, we found it at Mar-K out of Oklahoma City and ordered a new one from them, it fits perfect!!

If Mar-K sells what you are looking for, we would definitely recommend them. All of their trim has been better quality and fit better than stuff we have bought elsewhere.

[Chief5940]

Not everything goes perfect the first time! Ron installed the new headliner and trim a few weeks back. I'm pretty sure there are pictures of that in a previous post. Well, that headliner basically died-out! The material began to delaminate from the backing, so he tore it out and the vendor gave us another one and Ron installed it. Hopefully this one will work out.

[Chief5940]

The kit Ron found to relocate the shifter linkage worked out great! He installed the air intake. He fabricated a small bracket to help hold it in place.

[Chief5940]

Ron has finished buffing out the fenders and has installed all the new trim from Mar-K (we are still convinced they are the right answer for anything and everything they sell).

I found a local guy to finish the wood for the bed. We also purchased it from Mar-K (also fantastic quality). We put on two coats of House of Color black and four coats of their satin clear. They look fantastic! I can't wait to see them with the stainless strips in between them and up against that bright red paint!

[Chief5940]

The doors and fenders are on the driver's side and the fitment and finish is outstanding. We are also very happy with how all of the trim looks!

[Chief5940]

Same thing on the passenger's side; doors and fenders are on, fit great and the trim also worked out great!

[cornerstone]

Absolutely beautiful guys! I can't wait to see your red and white truck and his blue and white truck all shined up and photographed together.

[gmc684x4]

Your buddy Ron makes it look simple and easy to build your truck
Nice looking ride

[Chief5940]

Yes sir! Thank you!! There isn't much he can't do and his attention to detail is impressive.

[Chief5940]

Brian, we actually took them both to a show in Farmers Branch on Sunday. Once mine is done we will definitely have to get some pictures of them together.

[RCbowtie69]

SWEET!!! Looking good & love the color, Keep on truckin'

[May70]

Just spent the last 30 minutes looking at every picture. I need to go clean the drool off my keyboard now.

That is an incredible truck.