My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble

[rgunlock]

Well, kind of late to weld in a patch panel at this stage. Good thing is that I haven't been holding myself to keeping this truck 100% original, so I'll just have to find a radio that will work with the opening I have. But thanks a bunch for pointing it out to me

[Greenlee]

I was bummed that my dash was cut also, but without being tied to the shaft style you can buy a decent stereo with blue tooth, speaker phone etc for about 1/3 the price of the shaft style that won't have all the bells and whistles.

You can buy a cover plate that hides any gaps and makes the install look flawless. I found mine on eBay. I contemplated welding in a panel so I could use the original radio, but now I'm kind of glad it was already cut.

I did buy a new bezel from LMC and took it straight out of the box and cut it for the radio. That was a strange feeling chopping up my brand new bezel.

[y5mgisi]

Since my dash is not cut I plan making some kind of natural looking cup holder and putting one of these marine stereos in with the cup holders. I think that's the plan. Otherwise I want to still use the marine stereo and put it into the ash try area. They have a few different ones.

[y5mgisi]

I think this is the actual one I'm going to get.

Edit: link didn't work.

[swamp rat]

You picked a great color for the truck!

[y5mgisi]

There are several stereo options now that I have been looking for some for my crew cab again.

Sure is a hell of a color you chose! Looks amazing! Can't wait to see more over all shots when you get the rest painted and assembled .

I'm finally approaching being done with my buff job (just need to get it out in various sun lights to see spots I missed) and have started putting my new window seals in. The biggest thing I can't wait for with mine now is to get the trim cleaned up and installed! Inexplicably that's the same thing I can't wait to see on yiur truck! Chrome and that color is going to be insane! It's going to be somehow wildly over the top and totally subdued at the same time!

[rgunlock]

Thanks for the compliments on the color swamp rat and y5migsi! Seems that I am not the only one who thinks there are some cool shades of brown. Of course some of the guys at work kid me "did you paint any more sh1t brown?". Hard to say whether they are referring to painting more "stuff" brown, or referring to the color

On a happy note (at least for me), I got some great help over on the paint and bodywork forum that explained why my gun has been spraying like sh1t. It had been spraying with a stutter that was leaving lighter vertical bars. I cleaned the gun several times and tried everything to adjust it, but just couldn't get it to spray smooth. The reason I have to sand down the bedsides and repaint is that I thought with enough coats it would cover anyway. In my shop, it looked alright, but out in the sun - not so much!

Turns out that the Devilbiss Finishline guns have a plastic washer behind the fluid tip. This is basically a crush washer and needs to be replaced after only a couple of uses. I had no idea, but Jrainman (member) clued me in and I bought some. Made a world of difference. Night and day! Don't have pictures now, but this past weekend I sprayed inside the doors and fenders, underside of hood and all the small parts. Gun worked like a charm and the parts look great. Now I have confidence that I can get a nice job done on the outer surfaces of the truck. Just have a race with weather and holidays to get it done before there is no chance of a warm enough weekend.

[boynton]

I can't wait to see it!

[y5mgisi]

Well that's good! Once during my paint job I was between stages so I had cleaned the gun and waited for whatever I was doing to flash. I went back and was ready to spray whatever I was spraying next and it sprayed like really bad! I knew I must have done something wrong with the gun. I pulled it back down and found that I had left the fluid tip only hand tight! I tightened it down and all was well. I felt like a dork.

[Jonboy]

Looks outstanding!

[rgunlock]

Thanks Jonboy! Really appreciate all the support from the folks on this forum. Better part of 3 days hand sanding fenders, doors, hood, and bedsides. Uggghh! My right shoulder will never be the same again.

[mjensen]

You missed a spot!

Looking real good Rick!

[rgunlock]

I haven't posted in a while, but I have been busy on the weekends with this. The whole truck is now painted and clear-coated inside and out. I'd hoped that would be it, but that was wishful thinking for this first-time painter. Got a lot of orange-peel, dust and bugs in the finish. So much, that I'd be embarrassed for anyone to see it. So, more sanding in store for me. A LOT more sanding. And buffing. Got started today.

Passenger door before, after 1000 grit, forgot to take pics after 1500 and 2000. Then finally after buff & polish. I'm pretty happy with the result. This door wasn't the worse, but in the first pic you can tell by the reflections that it wasn't too smooth. Hopefully you can tell it is much better in the last pic.

Word of warning - If you do this cut & buff thing, any sanding scratches from your bodywork will be brought back out. I've got plenty but for a driver I think I can live with that. Other than a few days of holiday travel, I'm off till Jan 4th so I'm going to try to finish this and get the sheet metal hung back onto the truck.

[y5mgisi]

You seem to have my exact thoughts on that. The paint turned out reasonably well for a first timer but to us, it's awful! So we have to sand and buff. We still have imperfections but ones that we can live with and learn from. Good work!

[MTCK]

That looks great! Can't wait to see it all bolted together.

[boynton]

The stage everyone enjoys in their build...final assembly!

[Bomp]

Great job on the paint. Smooth as glass.

[mjensen]

Good work Rick! It's looking real good!

[rgunlock]

Thanks everyone for the encouragement! Bomp, I have to say that what I'm showing is more a testament to my patience in sanding all this out and buffing than to the actual paint job which turned out pretty lousy despite all my efforts Also I'm rethinking the reassembly. I'm not as young as I used to be so I have to take a lot of breaks from this to rest my back and shoulders. Gives me too much time to ponder and I'm thinking that the wiring and a lot of the interior would be easier without the sheet metal hung. But I want to see the whole truck painted and together so bad! I had to return to the paint shop twice for more base (and other things) so really want to see if it all matches up - fingers on both hands crossed

So I've read a lot of posts and watched some videos, but this is still kind of a "figure it out as you go along" process. Some more pictures for anyone thinking of doing this.

First is a better shot of the first door with the lower part done and the upper part not done. Pretty easy to see how much the cut & buff job helps.

Next are some in process on the second door. First step was using a single-edge razor to scrape (not cut) off the bug and various dust or trash that got into the clear. Looks pretty scary, but it will sand out. Next shows the lower panel nearly done with the 1st 1000-grit step. I use a plastic putty spreader as a squeegie (sp?) as I go along to see how I'm doing, but at some point you need to clean and dry the panel to see where you've still missed. Remaining orange peel will stick out like a sore thumb so the panel will let you know when you're done with this step.

Final picture I'm done with the 1000 grit and ready to move on to 1500 and 2000. Looks really scary since there is no sign of your paint anymore at this point, but the first door gave me confidence that the color and shine will come back even better with the next steps.

So I'm still trying to figure out how you know when you are really done with the 1500 and 2000 grits. The first door ended up with some hazy areas that I am pretty sure mean I left some 1000 grit scratches. If you have any suggestions about signs you've done enough, please chime in.

[rgunlock]

Just to show that it did turn out pretty well. All the scraping and sanding disappeared. The edges of the reflection are nowhere near straight, but 100% better than how it started. I don't know what it takes to get crisp reflection edges, but I can live with this too. You are absolutely right y5mgisi about living with the imperfections and learning from them. Good thing having gone through this once is that for the next one I know what I need to focus on improving, i.e. getting all the scratches out at the block sanding stage because after paint is too damn late

Looks like this is going to be 1 body panel per day type of work, but I may get some help from one of my son's 20-something friends that is in between jobs next week.

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope ya'll have a great holiday and find some truck time in the midst of family time.

[swamp rat]

I think your doing a great job, better than i could do.

[7dee2]

You are doing a great job Rick! I can definitely relate to the too much time to ponder part.

[rgunlock]

Thanks guys! I'm sure you could do as well or better swamp rat if you've got the patience. I'm surely demonstrating that I don't really have much skill

[rgunlock]

Still working on the cut-&-buff, which is taking longer than I expected. I do have some glass now I was pleasantly surprised to find out I could get a new windshield, installed for $139. Also had them install the rear slider I bought for this truck several years ago when I thought I was just getting it drivable. Only problem was that the guy couldn't get the little metal pieces installed that cover then ends of the lock strips so we'll have to come up with a plan 'b' when it gets hot and the rubber is more pliable.

Sorry, didn't take the time to clean up the glass for pictures since I'm still slinging around sanding water.

[MTCK]

Looks awesome, Rick. One step closer...