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

[kitsbeach]

Originally Posted by Android04

Killer work man! Keep the motivation going.

Thanks man.! I'm probably forgetting about 100 important details but getting the main strokes posted here. If anyone has a question just ask I'll probably have a picture.

[kitsbeach]

Here is the front of the left bedside taped and ready to cut.

[kitsbeach]

Here's me cutting on the wrong side of the tape..!! Ignored my own arrows..!!

[kitsbeach]

Here is the front of the left bedside cut. Notice the hunk cut out of the very front I used as a template for the little angle you see where the little question mark is on my tape.

[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.

[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.!