'66 Longbed 327 w/AC project

[jayoldschool]

Looking great, my friend. Can't wait to see the new trim on it!

[NEWFISHER]

Very clean and well thought out. Nice!

[cortcomp]

Thanks guys!

[cortcomp]

Had a chance to put the braces, wiring, etc on the hood last night.

[cortcomp]

I have been busy over the holidays but getting back into it. Have the bed fully dissasembled to send it out and have it media blasted, which seems a lot better than me DAing and sanding all these corners and edges inside the bed.

[**grumpy**]

Looking good.
I just moved out to your hood in Oct. I'll have to swing by and check out your progress one day.

[cortcomp]

No problem, just let me know when!

[Modges'66]

Your stuff always looks so good!
BTW, I have 2 hood latches sitting here that do NOT have the PO applied spring that you talked about.
Also, I put my extra pieces of hood insulation exactly where you asked "why not"...

[cortcomp]

Thanks! I wedged them into the 4 corners too, and it seems to work. I think the third long hood strip is for a different hood or year, same with the round buttons, since the 66 has 4 square pads where you'd think round ones would go.

I took out the spring that didn't look like it belonged. I think the PO broke the main on then added that one to make up for it.

It looks like it belongs even though it's kind of rigged, with shiny new hardware and all (the main spring i made, that is.)

[cortcomp]

Wall art:

[cortcomp]

Dropped the bedsides off to get blasted and stripped, and brought this home to do some suspension work on.

[**grumpy**]

John's truck is looking great. I like it so much better than when it was pro street. Just my .02
It's a beautiful truck

BTW. What are you doing with your old bed floor?

[Low Elco]

How did I miss this? Very nice work you're doing. I'll throw in the Nason's camp with you, I've used chromabase/nason clear for years. Seems to work good for me. Man, keep up the good work!

[cortcomp]

Got the bed panels back from the blaster today, couple mud areas from holes as expected, and i know the one has a slight dent or crease in the lower area. Will either work on them or have them prepped for primer. the top rails have several holes and dents, but i have stainless to cover them that comes over the side about 3/4 inch, so if they don't come out perfect they'll be covered anyways.

[cortcomp]

I have been working but not updating much. As of last night, everything but the two quarters painted. One quarter is primed and ready for blocking, second is still at body shop where they'll fix the couple holes and minor issues previous owners caused.

The tailgate we painted and cleared, then i masked and sanded the center area 1000 grit, put the decals on, and then a few light coats of clear over that section again. Looks good, but if there are issues later i'll take it to someone with a steady hand and have them paint the letters.

Should have oak bed wood, strips, etc in about a week to ten days. I will buy another piece of oak that is similar and try some finishes out. I saw someone with a greenish blue truck that did a similar stain and it looked good. I was thinking a stain with automotive clear over it, but i have to decide on a color first. Decisions decisions!

[Bomp]

Nice job. Been following along. Great work.

[Apache809]

Me too. Like the green..

[jayoldschool]

Wow, that tailgate is a piece of art.

Keep it up!

[cortcomp]

I haven't posted but been busy; 1st quarter panel has white stripe and has been blocked and is ready for paint, have some stain samples done and ready for clearcoat. (going to try automotive stain and then clearcoat, 3-6 coats, then block wet sand and buff to see what kind of gleam i can get.

[cortcomp]

The line in the bottom ones were masked: top is single coat and bottom is two coats.

On the green, they are water based and not oil, and look nothing like the brochure, i think they were sanded too smooth to stick? they are more of a paint than a stain. I won't be using them.

[cortcomp]

Got the 1st bedside done, and been experimenting with clear over the boards. I'm probably 10 coats on them now, and they're finally to the point where the grain is getting covered so no waves (although they look good with just 3 coats laid on at once anyways.)

Basically DA 320, then block 600, then stain (will do 3 coats of stain on final version for color). Then, three coats of clear at a time, blocking 1000 and waiting a day between them. it's quick, it builds up pretty high. Only time will tell if that's too many coats and they crack or something, but damn does it look great!

[cortcomp]

Above, you can see the grain very well on the first spray of three coats. Since it's laying down i have been putting the coats on VERY thick. The bottom shot is after three very thick coats, (coats 8, 9, and 10 tonight), you can barely see the grain. Also, bedside was kind of orange peely for some reason, it just didn't lay like the other parts, so i block and sanded it 1000 grit and we put 2-3 more coats on (1st very light) and it flowed out in line with the other panels. Some panels are better than others, so i'm sure sanding and buffing when it's back together will tie it all together.

[Ta2Don]

Nice work on the bed boards…

diggin' the color on the bedside...

[notsolo]

You have some tuff choices to make on the bed boards. ( colors ) They all look good! The painting skills on the bed outstanding, can't wait to see it all put together.

[cortcomp]

The board choices are tough...i'm pretty sold on one of the wood stain ones, but still not 100% which one...maybe i need to start a thread with a poll! The green ones are interesting but really don't pop.

The painting skill goes to my father in law, i can do primer, simple clear, and i can totally screw up paint. I leave the wet work to him!